Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Chapter 234 Xia Zuo: No ninja wants to maintain peace with Konoha.

Tobirama Senju inquired again about the division of the Nine-Tails.

Minato Namikaze replied with a wry smile, "Second Hokage, you greatly underestimate the Nine-Tails."

"Kurama may not have been much to the First Hokage, but to us junior ninjas, he was as dangerous as a natural disaster."

"Especially after subduing the Nine-Tails, the most suitable Jinchūriki in the village was my child, but he was only born and could not withstand the full power of the Nine-Tails."

"I had no choice but to split Kurama in two and seal him into my own body and Naruto's body respectively."

Tobirama Senju recalled the state of Konoha at that time and realized that the village had indeed suffered a severe loss of talent, which saddened him.

Then he turned around, grabbed the Third Hokage, and pinned him to the ground, beating him severely: "This is all your fault, you bastard."

"It's clearly your poor leadership that has caused Konoha to suffer from a loss of talent and become devastated, even sending young generations to their deaths. Why don't you just die yourself?"

As Tobirama Senju spoke, he grew angrier and angrier, and his blows became increasingly violent.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's impure body is specially made, possessing sensitive senses not found in other impure bodies, making him particularly sensitive to pain.

Senju Tobirama, filled with resentment, attacked Hiruzen Sarutobi, causing him unbearable pain. In addition, seeing Minato Namikaze filled him with guilt, and tears streamed down his face uncontrollably.

This scene was commonplace for everyone else, and they all watched with smiles.

But for Minato Namikaze, this was simply unbelievable, a sight he could never have dreamed of. He was dumbfounded and didn't know what to do with his hands and feet.

In the end, Orochimaru and Natsume persuaded Tobirama Senju to stop. Their reason was not that they felt sorry for the Third Hokage, but rather: the sacrifices were not cheap, so don't break them so quickly.

As a newcomer to this small circle, Minato Namikaze tries his best to learn about the others.

To him, everyone here was so unfamiliar, even his teacher Jiraiya had undergone a complete transformation.

Former acquaintances were fine; Minato Namikaze easily understood their changes. But Shisui Uchiha and Izumi Uchiha truly shocked him.

He said happily, "You have all awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan, which shows that the Uchiha clan has truly been revived, and the village's strength has also greatly increased."

Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Izumi exchanged a smile. The Fourth Hokage indeed had no prejudice against the Uchiha clan.

It's a pity that the Fourth Hokage died too young, otherwise Itachi Uchiha would never have become so twisted that he would have gone so far as to massacre his entire clan and defect.

The two Uchiha's regrets were fleeting; their lives are now far better than when the Fourth Hokage came over, because the Fifth Hokage was biased towards the Uchiha clan.

Being favored feels much better than being treated fairly.

What shocked Minato Namikaze the most was the Fifth Hokage's age: "Wait, Fifth Hokage, you're only 19 years old! How can you be so young?"

"You are the Fifth Hokage after me. Have I been dead for less than five years? Or has some major upheaval occurred in the village?"

Tobirama Senju replied, "There's no need to doubt it. After you, Fourth Hokage, sacrificed yourself, my worthless disciple actually pulled off a restoration and served as Hokage for another 10 years before being overthrown by the Fifth Hokage."

Tobirama Senju sighed deeply, "How embarrassing."

After saying that, he struck Hiruzen Sarutobi several more times to vent his anger.

Recently, the Third Hokage has been getting beaten up every day by his teacher, and he has long been completely subdued and numb.

The blows from Tobirama Senju didn't hurt him at all; he was too lazy to even move.

After a while, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, finally understood what had happened. He once again bowed sincerely to Natsume, thanking him for taking good care of his son and helping him grow into a true man.

However, he still asked curiously, "Fifth Hokage, why did you have Orochimaru-sama resurrect me?"

"I am not as powerful and prestigious as the first generation, nor as good at research as the second generation."

Xia Zuo interrupted him: "Who said you can't do research?"

"You're just not good at developing ninjutsu, but you're quite good at developing sealing techniques."

"Besides, I have other reasons for gathering all five Hokage."

Xia Zuo recounted the story of Uchiha Madara, Uchiha Obito, Nagato, the Rinnegan, and the alteration of the Uchiha Stone Tablet, leaving Namikaze Minato completely bewildered.

