At this moment, Ryōsuke also had the idea to amend the Military Police Force regulations.
"The ignorance of the villagers will only dishearten our heroes. Any internal matters should be handled internally."
"I ask the Captain and Vice-Captain of the Military Police Force to discuss and amend the regulations. We must strictly punish those villagers who wantonly insult or slander the village's heroes to prevent such incidents from happening again."
Fugaku immediately expressed his approval.
The heads of the Ino-Shika-Chō trio, the Inuzuka Clan Head, and Hyūga Hiashi naturally agreed as well.
If their own clans were to make a mistake one day and be subjected to the mindless verbal abuse of the villagers, wouldn't it break their spirits?
Ryōsuke was right; the villagers were somewhat ignorant and only saw the surface of things.
Shikaku, on the other hand, was already thinking that once this regulation was amended, the environment for the village's shinobi would likely improve significantly.
Ryōsuke's eyes narrowed.
"Now, it is time to judge the Third Hokage."
"The Third Hokage not only murdered Shisui of our clan, but as the Hokage, he also condoned Danzō's human experiments. This led to the downfall of the Senju Clan and the deaths of countless children. He even indirectly caused the deaths of the Fourth Hokage and his wife, as well as Hatake Sakumo."
"His care for the hero's son, Naruto, was also extremely incompetent."
"What do the clan heads think should be done with the Third Hokage?"
Everyone present wore a dark expression. It turned out the Third Hokage had committed so many evil deeds.
Although some of these crimes were forcibly pinned on the Third Hokage by Uchiha Ryōsuke, upon careful reflection, Ryōsuke's claims didn't seem entirely misplaced.
It was simply appalling.
It was the Third Hokage's various failures—first, failing to save Hatake Sakumo and allowing the villagers to slander him until he committed suicide. Of course, Sakumo's own psychological fragility played a part.
He had also failed in his duty to protect the Second Hokage, instead letting the Second Hokage stay behind to cover their retreat, resulting in his sacrifice.
This also led to Danzō conducting those cruel human experiments later on. As for those experiments, so many people were sacrificed without any useful results being achieved.
Just when the situation had finally stabilized and a genius like Namikaze Minato appeared, Minato was sacrificed due to the Third's mistakes, resulting in the loss of another genius.
Konoha had fallen into crisis once more. Fortunately, the Uchiha Clan turned the tide and ended the Cloud Village's continuous invasions.
The Third Hokage, who had always seemed so noble and great in their eyes, was actually like this.
Their convictions wavered. Perhaps they really had misjudged the Third Hokage; perhaps he wasn't a hero worthy of respect.
However, as for how to deal with him, they had no clear idea.
In truth, for such crimes, a death sentence wouldn't be out of the question, or at the very least, life imprisonment. Yet, they didn't dare to be the ones to start that precedent.
After all, he was the leader of the village. Who were they to decide his fate?
Doing so wouldn't bring them prestige; rather, it would invite trouble.
Ryōsuke frowned as he looked at the silent crowd.
"What, do none of you have any ideas?"
Even if the Third Hokage's crimes were proven, a judgment by all the clan heads was necessary for it to be seen as justice.
Soon, a clan head stood up and offered a suggestion.
"I believe the Third Hokage has committed such grave crimes that he should be sentenced to death."
Ryōsuke was in no hurry to agree and simply waited quietly for others to express their opinions.
Another clan head stood up and said, "I think a death sentence is inappropriate. The Third Hokage is, after all, the highest leader of the village. How can he be easily sentenced to death? He should be given life imprisonment."
For a moment, the entire meeting was filled with low whispers and murmurs, becoming somewhat chaotic.
Ryōsuke ignored it, allowing them to debate amongst themselves.
Some clan heads shared their views.
"No matter how great the Third Hokage's guilt, life imprisonment is enough. Is our Leaf Village going to set a precedent for sentencing a Kage?"
"Even high-level officials cannot kill without cause, otherwise, won't everything descend into chaos in the future?"
Quite a few people raised counter-questions.
One clan head even directed a question at Uchiha Ryōsuke.
"If the Third Hokage is sentenced to death for murder while in a high position, then what if the Uchiha Clan starts killing people indiscriminately?"
They were afraid of the Uchiha Clan acting recklessly.
The current high-level leadership of Konoha could be said to have been wiped out, and a major purge was bound to follow.
Uchiha Ryōsuke hadn't expected them to ask him this. After a moment of thought, he said with certainty, "This rule applies equally to my Uchiha Clan. If anyone kills the innocent, they will naturally be dealt with according to the Military Police Force regulations."
The person who asked the question felt relieved.
In that case, there was no need to worry about being purged in the future. He was, after all, considered a supporter of the Third Hokage.
It was just that he hadn't expected the Third Hokage to have such a dark side; it was difficult for them to continue speaking up for him.
"Then let's handle it according to the Military Police Force regulations."
But some people still spoke up.
"It is fine for ordinary people to be judged by those regulations. But this is the Third Hokage. I'm afraid it's inappropriate to judge him by the Military Police Force standards."
Uchiha Ryōsuke frowned. It seemed opinions were not unified enough, and lack of unity meant a lack of perfection.
He had previously thought that Shisui's death would be enough to finish the Third Hokage.
But it clearly wasn't enough, even after he had thrown all sorts of "dirty water" onto the Third Hokage's name.
Although the Third Hokage's reputation had been severely damaged and his image tarnished, some clan heads still stood in opposition.
It seemed he needed some high-level figures to take the lead.
He looked toward Hyūga Hiashi.
"What is the opinion of the Hyūga family?"
Hyūga Hiashi was also somewhat undecided.
After the Cloud Village incident, he no longer trusted the Third Hokage. The subsequent spy incident had made him even more vigilant. Today, he had to get a clear answer.
"Third Hokage, back when our two clans were forced to confront the Cloud Village's army at the border alone, the Fourth Raikage himself admitted after his capture that a high-level official in Konoha was passing military intelligence to them."
"I wonder, Third Hokage, were you aware of this?"
The other clan heads present were also extremely puzzled. Back then, sending those two clans to face the incredibly powerful Cloud Village made victory seem almost impossible.
This was a major affair for the village. Even those who felt the Hyūga family had brought the trouble on themselves felt that such a decision was too absurd.
How could those two clans bear such a heavy responsibility? If they had lost, the consequences would have been terrifying.
Rumors were also circulating that the Cloud Village had paid the Uchiha Clan a massive amount of compensation, so much that it would severely impact the Cloud Village's development for decades. From now on, they would likely never recover.
But if the Leaf Village had lost, then the Leaf Village would have had to pay massive compensation. What then?
Such a large sum of compensation would mean the money their clans received from the village would be significantly reduced.
They looked at the Third Hokage with questioning eyes, wanting to see how he would explain the matter of the spy.
Several clan heads even asked him directly, "Were you aware of this, Third Hokage?"