Senju Tobirama quickly noticed the Great Elder's prying gaze.
Their eyes met...
The Great Elder looked at Senju Tobirama, the corners of his mouth curling up, a smile appearing on his face, and he almost couldn't help but hum lightly.
He and Senju Tobirama were largely of the same generation. Senju Tobirama hated the Uchiha clan, but didn't the Uchiha clansmen who lived in the same generation as Senju Tobirama also despise him?
In the Warring States period, when the two clans fought, Senju Tobirama really made the Uchiha clan suffer a lot.
Especially after Uchiha Izuna died, Uchiha Madara would fight Senju Hashirama one-on-one every time, and the Uchiha lacked clansmen who could fight Senju Tobirama. In the remaining battlefield situation, whenever they faced the team led by Senju Tobirama, they were always suppressed by him.
Now the situation has finally reversed!!
And Senju Tobirama just glanced coldly at the Great Elder and withdrew his gaze.
For him, this group of Uchiha in Konoha were just clowns. Without Uchiha Makoto's all-round assistance day after day for years, this group of people simply wouldn't make it to the stage and would only be used by him as Konoha security guards. Even Senju Tobirama was confident that he could make this group of Uchiha enjoy it.
There was only one real threat to Konoha, and that was Uchiha Makoto, the naturally evil Uchiha brat.
All this was manipulated by him behind the scenes!
"Uchiha Makoto, this is what you've always wanted to see most."
"Wanting Konoha to be divided, wanting to annex Konoha...."
"Bastard, I will absolutely not let you have your way!"
Senju Tobirama couldn't help but swear secretly in his heart.
He knew that what Uchiha Makoto wanted to see most was the scene before him. Once Konoha's hearts were scattered and it fell apart, the Akatsuki Ninja Village would be the biggest beneficiary. But Senju Tobirama absolutely could not tolerate the Konoha built by his brother and his painstaking efforts over the years all ending up making wedding clothes for Uchiha Makoto.
However, having said that...
Thinking of the wave after wave of offensive combos Uchiha Makoto might launch against Konoha in the future.
Senju Tobirama immediately had a headache.
He thought about it over and over again but couldn't think of any effective countermeasures, and even felt that he couldn't parry at all.... The future battles were completely different from the mode he had been familiar with for half his life.
And Uchiha Makoto always came up with some brand new tricks and strategies from time to time, which happened to be very effective, as if he were always implementing dimensionality reduction strikes against him.
So much so that now Senju Tobirama felt that part of his thoughts and attitudes had become shaped by Uchiha Makoto.
—The governing strategy that Senju Tobirama dismissed back then, thinking Uchiha Makoto was delusional, had been copied unchanged into the Konoha reform plan, and even his views on nobles and Daimyo had quietly changed.
Senju Tobirama always wanted to be a loyal minister of the Land of Fire and didn't want to "collude" with Uchiha Makoto to subvert the order of the entire ninja world. This would kill many people—neither Senju Hashirama nor Senju Tobirama had the resolve to kill tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of people at once for the revolution.
Even the most brutal battles in the Warring States period didn't kill so many people!
But such "kindness" became weakness and easy to bully. The Akatsuki Ninja Village really dared to kill people and see blood, while Konoha... has not had any radical actions so far.
And those vermin of the Land of Fire just like to bully honest people!
.....
Before long, Senju Tobirama didn't want to continue thinking about these uncomfortable things. After all, complaining now was useless; what mattered was the present.
He refocused his attention on the symposium.
The student speech session was not over yet. After the Senju clansmen finished speaking, it was time for the Uchiha clansmen to speak.
"Konoha needs to change, we absolutely cannot stick to conventions anymore!"
"So-called ninjas should not just be tools for executing missions. There are many things we can do, politics, economy, culture...."
The ninjas listened to the Uchiha clansmen's speech with some bewilderment.
This did not match their cognition.
So-called ninjas are people who endure, cultivate hard, execute missions uncompromisingly like tools, and advance step by step from Genin to Chunin and Jonin. This is the essential work of a ninja. As for other things, they are all heresies.
Not only the ninjas below the stage, but also the high-level officials of the ninja clans hiding in the dark and watching, deep down, could not agree with this Uchiha clansman's remarks.
This naturally included those Uchiha elders.
