The Uchiha Clan's Sun

Minato Namikaze thought about it and felt that Danzo Shimura's words made some sense.

It's normal to develop a suspicious personality in such an 'unknown' environment!

Uchiha Jin, however, had reservations about this.

The brutal environment of the First Shinobi World War may have been one reason, but so many people experienced the First Shinobi World War, yet only one person, Danzo Shimura, appeared. Therefore, the First Shinobi World War was merely a trigger; the main reason lay with Danzo Shimura himself!

Danzo Shimura seemed to share this view, and continued, "The decisive event occurred at the end of the First Shinobi World War, when Tobirama-sensei sacrificed himself!"

"When we were negotiating with Kumogakure, we encountered internal strife within the village. The militant faction, led by Kinkaku and Ginkaku, was unwilling to negotiate and launched a coup, killing the Raikage. They also wanted to kill us all and continue the war!"

"Tobirama-sensei and our six-person Shadow Guard team are completely surrounded by a group of Cloud Villagers!"

"It was at this time that Tobirama-sensei put the six of us to the test, asking who among us was willing to stay behind to cover the retreat."

"Looking back now, Tobirama-sensei's test was actually quite clumsy. After all, apart from Tobirama-sensei himself, the six of us at that time were simply not strong enough to hold off the Cloud Village army on our own! Even if all six of us had stayed behind, we might not have been able to stop the Cloud Village army!"

"And if Tobirama, the fastest ninja in the world at the time, who created the Flying Thunder God Technique, wanted to leave, no one could stop him!"

"Teacher Tobirama had long ago planned to sacrifice himself to save us..."

"Wait!" Upon hearing this, Uchiha Jin couldn't help but interrupt Shimura Danzo, asking in confusion, "Speaking of which, couldn't Tobirama Senju have used the Flying Thunder God Technique to leave with you all? Minato often did that too, didn't he?"

This question was one that Uchiha Jin had long ago!

In the original storyline, Minato Namikaze used the Flying Thunder God Technique to carry the entire Allied Shinobi Forces and avoid the Ten-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball attack, which shows that the Flying Thunder God Technique can definitely carry other people with it!

There are many other scenarios that can prove this point!

If Minato Namikaze was able to lead the entire Allied Shinobi Forces into flight thanks to the Nine-Tails' chakra, then Tobirama Senju only led six people!

Besides, Tobirama Senju was supposed to be called "Senju," so his chakra couldn't possibly be as weak as Kakashi Hatake's!

"Uh... I can explain this," Minato Namikaze said somewhat embarrassedly before Danzo Shimura could speak, "Actually, although the Second Hokage's Flying Thunder God Technique was already quite perfect, it wasn't developed further in the direction of taking people flying with it. This is something I figured out myself!"

"So it's not that the Second Hokage doesn't want to take them flying with him, it's that the Second Hokage doesn't know how to take them flying yet!"

Unlike Minato Namikaze, who only had the Rasengan and the Flying Thunder God Technique as his signature moves, Tobirama Senju was known as a master of forbidden techniques. The Flying Thunder God Technique was just one of his methods, so he naturally couldn't focus most of his energy on it like Minato did.

Therefore, it's quite normal that Tobirama Senju didn't develop the Flying Thunder God Technique to that extent.

"That's the truth!" Shimura Danzo affirmed Namikaze Minato's statement, continuing, "The situation was too urgent at the time, and the Kage's duty is to protect the Hokage, so we didn't suspect it was a test!"

"In Tobirama-sensei's test, I was a step behind Hiruzen and missed the chance to become Hokage!"

"That's what I thought back then, and that's what I thought until recently!"

Upon hearing this, Uchiha Jin became interested and said, "Oh? So you have a different idea now?"

Danzo Shimura nodded and sighed, "The position of Hokage is extremely important. How could someone as cautious as Tobirama-sensei possibly decide who gets the Hokage position based on such a test!"

"The selection process for the successor to the Hokage position actually began a long time ago. Tobirama-sensei has been searching for the most suitable person to inherit the Hokage position and has roughly determined the candidate!"

"His test was actually only aimed at Hiruzen from beginning to end!"

"And Hiruzen didn't disappoint him; he was the first to step forward!"

"It's just that I hadn't seen through this point before, so I've always been bothered by the fact that I was a little bit slower!"

"From that moment on, the position of Hokage became my obsession!"

"This obsession has also led me to my downfall!"

"This obsession caused me to lose all sense of decency, and it eventually escalated to the point where I exercised the authority of a Hokage without holding the title!"

