At that time, the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, was at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning, intercepting the attack of the Cloud Hidden Village.
With his own strength, he fought against the AB combination of the Cloud Hidden Village, which is now the Fourth Raikage and the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki, without falling into any disadvantage.
His strength could be said to be incomparably powerful. Perhaps if he were there, the Cloud Hidden Village simply would not have dared to have any thoughts about their Land of Fire.
And there would not have been the later incident of stealing the Hyuga clan's Kekkei Genkai.
What a pity that such a powerful Fourth Hokage passed away at such a young age.
And in Fugaku's heart, he was overjoyed. He did not expect that Ryosuke could actually link the death of the Fourth Hokage to the Third Hokage, damaging his reputation. When his reputation is at its lowest, that will be the time to strike at the Third Hokage.
Judging him will be justified, and it will be a righteous judgment. And the Uchiha clan, which has done all this, will also gain a fair and just image.
The Third Hokage was extremely helpless and also furious in his heart. This bastard pinned the death of the Fourth Hokage entirely on him.
Now, if he wanted to explain that he had done so to prevent the rebellion of the Uchiha clan, no one would believe it anymore.
He was now even beginning to doubt whether his original decision was wrong.
Back then, if he had ignored the Uchiha clan and gone to support the Fourth Hokage, maybe Namikaze Minato really wouldn't have died. Thinking of this, his heart became heavy.
Because maybe what this bastard said was actually right. If the Fourth Hokage were still here to share the burden, he wouldn't have fallen to such a state. Even in his heart, he started to feel a bit of regret.
And at this moment, Uchiha Ryosuke also asked the question he had always suspected. "Speaking of which, the Fourth Hokage and his wife sacrificed themselves for the village. Then, their child, Naruto, should have grown up peacefully under the care of the Third Hokage, right?"
"However, why was Naruto treated as a monster by the villagers?"
"Even if the villagers were ignorant and foolish, treating the hero's child as a monster, how did they even get such an important piece of information? How did they know that Naruto was the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki?"
The faces of some of the clan leaders present turned extremely unpleasant because Uchiha Ryosuke was somewhat hinting that they were ignorant fools.
They also felt guilty in their hearts. In the past, they had also looked down on Naruto, even going as far as to insult him with words. But if they had known Naruto's true identity, they definitely wouldn't have done so.
The Fourth Hokage and his wife, in order to protect the village and stop the rampaging Nine-Tails, saved the Leaf Village from the Nine-Tails' destruction and even sealed the Nine-Tails within their own child. What great righteousness this was.
Their hearts couldn't help but start blaming the Third Hokage. Why did he leak the information about the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki? On the other hand, the identity of Naruto as the Fourth Hokage's son was kept strictly confidential. If Naruto's identity had been leaked, how could they have done something so disgraceful and ungrateful?
And the Third Hokage, facing this sudden interrogation, couldn't help but defend himself. "I had Kakashi inform you long ago. I did this just to protect Naruto."
"Back then, the Fourth Hokage's name resounded throughout the ninja world. Naturally, he also killed many enemy village ninjas."
"The number of enemies was naturally large. If they knew about Naruto's identity, wouldn't they want to seek revenge on the still-young Naruto?"
"Naruto was still young and had no power to resist. This was far too dangerous. I had no choice but to do this. I was completely protecting him."
The clan leaders present pondered over the Third Hokage's words. What he said did have some truth to it.
Back then, Namikaze Minato had indeed killed many enemies. The fame of the Yellow Flash naturally came with astonishing battle achievements. In that case, Naruto was indeed in danger.
But Ryosuke completely disagreed with the Third Hokage's statement. "Afraid of revenge, so you concealed the identity of the Fourth Hokage's son strictly?"
"But if the identity of the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki was leaked, wouldn't that be dangerous too?"
"Does the Third Hokage naively believe that seizing a Jinchūriki ranks lower in priority than revenge?"
"Revenge, after all, is something only some people would do. But when it comes to seizing a Jinchūriki, that's something the entire ninja world's forces would be interested in, isn't it?"
