Chapter 251: Senju: This Romance Is Not Approved

The man on the steps closed his eyes for a moment, then gave a slight nod and asked in a low voice, "What do you all think about this matter?"

An elder below replied in a grave tone, "To be honest, when I learned of this, it was completely beyond the bounds of what I could comprehend."

Another person echoed, "Exactly. We're talking about the Uchiha clan here, and what's more, it's someone who was once a Jinchūriki in Uchiha history."

As the crowd below began discussing and voicing their opinions, the man turned toward an old woman in the audience. "Elder Momoka, what is your view?"

As his words fell, all the clan members fell silent and turned their gazes toward the woman named Momoka. Her hair was tied high, and her face was slender and austere.

Though advanced in age, the sharp, cold gleam in her eyes suggested that in her youth, she had surely been a strikingly cold and beautiful kunoichi.

She had once been a close confidante of Senju Hashirama and possessed genjutsu so formidable that even the Uchiha clan was wary of her.

After both Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama passed away, she became one of the most authoritative figures among the retired elders.

In other words, her opinion would heavily influence the clan's attitude toward Tsunade and Tōshirō.

Momoka was silent for a moment, then slowly began to speak:

"When Lord Hashirama was alive, he disbanded the Senju clan and spread us out so that we could better integrate into the village. He wanted us to transform our love for our clan into love for the village, and to treat everyone living here equally."

"That naturally includes the Uchiha clan, with whom we share a complicated history."

The man narrowed his eyes slightly. "So you're saying we should just ignore it?"

"If it were just an ordinary clan member, I would have no objections. I'd even welcome a deepening of ties between the Uchiha and Senju."

But with the word "However", Momoka shook her head. "When it comes to Tsunade, the situation is too special. After all, she's the only granddaughter of that man."

At this point, the man could generally guess Momoka's stance and followed her lead, "So you're saying we can't just let it go unchecked."

"You could interpret it that way." Momoka spoke cautiously. "At the very least, that boy named Uchiha Tōshirō must prove that he is capable and worthy of being with Tsunade."

Although Momoka did not support Tōshirō and Tsunade being together, she was considered one of the more moderate voices within the clan.

At least she hadn't outright rejected the relationship.

Where there is a moderate faction, there is naturally also a more radical one.

"Elder Momoka, you're being far too lenient. Have you forgotten what Lord Tobirama said when he was alive?'The Uchiha are an innately evil clan.' If it were just an ordinary clan member, perhaps we could turn a blind eye—but Tsunade is Lord Hashirama's granddaughter!"

"How can noble and pure blood be mixed with the evil bloodline of the Uchihas? That would be a stain and desecration of the Senju lineage."

Momoka glanced at the speaker—he was a direct descendant of Tobirama and had always harbored a strong bias against the Uchiha, especially since his parents were killed by them during the early days.

Back when the Uchiha and Senju first formed their alliance, he was among those who opposed it.

Now that he had heard that that man's granddaughter was dating an Uchiha brat, there was no way he would ever approve.

Although the Senju and Uchiha clans had formed an alliance, old grudges still lingered beneath the surface.

Back when Senju Hashirama was alive, such conflicts were easily suppressed.

But after his death, those grudges began to slowly resurface. However, since they all belonged to the same village, the Senju tried to restrain themselves—mostly limiting their dissatisfaction to complaints in private.

Now, though, the matter of Tsunade and Tōshirō had touched a nerve and caused a full-blown outburst.

Momoka recalled the intelligence she had on Tōshirō: "From what I understand, Tōshirō doesn't possess a Sharingan, right?"

"Even if he doesn't have it now, who knows when he might awaken it? That's why we should remain vigilant."

After that clan member finished speaking, another chimed in with his view: "He's got a point. There's an old saying—'Take too big a step, and you might crush your balls.' Crude as it is, there's wisdom in it."

"The relationship between Tōshirō and Tsunade needs to be treated with utmost caution. Maybe one day in the future, the Senju and Uchiha might engage in intermarriage."

"But that day is not now—and it definitely shouldn't start with Tsunade."

"We've all watched Tsunade grow up. Though she can be a bit hot-tempered, she's a genuinely pure-hearted girl. I wouldn't be surprised if she's been tricked by that Uchiha brat."

That remark stirred up a storm of discussion among the clan:

"He's right. I remember Tōshirō used to have a pretty bad reputation—wasn't there even an incident where he deliberately abandoned a protection mission? Something very serious, wasn't it?"

"As a ninja, you should put your life on the line to complete your missions. How could he just abandon his employer to save his own skin? Especially since the person he was escorting was an important lord from the Land of Fire!"

"That kid not only disgraced the honor of all ninjas, he nearly caused a major diplomatic disaster for the village. If the Hokage hadn't personally worked to repair relations with the daimyo, we might have ended up in a deep financial crisis!

