A mouthfull of old blood

"Where leaves dance, fire also burns endlessly, but the younger generation has become the nourishment for your decadent and dark minds."

"For the sake of satisfying your ambition."

"A genius was ruined by you."

"How is this possible? He wasn't telling the truth, was he?" The stands erupted in noise.

The villagers who had not left were even more uncertain.

They vividly remembered how they had hurt Naruto in the past.

They viewed Naruto as a monster and used violent language against him, possibly even physical attacks.

But now, everything Naruto was saying was tearing apart their understanding.

Naruto was the son of the Yondaime and his wife, with talent comparable to the strongest Hokage. He should have been able to fully realize his potential in Konoha, but because of the Sandaime Hokage's ambition, he was almost forgotten by everyone.

When Naruto mentioned these things earlier, they were a bit confused. But now, through Naruto's more detailed explanation, their minds were filled with clear images and logic.

The Yondaime and his wife sealed the Kyubi with their lives and entrusted Naruto to the Sandaime Hokage before they died, hoping that the Sandaime Hokage would raise Naruto.

The Sandaime Hokage kindly agreed, but he spread rumors that Naruto was a Kyubi.

When Naruto was caught up in the whirlpool of public opinion, the Sandaime Hokage appeared again, playing the role of a kind grandfather and giving warmth to Naruto.

Upon reflection, the logic made sense and sent shivers down their spines.

"Impossible! The Hokage has always been kind and amiable. He personally helped the villagers harvest rice in the past."

"Yes, and he even visited the villagers before."

"Remember the poverty relief program he initiated? How could he come up with such a dark plan?"

"This must be politics."

"Politics, is it really that dark?"

"No wonder I felt a little strange when the Yondaime died."

"On second thought, he only helped harvest rice once and it was just for show."

"Yes, and the poverty relief program never really made any progress."

The villagers were chatting, their words shifting from unwavering trust in the Sandaime Hokage to suspicion.

For politics, showing off is normal.

The villagers were ignorant and easy to manipulate.

Humans have a habit of following the crowd.

When everyone praises the Sandaime Hokage, he naturally shines in their eyes.

But once there is a different voice, and it has a certain credibility, the speed at which public opinion turns will be ruthless.

Now, the villagers were in this situation.

They began to think deeply about the past and really found some "oddities" about the Sandaime Hokage.

As they thought more and more, their doubt grew, and even the ninjas began to have different thoughts.

"Sandaime Hokage, is all of this true?" Naruto sat on the ground, disoriented and talking about the Sandaime Hokage, changing how he referred to him.

"My parents were the Yondaime and his wife. I'm not an orphan and I'm not a monster. He wasn't really nice to me, was he? To him, I was just someone he could control, right?" He covered his face and sobbed softly, tears streaming down.

His inner conflict was complex.

He both hoped Naruto was telling the truth and hoped it was false.

Reality was too cruel for this boy who loved Konoha.

He remembered countless times when the Sandaime Hokage spoke of the Will of Fire, but it was so ironic now.

"Maybe none of this is true!" A villager shouted and looked at the Sandaime Hokage with a scorching stare, hoping to hear a retort.

At this point, in the eyes of the Sandaime Hokage, the villagers in the field had completely evacuated, leaving only Naruto and the Twelve Guardian Ninja wandering aimlessly.

"Looks like the genjutsu has a big consequence for him. He can't control it for too long, so he let those lower-level ninjas and villagers leave first. As long as I find a way to delay, I can hold on until Jiraiya comes to help." The Sandaime Hokage's mind raced and his gaze grew sinister.

"I can't anger him, I'll follow his lead for now."

After making sense of all this, the Sandaime Hokage shouted at Naruto, "I admit it was my dereliction of duty, but Konoha is where you were born and raised. Are you really that heartless?"

"Although you come from another world, I believe you must have formed bonds, with Sasuke, with Shikamaru, maybe even with Kakashi. There must be some people who make you feel warm. I firmly believe that, like Minato, you are a person with a strong and gentle heart, and you can also become a Hokage." The Sandaime Hokage thought of Naruto's dream, his eyes shining and his tone urgent.

"You must want to become Hokage too."

"Hokage?" In response to the Sandaime Hokage's words, Naruto's lips curved in a sneer.

"Don't limit my capacity with your cognition. I lost interest in becoming Hokage a long time ago."

Naruto walked slowly towards the other Naruto, his gaze cold.