But there was no helping it. They had put so much effort into organizing today's briefing. Could they publicly stop the mouths of their own clansmen and not let them speak?
In that case, wouldn't they be slapping their own faces!
And as the Uchiha clansmen spoke one after another, the briefing had escaped the control of the Uchiha elders and developed in a strange direction.
Because...
If these ideas were implemented one by one at the specific level of Konoha according to the speeches of those Uchiha clansmen, wouldn't that be exactly the internal reform plan Senju Tobirama was promoting in Konoha? Even some examples coincided verbatim—all taught by the same master!
At this time, the Great Elder's face was extremely ugly.
Even if he was slow, he knew he couldn't let that group of brats on stage continue talking.
Today's briefing gathered more than half of the high-level officials of the Konoha ninja clans. A while ago, the Uchiha clan also took the opportunity of opposing the internal reform plan of Konoha to win them over. Now.... the younger generation of the Uchiha clan publicly slapped their faces and actually defected to Senju Tobirama first.
How the hell can they raise a banner and win over the Konoha ninja clans in the future!
"Screwed up, you guys screwed up!"
"The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. You Uchiha wanted to be the mantis, but didn't expect Uchiha Makoto to be the oriole, stabbing you in the back!"
"Uchiha Makoto, this bastard is really bad. Senju clan students can say these words, Hyuga clan students can also say them, students from any ninja clan in Konoha can say them... But the Uchiha clan can't, yet they happened to be the ones who said these words. If there isn't a trick in this, Senju Tobirama wouldn't believe it even if he died. This is obviously Uchiha Makoto doing it on purpose!"
"But he's so bad, I like it so much!"
"Slap the Uchiha's face hard for me!!"
Senju Tobirama sat below the stage with a smile on his face.
The segment he was most looking forward to finally came.
However, he didn't expect that Uchiha Makoto, that guy who was bad to the core, would be so ruthless to his own family.
Clearly, these words could be spoken by Senju clansmen or Hyuga clansmen.... But he just had to let Uchiha clansmen speak them out. Obviously, this was Uchiha Makoto doing it on purpose.
Of course... he liked it very much.
After all, letting the Uchiha fight among themselves and slap their own faces could alleviate his disadvantaged environment in Konoha to the greatest extent for Senju Tobirama.
At this time, Senju Tobirama was not idle either. Whenever an Uchiha finished speaking, he would take the lead in applauding as if adding fuel to the fire.
And the small group united by Senju Tobirama, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzō and others also applauded along.... Although they were also confused, clearly the teacher's attitude towards the Uchiha was very bad.
The noise made by this group of people at the same time was very loud, and almost the entire audience in the venue noticed them. Due to etiquette and Senju Tobirama's remaining prestige, the rest of the people could only applaud along.
Seeing this scene, the Great Elder's face turned green on the spot.
These bursts of applause were like slaps on his face!
Did the Uchiha clan's hard work all end up making wedding clothes for Senju Tobirama?
He hadn't had time to slap Senju Tobirama's face with the Senju clansmen's speeches yet, why was his own face swollen first?
Where exactly did the problem occur?
The Great Elder couldn't figure it out for a while.
Clearly, everything was planned well. The Senju clansmen appeared first, directly focusing the attention of the whole venue on Senju Tobirama, and then the Uchiha, Hyuga, Ino-Shika-Cho... speaking one by one. Each family's speech was equivalent to a statement—only the Uchiha can lead Konoha to prosperity.
Finally, throw all the responsibility to Senju Tobirama, making him completely lose face in front of the public, but now...
It wasn't until more than ten minutes later that the Uchiha clansmen's speeches were completely finished.
The Uchiha elders looked at this group of brats with unfriendly eyes. Obviously, this group of Uchiha juniors would definitely be severely liquidated.
But it didn't matter.
Uchiha Makoto would personally intervene to protect them, and this was also a scene he hoped to see. He needed a divided Konoha and also a divided Uchiha—the methods of the British Empire are sometimes really effective!
Just then, Senju Tobirama keenly sensed an opportunity to expand the results of the battle.
Senju and Uchiha could represent Konoha. Senju Tobirama could completely represent the Senju clan, but who could represent the Uchiha clan?
