Senju Hashirama watched in the chat group as Lucas effortlessly unleashed his brother Water Style ninjutsu, drowning the Sarutobi and Shimura clans in mere moments. A heavy sigh escaped him.
Senju Hashirama: Isn't this too much? There were innocent people among them...
Doflamingo sneered.
Doflamingo: First Hokage, no one in this world is truly innocent. Everyone carries some form of guilt. Saying they're innocent is just naive.
Senju Tobirama responded coldly.
Senju Tobirama: Brother, this is all for Konoha. The Sarutobi and Shimura clans had grown too powerful—just like the Senju clan before them. If eliminating the Senju was necessary for Konoha, then eliminating these two clans is just as justified. Only through their disappearance can Konoha truly thrive.
His expression darkened.
Deep down, he refused to admit this was personal revenge.
But if Konoha's higher-ups had once sacrificed the Senju clan for the "greater good," then it was only fair to sacrifice the Sarutobi and Shimura clans in return.
Why should the Senju clan have perished just to make room for these two families?
If the Senju could be sacrificed for Konoha, then why should the Sarutobi and Shimura be spared?
Sword God Ryuma: First Hokage, your thinking is too soft. To achieve a brighter future, sacrifices are inevitable. When I planned to open Wanokuni's borders, I was prepared to slaughter half the population if necessary.
Senju Hashirama sighed.
Senju Hashirama: But there were non-combatants among them, people who weren't shinobi…
Gengetsu Hōzuki: First Hokage, you're just as weak as you were back then. At the Five Kage Summit, you lowered your head to the other villages, humiliating yourself. That had never been done before or since.
Senju Tobirama snapped back.
Senju Tobirama: My brother did it for peace! You act like he had no choice, but he was strong enough to enforce his ideals. He didn't have to kneel—he chose to talk to them because he believed in kindness. Do you really think any of you could have stopped him?
Uchiha Madara smirked.
Uchiha Madara: Oh, he was strong enough, no doubt about that. But instead of using that strength, he chose to grovel, to beg for peace. Do you think the other villages respected him for that? No—they saw Konoha as weak, something to exploit.
Doflamingo laughed.
Doflamingo: Fufufufu~ That's human nature. The world isn't kind. Show weakness, and people will take advantage of you. Tolerance doesn't earn respect; it only invites more abuse.
Lucas remained indifferent.
Lucas: First Hokage was lucky. His strength wasn't just for show. If Konoha hadn't been as powerful as it was, his foreign policy would've doomed the village. If you don't believe me, look at the fate of Doflamingo's family.
Golden Lion Shiki: Shihahaha! Doflamingo's idiot father willingly gave up his status as a World Noble, thinking he could live peacefully among ordinary people. His sacrifices were even greater than yours, First Hokage.
Doflamingo's laughter was filled with resentment.
Doflamingo: Fufufufu~ That's right! My father wanted to live as an equal with commoners, so our family paid the price. But ordinary people didn't see our sacrifices. They only saw that we'd lost our privilege, so they took the chance to stomp us into the dirt.
Lucas: If I recall correctly, at the first Five Kage Summit, Sunagakure's First Kazekage demanded that Konoha hand over its most fertile lands. The audacity! A weakling demanding tribute from the strong, as if it was his right.
Gengetsu Hōzuki: Oh, I remember that! I was there as the First Mizukage's escort. It was hilarious! The weakest of the Five Villages had the nerve to threaten Konoha—"Give us land, or we won't sign the peace treaty!"
Whitebeard: Peace treaties are meant to protect the weak, not be used as a weapon against the strong. The real problem isn't the world—it's that First Hokage was too weak-willed.
Uchiha Madara's voice dripped with sarcasm.
Uchiha Madara: Oh, he wasn't weak at all—when it came to dealing with me, he was more than willing to be ruthless. But against outsiders? He was spineless. He prayed for peace like a beggar, yet he crushed his own people without hesitation.
Lucas: So don't just blame Sarutobi Hiruzen. The root of Konoha's problems started with the First and Second Hokage. Sarutobi Hiruzen merely followed their example.