The scene was in an uproar.

He admitted it!

The Sandaime Hokage actually admitted that all of this came from his negligence.

But he's the Sandaime Hokage!!!

Doesn't he have any power at all?

If he had any intention, how could Naruto have had such a childhood?

So there's only one truth!

The Sandaime Hokage really did try to control Naruto.

And judging from the behavior of the Naruto from the other world, the Sandaime Hokage's actions were undoubtedly wrong.

The Sandaime Hokage from the other world had completely pushed Naruto to the opposite side of Konoha.

Now.

A similar future could very well repeat itself here!

So the Sandaime Hokage from Konoha was really such a cold-blooded politician!

What was even more infuriating was Naruto saying he "lost interest in being Hokage"!

The implied meaning was that the Naruto from the past and the Naruto from the other world were the same, wanting to become Hokage.

Countless people were in despair.

What has the Konoha leadership done?

Other ninja villages would love to have a genius like this to coddle.

Why was Konoha pushing such a genius out?

This peak combat power should have been Konoha's top force!

With Naruto here, why did Konoha fear the other ninja villages?

Naruto's next words only increased the fervor of the crowd.

"Do you regret it now? I don't think so. When the three ninja from Konoha left, you didn't realize, so you probably won't now."

"Oh yeah, and you also killed White Fang, simply because his reputation was too high, so you wanted to suppress him, and ended up suppressing him to death."

"And not to forget, the Uchiha clan, who were wiped out. Tsk tsk, when you really think about it, what you've done is amazing. It's too brilliant. Under your rule, Konoha cannot accommodate a genius."

"Under the leadership of the strongest Hokages in history, the Sandaime Hokage, Konoha's strength has made new breakthroughs." Naruto emphasized the two words "strongest Hokages", not hiding his sarcasm.

Everyone suddenly realized.

Originally.

Konoha was so powerful. Other ninja villages can only be considered good if they had three or four Kage-level ninjas.

But during Konoha's peak period, they couldn't even count on one hand the number of Kage-level ninjas.

And each Kage-level ninja outside Konoha is very strong.

But for some reason, Konoha's Kage-level ninjas died or left.

Various noble families and major clans became extinct.

Very poignant.

It was a normal process of history, or so they thought.

But they never expected that there was something behind this that needed deeper thought!

"Sandaime Hokage!! Why did you do this?!" A villager howled in despair, tears in their eyes.

"Father." Kakashi, unconscious, was awakened by the deafening scream. He moved his fingers and Naruto didn't strike at his vital point, so he only lost his fighting ability.

Hearing about White Fang's death, his eyes were filled with disbelief and anger, and finally despair.

From the depths of his heart, he did not want what Naruto was saying to be true.

But thinking about it carefully.

His father's death really had too many doubts.

How much Kakashi wished he could be completely unconscious so he wouldn't have to face it all.

He looked painfully at the bloodstains below him and his bloodstained hands, his eyes filled with no fighting spirit.

He killed his comrade again.

Just like when he killed Obito.

Hatake Kakashi, Konoha's genius shinobi.

Graduated from ninja school at five, ranking up to Chūnin at six, then Jōnin at twelve.

But his hands were stained with the blood of his comrades.

Companions died in front of him one after another, but he was like a dog, living on.

Why those weren't killed him?

The always-strong Kakashi shed tears.

He no longer had the courage to pick up a kunai.

He had no right to be a shinobi.

He was ashamed of everyone! 

Upon hearing all of this, Orochimaru also sighed and looked at the Sandaime Hokage with unusual coldness.

He was the closest to the darkness and even merged with it.

After he defected, he established Otogakure and planned this operation to make Konoha collapse while conducting his own research.

The only goal was to trade with Danzo and kill the Sandaime Hokage.

He believed that after the Sandaime Hokage's death, Tsunade or Jiraiya would become the new Hokage and bring about new changes to Konoha.

After all.

He grew up in Konoha and had certain feelings for Konoha and the Sandaime Hokage.

He wanted to give his mentor a perfect end and let himself live in everyone's memory.

In his memories, the Sandaime Hokage will be a good Hokage, kind-hearted and dedicated to Konoha.

And Konoha will have a new life.

This was what Orochimaru hoped for.

But the Sandaime Hokage was beyond saving now.

Because in all the battles, he was being played by Naruto's strange Kekkei Genkai.

He looked at Naruto with greedy eyes.

