The Uchiha Clan's Sun

This surprised and surprised Danzo Shimura greatly!

Is it because he lost the position of Hokage?

But why is this resolute stance directed at himself, his comrade-in-arms who has fought alongside him for many years?

A complex emotion welled up in Shimura Danzo's heart, and he felt inexplicably wronged.

Danzo Shimura took a deep breath, clearing his mind of all distractions, and his gaze became resolute!

This was the closest he ever came to becoming Hokage, and it might also be his last chance to do so!

He would not give up this opportunity no matter what!

He also had no way out!

Danzo Shimura snorted coldly upon hearing this, and said, "Since that's the case, then I'm curious what else Jonin Sarutobi wants to question me about!"

"However, let me make this clear from the start: if I can resolve your doubts, please stop pressing me for an answer!"

"After all, the topic of this Jonin meeting is the election for the Fourth Hokage, not an interrogation of me!"

Danzo Shimura understood that if Hiruzen Sarutobi continued to find fault with him like this, even if he could perfectly explain each of these issues, he might still miss out on becoming the Fourth Hokage!

After all, every question Sarutobi Hiruzen asked was like throwing mud at him, and no matter how clean he tried to wash himself off, the marks would still remain!

After thinking for a moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded and said, "Okay!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi was confident he could kill Danzo Shimura this time, so he agreed to Danzo's request.

"Then begin your performance!"

As he spoke, Shimura Danzo gestured for him to enter.

Hiruzen Sarutobi cleared his throat, shifted his gaze from Danzo Shimura, and swept it across the faces of everyone in the meeting room. His expression turned solemn as he spoke, "Before discussing Elder Shimura's issues, I must first apologize to everyone present!"

As he spoke, Hiruzen Sarutobi stood up and bowed to everyone in the conference room.

Most of the people in the meeting room were somewhat at a loss, unsure whether they should accept Hiruzen Sarutobi's bow.

"Lord Sarutobi, there's no need for such formality. We cannot accept such a generous gift!"

"Yes, yes, please tell us what it is, Lord Sarutobi, and don't make us feel awkward!"

"Lord Sarutobi, please get up! Please get up!"

......

After a moment's hesitation, the civilian ninjas and clan ninjas who were close to the Hokage lineage all stood up and made way.

Meanwhile, ninjas from clans like the Uchiha, Hyuga, and Kurama, which weren't particularly close to the Hokage lineage, sat calmly in their seats, accepting the greeting regardless of the matter at hand.

After another period of commotion, Hiruzen Sarutobi straightened up, and the ninjas who had stood up returned to their seats.

Hiruzen Sarutobi showed no intention of sitting down and said, "Perhaps you have all heard some rumors about the village before, some good and some bad, some true and some false!"

"One of the rumors not only had a huge impact, but also directly led to a coup d'état launched by certain families in the village against the Hokage!"

As Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke, he looked at the elder Uchiha Setsuna behind Uchiha Jin. The clan that had launched the coup was obviously the one he was referring to!

Hiruzen Sarutobi's words caused a huge uproar in the meeting room!

Apart from a few veteran ninjas who had a general idea of ​​what Hiruzen Sarutobi was referring to in the rumors, most ninjas were so shocked that their mouths were agape!

For them, let alone rumors, they didn't even know that a coup had ever taken place in the village!

Following Hiruzen Sarutobi's gaze, these ninjas also looked at Setsuna Uchiha, their expressions becoming quite strange, yet also showing a hint of... agreement?

They didn't seem too surprised that the Uchiha would launch a coup!

To be able to sit in this meeting room and hold a meeting even after launching a coup is truly worthy of the Uchiha clan, the founding elders of Konoha!

Uchiha Setsuna snorted coldly and said, "Sarutobi Hiruzen, you and I both know the situation back then! Since you dare to bring this up at this meeting, do you dare to put your hand on your conscience and say whether I should have launched that coup?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi was silent for a moment before speaking, "I can only say that the village was indeed at fault that time! But your actions were far too extreme!"

"Heh!" Uchiha Setsuna was not satisfied with Hiruzen Sarutobi's answer. He stood up and said excitedly, "Back then, your Hokage lineage used children from the village for human experiments. Which clan present was not persecuted by you? The Senju clan was severely weakened and gradually declined as a result. How can you describe it with just 'we were in the wrong first'!"

"If I hadn't launched a coup and made things escalate, would you have wanted to bring the entire Hidden Leaf Village to ruin before you were satisfied?"

With a 'whoosh', Uchiha Setsuna's words fell to the ground, and the entire conference room erupted in chaos!

"Human experimentation? How could this be? Why would the village do such a thing?"

"No way! They're using children for human experiments! That's inhumane!"

"Why not use so many enemy ninjas and death row inmates in the village prison for experiments?"