"I will stop at nothing to prove that I am no less than Hiruzen; I will stubbornly insist on proving that I am more suitable to serve as Hokage than Hiruzen; I will act recklessly to prove that I can do better than Hiruzen!"

"I say everything is for the village, but in reality, I just want to prove that I am more suitable to be a qualified Hokage than Hiruzen!"

"It is precisely because of this that I have made one wrong choice after another!"

"For example, when facing someone who possesses the Rinnegan, the threat is secondary; what I desire more is the power of those eyes!"

"Once I obtain the power of those eyes, I will be able to take another step closer to becoming Hokage!"

"The human experimentation, the suppression of the Uchiha Jin clan, the suppression of other ninja clans, and even Hatake Sakumo..."

"What I've been doing is simply accumulating power to become Hokage, and clearing obstacles to achieve that goal!"

"They say it's for the village, but it's really for the Hokage!"

"As for the things I did for the village, it was only because it was the village of the Hokage!"

Danzo Shimura looked extremely frustrated, finding it hard to accept that he had finally seen through his true nature!

After all, he had been chanting "For Konoha" for decades, to the point that even Danzo Shimura himself believed it!

Wearing a mask for too long can be very painful if you try to take it off!

It took Danzo Shimura a long time to convince himself of this fact after he saw it clearly in the endless loop of Izanami!

It was only after he completely believed, accepted, got used to, and recognized this fact that Shimura Danzo finally came to his senses from Izanami!

The current Shimura Danzo is the Shimura Danzo who has seen himself clearly, accepted himself, and found himself again!

Shimura Danzo 2.0!

Chapter 330 Like-minded partners!

"I know it's too late to say all this now, so I've come to terms with it. I don't care what you do with me!"

"If you want me to cooperate with you in doing anything, as long as it is harmless to the village, I will do my best to cooperate!"

After a long silence, Shimura Danzo spoke up, expressing his stance.

"Oh," Uchiha Jin's eyes flickered upon hearing this, and he said, "You trust us that much?"

To be honest, although Shimura Danzo's attitude was very sincere at this time, Uchiha Jin still had some doubts about him.

Given his relationship with Shimura Danzo, even if Shimura Danzo had a complete change of heart and regretted the sins he had committed, he shouldn't have trusted the Uchiha clan so much!

Danzo Shimura shook his head slightly and said, "I don't believe you, or the Uchiha clan, but I believe Minato!"

Danzo Shimura's words startled everyone present, and they instinctively looked at Minato Namikaze.

Even Minato Namikaze pointed at himself with some doubt, thinking that his relationship with Danzo Shimura shouldn't be that good.

Danzo Shimura continued, "I admit that from the very beginning, from the time Tobirama-sensei took power, the village's attitude towards the Uchiha clan was indeed somewhat excessive!"

"When Tobirama founded the Konoha Police Department, he confined the Uchiha clan to a small circle precisely to guard against them!"

"And I, along with Hiruzen and the other disciples of Tobirama, have inherited Tobirama's will, and our vigilance against the Uchiha clan has reached a new level!"

"But it cannot be denied that your Uchiha clan does indeed have reasons to be wary of you!"

"Arrogant, complacent, ambitious, and extreme in temperament... coupled with the unique bloodline of your Uchiha clan, you are a potential threat to the stability and harmony of any place you go!"

"You need to be treated specially!"

After a pause, Shimura Danzo added, "Of course, what I meant by special treatment is not that kind of thing. Tobirama-sensei used the wrong method from the very beginning!"

"It's true that the Uchiha clan has some personality issues, but in my eyes you're more like a bunch of immature children—straightforward, innocent, and arrogant..."

"That's exactly why you all act so annoying!"

"Therefore, using confrontational methods will only provoke you and make you rebellious!"

"On the contrary, if we guide you with gentle methods, the Uchiha clan will definitely be the village's greatest asset!"

Upon hearing this, Uchiha Jin, Namikaze Minato, and Uchiha Hachidai exchanged bewildered glances.

Although Danzo Shimura's statement seems a bit strange, it actually makes some sense!

The Uchiha clan members don't have high emotional intelligence and are indeed somewhat childish!

The Uchiha clan members are indeed people who respond better to kindness than force. As long as you don't provoke them, they may look down on you, but they will never bully you. They might even protect you out of consideration for their comrades!

Danzo Shimura's summary is quite insightful!

Danzo Shimura continued, "It is precisely because of the Uchiha clan's 'pure' nature that they are easily misled by those with ulterior motives!"

