Uchiha the Madman: He embodies truth and obliterates reality.

When Orochimaru was talking about this, he was also baffled by the bandit logic of the Hidden Cloud Village.

They, the Hidden Cloud Village, are clearly in the wrong, yet they turn around and blame Konoha, even threatening war. Truly despicable.

Even Orochimaru had to admire how thick-skinned the people of Kumogakure were!

"Are all the people of Kumogakure this shameless? It seems they truly don't know that Konoha is the strongest ninja in the world."

A hint of coldness flashed in Tobirama Senju's eyes.

Tobirama Senju has always adhered to the principle of "I will not offend others unless they offend me." However, the Hidden Cloud Village has repeatedly provoked Konoha. If he were in power, he would undoubtedly teach the Hidden Cloud Village a lesson, letting them know that Konoha Village is not to be trifled with.

I wonder how the higher-ups in Konoha will handle this. They can't just let it go so easily!

Would Konoha tolerate such humiliation? Absolutely not! Absolutely not!!

Senju Tobirama thought to himself.

Orochimaru understood Tobirama Senju's emotions and quickly said, "Second Hokage, please calm down. The reason why Kumogakure did this was because of Konoha's Byakugan. Hiruzen-sensei and the others were also considering the bigger picture, since Konoha was still weak at the time."

Senju Tobirama's eyes flashed with murderous intent as he sensed the veiled meaning in Orochimaru's words. "Orochimaru, let me ask you, how did Konoha handle this matter?"

Well...

Orochimaru said with a smile, "Konoha originally wanted to settle this matter peacefully, to make it a small matter and let it go, and not to pursue the matter of Kumogakure trying to kidnap Hinata, the young lady of the Hyuga clan."

"But..."

Orochimaru paused for a moment, then said, "Who knew that the people of Kumogakure would be so persistent about this matter, threatening to start another war if Konoha didn't give them an explanation."

"So... what did Konoha do in the end?" Tobirama Senju's heart sank deeper and deeper; he had a bad feeling.

Orochimaru sighed, "In response to the Second Hokage, in order to prevent the situation from escalating, Hiruzen-sensei had no choice but to hand over Hizashi, the Hyuga branch, to Kumogakure as an explanation."

"To be honest, Hiruzen-sensei had no choice; he had his own difficulties!"

Orochimaru's words struck a nerve with Tobirama Senju; the thing he least wanted to see had happened.

The strongest ninja village in the world, Konoha, has actually bowed down to a ninja village from another country! What a disgrace!

The next instant, boom—

Tobirama Senju slammed his fist into the wall, creating a large hole in the already cracked wall.

"This is outrageous! It's obvious that Kumogakure is the one stirring up trouble. What wrong has Konoha done? Furthermore, as the strongest ninja village in the world, how can Konoha bow down to another country's ninja village?" Tobirama Senju roared in fury.

Orochimaru immediately explained, "Second Hokage, you may not know this, but Konoha suffered heavy losses in the Second Shinobi World War. Almost all of its core strength was wiped out, and a large number of Chunin and Genin died. Konoha is in an unprecedentedly weak state."

"On the other hand, the situation in Kumogakure is completely opposite to that in Konoha. Kumogakure is not weak. The current leader is the Fourth Raikage, A, who has recently taken office and is quite strong. At this time, Kumogakure also has two perfect Jinchuriki: Killer Bee, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, and Yugito, the Two-Tails Jinchuriki. Both of them are in their prime and their fighting power should not be underestimated."

"Even though there are many difficulties, this is not an excuse for Konoha to easily compromise with other ninja villages!!!"

"Handing over one's own village comrades to another country's ninja village? Konoha has no precedent for this!! What is Hiruzen Sarutobi doing!? Doesn't he know it himself!?"

Tobirama Senju was seething with anger.

No wonder the Hyuga clan wanted to flee Konoha; perhaps this was the root of the problem, causing the Hyuga clan to harbor resentment towards Konoha, which led to the series of events that followed.

Why would the Hyuga clan, who were always loyal to Konoha, want to flee Konoha just before the meteorite was about to strike? It turns out that this incident caused the Hyuga clan to develop disloyal intentions.

Now, Tobirama Senju has finally figured out the whole story.

Once Tobirama Senju understood the situation, he immediately felt dissatisfied with his disciple, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Regardless of whether Hiruzen Sarutobi knew about or participated in these incidents, he, as the Hokage of Konoha, bears undeniable responsibility.

At this moment, Orochimaru spoke up: "The Hidden Cloud Village threatened to wage war against the Hidden Leaf Village. Hiruzen-sensei was also thinking about the overall situation of the Hidden Leaf Village. At that time, the Hidden Leaf Village was extremely weak and it was not advisable to start a major war with the Hidden Cloud Village."

"This point is also acknowledged by the other three high-ranking members of the village, namely your three disciples, the Second Hokage: Danzo Shimura, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado."

"You know, when Kushina of the Uzumaki clan was kidnapped by the Hidden Cloud Village, Hiruzen-sensei and the others didn't pursue the matter because the Hidden Cloud Village was too powerful at the time, and Konoha was powerless to deal with it!"

Orochimaru implied to Tobirama Senju that, in addition to Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Hokage, there were also Danzo Shimura, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado, the two advisors and elders, who also agreed to this approach.

These four individuals are all top leaders of Konoha and bear significant responsibilities.

