"In the afterlife? What do you mean?" Tobirama Senju frowned.
"Could it be that the Second Hokage didn't see the rest of the Senju clan in the Pure Lands?" Jie asked calmly.
"What?" A cold glint flashed in Tobirama's eyes. He took a step forward, his killing intent spiking. "Uchiha brat. What did you say happened to the Senju clan?"
Tobirama wasn't like Hashirama. He cherished the village, but his clan was his absolute bottom line.
"You there. Make Danzo continue," Tobirama ordered Orochimaru.
Hearing the sheer fury in Tobirama's voice, Hiruzen Sarutobi's knees went weak. He stumbled, barely managing to keep his balance. Beside him, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado turned deathly pale.
If the truth came out, Tobirama would execute them himself—disciples or not.
Realizing what was about to happen, Hiruzen shot Orochimaru a desperate, pleading look. He hoped his former student would remember their old bond and shut Danzo's mouth.
Orochimaru only sneered at Hiruzen's pathetic gaze.
Subservient to the strong, yet ruthless to his own people. He had the guts to commit the crime, but lacked the spine to own up to it. To think this cowering rat was his teacher.
Without a second thought, Orochimaru commanded Danzo to speak.
"Tobirama-sensei traded his life for ours," Danzo confessed. His voice was completely numb. "Hiruzen had Sensei's appointment, but the Senju clan thought he was too young. They monopolized the Leaf's power for eight years. When Hiruzen finally secured his position, the Senju felt the Elder Council was holding the village back. They constantly interfered."
Under the jutsu's control, Danzo didn't show a shred of emotion. "During the Second Great Ninja War, Hiruzen sent the Senju clan on a suicide mission. I provided false intelligence and leaked their location to the enemy. The Senju elites were wiped out. They could never interfere with the village again."
Blood-red fury bled into Tobirama's cracked Edo Tensei eyes.
His terrifying chakra erupted. The stone platform beneath their feet violently cracked under the sheer pressure.
Orochimaru's expression warped in panic. Just a moment ago, Tobirama had nearly shattered his control over the Edo Tensei. Even with an incomplete jutsu, the Second Hokage's monstrous strength was terrifying. Especially since Tobirama could currently exert less than a tenth of his true power.
'Truly worthy of the Second Hokage', Orochimaru marveled inwardly. Cold sweat dripped down his face as he forced his grip to hold. 'If the Second has this much overwhelming power... what kind of monster is the First? The God of Shinobi...'
"Hiruzen... tell me. Is what Danzo said true?"
Tobirama walked slowly toward him. His killing intent was suffocating. He already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear his beloved disciple explain himself.
That question was the final straw.
The tight string of fear in Hiruzen's heart completely snapped. His pale face flushed a furious, ugly red. Gritting his teeth, he roared back at his master.
"That's right! It's all true!" Hiruzen bellowed. "I wiped out the Senju clan! I caused Sakumo Hatake's death! They all deserved it!"
Spitting the words out brought Hiruzen a twisted sense of relief. For decades, these dark secrets had crushed his soul. He truly believed he was right, but destroying his sensei's clan had always left a gnawing guilt inside him. Now, the truth was finally out.
A crazed expression twisted the Third Hokage's face as he shrieked. "The Senju clan deserved to die!"
"I was the Hokage you appointed, Tobirama-sensei! What gave them the right to defy me? Why did they refuse to listen to their legitimate Hokage?! They disobeyed me! They questioned my authority! They opposed my rules! What use is a shinobi clan that refuses to obey the Hokage? That's exactly why they had to die!"
"Even Nawaki was killed by Root operatives! We staged it to look like an enemy trap!" Hiruzen sneered, spit flying from his lips. "His organs were hollowed out for research! The remaining Senju civilians? Shipped off as test subjects for Wood Release experiments! A clan that survived the Warring States Period... gone, just like that! Destroyed by my own hands! Hahaha!"
Hiruzen laughed like a madman. "Oh, that's right. Sensei, you probably don't even know who Nawaki was, do you? He was the second child of Toka and Sora Senju... Tsunade's little brother! And he died too! He died a miserable, pathetic death! Hahaha!"
Hiruzen's unhinged confession echoed across the arena.
The younger generation of shinobi watched in pure, horrified shock. The older generation, however, remained completely silent and unfazed.
The purge of the Senju clan had long been an open secret in the Hidden Leaf.
Tobirama stood completely still. He didn't know whether to be furious or bitterly disappointed. The successor he had handpicked had slaughtered his own family over sheer paranoia.
"Hiruzen," Tobirama finally broke the silence. His tone was eerily calm, stripped entirely of emotion. "On the day I left for the Hidden Cloud, I had a premonition. Before I departed, I told the Senju clan that you would be the next Hokage. What you saw as them defying your orders and challenging your authority... was actually them following my final command. To guide and protect you."
He let out a long, heavy sigh. "But now... perhaps I was wrong."
Tobirama turned his gaze to Jie Uchiha. "Uchiha brat. Maybe everything you've done today really is for the good of the village. But I have one request."
Jie had been right on the verge of ordering someone to drag Kakuzu's corpse onto the platform. He wanted Tobirama to know that Hiruzen had even colluded with foreign mercenaries to wipe out their own clans. But hearing the Second Hokage's words, Jie shelved the thought for now.
"What does the Second Hokage want?" Jie asked flatly.
Before Tobirama could speak, Hashirama Senju stepped forward. His voice was deep and solemn. "Leave the housecleaning to us. Hiruzen has committed grave sins, but he is still the Hokage. A Hokage's life should not end at the hands of a fellow villager."
Hashirama turned to face the gathered shinobi. His voice boomed across the entire stadium.
"I am Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage of the Hidden Leaf! Hiruzen has made terrible mistakes, and today, we will cleanse this village! Right here, right now, I appoint him—"
Hashirama's booming voice suddenly faltered. He blinked, realizing a slight problem. Even now, he had no idea who this Uchiha kid actually was.
"He is Jie Uchiha, the young patriarch of the Uchiha clan," Orochimaru helpfully supplied from the sidelines.
Hashirama nodded, shooting Orochimaru a quick look of gratitude before his voice roared out once more.
"I hereby appoint this man, Jie Uchiha, as the Hidden Leaf's Fifth Hokage!"
The arena instantly erupted into absolute chaos.
Meanwhile, Jie froze in stunned silence. He had just been internally debating whether to finish off Hiruzen himself to farm a few System rewards.
'What?'
He had only zoned out for a second... how did he suddenly become the Fifth Hokage?
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