After some debate, it was ultimately decided that Hiruzen Sarutobi would be the one to accept the punishment task.
After all, no matter how you looked at it, Kakashi Hatake, Shikaku Nara, and Minato Namikaze all possessed crucial abilities.
If these abilities were erased as punishment, it would have a devastating impact on their individual strength.
For instance, if Minato Namikaze lost the Flying Thunder God Technique, could he still be the 'Yellow Flash of Konoha'?
Without that technique, Minato Namikaze's strength would drop significantly.
However, if Hiruzen Sarutobi took the risk himself, the danger would be much lower.
On one hand, he knew far too many Ninjutsu; born with all five elemental affinities, Hiruzen Sarutobi had deep research into all Five Elements Style techniques, earning him the nickname 'The Professor' of Ninjutsu.
Compared to Ninjas like Minato Namikaze who might master dozens or hundreds of techniques but only frequently use about a dozen...
Old Hiruzen knew over a thousand Ninjutsu!
On the other hand, Minato Namikaze and the others were still young and remained vital combat assets for the Village.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was getting old and had already retreated to the second line of duty; in the foreseeable future, unless Konoha faced extreme danger...
There would be no need for the retired Hiruzen Sarutobi to suit up for battle.
Taking everything into consideration, it was better to let Hiruzen Sarutobi receive the punishment.
"Since the candidate has been chosen, I shall begin!"
Ye Chen said.
Hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded and closed his eyes.
He had anticipated some kind of painful experience, but he didn't expect that just as he closed his eyes, Ye Chen's voice would ring out:
"Alright, the technique erased is Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!"
That's it?
Hiruzen Sarutobi was stunned for a moment, opening his eyes with a look of confusion as if he hadn't processed what happened.
"Previous Hokage, are you feeling alright?"
Minato Namikaze asked with concern.
"I... I don't feel anything."
Hiruzen Sarutobi felt like the punishment was completed in the time it took to blink; wasn't this a bit of a joke?
As if sensing Hiruzen Sarutobi's doubt, Ye Chen smiled and said:
"You can try it out and see if you can still use the Dragon Fire Technique."
"Alright."
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded, clapping his hands together as he instinctively prepared to form hand seals.
Wait, how do the seals for the Dragon Fire Technique go again?
Wait, what is the Dragon Fire Technique? Is it a Fire Release?
Suddenly, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt as if he had forgotten something; no matter how hard he tried to recall, he simply couldn't remember it.
"Previous Hokage, what's wrong?"
Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi clap his hands and then freeze there in a daze for a long time, Minato Namikaze spoke up to ask.
"The Dragon Fire Technique... it seems to have vanished from my mind. I've forgotten how to use this technique."
Hiruzen Sarutobi replied, his heart filled with immense shock.
So this was how the so-called erasure of an ability manifested?
By directly wiping the relevant memories from a person's brain?
"What!?"
Homura Mitokado spoke out in surprise:
"It directly caused you to lose the memory of the Dragon Fire Technique, Hiruzen?"
"This kind of ability is truly too eerie."
Utatane Koharu marveled inwardly.
The way the two old-timers looked at Ye Chen changed, a hint of fear creeping into their eyes.
Good grief, in the blink of an eye, he can just delete memories from your brain—how is that even possible?
If he wanted to, could he just delete all of my memories in an instant?
If all memories were deleted, wouldn't one turn back into an infant? Or become a fool?
The two old-timers didn't dare think further; they felt that even Ye Chen's smiling face was unfathomable, and they lowered their heads one after another.
Seeing that these over-thinkers had finished their mental gymnastics, Ye Chen didn't bother to explain further.
As of now, the answering for the second set of questions was complete.
Everyone in the Hokage Office had answered four out of the five questions correctly, with only the fourth question being wrong.
What remained was to show the footage for the fifth question, hand out the rewards, and leave!
"Alright, time's about up. Do you still want to see the footage for the fifth question?"
Seeing that everyone was still in awe, Ye Chen felt a bit impatient and spoke up to ask.
After all, what he wanted to do most right now was to hurry home and pull from the gacha.
Who would want to waste time chatting with them here?
"Yes! Sir, please begin."
Shikaku Nara spoke up quickly, lest Ye Chen get annoyed and decide not to show the recording.
"Then watch the screen."
Ye Chen waved his hand, and the text for the fifth question on the light screen faded away, replaced by the footage.
Without going into excessive detail, it essentially showed Danzo Shimura's Root taking custody of all the bodies after Uchiha Itachi had slaughtered the entire Uchiha Clan.
Before leaving, Uchiha Itachi had intended to burn down the entire Uchiha Compound to help destroy his clansmen's remains.
However, the Root Ninja stopped him, forcing Uchiha Itachi to leave Konoha Village immediately.
After all, even though he had reached an agreement with the higher-ups, the ordinary citizens and Ninjas of the Village were certainly unaware of it.
Under those circumstances, Uchiha Itachi had no choice but to leave Konoha quickly.
This was to avoid being detected by Ninjas arriving at the scene, which might have exposed certain information.
Only after Uchiha Itachi left did Hiruzen Sarutobi arrive in a hurry.
The Old Monkey was well aware of the schemes between Uchiha Itachi and Danzo Shimura; it was a result he had tacitly permitted.
As the Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi could never accept the consequences of a civil war within the Village.
Rather than waiting for the Uchiha Clan to prepare and backstab the Village, it was better to strike early and remove the tumor.
But the key was that while he knew the Uchiha massacre would happen, he didn't know the specific time.
The timing of the operation was decided between Danzo Shimura and Uchiha Itachi; if he had tried to find out the exact time...
It would have meant he was directly involved in the conspiracy.
What was Hiruzen Sarutobi's purpose in allowing Danzo Shimura to stir up trouble?
Wasn't it to keep himself out of it and remain a clean, untainted Hokage?
Let Danzo Shimura handle the dirty and ugly business while I, Hiruzen Sarutobi, know nothing—a pure white lotus.
After Uchiha Itachi finished slaughtering the Uchiha Clan, he even had the leisure to wait for Uchiha Sasuke to return and perform the classic line: 'My foolish little brother, hate me!'
It was only at this point that the news finally reached Hiruzen Sarutobi's office.
By the time the Old Monkey had donned his battle gear and rushed over with the Anbu, Uchiha Itachi had already fled.
Not a single body remained in the Uchiha Compound; in the vast Uchiha district, there was only an unconscious Uchiha Sasuke.
Hiruzen Sarutobi knew in his heart that the bodies had been taken by Danzo Shimura, but he couldn't show that he knew.
Facing the Root Ninja's perfunctory explanation that "all the bodies were destroyed by Uchiha Itachi,"
Hiruzen Sarutobi could only pretend to believe them.
As for why Danzo Shimura took the bodies, he was well aware.
As the footage ended, every single person in the Hokage Office had a grim expression, their faces cold.
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