In the next episode, viewers, who had been feeling stifled for two or three weeks in the modern world, eagerly opened the animation, hoping to see something exhilarating.
However, the opening scene was a memorial service hosted by Hiruzen Sarutobi, which immediately infuriated them.
[I can't take it anymore… (rolls eyes.jpg)]
[Ahhhhhh, I'm so mad! (｀Δ´)]
[How dare he? How tragic was the Mount Kikyo Battle? So many Ninja who sacrificed themselves could have been saved!]
[And those three armistice agreements, I bet there's something wrong with them too]
[Sometimes I really feel that Konoha's Ninja died for nothing, boo hoo hoo hoo]
[Don't worry! It'll be good after six minutes!]
[Right! Trust me! It'll be awesome later!]
—
Naraku: Then I'll have to see just how awesome it is.
—
The system automatically set the animation playback to 3x speed, and Hiruzen Sarutobi's speaking speed in the frame immediately increased significantly, chirping through his speech.
The screen darkened and then brightened again, with Tsunade sitting squarely in the center of the frame, flanked by a solemn Jiraiya and Uchiha Fugaku, and surrounded by several other Clan Heads.
"Everyone, please calm down."
Tsunade set down her teacup, her tone imbued with an undeniable firmness.
"Since the Mount Kikyo Battle, Clan Head Fugaku and I have been investigating the true cause of the incident, and we have now found concrete evidence."
The animation flashed a timely flashback; Fugaku had received a letter, the content of which was Tsunade's request for him to cooperate with her investigation.
The flashback ended, and Tsunade continued.
"Now the truth is clear…"
"It was precisely the Hokage and the Advisors' shortsightedness and greed that led to such severe consequences."
"And all of this should never have happened."
"Therefore, I propose impeaching Hiruzen Sarutobi and electing a more outstanding successor to the Hokage."
The Hyuga Clan Head still held a last shred of hope for the current situation, thinking that perhaps it was all the two Advisors acting on their own initiative, and the Hokage was actually unaware.
Unfortunately, his statement was mercilessly rebuffed by Fugaku.
The straightforward Inuzuka Clan Head was the first to openly curse Hiruzen Sarutobi, pledging that he and his clan would stand with Tsunade.
Jiraiya, too, was determined by the issue of survivor benefits mentioned by Fugaku, believing that his teacher was indeed no longer suitable to lead Konoha.
However, he still hoped to give his teacher a relatively dignified exit, only resorting to public impeachment if they truly couldn't reach an agreement and had no other choice.
Considering Konoha and the Land of Fire's need to save face, Tsunade reluctantly agreed to this suggestion, allowing him to first speak with Hiruzen Sarutobi privately.
[What a righteous act of putting justice before family, Tsunade is amazing]
[Enduring until now was all for the sake of their teacher-student bond]
[Konoha's two strongest Bloodline Limit clans, Uchiha and Hyuga, how come they're both so ridiculously honest?]
[Uchiha has been pushed to such an extent, and Hyuga still thinks Hiruzen Sarutobi is a pure-hearted saint?]
[As expected, it has to be Inuzuka; his cursing was so satisfying and directly expressed his feelings]
[Best support of this match — Uchiha Fugaku]
[It's fine when Fugaku doesn't speak, but once he does, he can precisely break through a high-ranking official's defenses, hahahahaha]
[Are there not enough jokes in Konoha? This one shouldn't make a difference, right?]
[That's true, but it's different; 'the leader of a Ninja Village being ousted' sounds bad and would greatly harm Konoha's reputation.]
[Indeed, everyone still needs to take missions and earn money, so making it too ugly isn't good; clients might even be afraid to come.]
The scene shifted to the Hokage Office.
Jiraiya sat on the sofa, silently watching Hiruzen Sarutobi unroll a scroll to read, then slightly lowered his gaze, no longer staring at the latter's increasingly dark expression.
"That's everyone's request, old man. That's all I can do."
"While there's still room for everything, wouldn't it be better to save face for both sides and retire to enjoy your later years?"
"As the victor of the Third Great Ninja War, this level of honor should be enough, right?"
Jiraiya was met only with prolonged silence.
He sighed heavily: "I'm leaving first, old man. You should think it over carefully…"
Jiraiya disappeared out the door, and Hiruzen Sarutobi hadn't uttered a single word from beginning to end.
It wasn't until dusk that the old and lonely Hokage sighed, muttering that he was old.
After much deliberation, he had to admit that Jiraiya was right; retreating gracefully was the only way to preserve his reputation in his later years.
Fortunately, the credit for the victory of the Third Great Ninja War was still his; such a life could be considered glorious.
--But, was that truly enough?
--Sure enough…—If it can only go this far, it's still a bit unwilling.
Hiruzen Sarutobi pondered, his pipe long extinguished, and now, in the darkness, only the unquenched sharpness in his eyes glimmered.
Viewers who saw through his thoughts also called it — ambition.
[Only Jiraiya is still willing to advise him]
[If he doesn't want to leave gracefully, then someone will make him leave gracefully.]
[I feel like he's getting off too easy.]
[Hiruzen Sarutobi has made contributions over the years, so we can't be too ruthless, can we?]
[That's true, the old monkey was quite capable during the Second Great Ninja War.]
[Capable of what? He abandoned the Hokage as a rearguard and returned to the village himself. He did a terrible job as the Hokage Guard Platoon…]
[Oh, that old man's gaze clearly shows he's very unwilling!]
[When you're in power and full of vigor, who would want to abdicate?]
[You're still dwelling on being unwilling??? (roars.jpg)]
[He wouldn't be planning some trick, would he?]
[Fainted from anger at the old geezer.jpg]
In the last few minutes, Konoha F3 sat in the Hokage Office, looking at each other, reluctantly choosing candidates for the next Hokage.
Their conversation entered the audience's ears word for word, and all the dirty thoughts in their minds were exposed.
[Whose fault is it that there are so few candidates! If it weren't for you and Danzo, would Sakumo still be sleeping right now!?]
[Damn it, excluding Tsunade just because she's close to Uchiha is ridiculous; she's more politically correct than anyone else!]
[What's wrong with us snakes just doing a few experiments! Technology is the primary productive force!]
[Fugaku: Sure enough, this broken Konoha should just explode.]
[Oh my god, choose Minato Namikaze? He's only in his twenties!]
[The problem is he's the only one left to choose, and he's flawless in every aspect.]
[Mitokado Homura, what do you mean, old man? Are you trying to rule from behind the scenes?]
[What are you afraid of? Minato isn't a pushover! We'll see how the black sesame tangyuan kills them off then!]
[Hiruzen Sarutobi is tempted! He's tempted! I knew that old geezer wasn't up to any good!]
—
Seeing this scene, Naraku clicked his tongue twice, thinking that netizens in his previous life truly hadn't deceived him.
Without the black-gloved Danzo, and having to do the dirty work himself, Hiruzen Sarutobi had indeed become different from before.
His dark side began to become difficult to conceal.
This change was certainly not good for Konoha, but for Jin, the villain, wasn't it like a pillow appearing just as he was getting sleepy?
With such a ticking time bomb in Konoha, why would the grand villainous plan not succeed?
If Jin played his cards right, those conspiracy theories from netizens in his previous life might even come true.
Naraku: This fun is truly a bit grand, huh? So excited, so excited~