[Chapter Size: 2000 Words.]
Third Person POV
Konoha, Year 42.
...
...
As soon as the Hokage's words echoed through the place, they quickly stirred countless murmurs and comments around them, both from the ninjas who remained neutral and distant from the building, choosing no side, and from the allies behind him and below the building, facing the enemies.
Meanwhile, on Minato's side, the same happened—or at least to some—who showed only slight surprise, as they didn't fully understand, but the vast majority were already aware of what was happening there.
"At least you admit you sold them like cattle for slaughter, I'll give you credit for that. But don't forget they are the same Uzumakis who fought by our side, who managed to reverse the situation at the northern border and even held the eastern border against Kiri, the most powerful nation against Konoha in the Second War!"
"Is this what they deserve, Hokage? After bleeding by our side, are we simply going to destroy an alliance that has existed since before the village's founding with the Senju clan?" Minato raised his voice, making everyone turn back to them, while the shinobi who were ignorant of the matter wanted to know more about what was happening.
"This is all a better choice in view of a possible war, Minato. If you really listened to what we were discussing at the Kage summit, you know they didn't want to give in to peace and wanted to continue the war," Hiruzen said.
"What kind of peace is this, Lord Hokage? Where you leave women and children at the mercy of destruction and all the horrible crimes that could happen in the Land of Whirlpools—how do you sleep at night with that?" Minato was growing frustrated.
"Sometimes sacrifices are necessary. You understand that very well. Thousands of ninjas died so we could maintain peace in the Second War—you yourself witnessed many comrades fall in battle... all of them were necessary to reach the peace we have today," the Hokage said, while everyone stayed silent, listening to their discussion.
"They are allies of Konoha, so therefore, they are part of the village! What kind of sacrifice is this?" Minato gritted his teeth. He had been thinking for a while, reflecting on what the village truly was, what the Will of Fire meant, why the villages were created.
"They are not part of Konoha, Minato. They are outside the country!" Hiruzen said. "You want us to go to war to save a people who are not our responsibility? I understand your appeal for the Uzumakis—after all, Kushina is an Uzumaki too," he said.
"I am not an excuse!!" Kushina growled as soon as the Hokage said those words beside Minato. "I am not an excuse for Minato to want to save the Uzumaki clan! Dattebane!" she shouted. She looked at him, but she wasn't done.
"Minato will always fight for what's right. He chose to fight for the Uzumaki clan because he believes your decision is wrong. It is wrong!"
"You can't deny that they also sacrificed themselves for you! Are you saying that every Uzumaki ninja who died in the war meant nothing, Hokage? You're just going to let women and children be slaughtered like animals? From what I learned from Mito while she was alive, the First Hokage would never have wanted this!" she said, as tears fell from her eyes. "If it weren't for Minato, honestly, maybe we wouldn't even have suspected the movements of the villages. We would reach a point where we'd only receive news that the Uzumaki clan was destroyed..." She was saddened by her first home.
"Minato is the one trying to fight for what's right, while you choose a path that sacrifices those who trust in Konoha. To me, Hiruzen, you are a weak Hokage, who can't even defend his own comrades!"
"You should be the first to stand up and defend our companions, like you always said! That we should fight for the future and protect the people by our side. Fight so they can live well. But that's not what you're doing. You simply threw away an alliance that has lasted more than forty years, forged between the First and Second Great Ninja War alongside Konoha... You do this without a second thought about wanting to sacrifice them," she said angrily, while many eyes were still on her.
The whole place fell silent, hearing a thud, as she cast one last look full of sadness, frustration, and anger at the Hokage.
"To me, you are not the Hokage Mito-sama showed me you were supposed to be." she said, as her words seemed to affect everyone there. Even Hiruzen looked a little shaken by the girl glowing with the Kyuubi's chakra, crying.
"The Uzumakis are not part of the village! They never were, Kushina! We cannot sacrifice our ninjas. No one here wants another war!" Hiruzen tried to sound reasonable, and many agreed with that. "They would be attacked anyway."
"Then why didn't you offer to bring them here? Bring them to the Land of Fire! I'm sure the Uzumakis would be willing to leave their lands to survive!" Minato spoke again, while the Hokage didn't seem to like it, and at the same time many began to see that this could be an alternative.
Even if they thought it wasn't worth entering a war outside the country, they could bring them to Konoha and make it official. Even if the Uzumakis were a bit proud, that independence had now been replaced by a need to survive. After all, isn't it the strongest who survives?
"To begin with, you should never have handed them over as a peace offering. No peace proposal made with the blood of innocents is valid! And second, you should've given shelter to the Uzumakis as soon as the threat became visible!" Minato spoke again, but he wasn't finished.
