As afternoon approached, the rumors detrimental to Sakumo, after a morning of fermentation, had already spread to most corners of the village, just a step away from being 'known to everyone'.
No matter how hard the Uchiha ninja of the Anbu tried to suppress the spread of rumors, compared to the huge population of Konoha Village, the Anbu's manpower was already stretched thin. Just arresting people was already a bit too slow, not to mention stopping the spread of rumors.
Sakumo's house was located on a relatively bustling street in Konoha Village, not close to the village center.
It was a detached small courtyard, and on the gate, the words 'Hatake' were written on the nameplate.
When Shiraishi and Ruri arrived, they saw Kakashi standing at the entrance, looking more silent than usual.
"Kakashi, is Sakumo-sensei home?"
Kakashi heard someone call his name, looked up, and seeing that it was Shiraishi and Ruri, he gently nodded, indicating that Sakumo was home.
Shiraishi and Ruri then breathed a sigh of relief. If he was home, things would be easier to handle.
"But, Father he…"
Kakashi said this, looking as if he didn't know how to explain further.
"Take us to see him."
Shiraishi sighed, knowing that Kakashi must be feeling bad right now.
With the rumors spreading so intensely, Kakashi couldn't possibly be unaware.
Kakashi led the way, taking Shiraishi and Ruri into the Hatake residence.
The Hatake residence was a typical Japanese-style building, and the houses all appeared somewhat ancient. The three walked only a few steps before reaching the door of Sakumo's room.
Before they could knock, a 'Come in' came from inside. It was clear that Sakumo, who was inside, already knew someone had arrived outside.
Shiraishi had no choice but to slide the door open and called out to the person inside: "Sakumo-sensei, we're here…"
His voice stopped abruptly.
Shiraishi and Ruri stared blankly at Sakumo in front of them.
"Sakumo-sensei, you're…"
Sakumo, in front of them, did not appear downcast due to the rumors as they had imagined. Instead, he was sitting at the table, eating a large bowl of ramen with a very good appetite.
Seeing Shiraishi and Ruri arrive, he calmly picked up a napkin to wipe the grease from his mouth and asked the two visitors with a puzzled expression: "Why are you two here?"
"…"
"…"
Shiraishi and Ruri didn't know how to respond to Sakumo's question.
Before they came, they had imagined many scenarios where Sakumo would be depressed due to the rumors, but they had never anticipated this scene.
"Sakumo-sensei, about the rumors outside…"
In the end, it was Ruri who spoke up.
"Are you here to see me because of this?"
"Yes, this is the work of our Anbu. I want to understand the beginning and end of the matter, so please, Sakumo-jonin, answer."
Ruri walked up to Sakumo and spoke to him in a serious tone.
She was not questioning him as a former member of Sakumo's team, but as a squad leader of the Anbu, here to investigate the full story.
Sakumo thought for a moment. Since this was the Anbu's job, then it was fine.
So, he readily gave a brief account of what happened at the time.
"This time we were on a confidential mission, but we encountered some trouble along the way. Considering that my companions at the time were no longer able to fight, I chose to abandon the mission and brought them back. This also led to the mission's failure."
Sakumo said these words without any personal emotion, merely stating the events as an observer, for Ruri, as an Anbu member, to judge.
Shiraishi and Ruri frowned, and even Kakashi looked puzzled.
They just felt that things happened too simply.
"What kind of confidential mission was it?"
Ruri stared at Sakumo's face.
This was her main purpose for coming.
Even confidential missions vary in importance and scale.
Some can affect the survival of the village, while others are insignificant.
"I don't know. My orders were to acquire a certain item, but the mission failed, and that item naturally wasn't brought back to the village. What exactly it was, I don't know."
To Ruri's question, Sakumo shook his head gently, indicating that he didn't know what the item to be acquired in the mission was.
Ruri felt that things were getting a bit tricky.
The information obtained from Sakumo was very limited. To find out what the item Sakumo was supposed to acquire in this mission was, and how much the village lost due to the mission's failure, she could only approach the higher-ups.
After all, the mission initially passed through their hands before being given to Sakumo to complete.
But the rumors had already spread to this extent, and there had been no movement from the higher-ups. Even if they went to inquire now, they probably wouldn't get anything.
Otherwise, they would have clarified the rumors long ago and suppressed the impact to the minimum.
Coming out of the Hatake residence, Shiraishi and Ruri both looked at the sky and let out a sigh.
They exchanged glances, and Ruri asked Shiraishi: "What should we do next? Sakumo-sensei is not a breakthrough point. Should we look for the person Sakumo-sensei rescued?"
"The people spreading the rumors would have already anticipated what we could think of. They were probably 'protected' when the operation was being planned. If we go to the hospital now, the person would have already 'disappeared'."
"Was it done by the higher-ups?"
"Besides them, there seems to be no one else. With such a big commotion, according to usual practice, Sakumo-sensei would have already been invited by the Anbu for tea and a chat, instead of sitting at home."
Shiraishi was certain that this matter was done by someone among the higher-ups, or perhaps more than one person was fueling it.
"Is it a dispute over the position of Hokage?"
Ruri shook her head. The higher-ups had handled this matter flawlessly, and with the Anbu's manpower alone, they couldn't accomplish anything.
Compared to the Anbu, the Anbu's power was indeed greater, but its reputation in Konoha wasn't very good, and it lacked the strong authority of the Anbu.
Once the Anbu moved, it represented the will of the Hokage himself.
