In the sealed room, under the flickering firelight, Tobirama stood utterly motionless like a wooden dummy.
Known for his decisiveness, resolve, and cold demeanor, he had never imagined even in his wildest dreams that he would have a mental breakdown in front of others one day.
And the ones who shattered him mentally… were none other than his once most trusted successor and a group of his own students.
He wanted to cry, but no tears came. He was buried under the weight of deep remorse and dread.
Though he appeared cold-blooded and logical, he was in fact a person with an overwhelming sense of responsibility.
The ones who had turned Konoha into this mess were his successor and students, people he had chosen. In his eyes, that was no different from having ruined Konoha with his own hands.
So... was I just completely blind?
Looking once more at Shin, his expression turned increasingly complicated.
"You brought me back with Edo Tensei just to mock me?" he asked self-deprecatingly.
He had always looked down on the Uchiha clan. Since when did it become their turn to look down on him?
This feeling made him extremely miserable.
"No, no, no, you misunderstood." Shin shook his head. "The truth has already proven that you were a joke from the beginning. Nothing worth mocking."
Tobirama was about to snap back, but he continued, "I just wanted to see how Konoha's iron-blooded Hokage, who wouldn't even spare a child, would respond after learning what his student has done."
This question stopped Tobirama cold.
There was no mistaking what Shin meant: he wanted him to sacrifice personal feelings for justice.
Glancing at the weeping, pitiful Hiruzen beside him, Tobirama's cold heart couldn't help but tremble.
Did he hate Hiruzen?
Yes, he hated him bitterly.
At this point, even if Shin executed Hiruzen in front of him, he wouldn't blink. He might even thank Shin for helping clean house.
But to personally execute the student he had once been most proud of, even he couldn't bring himself to do that.
After all, he wasn't truly heartless.
What's more, he had been brought back via Edo Tensei, and his emotions toward Hiruzen were still rooted in that deep master-student bond from ten years ago.
Even though he now knew the things Hiruzen had done over the years, fully processing everything he'd heard and changing his view completely would still take time.
But intelligent people suffer from their own clarity.
He understood that, although Shin appeared to give him a choice, he really hadn't.
No matter what contributions he had made to Konoha, no matter that he had long since been driven out by the Uchiha clan, Shin's Uchiha blood hadn't changed. In other words, he was an extremist too.
After hearing how Shin had suffered during those seven years, how he had been targeted, how he had struggled to survive, Tobirama realized that the only reason Shin hadn't destroyed Konoha already was thanks to Tsunade and Minato.
Otherwise, Shin might have shown up today not to speak, but to witness Konoha's end firsthand.
Though now, influenced by them, he likely wouldn't destroy Konoha anymore.
Still, if Tobirama made the wrong choice, the outcome might still be one he couldn't accept.
Between the entire village and a student guilty beyond redemption, even if it tore at his heart, he made his decision without hesitation.
"Hiruzen... do you admit your guilt?" Tobirama stepped in front of Hiruzen and asked.
"Sensei!" Hiruzen looked like he had aged twenty years in mere hours. His hair and beard had gone completely white, his face was wrinkled, and he wept as he said, "I admit my guilt. I've let you down!"
Hearing that, Tobirama's heart turned utterly cold. He no longer wished to say another word. Slowly, he raised his hand toward Hiruzen's head.
"I really must have been blind back then, how did I ever think someone like you was worthy?"
I truly didn't expect that even now, you're still so lost.
Is others' opinion of you really that important? Even now, do you still care most about my view of you?
So what if you've disappointed me?
I'm just a dead man. If one day the situation in Konoha or the shinobi world changes, and tarnishing my legacy would somehow benefit Konoha, I wouldn't care, I might even feel gratified.
But how could you betray Konoha?
Don't forget, you were the Hokage!
From the moment you became Hokage, your only duty was to the village.
Your reputation?
What is your personal reputation compared to the entire village of Konoha?
But just now, when you were recounting all that's happened over the years, you still tried to subtly shift the blame onto Koharu, Danzō, and Homura.
Even onto people like Kagami, who died years ago, and Torifu, who no longer holds any authority, trying to use your words to manipulate how I see you.
If Shin weren't standing right here... if I weren't Tsunade's granduncle, you probably would've spread the blame even further, right?
But did you forget who I am? You really think a few words could sway my judgment?
Or has shirking responsibility become so ingrained in your bones that it's second nature now?
It was my mistake to choose you as Hokage. I truly was blind. Since that's the case, let me personally bring this to an end.
Just as Tobirama's hand was about to fall on Hiruzen's forehead, his brows suddenly furrowed. Shin, standing nearby, also frowned, clearly irritated.
What the hell?
Why does this feel like an ad break right at the best part?
In the next instant, two figures suddenly appeared in the sealed room, it was Tsunade and Minato.
The moment Minato saw Shin, he instinctively pointed at Tsunade with an innocent expression, as if to say "This has nothing to do with me."
Should've smacked that brat harder back then.
Couldn't you have waited ten more seconds?
Now how the hell am I supposed to continue?
Tsunade, on the other hand, stared at Tobirama in disbelief. Her eyes instantly welled up with tears.
When she first learned about Shin's plan, Tsunade, for a variety of reasons, agreed to disappear for a couple of days and let him do as he pleased.
After all, once she discovered that Hiruzen and Danzō had sold out the village's intel, instigated wars, and even colluded with enemies to get them killed, she knew that if Konoha was to be set right again, those two had to die, and it would also give Shin a chance to finally vent his rage.
But the longer things dragged on, the more uneasy she became, like something unexpected was about to happen.
So a few hours earlier, she returned to the frontlines and found Minato, telling him to bring her to Shin immediately, without delay.
After mastering the Flying Thunder God Technique, he had left a seal on Shin's body, allowing the two of them to support each other at any time.
And… this was what they walked in on.
Tobirama, seeing Tsunade, also froze. He looked her up and down for a long moment, then finally spoke, somewhat incredulously, "Tsunade?"
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Completed at Chapter 278!
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