"And according to him, he even fought the First Hokage and only narrowly lost."
"Judging by his age, it's possible that he fought the First Hokage."
After Clown finished speaking, he looked at the dazed Umu.
"He fought... the First Hokage?"
Umu was somewhat dazed, but then she turned to Didaze.
"Then does that mean you're already as powerful as the First Hokage, Lord Didaze?"
Umu looked at Didaze, her face filled with delight.
"You believe everything he says?"
Watching Clown deliver his explanation with a perfectly serious face, Didaze interrupted him somewhat helplessly.
"Was it really like you said, then? He threw a shuriken from eight hundred li away?"
Now Clown was curious.
Throwing a shuriken from eight hundred li away-how many countries would that cross?!
With that kind of precision, wouldn't it be fair to call him the world's strongest assassin?
"If he really could throw a shuriken from eight hundred li away, he'd be far too powerful."
Red Boar chimed in.
But judging by their expressions, the two of them were clearly just joking.
"Not quite. That was just a joke. My estimate is that he fought the First Hokage's Wood Clone for a while before fleeing, and there's a very high chance the First Hokage went easy on him."
Didaze waved his hand and said with a smile.
"How is that possible?!"
Umu looked utterly shocked.
Someone who had fled from the First Hokage's clone could fight Didaze to this extent? Didn't that mean the First Hokage could crush Didaze with a flip of his hand?
Umu had never imagined the First Hokage was this powerful. She had always thought he had been given the title of God of Shinobi because of his selfless dedication and his great deed of distributing the tailed beasts for peace in the Shinobi World.
It was those things that had earned him the title of God of Shinobi, not his strength!
That was the younger generation's most immediate impression of the First Hokage.
Otherwise, Hiruzen Sarutobi could have written until his pen smoked and still never made himself the strongest Hokage.
It was simply because many people had already forgotten the First Hokage.
"Right, wasn't the First Hokage only a little stronger than the other first-generation Kage back then?"
Red Boar was somewhat confused as well.
"You people..."
Didaze was rather speechless. He truly hadn't known the various ninja villages had distorted things this badly.
The First Hokage, who had originally been able to overpower every ninja village single-handedly, had now become a kindly man who was only slightly stronger than the others under their pens.
The younger generation didn't even know how powerful the First Hokage had been.
"Let's go find Golden Tiger first. Get on, and I'll explain along the way. Your misunderstanding of the First Hokage runs a little deep."
Looking at the three of them, Didaze prepared to give them a proper account of the First Hokage.
"Get on!"
Didaze molded a Giant Bird, then gestured for everyone to climb aboard.
Everyone nodded, then climbed onto the Clay Giant Bird.
"Why do you think the First Hokage was only a little stronger than the other four first-generation Kage?"
Rather than launching into his explanation, Didaze asked them a question.
This was something he was very curious about. Why did these people think that way? The books didn't say that, either.
At most, they exaggerated their own first-generation Kage's strength, but they had never diminished the First Hokage.
"Because the First Hokage distributed the tailed beasts. Didn't that mean Konoha had no choice but to yield to the other four great ninja villages back then?"
Umu was the first to speak.
"Is that so?"
Didaze chuckled.
It seemed Hashirama Senju's refusal to use force to advance peace was unworkable. The less you used your power, the more others would think you had none.
The first generation might have been a little better, but by the second or even the third generation, they would have forgotten completely.
Even if Hashirama Senju had lived a little longer, he would have witnessed the second and third generations of ninja forgetting his strength and starting wars.
Of course, once they witnessed his power again, the wars would subside once more.
But how many generations could that last?
"The First Hokage did yield, but that doesn't mean he lacked strength. Quite the opposite: back then, he was fully capable of unifying the Five Great Nations."
Didaze looked at Umu and spoke slowly.
"How is that possible? Who would willingly give up their own interests when they had the power?"
Umu couldn't understand Hashirama Senju's thinking at all. Giving away the tailed beasts when he had power? What kind of thinking was that?
Never mind not unifying the Five Great Nations-he had even distributed the tailed beasts?
At any rate, if she had the power to unify the Five Great Nations, she certainly wouldn't give away the tailed beasts and refrain from starting a war!
Seeing Umu like this, Didaze also knew that she was probably eighty percent unconvinced right now.
If he hadn't been the one saying it, she would definitely have been one hundred percent unconvinced.
That was the difference in their personalities. Umu would never understand the thinking of someone like Hashirama Senju.
"Sit tight. I'll tell you properly about the First Hokage..."
Didaze began telling Umu about the final battle. There were some records of that final battle, but most were descriptions of mountains crumbling and the earth splitting. There weren't many accounts of the actual fighting.
The main reason was that no one had dared to watch.
Didaze embellished the account using his omniscient perspective, though he didn't tell it entirely from that perspective.
Didaze slowly began recounting the final battle at the Valley of the End.
"At the Valley of the End..."
Konoha
"What is the meaning of this?! We can't even leave our homes now?"
Uchiha Fugaku had been having quite a headache lately.
For some reason, the village's actions against the Uchiha Clan had grown more aggressive.
When they had first been assigned to the area near the Konoha Gate, they could still comfort themselves by saying it was to defend against outside enemies.
But lately, the village's targeting had grown increasingly severe. The Uchiha Clan received fewer and fewer missions, and even when they received any, most were D-rank missions.
Making members of the distinguished Uchiha Clan pick vegetables and chase cats for you?
It was one thing for those without the Sharingan, but how could those with the Sharingan, or even the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, endure such humiliation?!
But the Uchiha's current clan head had forcibly suppressed the clan members' thoughts of rebellion.
Though the members of the Uchiha Clan were furious, they had no choice but to obediently carry out D-rank missions.
And just yesterday, members of the Uchiha Clan had been required to report to Root even if they wanted to leave home! Aside from ordinary clan members with no combat ability, everyone had to report to Root!
"These are Lord Hokage's orders. Please don't make things difficult for me."
The Root ninja spoke coldly.
Shimura Danzō had told him to say that. After all, he had already gone to Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had neither agreed nor objected.
Shimura Danzō had instantly understood his old friend's meaning.
Do whatever you like. I haven't agreed, but if you cause trouble, you take the blame.
Understanding his old friend's meaning, Shimura Danzō hadn't asked any further questions.
The next day, he formally began targeting the Uchiha Clan in every respect!
What had originally been limited to missions had become outright targeting on every front!