Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi speak, Utatane Koharu quickly stepped forward to support him:
"Exactly. Hiruzen has been Hokage for decades and has never done anything to harm the Village. I can testify to that."
Homura Mitokado also spoke up:
"Hiruzen's character is clear for all to see. There is really no need to doubt him."
These words were indeed reasonable.
Since becoming Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi could be considered diligent and conscientious.
He hadn't been involved in any major scandals.
Tsunade curled her lip, turned her head to the side, and stopped talking.
As Hiruzen Sarutobi's disciple, she naturally knew the Old Man's character; he wasn't capable of such things.
If he had such decisive operational ability, the Uchiha Clan would have been marginalized to death by him long ago.
Just like the vanished Senju Clan.
Thinking of the Senju Clan, a surge of anger and helplessness welled up in Tsunade's heart again.
The atmosphere became somewhat awkward, and no one spoke.
Utatane Koharu was eager to break the tension and said with a forced laugh:
"This Uchiha Itachi's heart is with Konoha; he is very much worth cultivating."
"Minato, why don't you just bring him into your Shadow Guard Squad and train him well?"
Minato Namikaze was stunned upon hearing this, but he actually found it quite logical.
The Hokage, or rather the Kage of each Village, has their own Shadow Guard Squad.
But to be honest, while the Shadow Guard Squad sounds like it's for protecting the Kage...
...when a real fight breaks out, it's uncertain who would be protecting whom.
After all, those who can become a Kage possess top-tier strength.
And those who can threaten a Kage are also top-tier experts.
Could a Shadow Guard Squad really contend with such experts?
If they had that kind of strength, why would they be in the Shadow Guard Squad?
Therefore, the Shadow Guard Squad department is actually used by the Kage to cultivate confidants.
By keeping them by their side for a few years, they can teach by example.
Once they are ready to graduate, they are placed in key positions in various departments to help the Kage consolidate power.
Uchiha Itachi's situation clearly met the requirements for entering the Shadow Guard Squad.
He had potential and value.
After pulling him into the Hokage's Shadow Guard Squad, Minato Namikaze could guide him in the direction he wanted.
In the future, he could serve as a middleman for Minato Namikaze to control the Uchiha Clan.
But after thinking it over, Minato Namikaze still shook his head:
"Itachi-kun is very good, but he's too young. Let's wait a few more years."
"Can someone who exterminates their own clan even be considered good?"
Tsunade suddenly spoke again, her words dripping with her trademark sarcasm.
"A fellow who turns his hand against his own family isn't even human!"
Minato Namikaze frowned, feeling that Tsunade was being a bit extreme. He explained:
"Itachi-kun was also forced by circumstances, right? After all, at that time the Village and the Uchiha..."
"So between the Village and the clan, one can only choose the Village, right? The clan deserves to vanish, is that it?"
Tsunade interrupted Minato Namikaze:
"Fourth, you come from a civilian background, so you can't understand the meaning of a clan."
"But Uchiha Itachi—his kind of person—I cannot accept!"
Tsunade's words left Minato Namikaze speechless.
"Alright, Tsunade, don't be so impatient."
Jiraiya quickly stepped up and grabbed Tsunade's sleeve, trying to persuade her.
"What the hell do you know! You're a civilian Ninja too!"
Tsunade roared and threw off Jiraiya's hand.
Seeing the atmosphere grow even colder, Homura Mitokado advised:
"Tsunade, you must understand that the First Hokage's philosophy in founding the Village was to eliminate clan barriers and allow everyone to fully integrate into the big family of the Village."
"Therefore, Uchiha Itachi's actions were simply rising from a narrow clan concept to the greater righteousness centered on the Village."
Homura Mitokado spoke with such self-righteousness that it completely infuriated Tsunade.
The Princess of the Senju burst with a sharp aura, fire seemingly igniting in her eyes. She instantly rushed in front of Homura Mitokado, lifting the Old Man into the air effortlessly as she questioned him:
"So the demise of the Senju was also as it should be, right?"
"Then why do the clans of you fellows still exist perfectly fine? And even keep growing stronger?"
"Aren't they growing by gnawing on the flesh and blood of the Village?"
"Tsunade, stop! How dare you be so rude!"
Utatane Koharu shouted sharply, yet she remained standing where she was without moving an inch.
"Put Homura down, Tsunade!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi could not sit by and watch the conflict escalate, so he could only summon what remained of his dignity:
"Eliminating the small family to fulfill the needs of the large family—this was Hashirama's philosophy."
"Tobirama also upheld this philosophy, which is why he founded the Ninja Academy to train more civilian Ninjas."
"As the granddaughter of those two great men, are you going to go against their wishes?"
On the other side, Minato Namikaze, Nara Shikaku, and Kakashi Hatake looked at each other, none of them knowing how to intervene.
It was quite interesting; since the quiz started, the eight people in the Hokage Building had split into three groups.
Minato Namikaze and his two companions were one group, Hiruzen Sarutobi and the two former Advisors were another, and Tsunade and Jiraiya were the third.
This positioning vividly represented the three highest powers currently in Konoha Village.
The Third Hokage's faction, the Fourth Hokage's faction, and the two of the Sannin who remained outside but held significant weight.
Now, Tsunade had come into conflict with Hiruzen Sarutobi's faction.
If decisions were made purely based on political considerations, Minato Namikaze should support Tsunade right now.
He could take this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to directly take down the Third's faction.
Having secured righteousness and Tsunade's support, Minato Namikaze could fully seize the Village's power held by Hiruzen Sarutobi in the shortest time possible.
But he didn't do that; Minato Namikaze's choice was to wait and see, not to interfere.
This was both the righteous side of his character and the reason he became a puppet Hokage.
Leaving aside the treacherous thoughts of the people in the Hokage Building for a moment...
Ye Chen was watching this great drama unfold, feeling delighted in his heart.
Tsunade was directly confronting Hiruzen Sarutobi, going head-to-head.
This was a scene that never appeared in the entire naruto anime in his previous life.
After all, by the time Tsunade appeared, Hiruzen Sarutobi had already died during the Chunin Exams.
Furthermore, the subject of their argument—the demise of the Senju Clan—
Was also a setting in the previous life's naruto that was very difficult to justify logically.
According to the news Ye Chen had heard, naruto wasn't originally intended to be a long-running series; Masashi Kishimoto had planned to wrap it up around the Chunin Exams.
In that original setting, Hiruzen Sarutobi was the big boss of the entire manga, and the title of'Strongest Hokage' was well-deserved.
The problem was that when naruto was serialized to the Chunin Exams stage, it became too popular!
Shueisha directly ordered Masashi Kishimoto to change the settings and draw it as a long-running series.
If you want to draw a long-running series, you definitely have to change settings. But once you change the later settings, the earlier ones can't be changed.
Therefore, it resulted in bugs like the 'Sandaime being the strongest Hokage' and the Senju Clan surprisingly having no clansmen.
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