The matter of Obito Uchiha, in particular, made the Fourth Hokage very upset.

"It was Obito? The masked man who attacked Kushina, released the Nine-Tails to attack Konoha, and forced me to use the Reaper Death Seal was Obito?"

Minato Namikaze collapsed to his knees, muttering to himself, "It's all my fault. I failed to teach Obito properly. I'm such a bad teacher."

Xia Zuo laughed dismissively, "Fourth Hokage, don't be sad. Killing a master is a tradition of Konoha Village."

Minato Namikaze looked at Natsume and asked, "Huh?"

Xia Zuo pointed at Jiraiya and laughed, "Your teacher took in three disciples in the Land of Rain. Last time he went to the Land of Rain to gather information, he would have been killed by his students if I hadn't come to his rescue in time."

Jiraiya gave an awkward laugh.

Xia Zuo then pointed at Hiruzen Sarutobi and said, "The Third Hokage was messing around and causing panic in Konoha. If I hadn't overthrown him and killed him beforehand, he would have died at Orochimaru's hands today."

"Because all the ninjas in Konoha will cooperate with Orochimaru, this enemy," to send the Third Hokage, who was causing everyone unbearable suffering, on his way.

"Of course, Orochimaru-senpai will sacrifice his own reputation to ensure the Third Hokage's 'heroic' status."

"Let this Hokage, who served for 30 years but only fought for the village on the night of the Nine-Tails' death, die in a battle to protect the village, completely covering up all the previous problems."

Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly looked up, staring in disbelief at his favorite disciple.

Orochimaru smiled nonchalantly, tacitly agreeing with the Fifth Hokage's statement.

Xia Zuo laughed and scolded, "Orochimaru-senpai, what are you laughing at? Don't think you can get away with this!"

"If I hadn't pointed out the problems and solutions to the [Reanimation Jutsu], would you have tried to seize Sasuke Uchiha's body in order to obtain the Sharingan?"

Orochimaru was stunned.

Xia Zuo continued, "In order to obtain a powerful body, would you train Sasuke, teach him better ninjutsu to help him awaken the Sharingan, and implant a cursed seal in him?"

Orochimaru slowly opened his mouth: "It seems, probably, likely, will—"

Xia Zuo spread his hands: "See? Now I've officially become your disciple, haven't I?"

"When you take over Sasuke's body, you will find that it is impossible. In the end, Sasuke will destroy your soul, take away your knowledge, and achieve a stunning comeback."

"Look, this is yet another case of patricide."

"Fortunately, I arranged for Uchiha Sasuke to be given to my senior's disciple this time. I believe that you won't try to take over his body because of me."

"7

Orochimaru shook his head and laughed, "Of course not. Fifth Hokage, you have shown me the right path, so naturally I will not take this dead end."

"However, Fifth Hokage, you underestimate me too much. I am Orochimaru. If I really wanted to take over Sasuke's body, what makes him think he could kill me?"

Xia Zuo's mysterious smile sent chills down Orochimaru's spine, but he said, "There's a reason why I said you're no match for Sasuke in the battle of souls."

"However, I cannot tell you the reason now."

Orochimaru was very composed. Although his curiosity was raging, he kept his composure and didn't ask any questions.

Xia Zuo continued, "By combining the previous clues, we can vaguely see the outline of a huge conspiracy."

"It's clear that this isn't a conspiracy targeting Konoha Village, but rather the entire ninja world."

"As the strongest ninja village in the ninja world, Konoha is the first to bear the brunt of this crisis. There is no way to avoid it, and we must gather all our strength to deal with it."

Hashirama Senju spoke up, asking, "Why didn't you notify the other ninja villages and gather the strength of the entire ninja world to deal with the crisis?"

Tobirama Senju frowned, but before he could speak, Xia Zuo stopped him with a gesture.

Xia Zuo sharply criticized, "First Hokage, this is where you're wrong."

Hashirama Senju was dumbfounded: "Huh?"

Xia Zuo explained, "Your problem, First Generation, is threefold: you are too powerful, you are in too high a position, and your perspective is too narrow."

"You don't understand the suffering of other ninja villages at all, yet you presume to think of them first, which only makes them feel afraid."

"In the current ninja world, Konoha Village is the strongest. Even the four great ninja villages combined are no match for us. They only feel fear and dread towards us."

