For the sake of Konoha, we beg the Te clan members to die!

Chapter 502 For the sake of Konoha, we beg the Senju clan to die!

"Cheng..."

"Having traveled from Konoha, I've witnessed many things happening under the rule of Akatsuki. The actions you've taken on this land of Fire... the confiscation of land, the public trials of nobles..."

"I heard Tobirama mention to me that the daimyo and nobles of the capital of the Land of Fire are furious about this matter and have even put pressure on Konoha many times, demanding that we send troops to stop the Akatsuki's actions."

"To be honest, I also think this is a very dangerous approach that could easily cause chaos."

"but...."

Hashirama Senju paused, his tone carrying a sense of profound感慨 (gǎnkǎi, deep emotion) and 深沉 (shēnchén, profound reflection) born of a lifetime of experience.

"However, I also genuinely saw the smiles on the faces of ordinary people, and witnessed their heartfelt support for you. I truly cannot understand how you managed to do that?"

Faced with Hashirama Senju's question, Makoto Uchiha's smile faded slightly, and his brows furrowed involuntarily.

In fact, when Akatsuki Village formulated its action plan to take actual control of one-fifth of the Land of Fire's territory, Makoto Uchiha had already foreseen this situation.

If Hashirama Senju were instigated by Tobirama Senju, or if the Daimyo of the Land of Fire personally went to Konoha to plead and pressure him, using the "Will of Fire" and the treaty protecting the Land of Fire to coerce him, causing Hashirama Senju to become extremely dissatisfied with Akatsuki's actions, and thus disregard his half-crippled body, directly stand up and use force to stop Akatsuki's expansion.

If it really comes to that, how will Akatsuki deal with it?

Even if Hashirama Senju is already on his last legs, if he really disregards everything and goes all out, who dares to say that Hashirama Senju won't unleash his full power again?

Therefore, armed confrontation is definitely the worst possible strategy.

For a kind-hearted person like Hashirama Senju, persuasion is the best approach.

Uchiha Makoto had prepared a long set of arguments about "the greater good of the ninja world" and "the relationship between productivity."

We don't expect someone like Hashirama Senju, whose mind is full of outdated ideas, to fully understand these theories; we just need to keep him inactive for the time being.

But now it seems that the reality is much better than he expected, even unexpectedly smooth.

There was no questioning in Hashirama Senju's tone, nor was there any hostility in his attempt to accuse him.

That makes things much easier.

In any case, Hashirama Senju's body was already riddled with holes due to the frequent use of Wood Release to overdraw his life force during his battle with Madara Uchiha, and he was destined to die soon.

There is really no need to further agitate a dying person who may perish at any moment with overly subversive theories.

As long as you follow his logic and say something less radical, a "reformist" statement disguised as "justice," you can easily brush him off... If you do it properly, you can even make Hashirama Senju feel disgusted with Tobirama Senju's behavior of being a lackey of the nobility before his death.

Thinking of this, Uchiha Makoto put on his gentle smile again, personally poured a cup of hot tea for Senju Hashirama, and slowly began to speak.

"Lord Hashirama, this matter is not as complicated as you think, and it's not dangerous at all."

"This time, Akatsuki Village was merely trying to clean up the local security situation in the Land of Fire, just like before. However, during this routine process, our Akatsuki Village investigators were extremely shocked to discover that the local hereditary nobles and powerful landowners, relying on the fact that the emperor was far away and on the daimyo's favor, were wantonly disregarding the laws of the Land of Fire."

"This group of people levies exorbitant taxes and levies on the local people, even disregarding human life and committing heinous acts, causing widespread suffering and misery among the people. In order to rectify this evil trend and to save the ordinary people of the Land of Fire, my Akatsuki Village, as a ninja village of the Land of Fire, naturally cannot sit idly by. Therefore, I can only overstep some rules and strictly follow the laws of the Land of Fire to punish these lawless and powerful figures."

"I confiscated all the fertile land they had illegally seized through extremely despicable means, as well as the moldy grain they had stockpiled in the warehouses, and distributed it to the poor people who were about to starve to death. This gave them land of their own and freed them from being exploited. This is the fundamental reason why my Xiaoren Village is so beloved by the people."

