Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzō, and the others were supposed to be the guards of the Second Hokage, yet they let Tobirama sacrifice himself to cover their escape. No matter the era, Sarutobi Hiruzen should have been held accountable for that.
Yet somehow, Sarutobi Hiruzen still became the Third Hokage.
Sasuke casually spun a tale to Kakashi—that Tobirama's death wasn't just the result of the Kinkaku and Ginkaku brothers from Kumogakure. There might have been internal involvement from Konoha as well.
It was just like during the "Konoha Crush" incident: when the Third Hokage fought desperately against Orochimaru, not a single person came to help. In a way, Tobirama had also incurred the wrath of the people...
...
"Konoha under the Second Hokage's rule was a mess," Sasuke said with a sigh. "Of course, that's only relative. Kakashi-san, you probably can't even imagine how glorious the original Konoha once was."
"Back then, with legends like Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara, even an ordinary Konoha shinobi could walk across the entire ninja world with their head held high. Sure, Hashirama was the apologetic type, but the sheer arrogance of Konoha was practically written into the air."
"As for apologies, well, obviously someone must have suffered. But with Hashirama, his attitude was basically, 'I apologized, so you'd better forgive me.'"
"Who would dare not forgive?"
Sasuke glanced at Kakashi, his voice turning colder.
"That was the original Konoha—powerful, domineering, unstoppable."
Kakashi remained silent. He had been born during the Third Hokage's era. He knew nothing of Konoha's earliest days, and there weren't many detailed records in the history books either. Now, everyone in the village simply praised the Third as the 'strongest Hokage.'
...
Sasuke shifted the conversation.
"Unfortunately, Konoha's initial glory didn't last long. It's as if someone was secretly stirring up conflict. Even though the Senju and Uchiha clans had been slowly reconciling, somehow, Hashirama and Madara still fell into discord and parted ways. From then on, the ninja world shifted from one superpower and four strong forces to five strong powers."
"First, Madara left. Later, he and Hashirama fought each other to mutual ruin. After that, Konoha was no longer the overwhelming superpower it once was. Senju Tobirama wasn't weak, but when compared to Hashirama and Madara, his presence seemed almost...ordinary."
"Tobirama achieved a lot. He used his intellect to address Konoha's internal and external crises—establishing the Anbu, centralizing power; creating the Konoha Police Force, supposedly to protect the village but in reality to keep the Uchiha under watch; founding the Ninja Academy to train civilian shinobi."
"But no matter how capable he was, he couldn't change one fact: under Tobirama's leadership, Konoha's external strength was a far cry from what it had been under Hashirama and Madara. The gap was like heaven and earth."
"Falling from luxury into hardship is easy; returning to hardship after tasting luxury is unbearable. What Hashirama and Madara could achieve with just a few words or a display of strength, Tobirama had to plot and scheme endlessly to accomplish. When Hashirama and Madara were alive, no one realized how much they relied on them. Only after they were gone did they regret it bitterly. The Konoha that once apologized with arrogance gradually learned to compromise and endure. That kind of drastic fall... isn't something everyone could accept."
There was a faint note of mockery in Sasuke's voice as he said this.
...
Kakashi looked puzzled. "Sasuke, are you saying that the Second Hokage's limited ability led to Konoha's decline, and so the clans banded together to get rid of him? That's absurd."
Sasuke shook his head.
"Of course it's not that simple. Tobirama wasn't as powerful as Hashirama or Madara, but his brain kept him firmly seated as Hokage. It was his subsequent series of controversial moves that made everyone turn against him."
"Techniques like the Infinite Darkness Jutsu and Flying Thunder God... all of them were developed primarily to counter the Uchiha. Then there was the Konoha Police Force—the malice toward the Uchiha was crystal clear. And when you think about it, if he eliminated the Uchiha, who could say they wouldn't be next?"
"Back then, the shinobi clans weren't like they are now. Many had survived through the Warring States period. They didn't trust each other to begin with. It was only through Hashirama's overwhelming strength and broad heart that they were united into a single village. The agreement had been clear: put aside old grudges and work together for a better future."
"But the moment Tobirama took over, he went after the Uchiha with a vengeance. What message did that send?"
"People didn't understand Tobirama's fear of the Uchiha. They only saw him using his power to exact petty revenge. Some even blamed Madara's departure on Tobirama's schemes."
...
"Why Madara left is still a mystery to this day, but a lot of people suspected Tobirama had a hand in it. His motives were the most suspicious."
Even though Madara had a terrible reputation and was hated by many in Konoha, that didn't mean the village wanted to lose him. It was like with Hatake Sakumo—people insulted him when he was alive, but when he killed himself, everyone panicked.
With Madara around, Konoha never had to compromise. Even if Konoha shinobi bullied others, it didn't matter—Hashirama might offer a token apology, but Madara wouldn't even bother with that.
...
After Sakumo's death, the very ninja he had saved at the cost of his mission ended up dying too. Konoha couldn't accept people like him. Someone had to take responsibility, so he had to die.
Similarly, after Hashirama and Madara were gone, someone needed to take the blame.
"A Hokage who applied harsh control internally and endless compromise externally was bound to be abandoned. Especially with Uzumaki Mito still alive, and her descendants still around..."
"The ninja world had only just transitioned from clan rule to village rule. Who didn't have ties outside the village? Engineering a coordinated 'foreign incident' wasn't hard. And so Tobirama died. And the ones responsible were barely punished—if they were punished at all."
"The bait and false orders... led to Sarutobi Hiruzen's rise. The noble clans didn't want a strong, unyielding Hokage. They wanted a puppet they could manipulate at will. Otherwise, in a Konoha teeming with powerful shinobi, how could a young man from a minor clan have become the Third Hokage?"
...
"Hiruzen was nothing more than a chess piece pushed onto the stage by the noble clans. But no one foresaw that after two more great wars, the Uzumaki Clan would fall, the Senju Clan would disappear, and the power of the noble clans would plummet. The civilian forces rose instead."
"The Third seized the chance to ally with some clans, suppress others, and established dark, violent groups like Root. His position as Hokage grew ever more secure."
...
Of course, everything Sasuke had said was nothing but wild conspiracy theory. Kakashi sat there stunned, having never heard such a crazy, mind-blowing story in his life. Still, he didn't forget the real point:
"What does any of this have to do with Obito?"
Good. That's Kakashi for you—always thinking about his beloved Obito.
Sasuke stared at him steadily.
"Do you really think Tobirama was that easy to outmaneuver? Do you really think the Senju Clan would willingly vanish from history?"
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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