"My God!"
"Is this real?"
"Did the Third Hokage and his advisor Danzo really commit so many misdeeds behind the backs of everyone in Konoha?"
"...Even hearing it from the Fourth Hokage himself, it's still hard to believe."
Aoki's words on the Light Screen exploded like thunder over Konoha, instantly throwing the entire village into chaos. Most of the villagers were ordinary civilians, and now each wore an expression of shock and horror.
Among the prominent clans, the Nara Clan, long known for their sharp political insight, were the first to sense something amiss. Although they hadn't fully grasped the extent of the Third Hokage and Danzo's actions, they had pieced together some clues from the fragments of information and chose to remain silent, observing quietly.
Clans like the Hyuga and the Uchiha, however, secretly rejoiced upon hearing the news.
Everyone knew they had long grown weary of the Third Hokage's rule. Now, with these dark secrets exposed, they felt a deep sense of vindication. While they wouldn't actively attack the Sarutobi and Shimura clans to avoid giving others cause for criticism, watching their longtime rivals fall from grace was a natural source of satisfaction.
Meanwhile, in a Konoha tavern, a graceful figure sat by the window, pouring herself sake and gazing at Aoki's image on the Light Screen in the sky.
"Heh, kid, you've finally made your move."
The one sitting in the tavern was none other than Aoki's mentor, Senju Tsunade.
As if remembering something else, she glanced in the direction of the Sarutobi clan, a self-mocking smile curling her lips before she took another swig of sake.
Tsunade let out a soft snort, about to say something more, when a cold, sinister voice suddenly shattered the quiet.
"Tsunade, you avoided our teacher's summons and asked me to meet you here... for this?"
Tsunade continued drinking her sake in silence as a figure shrouded in a chilling aura slowly entered the tavern. The newcomer had a pale complexion and a gaze as dark and lurking as a venomous snake—none other than Orochimaru, a genius of the same generation as Tsunade and one of the Legendary Sannin.
Seeing Orochimaru approach, Tsunade said nothing, simply taking a bottle of sake from beside her and placing it before him.
"Here, have a drink. I just wanted to watch this good show."
Orochimaru stared at the sake in front of him, then turned to look at Tsunade. Seeing the long-absent look of relief and ease on her face, he said no more, picked up the sake, and took a sip.
His eyes fixed on the distant Light Screen, Orochimaru's mind flashed through the events of recent days.
Just a few days earlier, Aoki had stirred up a storm of public opinion in the village, gradually releasing fragments of evidence of the Third Hokage and Danzo's crimes. In the blink of an eye, he had dragged the Third Hokage down from his position. The speed and precision of this political upheaval left everyone stunned.
The speed of Aoki's ascension was unprecedented, something even Orochimaru hadn't anticipated. What puzzled him most, however, was that Aoki hadn't targeted him.
At the time, Orochimaru had been colluding with Danzo, conducting human experiments on Konoha villagers. He had expected to meet the same fate as the Third Hokage, yet Aoki had inexplicably spared him.
Aoki had personally sought him out, temporarily setting aside the accounts of human experiments, promising to continue funding his research, but setting one rule—the test subjects absolutely could not be people from Konoha.
This sudden change left Orochimaru full of doubts, never quite able to grasp Aoki's intentions, yet he was content with it—he could actually continue staying in Konoha to conduct experiments, which was already the best outcome.
Thinking of Aoki's various methods, a rare smile curled at the corner of Orochimaru's lips. He was eager to see how this grand play, directed by Aoki himself, would conclude.
Soon, all the evidence of crimes compiled by Minato Namikaze was publicly displayed on the Light Screen.
This evidence recorded the entire plan of the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and his advisor, Danzo Shimura, conspiring to frame the Senju Clan.
Senju ninjas, regardless of rank, were systematically assigned to near-suicidal missions, ultimately meeting their demise; even ordinary Senju clansmen integrated into Konoha were subjected to their covert human experiments.
Their crimes were utterly heinous. And when the Light Screen exposed that Danzo, in order to seize the First Hokage's Wood Release, had targeted Konoha's children, the entire village fell into a deathly silence.
No one could believe that Lord Danzo, who had always appeared kind and benevolent, could commit such insane acts. Even those ninja clans who had benefited from Hashirama and Tobirama, finding their place in Konoha and receiving their teachings, were shaken to the core by this dark truth.
After this ordeal, only a handful of the Senju Clan remained alive—Tsunade and the elderly Uzumaki Mito.
These two were utterly devoid of conscience!
A chill swept through Konoha. Before the crowd could recover from the shock of the children's tragic deaths, the evidence of crimes continued to play on the Light Screen. The conspiracies of the Sarutobi and Shimura clans colluding and manipulating Konoha, the truth of Danzo forcibly abducting talented youths from various clans—all were exposed one by one.
"Damn that Danzo!"
"Every time a genius emerges in our clan, they get brainwashed!"
These two demons!
The onlookers erupted in a wave of overwhelming fury, with the reactions of the major clans being particularly intense. Over the years, the decline of talent within their clans had left each family harboring resentment. If not for the clan heads suppressing it, chaos would have erupted long ago.
The evidence also exposed the two clans' years of frenzied wealth accumulation—from ninja supplies to civilian property, even the resources allocated by the Daimyo for Konoha's development were embezzled by the clansmen of these two villains.
The two lords themselves didn't take a single coin, but their close associates certainly did.
It was precisely because of this that the Sarutobi and Shimura clans, originally only the fourth and fifth in Konoha, rapidly rose to prominence, growing powerful enough to rival the Hyuga Clan.
Even worse, they not only extensively trained ninjas but also gathered large numbers of ordinary civilians for covert human experiments using Hashirama Cells.
This truth completely ignited the anger in the hearts of the major clans and civilians.
"Damn the Third Hokage!"
"Calling him the Third Hokage is an insult to the title! Sarutobi Hiruzen is utterly unworthy!"
"That's right!"
"And that old bastard Danzo!"
"Both are despicable, shameless scoundrels, unforgivable!"
Konoha was thrown into complete turmoil. Anyone with even a shred of sense vented years of pent-up frustration on these two who had controlled the village for so long.
The sky was filled with endless curses. Sarutobi Hiruzen and Danzo Shimura, their disguises completely torn away, were now fully exposed to the wrath of everyone in Konoha.
Swept up in this overwhelming tide of fury, the two chief culprits turned ashen-faced, trembling from head to toe.
It was over. Everything was over!
They could only watch helplessly as their actions over the years had led to this bitter outcome, powerless to turn the tide.