At this point, Uchiha Makoto paused appropriately, feigning a helpless expression as if he had endured countless grievances for the sake of the nation, and sighed deeply.

"As for the rumors circulating outside, you can probably guess. Most of these punished nobles have considerable influence in the capital of the Land of Fire, with intricate and complex networks of connections. After their interests were harmed, they naturally rushed back to the capital to complain and seek redress."

To distort the truth.

"But His Highness, living deep within the palace and surrounded by sycophants, is completely unable to understand the true situation on the ground."

"He was unaware of the true situation and was deceived and misled by these treacherous people with malicious intentions. As a result, he developed some extremely serious misunderstandings about our Akatsuki Village's original intention of maintaining order and saving the people. This was inevitable..."

Uchiha Makoto put down his teacup, his eyes suddenly becoming incredibly determined.

"However, please rest assured, Lord Hashirama, once the situation in the region has completely stabilized, those commoners who were allocated land will be able to live and work in peace and contentment."

"When the time is right, I will personally go to the capital to explain the details of this matter to His Highness the Daimyo. I am willing to guarantee with the honor of the Uchiha clan that I hope he can understand the painstaking efforts that Akatsuki has made for the stability of the region and the long-term peace and security of the Land of Fire."

"Not only that, I will also never let those traitorous nobles in the capital of the Land of Fire, who are stirring up trouble, sowing discord, and even attempting to frame the Akatsuki Village, get away with it!"

"If we allow these parasites to continue gnawing at the foundations of the Land of Fire, this country will perish sooner or later."

"I will use this lightning to sweep away the treacherous officials in the court, eradicate the local scourges, and restore a bright and clear world to the Land of Fire and even the entire ninja world."

The Thunderbolt Action was called "Purge the Emperor's Lair"!

Uchiha Makoto spoke these words with righteous indignation and conviction.

His current image is that of a noble figure who, despite bearing a bad reputation, still dedicates himself to the Land of Fire until his dying breath.

The future of the Fire Nation rests on his shoulders!

As for those extremely dangerous remarks about "sending all the daimyo and old nobles of the ninja world to the guillotine," Uchiha Makoto didn't mention a single word.

Faced with such a passionate and almost soul-stirring speech, Hashirama Senju was shaken.

He had initially harbored deep concerns and doubts about the Akatsuki's actions, fearing it might trigger a civil war in the Land of Fire. However, after hearing Uchiha Makoto's explanation, his words did, to some extent, align with his long-held, simple values.

In Hashirama Senju's view, if those local nobles were indeed as Makoto Uchiha claimed, violating the laws of the Land of Fire for their own selfish desires, wantonly oppressing and even killing innocent people, then as a cancer on the country, they should naturally be severely punished by law.

Makoto Uchiha and the Akatsuki were acting on behalf of Heaven, performing a righteous act of "purging the court of corrupt officials" to uphold the laws of the country and protect the interests of the people!

At most, it was just a moment of anger that led to some overreaction.

"Okay, okay!!"

"As expected of Makoto, I knew it! Why would you do something detrimental to the Land of Fire for no reason?"

While sighing with satisfaction, Hashirama Senju turned to Tobirama Senju, who sat beside him with a gloomy face, and said earnestly, "Tobirama, look at you, always so suspicious. You've misunderstood Makoto again."

"Everyone is working hard for the peace of the Land of Fire, so you really should put aside your prejudices against the Uchiha."

66

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Upon hearing his elder brother's utterly foolish remarks, Tobirama Senju's eyes twitched uncontrollably a few times.

Misunderstand?

I had no idea he was wrong!

Do you think I don't know what this inherently evil Uchiha brat, Makoto Uchiha, is up to?!

What the hell is this "purging the emperor's inner circle"?!

Uchiha Makoto spoke so eloquently, but did he really consider himself a loyal subject of the Land of Fire?

This guy wants to purge the court of corrupt officials, and in the end, he might even wipe out the Daimyo of the Land of Fire. Only a political parasite like my older brother would believe Uchiha Makoto's words.

But the methods that Uchiha Makoto has used so far, in their overt actions, have been truly flawless.

If they were to expose him on the spot, it would inevitably bring up all the shady deals the two of them had made in secret in the past.

As for those dirty dealings, Tobirama Senju himself was also involved, and he simply couldn't reveal them in front of his elder brother.

