Just as the new students were beginning their first class, a certain troublemaker who couldn't stand the 007 work schedule broke into the Hokage Tower next door to the Ninja Academy.
The Third Hokage was happily binge-watching a drama series in his rest room when suddenly a loud shout stunned him.
"Third is exploiting underage labor! Come and see everyone! Is there still any logic left in Konoha?!"
He quickly composed himself, donned his Kage hat, and marched outside.
As soon as the Third Hokage stepped out of the building, he couldn't help but exclaim inwardly.
Over a hundred people were waving banners, dressed in coordinated "peaceful protest" gear, each holding up a slogan.
Without even thinking, he knew these must be all the shills hired by Konoha's troublemaker. Even his three apprentices were mixed within the crowd.
Tsunade joined in because she'd been running low on cash lately—and when she heard how well this gig paid, she didn't hesitate to sign up.
As for Jiraiya, no need to think twice—it was definitely that "great philanthropist" who dragged him here, even demanding he return his payment.
Orochimaru immediately agreed the moment he saw the big investor flash a familiar two-fingered sponsorship gesture, even rushing to create over a hundred matching uniforms.
Standing out the most in the whole crowd was the protest's ringleader—Shen Uchiha.
Perched atop a large sound system, his rosy face showed absolutely no sign of someone enduring a long-term 007 working lifestyle.
"Old man Third, you can't use force against us! We're protesting peacefully—we haven't violated Konoha's discipline!"
"Kid, just put that microphone down. Let's talk reasonably," the Third Hokage fumed, stomping in frustration.
But he couldn't lose his temper. Endure—whether willing or not, he had to endure this.
A legendary ninja himself, he immediately grasped a vital truth: "Small things left unendured can doom great undertakings."
Shen jumped directly off the speaker, raised his hand slightly, and stood rooted at the spot.
"What?"
Before the Third could even process his confusion for a full second, the entire group of over a hundred protestors started shouting loudly:
"Konoha exploits its workforce!"
"Down with the evil capitalists!"
"We represent all the workers across Konoha!"
"Protest! We must protest against overtime!"
Well now, the Third Hokage mused inwardly with mild sarcasm.
This commotion could technically be called disturbing the peace, yet they truly were fighting for their rights. Technically legal since Konoha had no rule explicitly forbidding protests.
Besides, nobody swore, and no violence erupted. The newly-formed Police Force composed of members from various clans didn't hold a single moral advantage either.
Evicting them would expose Konoha upper ranks' harshness for all villagers to see; yet tolerating them might mean letting this troublemaker tear the sky apart.
"Headache city… this is giving me a migraine," muttered the Third, massaging his temples and choosing to ignore the situation entirely.
Just as he turned to return to the Hokage Tower, two figures emerging from the building suddenly brought him to a halt.
Kazushi approached the protesting crowd, his expression warm and amiable: "Dear workers of Konoha, let's discuss things calmly. Please calm down first, okay?"
"Shen, you're so bad!" hissed the girl with a blush.
Beside him, Aiko wore a warm smile as well. "You got it. With us here, all your demands will surely receive satisfactory responses."
Actor A stepped forward. "Great! These two high-rankers definitely can resolve this matter!"
Actor B chimed in. "These two are different from other officials. Although they've only held their positions for a little over a year, they're famously approachable."
Actor C shouted, "Brothers, they will certainly fulfill our demands!"
Over a hundred actors shouted in unison: "Long live our two honorable leaders!!!"
Oh my god, Third Hokage couldn't count how many times he'd internally exclaimed 'Oh my god' just now.
This five-minute performance was impeccable — every movement, facial expression, line delivery, and dramatic tension met perfection.
It could easily be crowned Best Picture of Konoha this year!
"Although we both come from the Uchiha Clan, I personally guarantee that we won't view everyone through any biased lens!"
"That's right. We sincerely want to help you all. We're all villagers of Konoha — we should support each other!"
"Hmph."
The words from the Uchiha couple lit the crowd up again.
Even the silent onlookers who had been watching quietly began cheering under the leadership of the hired shills.
"Incredible, these are true masters!" Third Hokage immediately awarded this performance with a perfect score.
He roughly understood why he had been played today — didn't it all come down to these two Uchiha leaders not receiving much authority?
"Do you think I don't want to distribute power? Everyone insisted that we needed to observe the Uchiha clan first!" Several days ago, Third Hokage had solemnly declared to Konoha's Troublemaker.
Upon hearing this, Shen immediately rushed home to discuss plans with his parents.
Soon enough, the three of them — cough cough — plus Fugaku made four, developing an earth-shattering scheme.
First, they spent heavily to hire a large group of actors and shills. Then, led by Konoha's Troublemaker, when others thought something big was about to happen, they launched a civilized protest instantly.
Just like that, the momentum started building. The director could then exit the stage and calmly wait for public opinion to ferment naturally.
Indeed, humans remained the same no matter which world they were in — once the rhythm picked up, the bandwagon effect would spread like wildfire.
Third Hokage didn't even need to think. He was one-hundred percent certain that the director behind this performance was none other than Konoha's Troublemaker, Shen Uchiha!
Only someone who kept talking about "transcending middlebrow tastes" and hadn't organized even a single EDM Festival in the past year could come up with such a brilliant yet unexpected plan.
"What a pain in the head," Third Hokage sighed while rubbing his temples, also showing how frustrating it was being Hokage.
Putting up with all kinds of unusual higher-ups every day was already exhausting enough, let alone the occasional big crisis that always drained him completely.
Even sneaking into the break room for a bit of peace when no one was around still landed him in messes like this. Truly the unluckiest Hokage in history!
Just as the new Konoha Police Force arrived, someone suddenly shouted, "The police are here to arrest people!" and the scene immediately erupted into chaos.
Hearing the commotion below the Hokage Tower, Danzo realized someone was about to stir up trouble. He quickly gathered members of the Police Force and rushed toward the disturbance.
He knew this wouldn't seriously harm the Uchiha clan, but giving them a hard time was worth it anyway.
Unfortunately, his good mood vanished the moment he approached the scene.
A mastermind like himself wasn't a fool. Just a few seconds of observation told him that this move had definitely been another brilliant strategy from the other side.
This tactic was truly clever—it boosted the authority of the two top Uchiha leaders while also placing the Police Force, made up of various clan families, in direct opposition to the villagers.
Danzo strongly suspected that the reason the news spread so quickly was because the Uchihas must have been secretly involved.
Peaceful protest? Fine. But how come the moment it reached him, it became "the Konoha Troublemaker is causing trouble again"?
Exactly—every Uchiha vividly remembered what their second young master once said: "Annoy Danzo whenever you can!"
With such a golden opportunity like this, if he didn't make the most of it, what kind of clan head would he be?
"Cunning! Absolutely cunning!" Danzo glared at the figure standing in front of him, blocking his view.
Kazushi and Aiko stood shoulder to shoulder, keeping the villagers from surging toward the Police Force while firmly shielding the mastermind behind them.
From their stance, anyone clueless might think the couple had strong ties with the enemy side.
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