"You said the Uzumakis are not part of Konoha, but I disagree. They are. We find our true friends on a battlefield, not at meeting tables. Hashirama Senju and Uchiha Madara allied in the midst of the chaos the world was facing. They united the Senju clan and the Uchiha clan in this very place, on that hill above us, and put their differences aside to seek a more peaceful world!" Minato said.
And then, murmurs began again. Obviously, people didn't know much about Uchiha Madara, beyond what was said: that he was a monster. Since the Second Hokage clearly hated the Uchihas, he did a lot to make that sentiment very clear to the village.
"This is absurd! Madara was a wicked person who fought against the First Hokage to try to destroy the village, Minato!" someone shouted. It was one of the elders behind Hiruzen.
"But to deny that Madara had a fundamental role in the creation of Konoha is to erase history itself!" Minato concluded.
It was also sad how things stood with the founding clans of Konoha—Senju had been reduced to only three living people, while the Uchihas, although still the most powerful clan in the village, were treated like pariahs.
Even the Uchihas there were wearing surprised expressions. It was curious, although there were some records that stated exactly what had happened—the Uchiha clan would never give up their glory of having helped create the village.
But everyone in the village, aside from a few, firmly believed that the one who founded the village was Hashirama, and only him. Uchiha Madara wasn't even mentioned in history books or at the academy.
Minato could see the dark look on the Hokage's face as well as on the two elders' faces when they heard that. Surely, they knew a lot—likely they had taken part in many changes to the village's recorded history. All of them feared the rise of a new Uchiha Madara. No wonder they always feared the Uchiha clan more than any other. Their teacher had deeply instilled that feeling in them.
Which was also ironic, because the one closest to becoming a new Uchiha Madara... was his wife, Mikoto, expecting her first child.
Minato then continued.
"Hashirama fought to find a solution, to prevent children from dying. Innocent children. After witnessing their own brothers being massacred in the clan wars, the union of the Senju clan with the Uchiha clan and all their allied clans began to form Konoha. A place where children could live happily as children, and not be killers in a war."
"The Will of Fire should be guided by that, Hokage. And not by a concept where we must obey the village without question, like war machines. And there's a big problem with that—because when we dedicate our lives to the village, what does that mean? That we dedicate our lives to you and your orders? That shouldn't be a concept that was distorted, when the two founders of Konoha intended to create the village. It was about peace, so that children could be children."
"What are you talking about? About Uchiha Madara? He was a monster! He wanted to destroy everything! And now you're talking as if he were a founder?" the old woman shouted beside the Hokage.
"I'm not done yet, woman. But I know you want answers. Uchiha Madara lost his way, yes. But he saw things that Hashirama couldn't see. Unfortunately, he chose the wrong path."
'And continues to choose the wrong path…' Minato didn't say that last part out loud, he kept it to himself.
"But what I mean is that we already have ten-year-old children going to war. That destroys the whole concept behind the village's creation. In the next war, what will it be? Eight-year-old children? Six? Will we put kunai in children's hands the moment they start to walk? That's wrong. Sacrificing our allies is also wrong."
"I'm not here to overthrow your government, Hokage. I don't want your position right now. But we all want the village to make the right decision. We stay where we can support and help the Uzumakis, we give them shelter. And if the four nations want to fight us, then we'll do it. We fight for our comrades."
"We've done it before and we won the four-front war. I don't want to be remembered as a coward who let his comrades be destroyed in exchange for some temporary peace. Or do you really think this peace will last long? Especially now, with Konoha losing a powerful ally. This will be an even greater opportunity for the Third Great Ninja War to begin."
"And we'll be weaker at that point, which means more deaths in the long run. That's stupidity!" Minato said, not just to the Hokage, but to everyone around.
The clans behind Minato nodded. Some might have been there just to gain some power, but they were still there to support this decision, to fight for the principle. Because many knew that today it was a clan outside the village, a clan important to Konoha. Tomorrow, it could be their own comrades and shinobi being sacrificed.
After all, there were rumors that some nations simply sacrificed powerful ninjas in exchange for benefits, even in deals with other nations.
Hiruzen stared at Minato. He had to admit, at that moment, that nearly everyone was leaning in Minato's favor. But was he going to let it end like that? Of course not.
He didn't like hearing that comment about the Will of Fire, which was a bit different from what he preached to the younger generation. To him, some sacrifices were necessary. After all, would they really want to see their friends and relatives killed to defend an external clan? He didn't think so. They knew the value of ensuring peace.
The final words, however, held no guarantee that a war would actually start. So he had faith that he could sway the majority of the village toward his decisions.
In that moment, secretly, he was relieved. Relieved that he didn't have to fight. In the end, it would be a battle of words and not jutsus, which would be disadvantageous, seeing those three standing before all the clans.
He knew he couldn't defeat them.
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