"Don't panic!" Shin spoke up again. "I'm a medical-nin. Let me examine the Hokage."
After speaking, he squatted down and began checking Hiruzen's condition. It wasn't anything serious, just a sudden surge of anger. He would recover soon.
But with the prey delivering itself to his doorstep, how could he not take the opportunity to do something extra? And he was going to do it right in front of everyone.
Two minutes later, Hiruzen regained consciousness. When he saw Shin touching his body, he immediately got up and jumped back, taking a combat stance and shouting angrily, "What are you trying to do?"
"Did you hit your head or something?" Shin replied with an innocent face.
"You passed out just now. I was treating you. Or is that somehow wrong, too?"
It was only now that Hiruzen realized, he was surrounded by countless eyes. Everyone was watching him.
And he finally recalled the last thing Shin said before he passed out. "Don't worry. Maybe this was just Koharu acting on her own. Perhaps it really has nothing to do with you?"
That sentence was like a knife to the heart.
What did he mean by maybe? What did he mean by perhaps?
The issue with the strategic reserve warehouse using substandard supplies really had nothing to do with him!
It was all Koharu's doing!
But with Shin laying the groundwork with that one sentence, if he now tried to shift all the blame onto her, everyone would think he was just shirking responsibility. But if he admitted the blame himself… could he still continue being Hokage?
Shin, however, saw it entirely differently.
Did you really think you were innocent?
When Koharu first started embezzling public funds and you found out, what did you do?
All you did was give her a light scolding.
And when she played the emotion card and came up with some ridiculous excuses that not even ghosts would believe, you softened, and helped her cover it up.
No one's saying you had to execute her for one act of corruption. But the way you handled it was pure enabling.
It was because of Hiruzen's indulgence that things snowballed to this point.
Do you really think Koharu had the guts to go this far from the very beginning?
"Hokage-sama!" One of the people sent by Tsunade, seeing that Hiruzen was finally calming down, cautiously spoke again, "Lady Tsunade is still short on people over there. Do you think maybe…?"
"I understand. I'll send someone over immediately!" Hiruzen responded like a defeated rooster, head hanging low, walking toward the Hokage Building. His guards quickly followed behind.
In that moment, he felt utterly hopeless.
He truly regretted it, regretted not sticking to his principles from the start.
Unlike Danzō, who was rotten to the core from the beginning, he wasn't inherently evil. His downfall had a clear path.
The reason Tobirama passed the position of Hokage to him was because back then, Hiruzen was strict with himself, tolerant of others, had an excellent reputation, and was also quite strong.
But Hiruzen had one major flaw: he cared too much about protecting his image. He valued his reputation more than his life and could not tolerate even the slightest stain on his career as Hokage.
Toward his superiors, he wanted to be seen as someone who repaid kindness with gratitude. So, he carried on the will of the Second Hokage, and initially adopted many of Tobirama's policies, including those targeting the Uchiha clan, even to the extent of overcorrection.
Toward the people, he wanted the villagers and ninjas to believe that he truly cared about them. So, he acted humble and gentle, promoting the Will of Fire everywhere, hoping to win more approval.
Internally, he wanted others to see him as someone loyal and emotional, not obsessed with power. So, he gave important roles to his fellow classmates and continually delegated authority.
Toward his clan, he wanted the clan members to see that he hadn't forgotten his roots. So, he gave them special care and support.
But the truth was, when a person tried to hold onto everything, they often ended up with nothing.
A truly outstanding Hokage only needed to ask one thing: Is this good for the village?
If it was, then it should be done, resolutely, even if it went against public opinion.
If it was not, then it should be rejected, without hesitation.
Take, for example, Tobirama's decision to integrate the Senju clan into the civilian population.
Do you think he wanted to be harshly criticized by his own people? No, but he believed it was best for the village, so he did it.
Reputation? That was something left for future generations to judge.
As long as a Hokage helped the village thrive, even if there were flaws, he was still an excellent Hokage.
Conversely, if a Hokage weakened the village during his time in office, then no matter how good his reputation was, it was nothing more than an illusion.
When a person became too obsessed with upholding a pristine image, they end up blind, seeing only reputation, reputation, and damn reputation.
Ever since he heavily relied on Koharu, delegating power without effective oversight, her ambitions steadily grew under Hiruzen's indulgence.
At first, when she used her position for personal gain, she was still cautious, afraid of being discovered by Hiruzen. But once she saw clearly that he was too protective of his inner circle, so protective that he refused to be seen as someone who harmed his own people, even when he knew of her excessive actions, the most he would do was grumble a bit.
She began to abuse her power more and more, becoming bolder and more unrestrained, doing whatever she pleased.
Naturally, her behavior influenced both Danzō and Homura, and the three formed a political alliance.
To secure their grip on power, they began suppressing dissent and promoting ninjas from their own families.
Eventually, all they cared about was their personal gain, having long abandoned the village's best interests. And in pursuit of being seen as someone who listened to advice… Whenever Koharu, Homura, or especially Danzō spoke in unison, as long as their proposal wasn't too extreme, Hiruzen would, more often than not, compromise.
Over time, he gradually changed from a Hokage with firm authority into a Hokage with no opinions of his own, easily swayed by others.
He was actually very unhappy with this situation. He, too, wanted to be like Ōnoki or the Raikage, someone whose words held absolute authority in the village. But he couldn't bear to be seen as someone power-hungry.
Later, when Tsunade began to rise in fame and threaten his position as Hokage, he panicked.
Did he really not know where he went wrong?
Did he really not understand why Mito was so disappointed in him?
Did he really not get why the once unambitious Tsunade was determined to replace him?
Did he really not see why the villagers were increasingly rallying around Tsunade and drifting away from him?
Did he really not know why Fukuyama and Torifu firmly supported Tsunade?
He knew it all!
But he also knew one more thing: these outcomes weren't sudden, they built up over time.
By the time he realized all of this, it was already too late.