At least this group of young Uchiha could represent the Uchiha clan now. Taking advantage of the aftermath of the Uchiha's speeches and using their identity, he could just build momentum for the internal reform plan of Konoha and shut the mouths of some high-level officials of Konoha.
As for the future... he and Uchiha Makoto had agreed, someone would represent the Uchiha to love Konoha!
Subsequently, Senju Tobirama walked grandly to the podium in front of everyone.
"Everyone, I am very happy to see the Uchiha's awareness!"
"Konoha has reached a time when it must change."
"....."
"The times have changed!"
"Konoha has been immersed in the order and tradition of the Warring States period in the past, and has not actively embraced the opportunities and waves of the new era, leading to the stagnation of Konoha's development... This is the responsibility of all our high-level officials in Konoha!"
"Now, on behalf of all the high-level officials of Konoha, to the villagers and ninjas present.... This is the dereliction of duty of all the high-level officials of Konoha, and also my dereliction of duty..."
Senju Tobirama walked to the front of the stage and began to speak. First, he highly praised the Uchiha's awareness, directly representing the Uchiha first.
Then came the sincere admission of mistakes... and the determination of responsibility!
There was no helping it.
Senju Tobirama definitely didn't want to damage Konoha's official authority in his heart, but the huge gap between Konoha and the Akatsuki Ninja Village had been nakedly torn open. Continuing to cover it up would definitely continue to increase the dissatisfaction of the middle and lower-level ninjas and villagers of Konoha, so it was better to admit mistakes honestly.
However, this admission of mistakes was also very particular.
If such a big black pot was carried by one person, even Senju Hashirama would find it hard to carry.
But if a group of people carried it together, it would be very easy.
So Senju Tobirama openly admitted his mistakes and quietly "shifted" the responsibility for Konoha's current stagnation to all the high-level officials of Konoha.
Was there anything wrong with saying this?
Obviously not!
Standing in front of Senju Tobirama, the vast majority were middle and lower-level ninjas and Konoha villagers. They didn't know whose responsibility Konoha's current appearance should be, and no one told them in the past.
If the Uchiha clan hadn't wanted to persecute "Senju Tobirama" for the position of Hokage.
They might never have had the chance to know in their lives.
Of course... they might not care either.
After all, whether it was Senju Tobirama or the Uchiha, it was the same for them; their identities were all high-level officials of Konoha.
And the eyes of the Uchiha elders below the stage were already red.
They had never seen such a shameless person. With such a sentence "responsibility of all high-level officials of Konoha," he lightly covered up his own responsibility.
However, the rhythm of the scene had been firmly grasped by Senju Tobirama. He used the Uchiha clansmen on the stage, plus his past prestige, to define the matter first.
This is the importance of discourse power!
Whoever speaks first has the advantage..... Senju Tobirama has already begun to apologize to all Konoha villagers and ninjas on behalf of the high-level officials of Konoha.
—The Uchiha elders were too confident and didn't crush Senju Tobirama at the first moment.
Now if the Uchiha elders ran to the stage again and wanted to throw all the responsibility to Senju Tobirama, the middle and lower-level ninjas and villagers at the scene might not buy it.
Senju Tobirama is a high-level official, isn't your Uchiha clan a high-level official?
All responsibilities are Senju Tobirama's?
Isn't this deliberately splashing dirty water!
And the offensive launched by Senju Tobirama was not over yet.
"I have made attempts. Konoha, the Akatsuki Ninja Village, and the Uzushio Ninja Village jointly opened a cannery, which was very profitable, adding.... to Konoha every year. And this year, Konoha cooperated with the Akatsuki Ninja Village again, using Lord Hokage's Wood Style to carry out a series of cooperation in the agricultural field, expecting to bring.... to Konoha every year. These are the changes I have tried to make in Konoha over the years."
"But the changes are faster than I imagined. Conservative changes can no longer satisfy Konoha's development..."
"Konoha must undergo drastic changes. This matter is imminent!"
After shifting the responsibility "cleanly," he began to recount the breakthrough developments in various fields of Konoha over the years, each of which was fruitful.
As for... the stories behind these projects, don't fuss, don't fuss.
Anyway, it was indeed Senju Tobirama who participated and led projects that brought large profits to Konoha.
—Responsibility can be collective, but credit must be one's own!
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