After a long time.
The exchange students from Konoha finally set foot on Konoha's land again.
"It's been so long since I came back."
"The memories of living in Konoha feel like something from a previous life."
"Why do I feel like Konoha is still the same old way, with no changes... and even a bit lifeless."
"Did something happen in the village?"
"....."
They passed through the main gate of Konoha and came to the streets. Looking at the extremely familiar scenes in front of them, although they felt the joy of returning to their homeland, they were still habitually comparing the Konoha in front of them with the Akatsuki Ninja Village one by one.
Subsequently, they got an answer that disappointed everyone immensely.
Even without discussing the desperate economic gap, just the spirit shown by ordinary ninjas and villagers was not on the same level.
And because the Uchiha clan had built up public opinion in Konoha in advance, the figures of this group of people were quickly noticed by those with intentions.
Naturally...
The news of this group of people returning to Konoha reached the ears of the large and small ninja clans in Konoha at the first opportunity.
The large and small ninja clans in Konoha instinctively became alert—this might be the beginning of a political vortex!
Soon, the Uchiha clan took the lead in launching an action.
According to the plan, they announced in Konoha that the Uchiha clan had reached a cooperation with the Akatsuki Ninja Village and would gather all the students who participated in the study abroad in the Akatsuki Ninja Village to hold a briefing on "What I Saw and Heard in the Akatsuki Ninja Village," intending to consolidate the alliance between Konoha and the Akatsuki Ninja Village and learn from each other's development experience.... All ninjas and villagers of Konoha were welcome to participate.
And the location of the briefing was near the Hokage building.
Not only that, but the Uchiha elders also specially advertised to the outside world that they would let students from the Senju clan focus on speaking, and also sent an invitation to Senju Tobirama, hoping that he could personally attend this grand event and learn from the advanced development experience of the Akatsuki Ninja Village.
This behavior was extremely harmful to Konoha and extremely insulting to Senju Tobirama!
Since the mainstream information dissemination method in the ninja world was still paper newspapers, and the distance between the Akatsuki Ninja Village and Konoha was nearly half of the Land of Fire, this directly led to a significant differentiation in the cognition of the outside world among different groups within Konoha.
The high-level officials of Konoha naturally knew best how terrifying the gap between Konoha and the Akatsuki Ninja Village was.
And because Konoha Jonin often needed to leave the village far away to perform high-level missions, they could access more outside information. Currently, many Jonin, out of curiosity, had specially gone to the Akatsuki Ninja Village to find out the truth. However, when they returned, their ninja way nearly collapsed, and they looked gloomy.
The strength of the middle and lower-level ninjas in Konoha was low, and their missions basically would not cross more than half of the Land of Fire, at most performing missions in a few big cities near Konoha.
Konoha villagers basically would not leave the village, and their cognition of the outside world was the most closed.
Moreover, for the stability of the village, Senju Tobirama also deliberately blocked a large part of the news about the Akatsuki Ninja Village within the village.
Especially the articles comparing the purchasing power of the Akatsuki Ninja Village and Konoha written by a certain unscrupulous media person—there was indeed a gap between Konoha and the Akatsuki Ninja Village, but the gap could be one, or a hundred, or even ten thousand.
But could the details of these things be known so clearly by the Konoha villagers and the middle and lower-level ninjas?
They were the basic foundation of Konoha. The bastard who enlightened the basic foundation should be hit by eight shurikens in the back and die by suicide!
In short.
Although the vast majority of Konoha villagers and a considerable number of Konoha ninjas knew that the development of the Akatsuki Ninja Village had surpassed Konoha in recent years, due to the blockage of information dissemination and the blockade of key news, there were still huge obstacles to their cognition of the real gap between the two sides.
And now the Uchiha clan wanted to take this opportunity to continue breaking the cognitive gap of Konoha villagers and middle and lower-level ninjas regarding the Akatsuki Ninja Village.
From the perspective of Konoha's long-term rule, this was definitely a terrible thing.
Konoha's elite ninjas were coveting the prosperity of the Akatsuki Ninja Village, but due to their status and the two big shots above Konoha, they couldn't do anything excessive. But if there was a suitable opportunity, they definitely wouldn't mind jumping ship to the Akatsuki Ninja Village halfway. This was already very dangerous!
Now the Uchiha clan wanted to severely damage Konoha's high-quality assets again!
