Seeing the hearts of the people wavering, Sarutobi Hiruzen nudged Shimura Danzo beside him.
"Danzo, you are the Hokage now, say something."
Upon hearing this, Shimura Danzo raised his head.
But when he saw the sharp eyes of Senju Tobirama, a trace of fear inexplicably rose in his heart.
In the end, he could only lower his head, standing there silently like a child who had made a mistake.
Seeing Shimura Danzo's behavior, Sarutobi Hiruzen knew he couldn't count on him, so he gritted his teeth and cleared his throat.
He said in a deep voice: "The matter of the Senju Clan was just a coincidence. Every one of their clansmen inherited the will of fire and held the belief that they would protect the Village even at the cost of their lives, which is why their talent withered during the first two Ninja World Wars."
"But their deaths were meaningful. It is precisely because of their sacrifice that we have been able to enjoy long-lasting peace in Konoha."
"As for the Uzumaki Clan... at the end of the day, they were not a Ninja Clan of Konoha. Who the Uzumaki Clan supports has nothing to do with us in Konoha."
"The Hatake Clan goes without saying. Only Hatake Sakumo and Hatake Kakashi remain. They colluded with the Uchiha Clan and had long since betrayed the will of fire."
"And the Hyuga Clan... not long ago, when I asked them to send clansmen to help the Village resist the Hidden Cloud Village, they chose to defect. Such a clan is a disgrace to Konoha!"
"Even though the Uchiha Clan and the Senju Clan joined forces to found Konoha, those two clans cannot represent the entirety of Konoha."
"Konoha also has the Nara Clan, Yamanaka Clan, Akimichi Clan, Aburame Clan, Inuzuka Clan, Kurama Clan, Shimura Clan... and countless ordinary civilian Ninja."
"It is precisely because we possess these Ninja Clans and civilian Ninja who have inherited and carried forward the will of fire that Konoha is Konoha!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice grew louder as he spoke, and finally, he pointed at Uchiha Yuzuru and said coldly: "Therefore, even if you powerful Ninja Clans unite, you will forever be traitors to Konoha!"
He now understood that he probably had no way out today.
But even if he were to die, he had to define the actions of the Uchiha Clan and the others as usurpation and rebellion.
Even if the Uchiha Clan eventually succeeded in taking control of Konoha, in the hearts of the people, their legitimacy would forever be questioned!
Thinking of this, a cold sneer appeared on Sarutobi Hiruzen's face.
Uchiha Yuzuru went to such great lengths to do all this, wasn't it just to preserve the reputation of the Uchiha Clan?
Dream on!
However, Uchiha Yuzuru just chuckled, his gaze toward Sarutobi Hiruzen filled with mockery.
In his eyes, Sarutobi Hiruzen was now like a monkey jumping up and down; the more frantically he jumped and the louder he screamed, the more satisfied he felt.
Don't you want to bind Konoha's Ninja Clans and civilian Ninja together to maintain your last shred of dignity?
Then I will tear away the last fig leaf covering you and make you lose all reputation in front of everyone!
Thinking of this, Uchiha Yuzuru signaled to Might Duy.
Might Duy immediately understood and led his men to throw the just-sealed Impure World Reincarnation Ninja one by one in front of the Konoha Ninja.
"Second Hokage, the Impure World Reincarnation Technique was researched by you, so why don't you explain to everyone the conditions for using this forbidden technique."
Senju Tobirama had long been extremely disappointed in Sarutobi Hiruzen, so he did not hide anything and began to explain calmly.
"The Impure World Reincarnation Technique can summon the dead from the Pure Land to the present world, but it requires preparing a sacrifice for the deceased in advance."
"The stronger the body of the sacrifice, the more the summoned deceased can display their power from when they were alive."
"Therefore, the sacrifice is..."
Senju Tobirama understood Uchiha Yuzuru's intentions and said in a deep voice: "Living people!"
Once these words were spoken, not only the Konoha Ninja, but even the Ninja from the Hidden Cloud Village all gasped.
If the sacrifice required for the Impure World Reincarnation Technique was a living person, then the forty thousand Impure World Reincarnation Ninja that Konoha had summoned earlier... didn't that mean forty thousand living people were used as sacrifices?!
Uchiha Yuzuru snorted softly and said in a deep voice: "You are welcome to tear off the bandages and take a look; you might just see the comrades you spend your days with."
The Konoha Ninja looked at each other, and some began to untie the bandages on the heads of the sealed Impure World Reincarnation Ninja on the ground.
In the next second, Ninja wearing Konoha forehead protectors with hideous expressions appeared before everyone's eyes.
Exclamations kept erupting from the crowd.
"Koizumi Yuji? He was in my graduating class; we graduated from the Ninja Academy together."
"This is... Kameda Kazuya. Wasn't he conscripted by the Village before the war started?"
"Inuzuka Shi! The missing Genin from the Inuzuka Clan!"
The corpses on the ground were quickly identified one by one, and many even discovered their own friends and relatives.
At this point, the Konoha Ninja had all figured it out.
Before the war started, those Ninja who had been conscripted early had actually been used as sacrifices for the Impure World Reincarnation Technique!
Uchiha Yuzuru looked at the ashen-faced, desperate Sarutobi Hiruzen and asked with a smile: "Third Hokage, how do you explain this?"
"Is the so-called will of fire just treating comrades as living sacrifices?"
"In your eyes, what exactly do these comrades count for?!"
Hearing Uchiha Yuzuru's questioning, Sarutobi Hiruzen's lips trembled, unable to speak.
He could only mutter repeatedly: "I had no choice, I had no choice. To protect the Village, I could only do it this way..."
Uchiha Yuzuru snorted disdainfully: "Are you still making excuses for yourself even now?"
"If it was truly to protect the Village, then why wasn't there a single Ninja from the Sarutobi Clan, Shimura Clan, Utatane Clan, or Mitokado Clan among these sacrifices?"
"The clans of the Hokage and the three hokage advisors are naturally superior in Konoha, right?"
After Uchiha Yuzuru's reminder, the Konoha Ninja, who had been immersed in various emotions, all came to their senses.
That's right, if it was truly to protect the Village, why wasn't a single Ninja from their own families chosen as one of these sacrifices?
Was the purpose of using the Impure World Reincarnation Technique to protect the Village, or to protect themselves and their own families?
All that talk about the will of fire was nothing but bullshit!
Seeing the expressions of the Konoha crowd, Uchiha Yuzuru decided to add more fuel to the fire.
He glanced at Orochimaru, who then walked out from the crowd.
Orochimaru stuck out his long tongue and licked his lips, then spoke in a hoarse voice: "You should all be familiar with me, right?"
"I admit that I did use the Village's Ninja for human experiments in the past, but..."
Orochimaru pointed at Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzo, and the others: "All of my actions were carried out with their tacit approval!"
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