At this point, Uchiha Ryosuke had another idea brewing — revising the rules of the Konoha Police Force.
"The villagers are ignorant. All they do is wound the hearts of heroes. From now on, such matters should be handled internally by the Police Force. I ask the Police Captain and Vice-Captain to revise the regulations. Any villager who slanders or insults Konoha's heroes must face strict punishment. Such disgraceful incidents must never happen again."
Fugaku immediately agreed.
The Ino–Shika–Chō trio of clan heads, as well as the Inuzuka and Hiashi of the Hyūga, also nodded.
They all thought the same: If one day my clan made a mistake and the villagers freely hurled abuse at us, wouldn't it crush our spirits?
Ryosuke was right — villagers tended to be ignorant and only saw the surface of things.
Nara Shikaku, meanwhile, was already calculating. If this new regulation passes, the environment for Konoha's shinobi will improve significantly.
Ryosuke's eyes sharpened.
"Now then, it's time for the trial of the Third Hokage."
"The Third Hokage not only killed Shisui of my clan, but as Hokage he also allowed Danzō to conduct human experiments that led to the downfall of the Senju clan and the deaths of countless children. Indirectly, he is also responsible for the deaths of the Fourth Hokage, Hatake Sakumo, and more."
"Even his care for Naruto, the son of a hero, was utterly negligent."
"Clan leaders, how do you propose we punish him?"
The room grew heavy. The more Ryosuke listed, the more monstrous the Third Hokage seemed.
Some accusations were exaggerated, but when they thought about it carefully, much of it wasn't completely unreasonable.
He had allowed Hatake Sakumo to be slandered until he killed himself.
He had failed to properly protect the Second Hokage during that fateful mission.
He had turned a blind eye to Danzō's horrific experiments, which cost many lives.
He had let Minato die and left Konoha vulnerable.
Only the Uchiha had saved the village from further Cloud incursions.
The image of Hiruzen Sarutobi as a wise and noble leader began to shatter. Maybe they had been wrong to respect him so blindly.
But how to deal with him? That was dangerous ground.
Technically, the crimes he was accused of could merit execution — at the very least, lifelong imprisonment. But who among them dared to open that door? He was still the Hokage, the face of the village.
If they demanded his death, it might backfire upon them instead.
Ryosuke frowned at their hesitation.
"What's this? No opinions? If the Third's crimes are so clear, then it's only just that the entire council of clan heads pass judgment."
Finally, one clan head stood and declared:
"For crimes this heavy, the Third Hokage should be sentenced to death."
Ryosuke didn't immediately support the idea. He stayed silent, waiting for others to weigh in.
Another leader stood.
"Death is too much. He is the Hokage, after all. We should sentence him to lifelong imprisonment."
The chamber broke into murmurs and arguments.
"Even if his crimes are serious, can we really execute a Hokage?"
"If the village starts killing its own Hokage, what kind of precedent is that?"
"We mustn't lose order."
Some clan heads even turned their suspicion toward Ryosuke.
"If we execute the Hokage for his crimes, then what about the Uchiha? If your clan abuses its power and kills innocents, will you also face death?"
They feared the Uchiha were maneuvering for dominance, and wanted to trap Ryosuke with his own words.
To their surprise, Ryosuke agreed without hesitation.
"Of course. This law applies to the Uchiha as well. If any of us kill innocents, we'll be punished according to the Police Force regulations."
This reassured some of the doubters — especially those who had once been allies of the Third. At least they wouldn't be targeted for a purge.
"Then let's leave the punishment to the Police Force code."
Still, a few voices spoke up cautiously.
"That's fine for ordinary villagers and shinobi. But this is the Hokage. Is it really appropriate to judge him like anyone else?"
Ryosuke's frown deepened. The verdict wasn't unanimous. It wasn't perfect.
Shisui's death and Hiruzen's failings had been damning, but some clan leaders still resisted outright condemnation. He needed someone with higher status to make the call — someone whose word would carry authority.
His gaze fell on Hyūga Hiashi.
"What about the Hyūga? What's your clan's stance?"
Hiashi hesitated, then spoke gravely.
"After the Cloud incident, I stopped trusting the Third Hokage. And there's something else — something I must ask today."
"During the war, when the Hyūga and Uchiha clans were ordered to face the full might of the Cloud army at the border, we captured the Fourth Raikage. At that time, he admitted openly: Konoha had a high-ranking spy leaking military intelligence to them."
"Third Hokage — were you aware of this?"
The chamber erupted in whispers.
The Hyūga and Uchiha had been forced to shoulder a war effort that should've broken them. The idea that someone in the Konoha high command had betrayed them — leaked information to the enemy — was shocking.
If Cloud had won that war, Konoha would've been forced into crushing reparations, draining every clan of resources.
And yet, the Uchiha had managed to turn it around, supposedly even earning a vast payment of reparations from the Cloud that crippled their growth for decades.
If the betrayal rumor was true, the implications were staggering.
All eyes turned to Hiruzen.
"Third Hokage — did you know about this spy?"