After finishing his work, Hiruzen returned home for dinner before heading to his study, as usual, to review documents he had brought back. Before long, he sensed someone triggering the barrier outside. Someone was looking for him.
Hiruzen didn't think much of it. His apprentices were home, and both of his Jonin disciples had returned. They would be attending the Jonin meeting the next day as well. A few moments later, there was a knock at the study door. When Hiruzen opened it, he found Shinku standing there with Danzo.
"Master, Danzo is here to see you," Shinku said.
"Alright, Shinku, make us two cups of tea," Hiruzen instructed, then invited Danzo inside. Once they were seated, Danzo couldn't hold back any longer and started speaking.
Hiruzen, however, smiled and said, "Danzo, you seem unsettled. Where's the decisive Danzo I know? No need to rush—have some tea first."
Soon, Shinku returned with a tray holding a tea set and two steaming cups. After placing it down, he quietly left, closing the door behind him.
Hiruzen made a simple gesture, and one of the cups floated toward Danzo. "Go on, try it," he said.
Danzo took a sip, and as the warmth of the tea spread through him, his mind gradually calmed. Letting out a sigh, he admitted, "Hiruzen, no wonder our sensei chose you in the end. I truly am not as strong as you. When it comes to the village and my clan, I can't completely put the village first. Even with the Fire Trade Company incident, I hesitated until the very last moment. Yet my clan didn't hesitate at all when they decided to push all the blame onto me."
Hiruzen suddenly asked, "Danzo, what do you think of the ninja clans?"
Danzo wasn't surprised by the question. To him, the clans had always been a potential threat to Konoha's stability. After a moment of thought, he replied, "They are obstacles to the village's progress. If Konoha is to grow stronger, we must remove these roadblocks…"
As Danzo spoke with growing fervor, Hiruzen felt a deep, indescribable disappointment.
This world was one where disagreements could lead to massacres and the extermination of entire bloodlines. In the original course of history, both Danzo and his own counterpart had followed this same path. The fall of the ninja clans had only led to Konoha's decline in power.
In a way, these clans were like the noble families of ancient Chinese history—a parasite on the main body of a governance. Removing them was never easy, especially with external enemies constantly lurking. Throughout history, the struggle against nobility only happened when a nation was at its peak. In these struggles, both the ruling class and the noble families would weaken, leading to eventual dynastic change. Even after thousands of years, noble families were never truly eradicated; they merely adapted and found new ways to survive.
Humans are social creatures. They instinctively seek out their own kind for protection. As long as the self-interest exists, power structures will always regenerate. History had proven this time and again—massacres were never the final solution. Eliminate one group, and another would rise a few decades later.
Only a truly revolutionary leader—one capable of shaking the world, redistributing power, and dismantling the old order—could truly suppress such a system.
Hiruzen had no interest in exterminating clans on a whim. Weakening Konoha's own forces while expecting the other four great villages to remain passive was sheer folly. His approach had always been different—through education and the widespread teaching of ninjutsu, he aimed to dilute the clans' influence over time. When civilian-born shinobi became the majority, the village could gradually shift its policies to curb the clans' dominance.
Danzo, however, remained blind to such nuance.
"Hiruzen, let's start by wiping out a few of the smaller clans involved in this incident, then we can—" Danzo's voice grew increasingly excited, as if eager to dismantle the entire system in one sweep.
"Danzo, have you ever considered this? If all the ninja clans are wiped out, what will we use to defend against the other four great villages?" Hiruzen waved his hand, cutting off Danzo's self-indulgent fantasies.
"Hiruzen, I'm not saying we should eliminate them all at once," Danzo explained. "We should do it gradually—one by one, weakening them over time… And in the meantime, we'll force each clan to provide their best talents to serve us."
Hiruzen wasn't surprised by Danzo's reasoning. This was exactly what he had done in the original course of history. Playing along, he asked, "Let's assume you succeed. All the ninja clans in Konoha are gone. Then what? Do you think new clans won't form? In a few decades, the children of today's civilian-born ninjas will become second- and third-generation shinobi. Over time, their descendants will multiply where ninjas with the same surname will band together, and new clans will emerge. What then?"
Danzo remained indifferent, his tone devoid of concern for human life. "Then we eliminate another batch. People are like crops—cut them down, and in twenty years, they grow back. Besides, by then, we'll be gone. It'll be the next generation's problem to deal with."
"I don't agree," Hiruzen countered. "People are inherently selfish. They will always favor those closest to them—whether by blood or personal ties. Take Koharu, for example. By all rights, she should be imprisoned or even executed for what she's done. Yet, I merely removed her from her position as an assistant of the Hokage."
Hiruzen paused before delving into a deeper explanation. "Since ancient times, human beings have huddled together for survival, forming groups of various sizes. This is the origin of clans—the foundation of the ninja clans we see today. The spread of chakra amplified this structure, allowing certain families to develop unique abilities. Over time, these abilities became a defining feature of powerful clans, distinguishing them from the rest."
"Strong clans, unsatisfied with their status or lacking resources, often clashed with the weaker ones. This was the root cause of the Warring States period. It wasn't until the First Hokage and Uchiha Madara founded the village system that those things changed. The ninja world transitioned from an era of clans to an era of villages."
"However, this transition was never complete. The clans became a part of the village, but they did not dissolve into it. Our generation's duty is to fully integrate them—so that the strength of the ninja clans becomes the strength of the village itself."
"If we recklessly slaughter them, we would go against the ideals of the First Hokage. Worse, we risk alienating the very backbone of Konoha's military force. The remaining clans will grow resentful, and when war inevitably comes, Konoha may no longer have the power to resist. It could spell our downfall."
Hiruzen's throat was dry from speaking so much, so he took his cup and drained it in one go.
Danzo, still unconvinced, frowned. "So what? Are we just supposed to let the clans do as they please? Many of them exploit lower-ranked ninja within their families, obstruct village policies, and hoard power. They've become a cancer in Konoha."
The betrayal of his own clan still weighed heavily on Danzo's mind. This time, the Shimura clan had used him as a scapegoat. He wouldn't forget that so easily.