The people in the meeting room fell into silence once again.
What Uchiha Ren said struck a chord with many of them. The village sacrificing a minority for the sake of the majority was something they had all experienced—especially the representatives of the various clans present.
Over the years, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō, along with the other high-ranking officials of Konoha, had often used the banner of "for the sake of the village" to demand benefits from the clans and force them into making sacrifices.
The most obvious example was whenever Danzō's Root lacked manpower.
He would approach the clans under the guise of righteousness—using both pressure and persuasion—to take away the talented members of their families.
In the past, they had no choice but to compromise.
But now, as they thought back on it, the way they looked at Hiruzen and Danzō gradually became unfriendly.
Especially when they realized that the "for the village" spoken by Hiruzen and Danzō was far from the pure ideals once upheld by Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju .
Hiruzen suddenly found himself in an awkward position.
Under these circumstances, he wasn't even sure whether he should continue talking about the human experimentation.
But the arrow was already on the string.
Even if telling the whole truth would greatly damage his reputation, if he wanted to bring down Danzō, he had no choice but to bite the bullet.
Hiruzen coughed lightly.
"After hearing Department Head Uchiha Ren's explanation, it does seem that the Second Hokage may have been at fault. However, we are people of a later generation. We cannot judge the past solely through modern eyes—after all, the limitations of the era must also be considered."
Ren sneered.
"That explanation sounds rather forced, Sarutobi-jōnin. If this was merely the result of the limitations of the era, then why wasn't Madara Uchiha affected by those same limitations?"
"Besides, sacrificing the minority for the majority has happened throughout history."
"In the past it was clans. Now it's villages."
"It has never stopped."
"In the end, the root of the problem lies in flawed thinking."
"If those in power cannot put themselves in the shoes of those below them, then these kinds of things will continue to happen."
"If the people at the top have no selfish motives, perhaps it's still acceptable."
"But once they develop selfish intentions, that very excuse becomes a sharp blade used to harvest the interests of those beneath them."
"They enjoy the results earned with the lives of others, yet still calmly claim that it's all justified."
"That is the most disgusting part of all."
The sarcasm in Ren's voice was completely undisguised. His gaze was fixed directly on Hiruzen.
Everyone present understood exactly who he meant by "those at the top."
Hiruzen's old face flushed red with anger and embarrassment.
Never in his life had someone cursed him so openly to his face.
Beside him, Danzō was actually one of Ren's targets as well. But after seeing Hiruzen become so furious, he found himself far less angry—if anything, he felt somewhat pleased.
Hiruzen took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.
"Department Head Uchiha Ren… what exactly are you trying to say?"
Ren spread his hands casually.
"Just speaking from the heart. Please don't take offense, Sarutobi-jōnin. Go ahead and continue your performance."
Hiruzen stared at Ren deeply for a moment before turning his gaze back to the others.
"The deceased should be allowed to rest. As for the merits and faults of the Second Hokage, we will not discuss them further here."
"Let us return to the matter of human experimentation."
"At the time, once the incident was exposed, the experiments led by the Second Hokage were suspended."
"After that…"
Hiruzen gritted his teeth and said in a heavy voice,
"Later, as the war situation deteriorated and the pressure on the village grew greater and greater… I acted impulsively under that pressure and restarted the human experimentation program."
The meeting room instantly erupted in an uproar.
Hiruzen had carried out the matter extremely secretly. No one had heard even the slightest rumor about it.
Not giving the crowd time to react, Hiruzen continued quickly.
"However, the cells of the First Hokage possess extremely strong invasive properties. The experiments never achieved significant progress."
"After paying a heavy price in sacrifices, I finally came to my senses and personally ordered the experiments to stop."
"That matter should have ended there."
"But the reason I bring it up again today…"
Hiruzen's tone sharpened.
"…is because not long ago, I discovered that the human experimentation never truly stopped."
"Come in, Tenzo!"
Hiruzen clapped his hands.
The meeting room doors opened, and Tenzo—who had long been prepared—walked inside.
The assignment sending Tenzo to guard the Land of Rivers border had merely been an excuse Hiruzen used to take him away from Danzō. Naturally, Hiruzen never intended for him to actually go there.
Although the people in the room were still shocked by Hiruzen's earlier confession, their attention quickly shifted to the newcomer.
Why had Hiruzen called this person here?
Tenzo had already removed his mask, revealing a youthful face.
The jōnin flak jacket he wore caused many people to show surprise.
Someone so young becoming a jōnin…
In all of Konoha, there was only one famous example—Kakashi Hatake .
But if this person possessed such talent, why had no one ever heard of him before?
"Tenzo, show everyone your ability."
After Tenzo stepped forward, Hiruzen gave the order.
Tenzo nodded, formed a hand seal, and then opened his palm.
Under the astonished gazes of everyone present—
A small green sapling slowly sprouted from his hand.
"W–Wood Release?!"
Someone exclaimed in shock, while several people abruptly stood up from their seats.
Even Orochimaru widened his eyes in disbelief. He had been the primary researcher behind the Wood Release experiments, yet even he had only just learned of Tenzo's existence.
"That's right—Wood Release!"
Hiruzen raised his voice to draw everyone's attention before turning to glare at Danzō.
"If I hadn't accidentally discovered Tenzo a few days ago, I might never have known that the human experimentation did not stop after my order!"
"Not only did it continue—it even produced results!"
"Elder Shimura!"
"Shouldn't you give me an explanation…?"
"Give everyone here an explanation…?"
"And give the entire village an explanation?!"
The people in the meeting room were stunned.
Then their gazes all turned toward Shimura Danzō.
Human experimentation led by the Hokage and human experimentation conducted secretly were two entirely different matters—even if both were unacceptable.
One was carried out officially.
People might object, but they could not easily hold anyone accountable.
But secret human experimentation was a completely different story.
That was a crime among crimes.
If Danzō could not explain this matter clearly—
Forget about competing for the position of Fourth Hokage.
He might even lose his status as a Konoha Elder and Hokage Advisor.
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 70+ chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/Sagamaster789