Chapter 174: A Way To Retreat, Regretting
“Bastard!” Uchiha Obito, behind Uchiha Tonan, couldn’t help cursing when he heard the shadow clone’s inhumane words. He raised his fists to rush forward and beat the cold-blooded villager. But Namikaze Minato grabbed his collar and stopped him.
The shadow clone narrowed his eyes and looked at Obito with disdain, “Little brat, I’m thinking rationally here. It’s useless to be emotional. Your feelings represent only yourself. You can’t represent everyone. We’re all willing to forgive Orochimaru-sama and we’re also willing to sacrifice ourselves.”
After speaking, he selected a villager with a pregnant wife and said, “Brother, come here.”
That villager pointed at his nose with a confused look and asked, “Me? Alright…” He whispered something to his wife beside him and walked over to the shadow clone. The shadow clone asked, “If the village is in danger, are you willing to sacrifice yourself for the village?”
The villager awkwardly scratched his head. In front of everyone, especially his wife, he must show off. If he said he was unwilling, everyone would stare daggers at him.
He replied in an inaudible voice, “I’m willing.” Although his voice was soft, everyone heard it. The shadow clone glanced at Tonan, his face filled with arrogance. He continued to ask the villager, “In the same situation, sacrificing your wife and children is also not a problem, right?”
That villager was stunned for a moment but he shook his head this time, “No, I can be sacrificed but I’ll protect my family with my life.”
When the shadow clone heard this, he looked at the man with disgust, and snorted, “Stupid fellow, you have no consciousness. If it were me, I’d happily sacrifice my family for the entire village.”
After speaking, he looked around and selected the next lucky person from the crowd. “Brother over there, you come here.”
However, this person didn’t move at all. He stood in his place and said, “I won’t come. In any case, I don’t want to die. Whoever is willing to sacrifice themselves can go. I’m my parents’ only son. They will die with grief if I die.”
This person’s words resonated with the villagers, and everyone nodded in agreement. The shadow clone’s face filled with resentment.
This was Tonan’s acting. He was his opponent. There was no possibility of him losing. All explanations were false and the most important thing was that he was leading the masses’ sentiments. Coupled with this roll-call approach, no one could escape.
Whoever dared to come out and say he was willing to sacrifice his family today would be despised by the villagers tomorrow. If a person was willing to abandon family, his scruples would be seen as questionable by all.
Now, this ‘representative’ opposing Tonan had lost the battle. Most of the villagers felt they were wrong. But since they wanted to save face, they didn’t know what they should do.
All Tonan needed to do now was just give them a way to retreat. Most people have an innate self-protection mechanism. It was difficult for them to admit they had done something wrong. Because once they admit it, it would be followed by self-denial, which went against instinct.
Therefore, Tonan needed to let them know they were right but it was someone else who was wrong. Even if they were truly wrong, it was because of incomplete information and they were at best misguided.
The shadow clone pointed at the villagers as if disappointed with their irresolute behavior. “You all…”
Tonan immediately took a step forward, “Do you have any family? Will you let me meet them?”
The shadow clone became stubborn, “I’m an orphan, and I’ve not married. But when I do, I can sacrifice them.”
When everyone heard this, a sudden realization dawned on them. This person was so extreme because he didn’t know the importance of family. Someone like him, who had never felt a family’s affection, could only make a clouded judgment.
“But I’m not like him.”
The villagers distanced themselves from this man’s camp. Tonan stared at the shadow clone, “It just so happens that the development process of medical ninjutsu in Konoha Hospital has stopped because they don’t have test subjects. Since you’re willing to sacrifice yourself for the village, you should go and register yourself as a test subject.”
The shadow clone obstinately continued, “I can do it. As long as you admit you were wrong and give an explanation to everyone, I’ll go to the hospital immediately.”
Tonan narrowed his eyes and coldly said, “Alright, then let your real body come over. Also, your Transformation Technique is very poor.”
Minato had also naturally noticed that the shadow clone was maintaining weak chakra fluctuations. He said, “Looks like you were secretly instigating the villagers and spreading rumors.”
The shadow clone’s complexion changed. He took a few steps back, “Damn it… disperse!”
Soon after, this shadow clone and many villagers in the crowd turned into a cloud of white smoke.
Bang, bang, bang… The villagers came back to their senses. Good Heavens, it turned out that someone was secretly scheming and confusing them.
Tonan sighed, “Everyone, I know you’ve been deceived. Many ninjas participated in human experiments secretly. It’s just they were too secretive and it was never found out. I know there will be people who hold a grudge and want to get revenge on me. So, I wandered around the village these past few days, trying to find out about these people. But I never imagined that everyone was so angry with me.”
Tonan placed his hands on his knees and bowed deeply to the villagers, “I apologize to everyone. Regarding Orochimaru-sama, I was too young and impulsive.”
With this, guilt flooded the villagers’ hearts…
“Tonan, don’t say that. It was everyone being stupid. I didn’t even notice I was being used.”
“We should be apologizing to you. You were helping us, but we still blamed you.”
“Yes, without you, our family members could be captured for human experiments at any time.”
“You helped us get rid of the danger, and avenged innocent people who died miserably. We should thank you.”
“I’m not human… My brother has been missing for two years. He must’ve been taken away by Orochimaru. But I never considered it before. I even threw eggs at you.”
Suddenly, a kind-hearted villager in the crowd knelt and placed his head on the ground. “Please forgive us.”
With one taking the lead, the herd mentality took effect.
“Please forgive us.”
“Please forgive us.”
The remorseful villagers knelt and sought Tonan’s forgiveness. Seeing the people kneeling and admitting their mistakes, the villagers who felt this was just a trivial matter and didn’t need to join in also admitted their mistakes.
After all, they had done everything together, so since other people were admitting mistakes, they would stick out like a sore thumb if they didn’t. Soon, all the villagers knelt together.
Tonan was secretly delighted. “Excellent, it’s time to harvest acknowledgments.”