"Why have I never heard of this before? No wonder the Uchiha Elder launched a coup. If it were me... uh, the Uchiha Elder is really brave!"

"I know something about this matter. In fact, all the major clans in the village knew about it at the time, but only the Uchiha Elder took real action!"

"I heard that the Second Hokage wanted to execute Elder Uchiha, but all the clans in the village owed him a favor in this matter, and they all pleaded for him, which saved his life and changed his life to imprisonment!"

"As expected of the Uchiha, they really know when to step up!"

......

The people in the meeting room were talking animatedly. Most of them were disgusted by the village's practice of using their own people for human experiments. Some who knew the truth remained silent, while others looked at Uchiha Setsuna with a hint of admiration.

It must be said that in this matter, Uchiha Setsuna did indeed salvage a lot of reputation for the Uchiha clan!

Chapter 250 Village and Individual!

"Quiet!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi gave the people in the meeting room some time to digest this bombshell news before speaking again to control the situation and prevent it from getting out of control.

Hiruzen Sarutobi still held considerable prestige, and the meeting room quickly fell silent again after he spoke.

Everyone turned to look at Hiruzen Sarutobi, waiting for his explanation.

Hiruzen Sarutobi said in a deep voice, "The village is indeed at fault in this matter, but the village also has its own difficulties!"

"In the decades since the founding of Konoha, the only truly peaceful period was the dozen or so years during the reign of the First Hokage!"

"The First Hokage used his immense strength to deter all villains from all directions. During his reign, no one dared to covet my Hidden Leaf Village!"

"And with the death of the First Hokage, the First Shinobi World War broke out!"

"The entire ninja world is in chaos, and because the Land of Fire is rich in resources, my Hidden Leaf Village has become the target of attacks from other villages!"

"The Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, deeply felt his own limitations and thus conceived the idea of ​​recreating the First Hokage's unique secret technique, Wood Release!"

"Thus, under the Second Hokage's decision, the village began human experiments with the goal of 'recreating Wood Release'!"

After a pause, Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air and continued in a deep voice, "In the beginning, the Second Hokage used members of his own Senju clan as test subjects. After all, the First Hokage was also from the Senju clan, and with blood ties, the Senju clan members were the most likely test subjects to reproduce Wood Release!"

"But the First Hokage's uniqueness exceeded all our expectations. His cells were extremely corrosive, and even the Senju clan, who are related by blood, could not withstand the First Hokage's power!"

"The Senju clan has suffered heavy losses!"

"Under no circumstances could the Second Hokage expand his target, hoping to find an experiment that would be applicable to the First Hokage's power, which led to the Uchiha clan's coup later on."

"In this matter, the Second Hokage was indeed wrong, but his original intention was definitely good. He had no selfish motives and used his own people first, all for the sake of the village's future!"

......

"That's the inherently evil, cold-blooded ruthlessness of Tobirama Senju!" Jin Uchiha interrupted Hiruzen Sarutobi's narration, coldly stating, "He could choose to sacrifice himself, but he couldn't choose to sacrifice others to achieve his goals! Regardless of whether those goals were good or bad!"

"To be generous with other people's money and to open someone else's pocket is to steal from others and to be a thief of morality!"

"This is the root cause of the village's decline!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned slightly upon hearing this and said, "Department Head Uchiha Jin, you're exaggerating! The Second Hokage was also doing it for the village!"

What Hiruzen Sarutobi is about to talk about is his own restart of human experiments. The reason he mentioned Tobirama Senju first is just to lay the groundwork, to change everyone's opinion on this matter, and then to minimize the impact of this matter on himself!

If Uchiha Jin were to label Senju Tobirama as a "thief of virtue," then it would be difficult for him to exonerate himself from the consequences!

"An exaggeration?" Uchiha Jin sneered upon hearing this, saying, "I would like to ask Jonin Sarutobi a question: What is a village? What is an individual?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi hesitated, unsure how to respond.

The village and the individual, the larger community and the smaller family—this is a topic where both sides have their own arguments and justifications!

Before figuring out Uchiha Jin's purpose, he dared not speak rashly, lest Uchiha Jin find a weakness in him.

Uchiha Jin glanced at Sarutobi Hiruzen with disdain and continued to press, "Since Jonin Sarutobi doesn't know how to answer this question, does Sarutobi Hiruzen know the original intention of my Uchiha and Senju clans in establishing Konoha?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi remained silent. As a member of the Sarutobi clan who was neither Senju nor Uchiha, he had no say in this matter.

Uchiha Jin, facing the curious gazes of the crowd, began to speak: "During the Warring States period, my Uchiha clan and the Senju clan were sworn enemies. The reason we were able to jointly establish a village was entirely due to two people: the head of my Uchiha clan at the time, the Asura of the Shinobi World, Uchiha Madara, and the head of the Senju clan, the God of Shinobi, Senju Hashirama!"

