"When Hiruzen became Hokage, almost all clans disagreed with this decision of Sensei, but with Mito-sama's support, Hiruzen became the Sandaime without much difficulty," Homura narrated. "Despite that, the Senju Clan was still persistent, so after some thought, Hiruzen calmed them down with a promise that if a Kage-level shinobi was produced from the Senju Clan, then he or she would become the Fourth Hokage. Senju agreed, but a few years later, thanks to Hiruzen, we became advisors, coming into power of our own, and we knew that it would be difficult to stay in power if anyone from Senju were to become the next Hokage."
"At that time, Danzo offered us a suggestion. He said if we supported him in making Hiruzen agree to having Danzo create his personal Anbu squad," Koharu added, "He would continue the experiments for Wood Release by persuading Senju Clansmen, which were stopped because Sensei was dead, which obviously would result in many being dead in experiments."
"Since he also promised us that if we supported him now, he would also give us research data of Wood Release, we agreed and supported him in becoming head of the Anbu decision, Root," Homura continued. "He said if we three were together, we could stay in power for decades because we knew Hiruzen's nature, and as we expected, Hiruzen agreed, and Danzo even started experiments on Senju Clan members, which obviously killed many. Senju Clansmen started to refuse to participate in such matters. When Hiruzen knew about it, he also supported, putting a stop to the experiments for Wood Release once and for all."
"We feared that this couldn't go on like that, so Danzo and us decided to issue risky missions for the Senju Clan ourselves, and just a few years before the Second War, we were able to reduce their numbers to less than even a quarter," Koharu concluded. "But difficult missions alone weren't enough for that, so Danzo secretly started targeting them and continue his experiments, and whenever Hiruzen found out about it, we all together suppressed this news, and soon after the Second Ninja War, only Tsunade remained as the sole member of the Senju Clan after Nawaki's death."
While everyone in the room was shocked and disgusted at what they heard from these two, Shisui was a little confused. 'But this didn't show that Hiruzen was responsible for all this, then why did he have that regretful look on his face?' Shikaku also noticed this and asked, "If that's true, then does it mean that the Sandaime isn't responsible for this incident, and only Danzo and these two were directly involved?" Everyone's gaze then intently landed on Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Hiruzen, sitting on his chair, sighed heavily and said, "But I am also should be said to be responsible for this. If I had kept Danzo under check, this wouldn't have happened. I thought he wouldn't do anything once I put a complete stop to their experiments. Sigh, I really failed Tobirama-sensei and Tsuna."
Those who had a good impression of Hiruzen now held a mixed one. He was indeed an incompetent person, but he still didn't sound like a purely evil individual. 'But it's still hard to believe. Is he really not bad? But then again, Homura and Koharu are in my Genjutsu, so they can't lie about it.' Shisui thought and said, "Sandaime, there are other matters as well, right? Kakashi's father, Sakumo Hatake, the White Fang of Konoha, who committed suicide because of rumors of a mission failure, where he followed your Will of Fire and chose his teammates over the mission, isn't that correct?"
Hearing Sakumo's name, everyone in the room fell completely silent. Kakashi, who was still in his Anbu mask, took it off and looked at Shisui, then at Hiruzen. He opened his mouth, trying to say or ask something, but remained silent. Everyone in this room knew about the loss of Sakumo; what happened to him was wrong, but at that time, no one stood up for him, not even those teammates who were with him on the mission. Shisui did not let anyone get out of shock and continued to expose every inability and mistake of Hiruzen he could remember from the anime.
"If Sakumo truly did what the Sandaime always said in his speeches, then he shouldn't have been criticized at that time. But that event was even before the start of the Third Shinobi War. Let's talk about recent matters," Shisui stated. "A few years ago, Kumogakure tried to kidnap little Hyuga princess, Hinata, by secretly entering the Hyuga compound, and Hiashi Hyuga killed that Kumo ninja. But Kumo refused this and asked for compensation from us, isn't that right, Clan Head Hiashi? You should know about this best, right? Then what price did we pay for the crime we didn't commit?"
