Hashirama Senju was extremely angry.
He believed Hiruzen Sarutobi had misinterpreted his meaning; he had never said anything about the Senju Clan integrating into the Village in such a way.
This was absolute nonsense!
And to this...
Senju Tobirama's expression was also quite ugly, and he immediately spoke coldly to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Monkey, you deserve to die!"
"As my disciple, how could you not know about such a thing?"
"Back then, my brother and I were willing to let a portion of the Senju members integrate into Konoha solely to allow for more people with Ninja potential to be born among the Civilians."
"This was to expand the Ninja base so we could deal with other hidden Villages!"
"Furthermore, after my brother passed away, I changed his line of thinking!"
"My brother said that any Senju Clan member could integrate into the Village if they wished, but my meaning back then was that only Senju Clan Civilians and those with poor Ninja potential were allowed to give up the Senju name and integrate among the Civilians."
"Senju Clan members at the rank of Chunin or above were not allowed to integrate with Civilians, even if they wanted to!"
"Even after integrating with Civilians, if any geniuses appeared among their descendants, they had to rejoin the Senju Clan!"
"As my disciple, you didn't even know this?"
"Or rather..."
"Did you intentionally choose not to know?"
Senju Tobirama instantly flew into a rage.
Yes!
First of all, although his brother was a bit of a blockhead, it was impossible for him to do something that would wipe out the Senju Clan; back then, he had only called for a portion of people to voluntarily integrate with the Civilians.
Moreover, when his brother chose to do so, he wasn't considering increasing the Ninja base; it was simply that the newly established Village was unstable, and this move was only intended to stabilize the Village.
But, by the same token!
His brother Hashirama Senju never thought of letting the Senju Clan go extinct!
After Hashirama Senju's death and Senju Tobirama's ascension to power, he changed that approach.
He stopped talking about volunteering and instead chose to tighten restrictions.
Senju members with a certain level of Ninja talent were strictly forbidden from giving up the Senju name to join the Civilians; only Civilians and those with poor talent were allowed.
But what about now?
When it reached Hiruzen Sarutobi's side, it became the entire Senju Clan giving up their name, and everyone having to choose to integrate into the Village?
What was even more infuriating was... the Senju Clan members who were unwilling to give up their name were all sent to the front lines to die off.
Those who were willing to give up the Senju name were then tricked into becoming sacrifices for the Hashirama cells experiments.
This operation—simply incredible!
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Uzumaki Mito didn't bother to say much; after all, she had seen these messy affairs back then, so she wasn't as angry now, though her gaze toward Hiruzen Sarutobi grew even colder.
Sakumo Hatake was the same!
Although he was a samurai who advocated for justice, having also been a member of the Anbu, he had truly witnessed the darkness of the Village.
Therefore.
He chose to commit suicide back then solely to protect Kakashi!
Because Hiruzen Sarutobi did not stop the public outcry once it began to ferment, he knew Hiruzen wanted him to be tainted by darkness, thereby completely losing his eligibility to compete for the position of fourth hokage, eventually becoming Hiruzen Sarutobi's obedient dog.
But, similarly.
Although Sakumo Hatake never thought about becoming the fourth hokage, the pride in his heart would never allow his life to be manipulated by Hiruzen Sarutobi, much less be forced to taint himself with darkness and act as his dog.
However, here was the problem!
Could he, being unwilling, resist?
Although he had some ability at that time, Hiruzen Sarutobi was firmly seated in the Hokage position; there was no possibility of success if he chose to resist back then.
Defect?
What would happen to the young Kakashi?
So.
Unwilling to be a dog and wanting to protect Kakashi, he ultimately steeled his heart and chose suicide!
Thus, now that Uchiha Jin had spoken the truth, there was naturally no surprise on Sakumo Hatake's face; after all, he had known the truth in his heart long ago.
Therefore, at this moment, he was just watching quietly.
Only—Uzumaki Kushina!
When she heard Uchiha Jin say that there was something wrong with the Nine-Tails Attack Night, her entire being instantly became incredibly enraged.
"Hiruzen Sarutobi, you deserve to die!"
"Why didn't I think of these things back then?"
"Thinking about it now, it's indeed true."
"Back then, the only people who knew the time of my delivery were a few members of the Konoha High Command."
"Even the Anbu guarding in the shadows on the day of birth were only notified an hour before; so how did the Mastermind behind the scenes that night know the actual delivery date?"
"There was only one possibility—a Traitor!"
"But I really didn't expect that you, Hiruzen Sarutobi, for the sake of power, could not even tolerate Minato?"
"You should know that back then, Minato showed considerable respect to you, the retired Sandaime!"
"At that time, even though you had stepped down from the Hokage position, as long as you spoke, even if Minato felt very uncomfortable in his heart, he ultimately chose to accept it."
"Under such circumstances, what more did you want?"
"Could you not even tolerate someone as gentle as Minato, Hiruzen Sarutobi?"
"Right!"
"I've thought of it!"
"On the night the two of us died, when Minato sealed the Nine-Tailed into Naruto, he specifically gave the Key to the Seal to Mount Myōboku. At the time, I didn't understand—why?"
"Clearly, you, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had already rushed over by then!"
"But Minato still chose to give the key to Mount Myōboku instead of giving it to you, Hiruzen Sarutobi!"
"It turns out that even without evidence, Minato must have seen through you long ago, Hiruzen Sarutobi?"
"Thinking about it, it makes sense!"
"Why has my Naruto lived such a miserable life these past few years?"
"Heh!"
"I suppose my child is only able to keep his life now because you don't have the key to the Nine-Tailed seal on Naruto's body and have no way to get the Nine-Tailed out of him. That's the only reason my child has been able to survive until now, isn't it?"
"If Minato had really given you the key to the Nine-Tailed seal back then, Naruto would most likely have died early for some reason by now, wouldn't he?"
"Hiruzen Sarutobi, you are truly ruthless!"
"Back then, I never saw through what a bastard you were!"
"Why?"
"Is power really that important?"
"If it was so important, why did you hand it over to Minato in the first place?"
"Why did you let Minato become the fourth hokage?"