"Of course, that isn't the most important part.
The real reason the Four Great Ninja Villages were willing to launch three Shinobi World Wars is because the land the First Hokage left us is simply too good, compared to the other four great villages, it's good to the point of being excessive.
To sum it up in one sentence, Konoha's founding location is so exceptional that it became a cradle for ninja prodigies."
As soon as Orochimaru said this, aside from Tsunade and the few others who knew the inside story, every Konoha ninja present was left staring in stunned disbelief.
They had heard the saying that Konoha was regarded by the major villages of the shinobi world as a cradle of geniuses.
But they never imagined that this reputation wasn't baseless talk, it had concrete proof behind it.
And that proof was the legacy left behind by the First Hokage.
The lingering grace of the so-called God of Shinobi had been continuously blessing Konoha, its ninja, and its villagers ever since.
"So even after the First Hokage's death, he's still been protecting Konoha. No wonder our village has never lacked geniuses.
But what does this have to do with the Shame of Kumogakure?"
At this moment, Minato suddenly understood why Garp had vanished without a trace, and why, after the First Hokage's death, the other four villages began lunging at Konoha again and again like sharks drawn to the scent of blood.
It turned out that the location of Konoha was simply too good.
After more than a decade of relentless Wood Release modification by the First Hokage, it had become nothing short of a paradise in the shinobi world.
"A place that breeds geniuses, do you really think no one would have their eyes on it?"
Orochimaru asked in return.
"Could it be that the First Raikage had his sights on Konoha?
But that doesn't seem to have much to do with Lord Garp, does it?
Not only was he not from Konoha, but it seems he had already disappeared from the shinobi world by the time Konoha was founded."
Minato felt he was grasping something, yet he still couldn't quite piece it together.
"Who told you Konoha has nothing to do with Lord Garp?
Before the First and Second Hokage, along with Madara, founded Konoha, the land beneath your feet belonged to Lord Garp.
Without Lord Garp's nod back then, there would be no Konoha today, the village praised as a cradle of geniuses."
As soon as Orochimaru said this, the uninformed Konoha ninja all turned their gazes toward the Third Hokage.
"What Orochimaru said is correct.
Back then, the First Hokage, the Second Hokage, and Madara personally paid a visit to Lord Garp in order to build a village in the Forest of Konoha.
It was only after obtaining Lord Garp's consent that today's Konoha came to be."
Hiruzen's smile was somewhat stiff, and his dissatisfaction with Orochimaru deepened further.
Konoha belonging to Garp….
Although he hadn't dared to deliberately erase this fact, he had always spared no effort to dilute it through various means.
But with Garp's reemergence and Orochimaru's words today, Hiruzen knew that all his years of effort had gone straight to waste.
He could easily imagine that even if Garp never set foot in Konoha, his status and influence would still crush him by a hundredfold.
For no other reason than this, once this news spread through the village, whether villagers, merchants, or even civilian ninja and small, uninformed ninja clans, they would naturally form a single thought.
So the true owner of Konoha is Iron Fist Garp!
When he thought about how Garp had been invited out of retirement by himself together with the other two council members, Hiruzen was filled with regret.
If he had known this would happen, he never should have asked Garp to come out.
Sending Homura and Koharu into battle would have been better, even personally taking some risks on the battlefield himself would have been preferable to inviting Garp.
At the very least, it wouldn't have led to the current situation, where more and more Konoha ninja believed that Garp was the true master of Konoha, rather than believing that Hiruzen was.
"Besides the First Hokage and the others, those who also paid a visit back then, hoping to build their villages here, included the First Raikage, the First Kazekage, the First Mizukage, and the First Tsuchikage we're familiar with today.
It's just that in the end, Lord Garp chose the First Hokage, not the other four founding Kage."
Orochimaru spoke as if he hadn't noticed how forced his teacher's smile had become, continuing on his own.
"Then…"
"After being rejected, two of the First Raikage's younger brothers harbored deep resentment.
Together with the First Tsuchikage, they planned an assassination that shocked that era.
Aside from the First Tsuchikage who led the operation, and one of the First Raikage's brothers, there were more than a dozen ninja clans that took part.
Among them were ten fighters at the level of the Sannin, like us.
As for ninjas comparable to today's elite Jonin, there were more than fifty in total."
Just as Jiraiya was listening with rapt fascination and couldn't help wanting to ask more, Orochimaru revealed yet another secret that made the vast majority of the ninja present gasp in shock, their scalps going numb.
"Ten legendary Sannin!"
"More than fifty elite Jonin!"
"In our era, that would be more than enough to wipe out any one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, wouldn't it?"
Kushina and the others felt their heads tingle.
Not to mention a Kage of the First generation, or even the First Raikage's own brother, just ten Sannin-level combatants, plus over fifty elite Jonin, all hardened veterans who had endured the merciless fires of the Warring States era, would be enough to flatten any village of the current age.
"Damn it!"
The Konoha ninja listened with awe-filled expressions, but the faces of the Third Raikage and Fourth Raikage grew darker and darker.
If Garp hadn't been standing right there, and if the Third Raikage didn't still need to ask a favor of him, they would have already activated Lightning Release and silenced everyone by force.
Even so, the father and son still clenched their fists, teeth grinding audibly, barely suppressing themselves.
Although Orochimaru hadn't said it outright yet, Kumogakure wasn't without its records.
This incident was the shame of Kumogakure, the shame of the Raikage!
After Garp vanished from the world, Kumogakure had gone to great lengths over several generations of Raikage to erase those who knew the truth, all in order to cover it up.
But with Orochimaru's words today, it was equivalent to announcing it to the entire shinobi world.
And yet, they had no choice but to endure it!
...
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