Hiashi's face furrowed. The death of his little brother, Hizashi, was always the biggest regret of his life, and that was the same reason he even hated the elders of his clan and village who forced this on his brother, who died on his behalf. "But..." Hiruzen tried to speak, but he himself could not counter it. He would say that it was to stop a war, but everyone who knew about that incident, still understood that it was a sign of Konoha's weakness, and Hizashi's death was a blemish on Konoha.
"Well, I know Kumo threatened to start a war, but at that time, the Third War was just over; no village would have been able to recover completely," Shisui shrugged. "Even if Kumogakure really started a war, was Konoha truly that weak? Moreover, if they really wanted war, everyone here knows that Kumogakure wouldn't openly say it; they would rather sneakily attack us. That's their nature."
The room's atmosphere became slightly tense, and a piercing silence heightened that tension. Especially for Hiruzen, the weight of his past decisions was very heavy. Kakashi, on the side, clenched his fist; his Anbu mask was completely rolled up. Hiashi threw his hand over his head, his expressions filled with sorrow and slight anger, probably at the village's higher-ups or at Kumogakure, maybe at both. Reminding them of their saddest moments, Shisui himself was contemplating another of Hiruzen's shortcomings.
'I remember there's one more thing that should also be blamed on Hiruzen, but what was that? How could I forget it?' He knew that now the matters of the Uchiha Clan were pretty much sorted out, and he didn't need to run away from Konoha anymore. Since the topic of Hiruzen's past shortcomings had begun, Shisui was having fun reminding him of as many as he could recall from the anime. If any of these incidents were done by Hiruzen with malicious intent or simply out of his pure stupidity and inaction, for now, these didn't matter to Shisui.
Aside from Hiashi and Shisui, everyone's gazes were on Hiruzen, even Kakashi's visible right eye was on Hiruzen. After all, his father's death was a burden on him, which continued with Obito and Rin, then Minato and Kushina as well. Hiruzen sighed tiredly once again and looked back at all the attendees in the room. "Oh, I remember," Shisui blurted out, grabbing everyone's attention back to him. Hiruzen, who was just about to speak, also looked at him with surprised expressions.
"Sorry about this, I just mean, how can we forget about Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki, son of Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage," Shisui finally recalled one more shortcoming of Hiruzen and said, "I know he is the Jinchuriki of the village, but we shouldn't forget whose son he is. The treatment he is getting within the village shouldn't be given to him, Sandaime. Why didn't you even look after the village's literal hero?"
Shisui internally cursed himself. How could he forget about the main protagonist of the anime world he had transmigrated into, whose childhood was completely miserable because Hiruzen did nothing for him? Providing him a house and a meager monthly allowance were obvious things he should provide Naruto; they couldn't be considered as doing something significant for him, especially when the wealth of Minato and Kushina, which should belong to Naruto, should be enough for him to live a lifetime without extra work.
Kakashi still wore a cloth mask, covering his nose to his chin, with his left eye covered by his headband. But despite that, his expressions could still be seen clearly; he looked sad. As an Anbu, he clearly knew about Naruto's situation. He himself didn't want that, but he couldn't do anything by himself for Naruto, because those were Hiruzen's orders. Even other Clan heads, like Ino-Shika-Cho, or others closer to Minato, couldn't do anything for Naruto because Hiruzen stopped them, saying it was for Naruto's safety from Minato's enemies or something similar.
'Well, now let's hear what Hiruzen has to say about all this...' Shisui thought, and with him, everyone's gaze landed back on Hiruzen. "I..." Hiruzen spoke, but paused mid-sentence. His facial expressions changed to that of regret and tiredness. 'I really can't believe if this is his genuine expression or if he is a very good actor,' Shisui mused, surprised at Hiruzen's expressions, which didn't look fake from any side.
"Sakumo's death was truly unexpected for me too. I should have stopped those rumors, but I didn't expect that Sakumo would take his own life by being affected by them," Hiruzen spoke, his voice low but audible enough. "And I know that Hizashi's matter is completely on me. I know despite the fact that Kumo was in the wrong and the threat of war might be empty, but I didn't want any conflict at that time. Kakashi, Hiashi, forgive me. As a leader of the village, I couldn't do anything better as a leader should do."