"Damn it! This would never have happened during my time in power." Tobirama Senju understood Orochimaru's meaning and became completely enraged.

Tobirama Senju was telling the truth. During his time as the Second Hokage, Konoha never experienced any instance of other ninja villages deliberately provoking them while Konoha always yielded.

And his own four good disciples just tolerated what happened to Kumogakure like this?!

Tobirama Senju was furious; he really wanted to scold his three disciples.

They're ninjas, not ninja turtles!!! Konoha isn't a small village; it's the strongest ninja village in the world!!!

The Hidden Cloud Village has repeatedly provoked them, yet they've tolerated it. Won't other ninja villages from various countries take advantage of this and follow suit?

Isn't this complete chaos?!

Chapter 128 Tolerance at Every Turn

Blindly yielding will only make the ninja villages of other countries think that Konoha is weak and easy to bully.

Otherwise... why did the Third Shinobi World War break out?

It's not because other ninja villages thought that Konoha's repeated concessions meant it was weak, so they launched a war to try and seize its benefits.

Therefore, if we want to win peace, we have to fight. Peace is won through fighting, not through forbearance.

According to Tobirama Senju's idea, the problem must be solved by force, which would silence the Hidden Cloud Village completely and also serve as a deterrent to those who seek to harm others.

But his four disciples... kept showing leniency towards the ninja villages of other countries.

Tobirama Senju should have been happy that his four disciples had become high-ranking members of Konoha, but after seeing what they had done, he couldn't be happy at all.

In Tobirama Senju's mind, none of his four disciples were up to par.

After so many major events in Konoha, Tobirama Senju would never believe that these four people were completely unaware of them.

Moreover, if they were truly completely unaware, their sins would be even greater. As high-ranking officials in Konoha, their ignorance of what was happening below is a serious dereliction of duty.

If one knows about it but tacitly allows it to happen, then the crime is even more serious.

Let's see how they do it.

A powerful figure like Hatake Sakumo chose suicide because of slanderous rumors. But these four allowed the rumors to spread throughout the village—what were their intentions?

Tobirama Senju couldn't stand this kind of scenario where comrades kill each other. And the one killed wasn't just any ordinary ninja, but Sakumo Hatake, a top fighter in Konoha who had made great contributions.

There's also the matter of the Hashirama cell transplantation experiment, which is related to Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura.

Tobirama Senju abhorred such things. He could understand his disciples' desire to seek the powerful Wood Release technique, but it was clearly impossible.

Why persist in trying things that seem impossible, and why continue when all hope seems lost? So many people have been implicated, and in the end, even the village children have been targeted.

It is unforgivable; these children are the future of Konoha.

Wherever leaves dance in the air, fire will burn, illuminating the village, and new leaves will sprout anew. This is the Will of Fire.

Danzo even preyed on children; what were his intentions?

Even if he wanted to recreate his elder brother's power, he shouldn't have treated the lives of the villagers like a joke.

Even now, the massacre of the Uchiha and Hyuga clans is inextricably linked to his four disciples.

How utterly foolish! I really don't know what my four good disciples were thinking, making so many serious mistakes.

After calming down, Tobirama Senju comforted himself.

He may have said it, and he may have been angry, but if he were to actually remove his four disciples from their positions in the upper echelons of Konoha, he really wouldn't be able to do it.

These four were his disciples; they were all his flesh and blood. He truly couldn't bring himself to do it. Besides, things hadn't reached that point yet.

It is true that these four people made mistakes for Konoha, but they also made contributions to Konoha, helping the village overcome many crises.

And the most important leader was the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Despite all the terrible things that have happened in Konoha, under Hiruzen Sarutobi's rule, Konoha did have a glorious golden age, which gave Tobirama Senju some comfort.

Admittedly, Hiruzen Sarutobi did have some shortcomings as Hokage, but he still made significant contributions to Konoha, didn't he? At the very least, for the past twenty years, he has consistently implemented his policies and systems in an orderly manner, maintaining a relatively stable Konoha, right?

Everyone has their merits and demerits; after all, no one is perfect. Tobirama Senju was able to understand the difficulties his disciple had faced.

Being the Hokage isn't easy.

Similarly, the same applies to the other three disciples: Shimura Danzo, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura.

Tobirama Senju believed that they, as the higher-ups, had done their utmost for Konoha.

Doing your best is one thing, but whether it works is another.

At this point, Orochimaru added, "Another noteworthy point is that the previous Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, who was also the wife of the First Hokage, was Mito Uzumaki. On her deathbed, she chose Kushina Uzumaki to be the next Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Thus, the Tailed Beast was transplanted into Kushina Uzumaki's body."

"The Hidden Cloud Village's previous attack on Kushina Uzumaki was also driven by greed for the Nine-Tails."

Upon hearing this, Tobirama Senju frowned slightly.

If the people of Kumogakure succeed in this, it will be disastrous.

By then, the people of Kumogakure will likely have gathered the power of all three tailed beasts, and Kurama is the strongest tailed beast, far surpassing the others.

If that were to happen, I fear that no one in the ninja world could be a match for Kumogakure, and even the strongest ninja village, Konoha, would have to give way.

Fortunately, the young ninja named Minato Namikaze stopped it all, otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable!

Tobirama Senju said, "Kumakugakure has great ambitions. Konoha is fortunate to have this young organization; otherwise, Kumogakure might have succeeded."