Such a body, such an ability.

It might be a perfect body even better than Uchiha Sasuke.

Listening to Naruto's heart-piercing words, the Sandaime Hokage couldn't accept them.

He was, after all, the greatest Hokage of all time!

Under his rule, Konoha flourished!

He couldn't allow others to deny his efforts!

Everything he did was for Konoha! 

Denied recognition was too humiliating for him, so the Sandaime Hokage shouted:

"No! That's not true! White Fang just couldn't bear the rumors himself and the Uchiha clan had rebellious intentions a long time ago. As a Hokage, I have to consider too many factors. I have to govern the village and coordinate conflicts with the outside!!

"Coordinate? So, even though Konoha won the war, you still had to kill the Hyuga branch family to make the negotiations with Kumogakure? Yielding to the outside and using a heavy hand inside. That's what you call coordination?" Naruto seemed to hear an absurb thing and stopped in his tracks, unable to help but laugh.

Being at the root, he naturally came into contact with many secrets.

His three perspectives were completely opened by the three generations' shameless actions.

"What?! Did something like this really happen?"

"Obviously we were the winning side, why do we look like we lost?"

"What the hell is going on? Others are standing on our heads and taking a dump, yet we eat their crap and send them off?"

The audience was in chaos again.

Many villagers who had left even returned, preparing to watch a big show.

The ANBU ninja's expression was ugly, standing in place.

That's because Konoha can't take any more war after enduring so many, everyone needs peace." The Sandaime Hokage hesitated for a moment before explaining.

"That seems to be the case, Konoha has also suffered a lot from the continuous wars," a voice from the audience said.

"But the Kumogakure Shinobi can't take it either," a different voice came from the audience.

Naruto was calm and steady, continuing to say:

"As the ambassador of the peace talks, the Kumogakure Shinobi abducted members of the Hyuga clan on their own, and the Hyuga clan leader took reasonable action in killing them."

"Although the Kumogakure Shinobi made a fuss about this, demanding that Konoha transport the Hyuga clan leader's body to the Kumogakure as an apology under the threat of starting a war."

"This action is practically announcing to you that the Kumogakure covets the Byakugan and wants to study it. Obviously, as the defeated party, making such unreasonable demands just shows they have no sincerity."

"However, Konoha humbled itself and apologized, forcing the Hyuga clan leader to commit suicide in the end."

"No one likes war, but peace is never obtained by kneeling. It must be fought for with fists!" Naruto continued, "When you make a concession, Konoha will leave a cowardly image to the outside world, and other ninja villages will make even more unreasonable demands in the future."

"Have you kneeled for so long that you've forgotten how to stand?" Naruto said calmly.

Obviously, he was a Hokage, but he had been worn out by time and rotted in this position, sucking the blood of all people.

How could Konoha produce strong warriors under such a weak leader?

Watching Naruto's undisguised disgust, the Sandaime Hokage's face turned pale, his lips quivering, but he couldn't say a word.

"Did I really do something wrong?" he thought.

"Sandaime Hokage."

The audience was silent, and both the villagers and the ninjas were expressionless.

A Hokage of a major ninja village, who was adept at using political means, had been silenced by Naruto's arguments.

Everyone already had an answer in their hearts.

"Oh, that's right, we also have Jiraiya-sama!"

"Jiraiya-sama, hurry up and come!" cheers began to rise from the crowd.

They suddenly remembered that Jiraiya, one of the three ninjas, was also in the village, and he must be able to refute Naruto!

Konoha was not as corrupted as he said!

It was absolutely possible! 

As Naruto looked at all of this, a cruel smile formed on his lips.

He removed his genjutsu.

In the next moment, the Sandaime Hokage suddenly realized that his mind had been read by Naruto.

How could this be possible?!!

He was a ninja at the Kage level!!!

He looked at Naruto incredulously, his eyes filled with anger, panic, and despair.

What kind of terrifying Kekkei Genkai was this?!

This kind of existence could have become Konoha's greatest asset.

From this moment on, he became the greatest criminal of Konoha.

The Sandaime Hokage understood that he was finished!

His lips trembled, as if wanting to say something, his emotions mixed, until he was so overwhelmed with anger that he spewed out a mouthful of blood and fainted.

"That's it, Naruto." Suddenly, a sad sigh sounded in the air, and then Jiraiya, wearing wooden sandals, appeared in front of Naruto with a complex look in his eyes.