Everyone want silent. Shikaku, standing behind Hiruzen, was shaking his head. Inoichi Yamanaka also sat with a serious look. Choza Akimichi, from the foodie clan who usually had a jolly nature, also sat with a serious look on his face. Hiashi sharply glared at Hiruzen; he couldn't forgive him, no matter what Hiruzen said in his defense. The ever-silent Shibi Aburame remained silent, and the ever-active Tsume Inuzuka was also quite shocked at the revelations she had heard today.
Fugaku and Itachi were also surprised; they had come to the meeting room today for matters of the Uchiha Clan and Konoha, not about these things. The Team Ro members, despite wearing masks, were still so obvious to read; they were also left speechless after all these revelations today weren't easy to digest. And all this could be blamed on Hiruzen, regardless of his intentions, even if they were pure or full of malice, but it still stood that the results were against Konoha.
Konoha only lost in every matter. In the Senju Clan, they lost a powerful clan. In Sakumo's case, they lost a powerful shinobi, easily Kage-level. In Hizashi's case, they lost trust. In the Uchiha Clan's case, Hiruzen lost his remaining respect in the minds of other clans. "And what about Naruto?" Kakashi asked, his voice grim. His clenched fist reduced his Anbu mask to pieces.
"I know that I should have done better for Naruto, but what I did was for his safety," Hiruzen defended. "His identity as the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki should remain secret for outsiders, and he could be a target of Minato's enemies. Keeping these things in mind, I chose what I could do best for Naruto. I can't be seen as showing special attention to one specific kid."
"Huh, secret of his identity? Even civilians know that Naruto is the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki thanks to those rumors of the Child of the Fox, plus the whiskers on his face simply support those rumors. Anyone with common sense would easily know that Naruto is the current Kyuubi's Jinchuriki. I just find it strange that other villages never tried to capture him," Shisui scoffed at Hiruzen's reasoning.
"And about his safety from Yondaime-sama's enemies, a Kage of a village can't even protect a single kid?" Shisui added, "That's just laughable. Where you send a single team to monitor him, you could just send a few more squads. Those weren't reasons to make a child's life, a complete shit. If in the future, Naruto ever were to turn evil, no one could blame him for that."
Hiruzen's expressions became more regretful; perhaps in his mind, he believed what he did was correct for the village. Meanwhile, Fugaku and Itachi looked at Shisui with curious gazes, which didn't go unseen by Shisui, but he chose to ignore them. Kakashi became angry at Hiruzen. To him, Shisui's words were more reasonable and correct, but more than Hiruzen, he was angry at himself. Naruto was his Sensei's son, but he himself hadn't tried much to help him, never even thinking of a way to support Naruto himself.
Hiruzen sighed regretfully, tiredly, stood up from his chair, and said, "Shikaku and everyone, I understand that under my leadership, Konoha has just regressed. I truly regret it, so whatever choice you make, I will accept it."
"Then it would be better if you just resigned from your position of Hokage," Shisui immediately interjected. "Sandaime, with due respect, I would say you are unworthy of this position, and this time I hope this resignation is final. Who agrees with this?" Within a few seconds, every Clan Head raised their hands in agreement with Shisui's suggestion. Hiruzen sighed and slowly took off his robe and hat of Hokage, placing them on the table. Shikaku then pointed at Homura and Koharu and asked, "What do we do about them?"
Shisui thought and said, "Well, the Sandaime cannot be said to be intentionally bad, but these two are obviously so, so they deserve punishment." Hiruzen then asked, "Oh, by the way, did you kill Danzo last night?" Shisui shook his head in denial. "Then where is he?" Hiruzen asked curiously, as did the others, who wanted to know about Danzo's whereabouts. "You don't need to worry about Danzo; wherever he is, he is definitely suffering," Shisui replied with a smile, a mischievous one.
-- To Be Continued --