Senju Hashirama: What do you mean?
Lucas: After the Fourth Hokage died, Cloud Village sent envoys to Konoha—not to offer condolences, but to take advantage of the situation. They targeted the Hyuga clan, failed to kidnap the clan leader's daughter, and then killed themselves on Hyuga territory.
Senju Hashirama: That makes no sense…
Uchiha Shisui: I know this! Cloud Village claimed that Konoha had murdered their "diplomatic envoy." They demanded the head of the Hyuga clan in compensation, or they would declare war.
Senju Tobirama: Don't tell me Sarutobi Hiruzen agreed…
Lucas: Relax. Sarutobi Hiruzen may be incompetent, but he's not that stupid. He wasn't about to hand over a powerful bloodline to an enemy village.
Senju Tobirama let out a breath of relief.
Senju Tobirama: Then what did they do?
Lucas: They executed the clan leader's twin brother instead. The man was part of the Hyuga branch family, and his death didn't "cost" Konoha much. When he died, the Hyuga's curse seal activated, destroying his Byakugan. Cloud Village got nothing.
Gengetsu Hōzuki mocked.
Gengetsu Hōzuki: Ahaha! Classic Konoha! Always so accommodating! Such tireless effort for "peace." You should be so proud.
Senju Hashirama felt like he was about to explode.
Senju Hashirama: How could they do this?!
Uchiha Madara's laughter was full of contempt.
Uchiha Madara: Isn't this exactly what you wanted? Sarutobi Hiruzen followed your ideals perfectly! If we hadn't been strong enough back then, the other villages would've devoured Konoha just like Cloud tried to devour the Hyuga.
Back then, Konoha had the God of Shinobi and Madara Uchiha, yet Sunagakure's First Kazekage still dared to blackmail them. If Konoha hadn't been as strong as it was, the other villages would have united against them, simply because Konoha controlled the most fertile lands in the shinobi world.
Senju Tobirama: No, that shouldn't have happened! Even if they inherited my brother's philosophy, they shouldn't be so foolish. Strength demands kindness, weakness demands toughness—that's how you prevent war! Have they forgotten what I taught them?
Tobirama scowled in frustration. He admitted that, in the early days of Konoha, he had been naive. But the First Shinobi War had opened his eyes.
He had personally trained Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others—there was no way they had forgotten his teachings.
Lucas: Don't underestimate Sarutobi Hiruzen. This might actually be a strategy to kill two birds with one stone. By sacrificing the Hyuga patriarch's younger brother, he not only avoided war but also reinforced control over Konoha's shinobi. First Hokage preached peace, and Second Hokage enforced control—Sarutobi Hiruzen inherited both philosophies perfectly.
Senju Tobirama: Suppressing the ninja? When there are external enemies to fight, and they're still focused on internal power struggles?
Lucas: It's inevitable. Sarutobi Hiruzen and his generation lack the overwhelming power of the First Generation. They can't intimidate foreign threats, and they can't fully suppress internal conflicts.
Uchiha Shisui: If their goal was to suppress the ninja… well, after Hyuga Hizashi's death, the Hyuga clan certainly became much more passive.
Lucas: Not just the Hyuga clan. Even the commoners in Konoha grew more arrogant toward shinobi. Some civilian children even bullied the Hyuga clan leader's daughter openly, seeing her Byakugan as something monstrous rather than a noble bloodline.
Namikaze Minato: A child's attitude is just a reflection of the adults around them… just like how Naruto was shunned by the other kids. The Third Hokage really had his own way of "managing" things.
The Real World
Lucas stood amidst the ruins of the Sarutobi and Shimura clan compounds. His Water Style had flooded their entire land, and now, enraged shinobi rushed toward him, weapons in hand.
A storm of kunai and shuriken cut through the mist, heading straight for him.
Lucas barely glanced at them before raising his hand.
A wall of towering waves surged up, swallowing the projectiles in an instant.
Several shinobi shouted, fury and panic in their voices:
"Who the hell are you?!"