If this continued...
Konoha's situation was really worrying.
But the Uchiha clan didn't care... no.... it should be said that they hadn't realized the terribleness of this matter yet.
Now the Uchiha elders were focusing all their energy on how to drive Senju Tobirama out of the Hokage's office, put Uchiha Madara on the position of Second Hokage, and let the Uchiha clan solely control the power of Konoha.
As for how to clean up the mess for Konoha after these things were done, they hadn't considered it at all.
Of course.
This also had a lot to do with their attitude towards Uchiha Makoto—Uchiha Makoto was an extremely reliable Uchiha clansman, and there was no need to worry that the Akatsuki Ninja Village would be unfavorable to Konoha!
And for Senju Tobirama.
The insult was simply maximized.
In the past, the confrontation between the Uchiha clan and Senju Tobirama was in the meeting room. Even if Senju Tobirama suffered a loss and lost his composure for a moment, only a small group of people could see it.
But this time, the Uchiha clan wanted to slap Senju Tobirama in the face hard in front of so many ninjas and villagers in Konoha, using the mouths of Senju clansmen, trampling his face on the ground. In this way, what face would Senju Tobirama have to continue sitting in the Hokage's office?
And the news about this briefing spread very fast in Konoha.
In just half a day.
Every street and alley in Konoha knew about this news.
The Akatsuki Ninja Village, the vast majority of Konoha villagers and middle and lower-level ninjas were very interested in this matter. With the mentality of melon-eating masses, they all felt that this would be a good opportunity to join in the fun.
And the large and small ninja families in Konoha felt worried about the Uchiha clan's action this time and the future situation of Konoha.
It was one thing for the Uchiha clan to use the Akatsuki Ninja Village to strike at Senju Tobirama's prestige and belittle his ability in the past, but they didn't expect to be so ruthless this time. The Uchiha clan wanted to discredit Senju Tobirama in front of Konoha villagers and ninjas!
This was an open plot, a naked open plot!
Whether Senju Tobirama came or not, in front of the Konoha public, he would be publicly labeled as incompetent by the Uchiha clan!
"So, will Senju Tobirama accept the invitation of the Uchiha clan?"
The large and small ninja families in Konoha couldn't help guessing.
If Senju Tobirama accepted the invitation of the Uchiha clan, what awaited him would inevitably be a public execution. The Uchiha clan would use the mouths of the Senju clansmen to criticize Senju Tobirama most harshly. Therefore, in the eyes of the large and small ninja clans in Konoha, Senju Tobirama ignoring the invitation of the Uchiha clan was definitely a rational choice.
But what if Senju Tobirama agreed.
Then things would be difficult to handle.
This was also the biggest worry of the large and small ninja clans in Konoha.... If it went wrong, what if both sides had a firefight?
.....
Hokage's Office.
Senju Tobirama sat quietly in his seat. On the desk in front of him lay an invitation letter just delivered by someone sent by the Uchiha clan.
Before he could reply to the Uchiha clan, Senju Tobirama's staunch supporters had already gathered, knocking on the door of the Hokage's office one by one.
The Sarutobi clan represented by Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Shimura clan represented by Shimura Danzō, the Mitokado clan represented by Mitokado Homura.... Several medium-sized ninja clans in Konoha, and representatives of several small ninja clans were all present.
These people were all Senju Tobirama's disciples without exception, and the families behind them had long been firmly tied to Senju Tobirama over the years.
Senju Tobirama looked up and saw this group of people coming proactively at this time. A gentle smile appeared on his cold face, and he was very gratified and happy in his heart.
Subsequently, he snapped his fingers. An ANBU ninja wearing a mask jumped in, closed the door, activated the barrier in the room, and completely blocked the surrounding sounds.
"Teacher, the Uchiha clan is simply deceiving people too much. It's one thing for them to criticize you at the high-level meeting, but now they are arrogant enough to prepare to humiliate you in public. You absolutely cannot participate in that so-called briefing, and the Senju clansmen absolutely cannot participate either!"
Everyone found a seat and sat down. The first one who couldn't help speaking was Shimura Danzō.
He was a loyal follower of Senju Tobirama, remembering Senju Tobirama's kindness. Even if he already knew the prosperity of the Akatsuki Ninja Village, he firmly believed in Senju Tobirama's ability—sooner or later, Teacher would definitely lead Konoha to surpass the Akatsuki Ninja Village!
