Chapter 3: Not Evil, Just Extremely Weak
Tsunade fell silent for a moment, then spoke slowly. "I know what you're trying to say, but I can tell you this: regarding those conspiracy theories about the old man, most of them aren't true."
"The old man isn't the type of person who enjoys schemes and conspiracies. He's just..."
"Just what?" Yumesaki asked, his curiosity piqued.
Tsunade seemed hesitant to speak, but finally, she let out a long sigh. "To use a term from your world—the old man was just purely weak."
Yumesaki couldn't help but let out an "Aha." This answer genuinely caught him off guard.
Tsunade continued, "I am the only one left of the Senju Clan. On one hand, it's because the Senju bloodline has integrated into Konoha; on the other hand, it's because of the Wood Release experiments."
"In the past, my second granduncle, in an attempt to manifest Wood Release once more, researched Grandfather Hashirama's cells. Many clan members volunteered for these experiments, and the result was heavy casualties and severe injuries."
"Forced by circumstances, my second granduncle sealed the experiments and allowed the Senju to merge into Konoha."
"That is why after Nawaki died, the Senju were left with only me."
"As for the Uchiha Clan Massacre, that was entirely of their own making, carried out by Obito Uchiha in collaboration with Itachi Uchiha."
"The old man certainly played a part in pushing the situation forward, but fundamentally, it was still because he was weak."
"You've seen the story plot too; you know the old man was rushed into the position of Hokage by the second granduncle."
"Immediately after the second granduncle handed the Hokage title to him, he died in battle."
"So, the old man had absolutely no idea how to be a good Hokage."
"He didn't possess the overwhelming strength of Grandfather Hashirama, nor did he have the methods of the second granduncle. He could only huddle together with Danzo and the others for warmth, taking things one step at a time, which led Konoha to decline into its current state."
"You can call him weak, say his abilities were insufficient, say he didn't know how to be a Hokage, or even call him a fool—but you cannot call him evil."
Ah, so that's how it is...
Yumesaki really hadn't expected that Hiruzen Sarutobi, in Tsunade's eyes, was that kind of person.
Not evil, just extremely weak.
It wasn't exactly a glowing review.
But thinking about it carefully, what Tsunade said didn't seem wrong.
Even though Hiruzen Sarutobi was the disciple of Tobirama Senju, he was never actually groomed to be the successor.
At that time, Tobirama Senju was in his prime and hadn't considered training a successor yet.
However, plans rarely keep pace with change. No one expected that after Hashirama Senju's death, the First Shinobi World War would break out so suddenly.
Moreover, no one expected Kinkaku and Ginkaku to launch a coup while Tobirama Senju and the Second Raikage were attempting to form an alliance, resulting in both the Raikage and Tobirama dying in combat.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was forced to take office in a hurry, steering the massive ship known as Konoha through the survival of the ninja world.
Therefore, the existence of some baffling decisions was actually quite normal.
This point could be compared to Emperor Chongzhen.
He wasn't raised as a successor either, but was forced onto the throne.
Even though he lived frugally, worked with constant anxiety, and reviewed government affairs without ever slacking—one could even say he was diligent—the Ming Dynasty lasted only a little over a decade under his rule before it vanished.
Of course, comparing Konoha to the Ming Dynasty involved a difference in scale of thousands or millions of times, but the logic was the same.
Weakness, in truth, is the ultimate original sin.
Yumesaki asked curiously, "Actually, I still have one question. What's your take on Hiruzen Sarutobi never stepping onto the battlefield? Since taking office as Hokage, it seems he hasn't gone to the front lines even once."
"Meanwhile, the Kage of other villages, for the sake of their people, many of them fought on the front lines personally."
"A lot of people on the internet feel like this man lost his courage because he was terrified of the battlefield—that he was greedy for life and afraid of death."
"Which is why when the Hidden Cloud village pressured Konoha, he was forced to hand over Hizashi Hyuga's body as an apology."
Tsunade rolled her eyes and gave a cold snort. "Do you even know what a Kage means to a village?"
"Once the Kage of a village falls, the kind of upheaval that would hit the entire village is unpredictable."
"Staying off the battlefield was the right move."
"The reason why Kage from other villages went to the front wasn't because they enjoyed fighting. It was because if they didn't, there was simply no way to win those battles."
"So they had to go, because their villages no longer had the excess power to let them sit in the rear and command the fight."
Hearing this, Yumesaki couldn't help but let out an "Hmm" of agreement.
It seemed there was no flaw in that logic.
In Naruto, Konoha was the absolute protagonist, so they never experienced a generation gap when it came to geniuses.
Hashirama Senju, Tobirama Senju, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Shisui Uchiha, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Tsunade, Sakumo Hatake, Kakashi, Might Guy; experts who reached the Kage-level appeared one after another.
Other villages didn't have nearly as many geniuses.
What did the Hidden Sand Village have?
Aside from the Kazekage of each generation, what other experts were there? Lady Chiyo was one, her younger brother was another, and Pakura was one as well.
Aside from them, he couldn't even remember anyone else.
The Hidden Stone Village was the same. Besides the Tsuchikage lineage, there were only the Four-Tails and Five-Tails Jinchuriki.
After they finally managed to produce a talent like Deidara, he was lured away by the Akatsuki.
The Hidden Mist Village wasn't even worth mentioning. The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist sounded incredibly grand, but the result was four of them being kicked to death by Might Duy, while the remaining three either fled or defected.
It was a total mess. Under those conditions, it would be weird if the Kage could afford to sit in the back.
The only one in slightly better shape was the Hidden Cloud Village, but the only truly strong ones were the Raikage and the Eight-Tails—oh, and the Two-Tails.
Below those few, experts capable of matching a Kage-level were few and far between.
In contrast, Konoha was overflowing with talent. Kage-level figures appeared incessantly, so it was no wonder Hiruzen Sarutobi could sit calmly in the rear without risking his life on the front lines.
Unfortunately, he was just a bit too weak, which caused a Konoha filled with experts to gradually fall into a state of decline.
"Then what about Naruto Uzumaki? What's your opinion on that whole situation?" Yumesaki asked again. "Do you feel like Hiruzen Sarutobi was just taming a dog? Minato Namikaze was a Hokage, after all. Is it possible he didn't leave behind even a little bit of savings?"
"Why is his son reduced to eating instant ramen and drinking expired milk?"
Tsunade grew a bit irritated by Yumesaki's constant questioning. "Why are you asking me so much? How should I know what that old man was thinking? Maybe he really felt his actions were for Naruto Uzumaki's own good."
Immediately after, she pressed him in return, "More importantly, when are you going to connect to a new world? I can't stand staying in this place for another day."
Yumesaki replied with an annoyed tone, "Why do you keep rushing me? You think I want to stay in this dump?"
In the eyes of readers, Naruto was a world possessing incredible power.
Wood Release, Sharingan, Byakugan, Susanoo, Sage Art, Tenseigan, Rinnegan, and so on—each one was cooler than the last.
But in the eyes of a Transmigrator, it was actually a quite exclusive world.
If you underwent a soul transmigration and became a native of this world, it might still be okay.
But if you were like Yumesaki, who underwent a physical transmigration, you were basically cut off from Ninjutsu and Chakra.
After all, while humans in the world of Naruto and humans on Earth looked the same, they most likely weren't the same species.
What kind of human has one hundred and thirty trillion cells in their body?
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