"That should be it. After all, the Fourth Hokage candidate conference will be held soon. At this time, excluding some irrelevant people is also a natural outcome."
It sounded a bit cruel, but in Shiraishi's view, Sakumo was merely a casualty of the power struggle.
His subjective will and thoughts were not the most important, and no one would understand them. It was enough that his current prestige could harm certain interests.
Whether he had the desire to be Hokage or not was irrelevant; what mattered was whether he had the qualifications and threat to become Hokage.
"That's good then. Since his political capital is gone, after this incident, the higher-ups will have no reason to suppress Sakumo-sensei."
Ruri understood Shiraishi's meaning and also felt that they were a bit too anxious.
The dispute over the Hokage position involved the interests of many factions in Konoha.
A person with prestige and strength surpassing the Sannin, and not belonging to any side, was naturally the top priority target to be eliminated.
Suppressing his reputation, plundering Sakumo's political capital, and letting him peacefully be a Konoha Jonin in the future seemed to have no drawbacks.
On the contrary, in the days to come, Sakumo would certainly be reused.
Because this was a critical period for the Fourth Hokage candidates, as long as this stage was passed, Konoha's White Fang would still be Konoha's White Fang.
From Ruri's personal opinion, Sakumo was indeed not very suitable for the Hokage position.
He had neither ambition nor the desire for it; he was merely an excellent Konoha Jonin.
That was all.
"Is that so? If it is, then that's good…"
Shiraishi muttered to himself, thinking of Sakumo's nonchalant demeanor earlier, and a shadow fell over his heart.
That was not the look of someone who had nothing wrong at all.
◎
Two days later, the rumors grew fiercer.
More and more people came to cause trouble at the Anbu, and the Anbu's cells were no longer enough.
However, the crimes of these people were not serious enough to warrant imprisonment in Konoha's great prison, which was for serious offenders. Although these people were spreading rumors, it did not reach the level of 'serious crime'.
Taking these people to Konoha's great prison would certainly provoke obstruction from the Anbu, leading to unnecessary conflicts.
"What's going on? Are there still so many people causing trouble?"
Ruri arrived at the Anbu headquarters early in the morning, feeling that the place was almost overflowing with people, and outside the entrance, it was noisy, like a marketplace.
Two Anbu members from Ruri's squad saluted Ruri and replied: "Yes, in the morning, new rumors appeared, and the Anbu's manpower is completely insufficient."
At this point, the Anbu member smiled helplessly.
He also didn't know that a rumor could be propagated to this extent.
It was just a failed mission. Konoha's White Fang was indeed a ninja famous throughout the ninja world, and in recent years, he had gradually become a symbol for Konoha to deter enemies.
But even Konoha's White Fang was a human, not a god.
An occasional mission failure was not a big deal, and the higher-ups hadn't said that the mission failure caused any serious consequences anyway.
If that were the case, the so-called Sannin would be nothing special, after all, that title was the title of defeated generals.
But how many people dared to underestimate the Sannin?
In the eyes of this Uchiha ninja from the Anbu, it was just these villagers making a fuss, discussing things they knew nothing about, and even saying some unpleasant things that even the Anbu members couldn't stand, gradually deviating from the core essence of the problem.
Beating them up was against the rules, but bringing them to the Anbu for discipline meant there weren't enough rooms.
Therefore, the Anbu ninjas who came to work this morning were all very troubled by this issue.
If these people were released, the rumors would only escalate.
If they weren't released… overcrowding would affect the Anbu's work efficiency.
"Find a few Earth Release users to build some makeshift cells outside."
Ruri's face was terrifyingly cold.
"…Yes."
One of the Anbu members immediately went to find a few Earth Release users in the Anbu to expand temporary cells outside.
"Wouldn't that have a bad impact?"
The remaining Anbu ninja gave a bitter smile.
"What's bad about it? We're just following the rules. Even if the Hokage came, I'd have reason to argue with him."
"That's true, but if this continues, our Anbu's reputation…"
"The Anbu already has a bad reputation, why care so much? Don't give them lunch or dinner, and don't allow their families to send food. Just give them some water, they won't starve to death anyway."
Ruri snorted coldly.
"…Understood."
Since it was the squad leader's order, they just needed to execute it.
As Ruri said, skipping two meals wouldn't starve these people to death.
"By the way, you just said there are new rumors?"
"Yes, wasn't Sakumo-jonin supposed to have abandoned the mission to save someone? The person who was saved seems to be criticizing Sakumo-jonin for lacking a broad perspective, saying he's not suitable to be a ninja, and harshly criticizing and humiliating Sakumo-jonin…"
Seeing Ruri's face grow increasingly grim, the Anbu ninja stopped speaking.
At this point, he believed Ruri already understood what was going on.
"Where is that person?"
"We didn't find them. When we went, the person had already 'disappeared'."
They must have been hidden away. Ruri sneered inwardly.
"I understand. You can go back to your work."
"Yes… actually, you don't need to worry too much. Although I'm not familiar with Sakumo-jonin, a ninja like him has a very strong will. He'll just laugh off these rumors."
He knew that his squad leader Ruri used to be a member of Sakumo's team and must have a good relationship with Sakumo. Before leaving, he comforted Ruri.
"Laugh it off, huh?"
Ruri thought back to when she visited Sakumo two days ago, and he was happily eating ramen, completely unmoved by the rumors outside.
This indeed comforted Ruri. Yes, even if those rumors made him a little uncomfortable, it shouldn't be a big deal for Sakumo.
(PS: There's one more update later, I just don't know if you can wait…)