When Tōshirō's past scandals were brought up again, another clan member voiced their opinion:

"Looking back now, we really underestimated that Uchiha brat. Back then, although Tsunade and he were friends, they never did anything over the line. In fact, Tsunade seemed to hold a lot of resentment toward Tōshirō at one point.

"So we let our guard down about their relationship and didn't pay much attention.

"But who would've thought—of all the people we thought least likely to end up together, those two suddenly got together and are even living together now. This clearly isn't something that just started recently—it must've been going on for quite some time.

"You know what this is?

"This is a secret romance!

"My goodness. They even knew to hide it. From what I know about Tsunade, this doesn't seem like something she would do of her own accord. So there's only one explanation—this was Tōshirō's idea. He must've manipulated her into doing this. And given his track record, it wouldn't be surprising if he pulled something like this."

As that clan member finished, another jumped out and analyzed further:

"Do you think this might be a conspiracy by the Uchiha clan? They've been denied the position of Hokage three times now—maybe that's why they're resorting to such tactics."

Hearing this, more members nodded in agreement:

"Could it be a honey trap?"

"It's possible."

"Unbelievable! Has the mighty Uchiha clan fallen so low that they're willing to use such underhanded means just to grab the Hokage position? Targeting a young girl like that… What happened to their pride? Their honor? Have they fed all of that to the dogs?"

As the clan's suspicions toward Tōshirō grew increasingly absurd, Momoka glanced at the man on the stage and asked:

"What does Lady Mito have to say about this?"

Upon hearing that, everyone immediately fell silent. That's right—in the end, they were just outsiders. Tsunade's matter had to be decided by Lady Mito herself.

The man spoke in a low tone:"Lady Mito seems to hold an open-minded view."

That response immediately sparked a wave of lamentations from the crowd:

"Sigh, Lady Mito is being too naive. Has she forgotten how her husband, Lord Hashirama, died?"

"Uchiha Madara was a madman! Has everyone forgotten it was Lord Hashirama who spared him after he lost, showing him great mercy instead of eradicating him?"

"He even overlooked past grudges and worked with Madara to found the Hidden Leaf Village, creating a legacy together. He was even willing to step aside and let Madara become the First Hokage—what a broad mind and noble spirit! Truly admirable."

"But compared to that, what did Uchiha Madara do? He was petty and narrow-minded. Just because he wasn't made Hokage, he left the village in a tantrum. And that would've been bad enough, but a few years later he went completely insane and attacked the village—bringing the Nine-Tails with him no less. Clearly, he had planned it all in advance."

"If Lord Hashirama hadn't rushed into battle to stop him, he wouldn't have died so young. And because of his death, a chain of tragic events followed. Lord Tobirama later died early as well during negotiations with the Hidden Cloud Village—walking the same path as Lord Hashirama."

"If Lord Hashirama had still been alive during that alliance, forget about the Gold and Silver Brothers—even if there were twenty of them, they wouldn't have stood a chance against him and his unmatched power.

"No—in fact, if Hashirama were still alive, we wouldn't even need to form an alliance with the Hidden Cloud. His presence alone would've prevented the First Great Ninja War from ever happening. The world wouldn't be in the state it is now."

This speech resonated deeply with the clan members, stirring a strong reaction. Another stood up and added:

"It's because the Uchiha have maniacs like Madara that the village is wary and suspicious of their entire clan. Isn't that completely understandable?"

"And yet, the Uchiha dare to express dissatisfaction over this. Some even cause trouble—like that man who inherited Madara's will: Uchiha Satsuna.

"After all they've done, the village hasn't eradicated them completely—it's already been merciful enough. But they're still not content. Now they've even set their sights on Lord Hashirama's granddaughter? This is absolutely unforgivable. Good people are always taken advantage of! I propose we respond to this situation with a heavy hand."

"This romance—they absolutely must not be allowed to be together."

"Poor little Tsunade… Her first love, and she's been deceived by that despicable Uchiha brat. As her elders, we cannot let her fall any deeper into this mess—she mustn't make mistake after mistake."

The clan members echoed in chorus:

"That's right, we absolutely can't let that brat succeed."

The ones speaking out were mostly those with strong resentment toward the Uchiha.

Those who were more favorable or neutral toward the Uchiha largely remained silent.

The opposition's arguments were so thorough and well-reasoned that there was little room for rebuttal. And deep down, even the moderate members couldn't fully accept the idea that Senju Hashirama's granddaughter was dating an Uchiha brat.

As a result, the Senju clan's stance became overwhelmingly one-sided.

To sum it up in one sentence:

The Senju clan does not approve of this romance.

(End of Chapter)

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