Chapter 254: Just What Did His Son Learn…
Itachi Uchiha's proposal was a good one.
At this sensitive time, everyone's attention was focused on the Nine-Tails' rampage from six years ago and the matter of the Fourth Hokage's death, and Naruto Uzumaki just so happened to be at the core of it all.
The little blond kid was the Nine-Tails jinchuriki and also the orphaned son of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze. And because his identity as a jinchuriki had been unwillingly exposed back then to intimidate the Hidden Cloud, Naruto Uzumaki was practically scorned by everyone in the village…
Once Naruto's lineage was revealed, it was estimated that the people in the village would no longer pay attention to those strange rumors. Their focus would shift considerably.
Few people would be willing to pay attention to the dead; they were more willing to focus on the living.
Hiruzen Sarutobi thought for a moment, then glanced at Itachi Uchiha. Did this little fellow's brain open up after a trip outside? To think he could come up with such a good way to stop such troublesome rumors in the village…
Constrained by Konoha's current stability, he could neither punish Fugaku Uchiha nor did he want to punish Danzo Shimura. It seemed this method of diverting attention was just right…
"In that case, the village will soon announce Naruto's lineage. That child has indeed suffered many grievances for the village. He is a spark who has carried the inheritance of the Will of Fire from the moment he was born…"
Hiruzen Sarutobi scanned the room. Noticing that no one else had any objections, he continued, "I hope that no more rumors will appear in private. No one is to leak confidential information, and no one is to slander their comrades with baseless words! That is all!"
"Agreed!"
Fugaku Uchiha was the first to speak. He then glanced at the Third Hokage, Homura Mitokado, and Danzo Shimura, and continued in a low voice, "After this, the Konoha Military Police Force will follow Lord Hokage's orders and strictly investigate those who spread rumors. We absolutely cannot let the tragedy of Lord Sakumo Hatake be repeated!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi: "…"
The old man buried his head in his pipe, his head aching a little…
His most capable subordinate was none other than Sakumo Hatake's son, Kakashi Hatake!
If he suddenly issued a ban now forbidding people in the village from spreading rumors, then back when rumors were flying all over Konoha and Sakumo Hatake committed suicide because of them, why didn't he issue a ban then?
This situation was a bit difficult to clean up!
If he had known, he shouldn't have called this meeting!
Hiruzen Sarutobi forcefully suppressed the anger rising in his heart and looked at the ANBU ninja before his desk. "Kakashi, you will be in charge of re-interring the Konoha Jonin Squad Leader, Sakumo Hatake, at the Memorial Stone on the back hill…"
The white-haired ninja looked up, somewhat surprised. "Lord Hokage?"
"Rumors are a dreadful thing! Unfortunately, we cannot kill people for their words…"
The Third Hokage tapped his pipe, coughed twice, and continued, "We cannot forbid the villagers from speaking. We must believe in everyone in the village; they will not slander their own comrades without reason…"
Kakashi Hatake's expression was a little lost. "…"
Although his father had indeed failed the mission at the time, Lord Third Hokage, if you don't know what to say, maybe you just shouldn't say anything!
Back when you were passing on the Will of Fire to him, you were so eloquent. Why do you seem like a different person today…
Is it because there are too many people here, making it inconvenient for you to give a private lesson?
Fugaku Uchiha glanced at Danzo Shimura, the muscles on his face twitching into a meaningful smile. "I agree with Lord Hokage's opinion."
Danzo Shimura: "…"
Fugaku Uchiha, what are you trying to say? If you have something to say, say it directly. Don't be two-faced. Do you think only the Uchiha clan knows how to play this game?
Back when his teacher used public opinion to force the strongest of your Uchiha clan, Madara, to defect from the village, you were still who-knows-where!
Relying on you bunch of red-eyed patients who are no good at verbal disputes, you still want to fight with him, Lord Danzo Shimura? You're still far from it!
He would prove to his teacher in heaven that he was the disciple who had inherited his will, that he was the ninja most suited to inherit the position of Hokage!
Hiruzen Sarutobi paid no attention to the undercurrents below and slowly spoke, "If there is nothing else…"
"Wait, Lord Hokage…" Itachi Uchiha glanced at Danzo and suddenly spoke, "I have another piece of information about the Akatsuki that I need to report, regarding Zetsu…"
"…"
Danzo Shimura's heart skipped a beat. He could almost predict what this little red-eyed Uchiha brat was about to say!
This little bastard is going to throw a black pot on this old man!
As expected…
Itachi Uchiha paused, then continued, "We have found traces of the village's rogue ninja, Zetsu, active in Iwagakure, and that he has attacked the Iwa-nin outposts on the border of the Land of Earth…"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's gaze flickered up. After glancing at Danzo Shimura, he turned his head to look at Kakashi Hatake. "Kakashi, is there any intelligence from the ANBU's side?"
"This morning, the ANBU also received a message…"
The lazy white-haired ninja nodded with a solemn expression, fiddled with a scroll in his hand, and handed it to the Third Hokage. "This was passed on by Iwagakure's intelligence personnel."
The Root members sent out by Danzo were precisely for the purpose of provoking a war with Iwagakure. They would surely let the Root ninjas expose their identities as Konoha ninjas!
The Tsuchikage of Iwagakure, Onoki, had sent out several hundred ninjas to encircle and annihilate a Konoha ANBU squad that had infiltrated the Land of Earth to cause trouble. It was suspected that the Flying Thunder God user, Zetsu, was the leader of this squad…
After Hiruzen finished reading the intelligence on the scroll, he took a long drag from his pipe, glanced at Danzo, and said nothing…
This matter had put their Konoha in a very passive position!
Danzo's series of operations had already thrown the pot onto his, the Hokage's, head. Hiruzen could already imagine the people from Iwagakure on their way to Konoha to demand accountability or declare war…
Furthermore, their suppression of the Hidden Grass Village back then was because they had evidence that the Grass was harboring a highly dangerous S-rank rogue ninja from Konoha… If Zetsu had been secretly handling dirty work for Konoha all along, then it would prove that their oppression of the Grass Village alliance back then was a conspiracy by Konoha!
"Everyone, leave first…" Hiruzen took a hard drag from his pipe and looked at his old friend. "Danzo, stay behind for a moment."
The others exchanged glances. Those who understood, understood. Those who didn't… wouldn't understand no matter what was said.
After the others had left, Kakashi Hatake quickly caught up to Fugaku Uchiha and bowed. "Fugaku-senpai, I am deeply grateful for today's matter!"
"There's no need for that. I once fought side-by-side with Sakumo-senpai. He was a hero worthy of the respect of all Konoha ninjas. Itachi has also received your spiritual guidance…"
The old father looked at the white-haired ninja seriously. "The Will of Fire is not just about giving everything for the village's interests, but more importantly, it should be passed down for the sake of the village's next generation…"
Last night, when he was discussing with his eldest son, he had mentioned the problem of stopping the rumors in the village, which had inevitably brought up Sakumo Hatake.
Well, he hadn't expected to have an unexpected gain today.
He just didn't know what his son had experienced on his trip out. How did it feel like he understood more than him, an old father who had been navigating the political circles of Konoha for years…
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