Senju Tobirama nodded.
He liked this student Shimura Danzō very much. Although he was a bit reckless when he was young and caused great trouble, after a few years of training, he not only became a Jonin but also emerged in the ANBU team. Relying on the accumulation of missions, he had become an ANBU squad leader. In time, he could be entrusted with important tasks!
And Shimura Danzō was very loyal.
However, Senju Tobirama did not respond to Shimura Danzō's words but looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"Teacher, Danzō has a point."
"However, I think the more it is at this time, the less we can let the Uchiha clan continue to occupy the discourse power in Konoha. In that case, the situation will be even worse for you. After all, once you refuse the invitation of the Uchiha clan, no one will be able to stop the Uchiha clan from talking nonsense at the briefing. They will attack you unscrupulously. So Teacher, I think you should still participate, but you must ask Lord Hokage for help. If Lord Hokage can come forward, no matter how bold the Uchiha clan is, they cannot face you in front of Lord Hokage...."
Obviously.
Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō had completely opposite opinions.
He did not agree with Shimura Danzō's idea of proactively giving way. Instead, he unexpectedly hoped that Senju Tobirama would agree to the invitation of the Uchiha clan.
After all, if Senju Tobirama didn't appear at the scene, the Uchiha clan could say whatever they wanted. They would attack him unscrupulously, and no one could stop them from talking nonsense.
And how could those ignorant villagers and lower-level ninjas distinguish the truth from the false, and how could they understand the hard work of Senju Tobirama handling Konoha's official duties on weekdays.
Shimura Danzō beside him immediately showed dissatisfaction, but because Sarutobi Hiruzen was the first to actively agree, the two sides did not quarrel immediately.
Senju Tobirama took all this into his eyes.
Shimura Danzō was indeed loyal, but ability... was still a bit behind Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Sarutobi Hiruzen not only knew how to observe words and expressions and unite teammates at a young age, but more importantly, he now understood the importance of discourse power.
At a critical moment, if you don't speak and choose to retreat, you will only retreat step by step, and finally lose completely.
And Sarutobi Hiruzen was also very loyal!
He was a good seedling worth cultivating vigorously.
"I think both Danzō and Hiruzen make sense..."
"I think so too..."
"....."
After Sarutobi Hiruzen came Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu, and representatives of several small families.
These people felt that both Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō made sense.
As for their own opinions... plus one is enough.
The smile on Senju Tobirama's face remained, and he nodded to them.
Loyalty is good.
The most important thing is loyalty. Ability can be cultivated gradually, but loyalty is hard to find.
In the past, when he was still the Shadow Hokage Nine Thousand Years of Konoha, the large and small ninja clans of Konoha crowded around him, praising him as "one pillar holding up the sky of Konoha." But now the situation has changed. The Akatsuki Ninja Village has emerged suddenly and overtaken Konoha on a curve, so much so that the Uchiha clan has expanded wantonly in Konoha with the help of the Akatsuki Ninja Village's power. Even now, when facing the Uchiha clan, he has fallen into a disadvantage, and those people have become silent one by one.
Of course.... Senju Tobirama could also understand the behavior of this group of ninja clans.
After all, he was not the real Hokage now, and wanting to promote the Konoha reform plan also touched their family interests. It was only human nature for them to choose to remain silent at this time, or even switch to the Uchiha clan.
But this highlights the value of this group of students in front of him and the families behind them!
One day, if he could become the Hokage, they would all be reused in the future!
"Teacher, what is your view?"
"Yes, yes, Teacher, what do you plan to do?"
"....."
Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō... a group of them couldn't help asking Senju Tobirama's thoughts.
"Hmph, of course I'm going!"
"The Uchiha clan is a group of naturally evil families. Their existence will only harm Konoha. Blindly chasing power, praising the Akatsuki Ninja Village to the sky like this, completely forgetting Konoha's stance. You must be vigilant against them, and absolutely cannot let them enter the high-level of Konoha and master Konoha's power."
"Otherwise, sooner or later, Konoha will fall apart because of them, letting the Akatsuki Ninja Village... I will absolutely not let them succeed!"
Senju Tobirama didn't pretend anymore at this time.
The group of people in front of him were his hardcore confidants.
There was no need to pretend to be a united person at this time. He scolded the Uchiha clan wantonly.
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