"How dare you attack the Sarutobi clan? You're dead meat!"
"Third Hokage is one of us! You won't get away with this!"
"Elder Danzo is from the Shimura clan! Do you even know what you've done?!"
"Kill him!"
Some shinobi hesitated when they saw Kurenai Yuhi and Mitarashi Anko standing beside Lucas.
"The two women with him are Konoha shinobi—are they being controlled?"
"Doesn't matter. We kill them all!"
The battle erupted. Fire, lightning, wind blades, crushing boulders, and torrents of water exploded in Lucas's direction, filling the air with heat and steam.
A massive cloud of mist and smoke rose where the attacks landed.
The shinobi paused, waiting for the dust to settle.
"Did we get him?"
Before they could react, a gust of wind swept through, blowing away the mist.
Lucas stood completely unharmed, a mocking smirk on his face.
"You think something like that would even leave a scratch?" His voice was laced with amusement.
Kurenai and Anko stood beside him, untouched.
Lucas raised a single hand.
"Water Style: Heaven Weeps."
Dark clouds gathered above, swirling ominously. In an instant, drizzling rain began to fall.
But this was no ordinary rain.
Each droplet gleamed like liquid steel.
The moment it touched the enemy shinobi, screams of agony filled the air.
The rain pierced through their bodies, slicing through their flesh as though a thousand needles of water had stabbed them all at once. Within seconds, they collapsed—lifeless.
"STOP!"
A furious roar echoed through the battlefield.
From the distance, Sarutobi Hiruzen appeared, clad in his Hokage robes, flanked by a squad of Anbu shinobi.
His face was pale with rage as he took in the devastation. His clan—his people—annihilated.
Hiruzen's fists trembled as he locked eyes with Lucas.
"Who… are you?" he asked coldly.
Lucas grinned.
"Good question!" He spread his arms mockingly. "Let me introduce myself—Lucas. I was hired to destroy the Sarutobi and Shimura clans. Mission accomplished."
Hiruzen's expression darkened.
"An enemy village ninja? A mercenary? Doesn't matter," he muttered. "Once you're dead, I'll have your memories extracted."
He bit his thumb, forming hand seals in an instant.
"Summoning Jutsu—Monkey King Enma!"
A massive, aged ape appeared beside Sarutobi Hiruzen, his sharp eyes locking onto Lucas.
"Hiruzen," Enma spoke, his voice deep and rumbling. "Who is this man?"
Hiruzen's voice was like ice. "I don't know. But he destroyed our clans, and for that, he must die. Enma, transform into Adamantine Staff!"
Enma nodded, his body morphing into a golden, diamond-hard staff. Hiruzen gripped it tightly, his stance steady but hesitant.
He didn't attack immediately.
His gaze shifted between Lucas and the battlefield behind him, taking in the destruction. He was waiting.
Waiting for reinforcements.
Inside the Chat Group
Whitebeard: What's this old guy doing? He's armed and ready—why isn't he attacking?
Lucas: He's Hokage. Why take unnecessary risks? Shinobi techniques are unpredictable. What if I had an instant-kill move? He's waiting for backup.
Golden Lion Shiki: Then why don't you attack first?
Lucas: I'm waiting for his forces to gather—saves me the trouble later. I also want to see how the Uchiha react to this situation.
Uchiha Clan Compound
Inside the Uchiha district, Uchiha Fugaku stood in shock.
"You're telling me the Sarutobi and Shimura clans… are gone?"
A Uchiha ninja nodded eagerly.
"It's true! Third Hokage is already on the battlefield. A fight could break out any second. Patriarch, this is our chance!"
Another shinobi burst into the room, excitement gleaming in his eyes.
"Shall we act now?"
They wanted a coup. If they took advantage of the chaos, they could eliminate Konoha's leadership—and blame everything on the invader.
Fugaku hesitated.
"…Not yet. We'll observe first." His eyes darkened. "Something about this doesn't feel right."
Was it a trap?
Or was this genuinely the perfect moment for the Uchiha to rise?
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