"The reason why the Uchiha clan and the village had such a falling out was because of some of the actions of myself and Hiruzen!"

"After understanding this, I am actually quite at ease with the Uchiha clan."

"But you're different!"

At this point, Shimura Danzo looked directly into Uchiha Jin's eyes and said, "Uchiha Jin, you are an anomaly in the Uchiha clan!"

"You have the unique weaknesses of the Uchiha clan, but you also have 'intelligence' that the Uchiha clan lacks!"

"Even I, an old man, have been completely fooled by you. Under your rule, no one in the Uchiha clan knows what they might do!"

Uchiha Jin chuckled upon hearing this and said, "So you can't trust me because you feel like I've played you?"

"No!" Shimura Danzo shook his head and said, "Your methods are actually nothing special. It's just that I was already caught up in the situation at the time and blinded by the position of Hokage, so I didn't notice anything unusual!"

"No, to be precise, I actually realized something was wrong later on, but having already staked everything, I had no way out!"

"Even if I have some doubts, I can only pretend I didn't see them and take a desperate gamble!"

"But that's not a reason why I can't trust you now!"

"What truly makes me unable to trust you is your vision, your purpose, and your ambition!"

Upon hearing this, Uchiha Jin raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised, and asked, "You know my target?"

Danzo Shimura shook his head and said, "I don't know, but I'm not completely ignorant either!"

After a pause, Danzo Shimura explained, "Everything changed after the Third Shinobi World War ended, when you returned to the village and became the head of the Uchiha clan!"

"No, perhaps it's from even farther away!"

"But back then you were still operating in the shadows. It wasn't until after the Third Shinobi World War ended and you returned to the village that you began to show your talent and officially came into our view!"

"Of course, from the perspective of your Uchiha clan, there is nothing wrong with what you did, but the attitude you showed was very problematic!"

"Your Uchiha clan now possesses at least four pairs of Mangekyou Sharingan, a power that far surpasses ours!"

"If the only goal is to resolve the conflict between the Uchiha clan and the village, it would be an extremely easy task for the current Uchiha clan."

"Even if you use the most brutal methods and launch an armed coup, the success rate is close to 100%. The only difficulty is the aftermath after the coup succeeds."

"But you didn't do that, or rather you did, but it was just a side effect; your main purpose was definitely not that!"

"Besides resolving the conflict between the Uchiha clan and the village, your Uchiha clan's greatest obsession has always been the position of Hokage!"

"But judging from your attitude, you're not aiming for the Hokage position!"

"But someone like you is definitely not willing to be subordinate to others. Your ambitions are even greater than the position of Hokage!"

At this point, Shimura Danzo smiled and said, "How many goals in this world are greater than the Hokage position? Although I don't know your specific purpose, I can guess it pretty accurately!"

"For someone like you, the village is nothing more than a pawn, an aid to your schemes!"

"Therefore, from the village's perspective, I cannot easily trust you!"

Uchiha Jin looked at the confident Shimura Danzo with some emotion.

As expected of the leader of Root and the darkest place in the ninja world, Shimura Danzo was able to deduce quite a lot from just a few clues.

But Uchiha Jin showed no intention of speaking, and there was no need for him to explain anything to Shimura Danzo.

Shimura Danzo didn't wait for Uchiha Jin to speak and continued, "But Namikaze Minato is different. Although he also deceived me and Hiruzen and the others, I am certain that this was also the work of you, Uchiha Jin!"

At this point, Danzo Shimura looked at Minato Namikaze again.

Minato Namikaze chuckled sheepishly and scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly.

Danzo Shimura smiled and said, "I believe I haven't misjudged anyone, and neither have Hiruzen and the others. Minato Namikaze's stance is definitely on the side of the village!"

"Even if Minato Namikaze has reached an agreement with you, it only means that your plan will not affect the village!"

"Minato Namikaze won't let you do anything harmful to the village!"

"Therefore, I am willing to cooperate with you on some matters!"

"I see!" Uchiha Jin said upon hearing this, "You guessed right, my target is indeed not limited to the village, but it won't cause any harm to the village!"

"Similarly, Minato certainly wouldn't do anything harmful to the village, but his goal is the same as mine!"

"We are like-minded partners!"

Upon hearing this, Shimura Danzo was taken aback, then revealed a bitter smile, a hint of reminiscence.

"Like-minded companions... I had such a group of companions before!" Shimura Danzo shook his head and said, "However, blinded by greed and power, I fell because of my obsession, Hiruzen fell because of power, and Koharu and En fell because of their interests!"