Uchiha Madara: "What?! The Uchiha clan has actually been wiped out?"
Senju Hashirama: "Madara, calm down!"
Uchiha Madara: "Calm down my foot! It wasn't your Senju clan that got exterminated, was it?"
Senju Hashirama: "Now that you mention it, I am curious—what happened to our Senju clan? @Sarutobi Hiruzen."
Sarutobi Hiruzen: "..."
Senju Hashirama: "Hiruzen, what is this supposed to mean? Could it be..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen: "Ahem!"
Tsunade: "I'll explain. The members of the Senju clan all died in the subsequent wars."
Senju Hashirama: "They all died in the wars?"
Tsunade: "As far as I know, yes, but I don't know the specific reasons."
Sarutobi Hiruzen: "Lord First, exactly as Tsunade said, ever since the Second Hokage passed away, Konoha has constantly been under siege."
Sarutobi Hiruzen: "During those perilous times, the Senju clan truly served as our backbone. Without their sacrifices, Konoha wouldn't exist today!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen: "They all inherited our Konoha's Will of Fire!"
Senju Hashirama: "I see. Ah, to think that even our Senju clan was eventually eliminated by the times!"
Senju Tobirama: "That doesn't sound right, Hiruzen. Even with the cruelty of war, how is it that every other clan in Konoha survived just fine, yet only the Senju clan vanished?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen: "I wouldn't know about that. The one in charge of deploying the Senju clan was Danzo, who later founded the Root organization—and he was your disciple as well!"
Senju Tobirama: "Danzo, step forward and explain yourself!"
Shimura Danzo: "Ahem..."
Shimura Danzo: "Well, Teacher Tobirama, you know me. If I had wanted to harm the Senju clan, I certainly wouldn't have stabbed them in the back while Konoha was in crisis!"
Senju Tobirama fell silent.
Knowing Shimura Danzo this kid,
he definitely had a mischievous streak.
As his teacher and a fellow master of underhanded schemes, Senju Tobirama understood this crystal clear.
Back in the day, his own targeting of the Uchiha was for the sake of the village and the Senju clan.
But if Shimura Danzo were to target the Senju clan,
then Konoha itself would be in grave danger!
Yet towards Konoha, Danzo had always remained utterly loyal.
Put that way,
could the annihilation of the Senju clan back then really have been just a coincidence?
Seeing that his usually sharp younger brother Tobirama had nothing more to say,
Senju Hashirama immediately dropped the matter as well.
After all, in Senju Hashirama's heart,
whether it was the Senju, the Uchiha,
or the Sarutobi, the Hyuga, the Yamanaka, and so on,
everyone was a part of Konoha.
In this big family,
they should all pull together and make no distinction between us and them!
Even though Hashirama's idealistic notion
had been criticized by his brother Senju Tobirama as "naive" more than once,
he still believed
that one day,
there would exist a Shinobi World where everyone understood one another!
Uchiha Madara: "Don't try to change the subject! Hashirama might be an idiot, but I'm certainly not!"
Senju Hashirama: "(#‵′)!!!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen: "If we're talking about this, it goes way back. It's a long story."
Fourth Raikage: "No worries, I'm not in a rush. I've got melon seeds and snacks right here, take your time."
Onoki: "Old man here is dying to know, too!"
Terumi Mei: "Turns out it's not just our Hidden Mist Village that has problems—Konoha is just as much of a mess!"
Fourth Kazekage Rasa: "And here I was saying our Hidden Sand Village has decent security! To keep everyone safe, I never even dared let Gaara get a good night's sleep!"
Fourth Kazekage Rasa: "Once I'm revived, they better elect me Kazekage again! I'm going to build a brand new shinobi village!"
Gaara: "..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen: "The destruction of the Uchiha clan was not something Konoha intentionally planned. The Fourth Hokage should know as well; during his tenure, he constantly worked toward maintaining a balance between Konoha and the Uchiha clan."
Namikaze Minato: "That is actually true. I always hoped the Uchiha clan and Konoha could understand one another and become one!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen: "To that end, I even specially promoted two talented individuals from the Uchiha clan: Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Shisui, placing one under my direct command and the other under Danzo's."
Sarutobi Hiruzen: "So how could I possibly want to harm the Uchiha? It was truly due to an accident. Everyone knows who the person actually responsible for the slaughter of the Uchiha clan was—it was Uchiha Itachi. He just happened to be under my command at the time, but I knew absolutely nothing about it when he carried out the clan massacre!"
Shimura Danzo: "Hiruzen is right, I completely agree. As for why Uchiha Itachi suddenly wiped out the Uchiha clan, and why Uchiha Shisui also died, I am completely in the dark as well!"
Uchiha Shisui: "..."
Shimura Danzo: "Huh? Shisui, how come you're in this chat too? You should've said so earlier!"
Shimura Danzo: "Oh, by the way, your good friend—the younger brother of Uchiha Itachi, Uchiha Sasuke—misses you a lot, you know!"
Uchiha Shisui: "Sasuke..."
Orochimaru: "My, my, why do I detect a tiny hint of a threat in that?"
Shimura Danzo: "Cut the crap! Could I possibly be that kind of person? I, Shimura Danzo, have always reasoned with people!"
As Shimura Danzo's words trailed off,
everyone fell silent.
Does nobody in this chat know what kind of scum you are, Shimura Danzo?
Sitting there pretending to be an innocent little lamb?
What was that about reasoning with people?
Even the Second Hokage couldn't watch this any longer.
Senju Tobirama: "Enough, Danzo, Hiruzen. Let's put an end to this matter here and not let the other villages make a laughingstock of us."
Hearing Senju Tobirama speak up,
Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzo both couldn't help letting out a sigh of relief.
If this discussion kept going,
wouldn't everything have been completely exposed?
Yet regarding the Uchiha clan,
they really couldn't entirely be blamed.
The downfall of the Uchiha
was not a decision made by the Third Hokage,
nor was it a decision made by Danzo;
it was the 'village' that demanded their extermination,
so they had no choice but to be exterminated!
Back then, Uchiha Itachi was the one who understood the root of the problem,
which was why he chose to take it upon himself to become the sinner.
All he hoped for in return was to spare the life of his younger brother, Uchiha Sasuke.
To this request,
Sarutobi Hiruzen naturally agreed.
If the Uchiha clan could completely vanish
without letting anyone else get hold of any dirt on them,
then having someone from within the Uchiha clan do the deed was naturally the best option!
As Sarutobi Hiruzen's personal ANBU operative, Uchiha Itachi naturally knew
that had the Fourth Hokage not died in the chaos of war,
relying on Namikaze Minato's strength,
coupled with the three thousand clansmen of the Sarutobi clan,
they could have maintained a balance with the Uchiha clan.
However, with the accidental death of Namikaze Minato,
that equilibrium was naturally shattered!
Asuma lacked the capacity to inherit the mantle of the Fourth Hokage
and become this new point of balance;
he still needed more time to grow!
Before the Fourth Hokage,
there had once been another man capable of balancing the Uchiha and the village—
a man known as the White Fang of Konoha!
He, too, had been personally groomed by Sarutobi Hiruzen,
but unfortunately,
he made a mistake the village could never tolerate!
He tarnished the Will of Fire!
Consequently, under the pressure of public opinion,
the White Fang of Konoha chose to commit suicide!
Sarutobi Hiruzen certainly felt regret and pity,
yet for the sake of the village,
all of this was worth it!