In the end, Tobirama Senju had no choice but to grit his teeth and swallow his rebuttals.

Uchiha Makoto met Senju Tobirama's gloomy gaze without flinching, even smiling as he raised his teacup in a distant toast.

patience!

Be patient!

Patience means being open-minded and able to endure!

Then, Tobirama Senju, seething with anger, turned his head away, no longer looking at Makoto Uchiha and Hashirama Senju who were chatting happily. His face was gloomy, and his mind was racing with plans for when he returned to the village.

The situation in Konoha right now can be described as extremely dire.

This is all my brother's fault for insisting on coming to Akatsuki Village at this sensitive time to attend the funeral of Madara Uchiha, that inherently evil old man!

This trip was like lambs to the slaughter. Not only were their whereabouts completely exposed, but the inherently evil Uchiha brat, Makoto Uchiha, also forcibly took a large number of photos that were extremely detrimental to them.

It's obvious to anyone with a brain that these photos will be used extensively by the Akatsuki Village someday.

It is foreseeable that the rumors and gossip against him will only continue indefinitely, but the most fatal thing is that Uchiha Makoto has already learned the secret that his elder brother's health is rapidly declining.

In other words, Konoha's biggest trump card is practically obsolete.

Furthermore, the opportunistic insect-like ninja clans within Konoha are being constantly corrupted and won over by Uchiha Makoto with benefits and money, and now even the Senju clan has not been spared. If this mess, riddled with problems, continues to develop, when the day comes that his elder brother truly succumbs to his weakness and passes away, Uchiha Makoto will definitely tear off his disguise completely and bare his fangs against Konoha with even greater ruthlessness.

At that time, facing internal and external difficulties, whether he could continue to hold onto his position as the Second Hokage, or even whether Konoha could continue to exist, would be a huge unknown.

This is something that Tobirama Senju absolutely cannot tolerate!

Therefore, after returning to Konoha, eliminating the traitors was merely a means to an end. The core issue he needed to address first was ensuring that, after his elder brother's downfall, he had enough military force to suppress all the villains and rebellions within Konoha.

With the forces they currently possess, they are far from being able to confront those united powerful ninja clans head-on.

Tobirama Senju felt at ease.

Absolute power must derive from absolute violence.

Upon hearing this, Tobirama Senju immediately thought of the two trump cards he had been secretly preparing for in advance.

The first one is the plan concerning the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

Mito Uzumaki, Konoha's sister-in-law, has already agreed to the proposal. As long as Konoha is willing to continue investing massive amounts of resources to perfect the sealing technique, it won't be long before they can completely transform the Nine-Tails into an ultimate weapon that Konoha can control.

As for his sister-in-law, Tobirama Senju trusted her.

He firmly believed that his sister-in-law, Mito Uzumaki, with her noble character and deep affection for his elder brother, was destined to never betray Konoha or the Senju clan, and would absolutely never be tempted by Makoto Uchiha's interests to betray him at such a critical moment concerning the survival of Konoha!

Once his sister-in-law becomes the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, he will have another trump card to overturn the table.

Of course, relying on just one Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is far from enough to face the Akatsuki, who could suddenly turn on them at any moment.

The second plan was the Wood Release research, which had been stalled.

The corrosive power contained in the Hashirama cells was truly terrifying. His previous secret experiments using death row inmates to implant live cells had all ended in disastrous failure.

How to eliminate this terrifying corrosive ability and safely integrate it into the body of an ordinary ninja without causing rejection is a problem that Tobirama Senju has yet to find a perfect solution for.

Currently, the only highly probable research direction is to leverage the Senju clan's shared bloodline advantage and the naturally strong physiques of its members to artificially create a second Wood Release ninja.

However, this method is far too dangerous.

Although Tobirama Senju was ruthless, he would never gamble with the lives of his own kin.

The situation in Konoha at that time was not yet so critical.

But now, Tobirama Senju felt it was time.

The Senju clan has already produced traitors who have been bribed by the Akatsuki. Since even those clan members who should have lived and died with the village can choose to betray for their own benefit, what's wrong with sacrificing some branches and leaves to preserve the roots of Konoha?

Once we get back, we need to find out all the traitors and give them a chance to redeem themselves.

All of this is for Konoha!

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