"The two of them were friends since childhood and shared the same ideals, but they were forced to become enemies due to the general trend of the times!"

"It wasn't until they all grew up and gained a voice that they put their shared ideal into practice: to stop the war, protect children, and keep them from going to the battlefield!"

"Both Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju were the eldest sons in their families, with several younger brothers."

"But because of the never-ending war, several of their younger brothers died on the battlefield when they were just a few years old, which led them to this idea!"

"Because most of the wars at that time were between families, their action was to establish villages and bring different families together, so that the wars could be stopped!"

"So their initial intention in establishing the village was to protect children, or you could say, to protect individuals!"

"I believe that the ancestors of everyone here joined Konoha with the same idea in mind!"

Everyone in the conference room nodded in agreement, and even Hiruzen Sarutobi, Homura Mitokado, and Koharu Utatane did not deny it!

They did indeed join Konoha to seek refuge and keep warm together!

After a pause, Uchiha Jin suddenly changed the subject and asked, "I think everyone knows that our Uchiha clan's ancestor, Uchiha Madara, was the first rogue ninja of Konoha. But do you all know why Uchiha Madara left Konoha?"

Everyone in the conference room was taken aback upon hearing this.

Their first thought upon hearing this question was that Madara Uchiha had defected from the village because he lost the election for Hokage.

That's what it says in Konoha's history books too!

However, a few intelligent people shook their heads, thinking that the famous Uchiha Madara would not be so superficial!

Uchiha Jin scoffed and said, "Uchiha Madara has always pursued peace. Power is nothing but dirt to him. It's not enough to make him betray his original intention!"

"The reason why Madara Uchiha left Konoha was because he saw the hidden dangers in Konoha, but the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, was already deeply involved in them. As a result, the two had a huge difference in their ideals, which is why he left Konoha in despair!"

Everyone in the conference room pricked up their ears, eager to know what kind of disagreement had arisen between Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju!

Such secrecy is rarely heard of under normal circumstances!

Chapter 251 Putting the cart before the horse!

Uchiha Jin continued, "Uchiha Madara discovered that the first hidden danger in Konoha Village was also a major point of contention between him and Senju Hashirama: their attitude towards other ninja villages!"

"After the establishment of Konoha Village, ninjas from other countries also realized that the era of fighting alone was over. Their families and clans had no ability to resist the behemoth that was Konoha. So they also began to learn from Konoha Village and banded together to establish a village!"

"Madara Uchiha keenly realized that the appearance of these villages posed a potential danger to Konoha, and might plunge Konoha into an even greater war in the future!"

"Therefore, Madara Uchiha's attitude towards these villages was extremely aggressive. He believed that while he and Hashirama Senju still held absolute dominance in the ninja world, they should eliminate all of Konoha's potential rivals!"

"As the saying goes, 'Susanoo covers the Great Buddha, and two people can destroy four countries!' At that time, Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju were too powerful. Destroying a country was as easy as eating and drinking, and they didn't have to pay a heavy price!"

"But Hashirama Senju believed that the current peace was hard-won, and the emergence of other villages represented progress in the times. Everyone should sit down and resolve conflicts through conversation."

"Then came the first Five Kage Summit, and Konoha distributed tailed beasts to the other villages."

"And time has proven that Hashirama Senju's ideas were ultimately too naive! If he had listened to Madara Uchiha back then, perhaps the First, Second, and Third Shinobi World Wars would never have happened!"

Uchiha Jin's words sparked a lot of speculation among the ninjas present.

Admittedly, destroying a country is indeed a very radical thing to do, but from the perspective of those who came after them, if Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju had really done that back then, they, the descendants, wouldn't be living in such dire straits every day!

Uchiha Jin continued, "If this ideological conflict was merely a difference between Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama, the rulers of Konoha at the time, and not enough to make Uchiha Madara completely disillusioned with Konoha, then what happened next made Uchiha Madara determined to leave Konoha!"

Everyone in the conference room focused their attention upon hearing this, and they were all very curious about the reason why Uchiha Madara left Konoha.

Uchiha Jin didn't beat around the bush and said, "With the development of Konoha Village, more and more people have joined the village, and Konoha is becoming more and more prosperous!"

"It must be said, Hashirama Senju was a qualified Hokage!"

"For the development of the village, Hashirama Senju was even willing to sacrifice his own interests and those of his clan! He used the sacrifices of the Senju clan to pave the way for the village!"

"Madara Uchiha also keenly noticed this and realized the danger!"

Upon hearing this, everyone in the conference room was stunned, not understanding what danger Madara Uchiha was aware of.