"Moreover, the Third Hokage didn't even fulfill his responsibility to protect Naruto. He was actually bullied by bratty children in the village."
"He was even beaten to the point of bleeding from his head. Doesn't the Third Hokage fear that Naruto would come to hate the Leaf Village because of this and even betray the village?"
"Third Hokage, how do you explain this?"
The Third Hokage, hearing Uchiha Ryosuke once again pour a bucket of dirty water over his head, how could he not understand that the other party was trying to bring him down?
Making him take on more blame, to make the upcoming judgment easier. So, he absolutely couldn't let things go according to the other party's plan.
But he also couldn't provide a reasonable explanation because letting Naruto be bullied—he had done it on purpose.
"What you say also makes sense, but after all, I am not a god. I couldn't consider everything so thoroughly. As for Naruto getting hurt, it was because my Anbu made a mistake. I also deeply regret it."
Ryosuke sneered even more. "Interesting, yet another case of negligence? This cannot be used as an excuse. You are no different from those who harmed him."
The Third Hokage was holding back his anger, unable to speak. He absolutely couldn't admit that he did it on purpose.
And the other clan leaders also understood. It was indeed the Third Hokage's negligence. Because if the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki were to turn dark, that would be incredibly dangerous, possibly even leading to the Nine-Tails being released again.
This was a major dereliction of duty by the Third Hokage.
At this moment, Ryosuke remembered something else—Hatake Sakumo.
The hero of Konoha in the Second Great Ninja War.
It was precisely due to the inaction of the Konoha higher-ups that he was driven to commit suicide, which was also a great loss to the village.This matter could also be pinned on the Third Hokage.
"Third Hokage, you should still remember Hatake Sakumo, right?"
"Back then, he was one of the top combat forces in the village and had made great contributions to the village. So why was he ultimately forced to commit suicide by the rumors in the village? Shouldn't the Third Hokage take responsibility for this?"
The Third Hokage certainly remembered this man. He had once been a threat to his position as Hokage. Leading the ninja army to victory against the Sand Hidden Village back then, his fame had soared. His reputation in the village was even on par with his own.
So, he had to suppress him well. Otherwise… the power of the Third Hokage would be greatly divided, and that was something he absolutely couldn't allow.
But he had never taken action against this guy. He angrily said, "Why should I be responsible for this as well? He simply couldn't bear the rumors in the village and committed suicide. How can that be blamed on me? I wasn't the one who insulted him. I also deeply regret his death."
And the other clan leaders, upon hearing the name Hatake Sakumo, also deeply regretted it. Back then, this person, due to going to save his teammate, led to the failure of an important mission. Afterward, even his comrades blamed him.
Only then did he become disheartened and commit suicide. This matter had caused a great uproar in the village.
They naturally felt it was a pity. Clearly, he was someone with such high combat power, so how could he not withstand mere rumors?
But Ryosuke coldly snorted. "If this isn't blamed on the Third Hokage, then who else should be blamed? The strength of Konoha's White Fang, I believe everyone here has witnessed it. Letting the village lose such combat power— it was precisely because the Third Hokage condoned the villagers' insults toward a hero of the village that led to this."
"If Konoha's White Fang had not been slandered by the villagers, with such top-tier combat strength cooperating with the Fourth Hokage, perhaps during the Nine-Tails crisis, the Fourth Hokage wouldn't have died in battle, plunging into such a difficult situation. All of this is the Third Hokage's failure of responsibility."
"There wouldn't even be a need for you high-ranking officials to engage in human experiments to obtain immense combat power."
"Third Hokage, am I right?"
The Third Hokage cursed in his heart, 'Right, my ass.'
"I've already said it, it was because he failed an important mission and couldn't withstand the villagers' rumors that he committed suicide."
But Ryosuke did not agree with the Third Hokage's statement. "A major failure, so he should be ridiculed and insulted by the entire village?"
"Tell me, which clan leader present here has never failed a mission? Should they also be insulted by the villagers and then shamefully commit suicide?"
The people present all had a change in their expressions, and in their hearts, they couldn't help but feel a sense of empathy.
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