"If I told you there was an enemy, a very terrifying enemy, lurking in the shadows plotting to overthrow the entire ninja world, do you think the First Hokage would believe me, or suspect that I'm setting a trap for them?"

The First Hokage frowned and said, "Fifth Hokage, that's where you went wrong. You did act dishonestly several times before, which made you lose credibility in their eyes, which is why they don't believe you."

The Fifth Hokage smiled and said, "That's the difference between you and me. I'd rather they be afraid than trust them."

"My stance is different from that of the four great ninja villages, and our fundamental interests are completely opposed. No matter how much they trust my character, they will not change their hostile attitude towards me."

"I dare say that if you, the First Hokage, had stood up and said the same thing, the Four Kage would have believed you, but they would never have allied with our Konoha Village."

"They will be eager to find and join the other side, and start the Fourth Shinobi World War with our Konoha Village, going to great lengths to defeat and dismantle Konoha Village."

Xia Zuo's words contradicted the First Hokage's ideals, and he could not accept this statement no matter what. But before Hashirama Senju could refute him, Xia Zuo said, "First Hokage, you once convened the first Five Kage Summit, and you tried to convene it many times afterward, but you could not succeed because none of the four Kage would meet with you."

"You know, you assigned tailed beasts to the four great ninja villages at the first Five Kage Summit, which not only prevented a war but also brought them enormous benefits. Why didn't they participate in the second Five Kage Summit?"

"First Hokage, didn't you ever think about why? Didn't you think about the differences between before and after the Five Kage Summit?"

Xia Zuo's question not only silenced Hashirama Senju, but also caused Tobirama Senju to fall into deep thought.

Xia Zuo didn't wait for their reply, but gave the answer directly: "Because the goal of the four great ninja villages isn't to take a small share from you; they want the entire Hidden Leaf Village, and all the land of the Land of Fire!"

"What they want is the destruction of Konoha!"

"From the perspective of the Kazekage, Tsuchikage, Mizukage, and Raikage, you, the First Hokage, are the biggest problem in yourself; what they want is for you to die!"

"The key to the success of the first Five Kage Summit was Madara Uchiha! The four invited Kage were afraid of Madara Uchiha, afraid that this unreasonable guy would destroy their village."

"When faced with two evils, choose the lesser. In order to avoid being attacked by Madara Uchiha, the four Kage have no choice but to come and meet you, their enemy."

"Although you have given them a promise of safety and the power of the Tailed Beasts, which is enough to balance the strength of the ninja villages, it is still far from what they want. They cannot be satisfied."

"On the contrary, they feel that since they can get so much, they should be able to get even more from you."

"But you, the First Hokage, could not disband Konoha, nor could you commit suicide to put their minds at ease, nor could you divide the Land of Fire into four parts and give them to the four Kage."

"Therefore, the Four Shadows hate you."

"Besides, you're so gentle, you won't actively attack them, and you can't achieve the result they want—the destruction of Konoha. Why would they come to see an enemy they can't defeat?"

"When you pass away, they will feel that there is no one left they can't beat, so they will naturally be eager to launch the First Shinobi World War."

The First Hokage and the Second Hokage remained silent, but Xia Zuo continued, "This is not the personal will of the four Kage, but the collective will of the four great ninja villages."

"Back then, you, the Second Hokage, defeated the three great ninja villages one by one. The Second Raikage decided to end the war, but the result was the rebellion of the Hidden Cloud Village. You and the Raikage both paid for it with your lives."

"In my opinion, such a large-scale rebellion should not even be called a rebellion, but rather the Cloud Village ninjas shouting: Why did the Second Raikage betray the Cloud Village?"

"Second Hokage, if you hadn't stayed behind to fight against Kinkaku and Ginkaku, but instead returned to Konoha as quickly as possible, you would have witnessed the miracle of the Second Raikage being recognized as a rogue ninja."

Xia Zuo concluded, "No ninja wants peace with Konoha unless they know they are completely outmatched."

"Therefore, as long as I am Hokage, I would rather the entire ninja world fear me than thank me. I would rather fight against the world-destroying conspiracy with the strength of Konoha Village alone than unite with the ninja world."

"unless----"

"Unless they are badly hurt by that enemy and their village is about to be wiped out, and they come to me crying and begging for my help, I might" consider it.

"7

Xia Zuo's tone was strange and puzzling when he said "perhaps".