Chapter 100: Danzō's Cunning, Public Opinion Storm
The next day, Konoha Village was buzzing with activity.
After the earth-shaking battle of the previous night, the villagers woke up early and began heatedly discussing the events with their neighbors.
The younger generation felt that Ling Yu truly deserved his title as Konoha's strongest ninja today—not only did he wield an incredible Wood Release, but he had even completely overwhelmed the Nine-Tails.
The older generation, meanwhile, felt as though they were witnessing the return of Hashirama Senju's era, reminiscing about Konoha's past glory.
Although all the discussions centered on Ling Yu, every single word was filled with praise and admiration for him.
Meanwhile, at Konoha Hospital
"Damn Senju Ling Yu… how dare he attack me! I'll make him pay! Someone!"
Sitting up from the hospital bed, Danzō furiously slammed his hand against the wall beside him. Rage burned fiercely in his eyes.
In Ling Yu's genjutsu space, he had been tortured for a full twenty-four hours without even a moment of rest. Every minute felt like hell.
Moreover, after exiting the illusion, he had remained unconscious on the ground for several more hours until other Root ninja discovered him and brought him to the hospital. He had only just woken up this morning.
"Where is everyone?! Come here now!"
The more he thought about yesterday's ordeal, the angrier Danzō became. He vented all his fury toward the Root ninja.
"Lord Danzō, what are your orders?"
The moment Danzō's voice fell, two masked Root ninja instantly appeared in the ward. They dropped to one knee, heads bowed, respectfully awaiting his command.
"Help me up immediately. I'm going to the Hokage Tower. I will expose every single one of Ling Yu's crimes—attacking a high-ranking official and stealing the Uchiha clan's Sharingan."
Throwing off the blanket, Danzō endured the double agony of body and mind, put on his shoes, and headed for the door with the two Root ninja supporting him.
He had sworn to make Ling Yu pay. Even if he couldn't kill Ling Yu, he would at least reveal that Ling Yu had stolen the Uchiha clan's Sharingan—ruining his reputation and making it impossible for him to live peacefully in Konoha.
Wait… ruin his reputation?
"What about the other two who were with me?"
Suddenly thinking of a perfect plan, Danzō abruptly stopped walking. He turned to look at one of the Root ninja, a ruthless glint flashing in his eyes as he asked in a low voice.
"Reporting, Lord Danzō—they are in the adjacent ward and still haven't woken up."
"They haven't woken up yet? Perfect."
A sinister smile spread across Danzō's face. He gave the order to the Root ninja in front of him:
"It's time for them to make the ultimate sacrifice for the organization. Go now—kill them both. Make their deaths look like they suffered a mental breakdown from the genjutsu."
"Yes, sir!"
With that, the Root ninja vanished from the spot to carry out Danzō's command.
"Continue supporting me. We're going to the Hokage Tower. I need to speak with Sarutobi Hiruzen."
Danzō ordered the remaining Root ninja, and they continued toward the exit.
…
After Danzō left the Hokage Tower with a sinister smile, a massive wave of public opinion began spreading among the villagers of Konoha.
Throughout the entire afternoon, rumors circulated that Senju Ling Yu had stolen the Uchiha clan's Sharingan, refused investigation by the higher-ups, and even murdered two fellow Konoha ninja sent to question him.
Under the deliberate fueling of Danzō's Root operatives, the villagers' discussions about Ling Yu shifted dramatically—from morning praise to branding him a missing-nin who killed comrades. Calls to arrest him began to spread.
Caused by such a massive public outcry, Ling Yu—who was at the time teaching Konan how to train—along with the others also received the news.
"Damn it! Who the hell is spreading these lies? No—I'm going to find Sensei right now and clear this up!"
The moment Tsunade heard the rumors targeting Ling Yu, veins bulged on her forehead in fury. She was about to storm off to confront the Third Hokage.
"No need. The person spreading the rumors is obvious—there's no one else it could be besides Danzō, after I gave him a lesson yesterday."
Stopping Tsunade, Ling Yu spoke calmly.
"Danzō? He did block you last night, but you clearly didn't kill those two ninja."
Tsunade looked at him in confusion. This was obviously a frame job.
As a top-tier medical ninja, she had seen with her own eyes that while Danzō and the two Root ninja had collapsed, they had only suffered severe mental trauma. A few weeks of rest would have been enough—they weren't fatally injured.
So how could rumors now claim they were dead—and that Ling Yu had personally killed them?
"It must be that old dog Danzō. I never expected him to be so ruthless—he actually killed his own subordinates just to direct all the public outrage toward me. And he pinned fake charges on me: harming fellow ninja and stealing the Uchiha clan's Sharingan."
Ling Yu frowned in thought for a moment. A trace of killing intent flickered in his eyes.
If he had known Danzō would frame him like this, he should have killed him on the spot last night. Now he had been schemed against and saddled with several completely fabricated crimes.
"Senju Ling Yu—Lord Third Hokage requests your presence."
At that moment, an Anbu ninja appeared in front of Ling Yu and Tsunade, delivering Hiruzen Sarutobi's message.
"Understood. I'll be there shortly."
Ling Yu nodded to the Anbu ninja, his face expressionless.
"I'm coming too. I want to have a good talk with Sensei—about what exactly Danzō is trying to do by slandering my little brother."
Grabbing Ling Yu's hand, Tsunade clenched her fist tightly. Determination burned in her eyes.
"Then Konan is in your care. Both of you—try not to go out for now. Be careful. I'm worried Danzō might target you."
Holding Tsunade's hand in return, Ling Yu opened a teleportation gate. Before stepping through, he especially reminded Kushina and Mikoto.
"Mm, don't worry. With mine and Mikoto's current strength, even Danzō himself can't threaten us."
After this incident with Danzō's scheme, Ling Yu had already developed killing intent toward him—and deep disappointment toward Hiruzen Sarutobi as well.
For Danzō to dare do this, he must have had at least Hiruzen's tacit approval. Even if Hiruzen didn't directly participate, he must have pulled some strings behind the scenes.
Using Space Power, Ling Yu and Tsunade instantly arrived outside the Hokage office. Without knocking, Tsunade—still furious—kicked the door open.
"Sensei! Why is Ling Yu being falsely accused of killing two fellow Konoha ninja?!"
Dragging Ling Yu inside, Tsunade questioned Hiruzen Sarutobi with a face full of anger.
"Ling Yu, Tsunade? You're here."
Lifting his head from a large stack of documents, Hiruzen Sarutobi calmly looked at them.
Honestly, he didn't want to argue with Tsunade and Ling Yu. After all, both of them were extremely powerful—especially Ling Yu, whose strength had already reached an unmatched level. Right now, he could only rely on their sense of belonging to Konoha to even have this conversation.
But the issue Ling Yu now faced had escalated to the grave crime of murdering fellow ninja. As Hokage, he couldn't avoid it—he had to give the villagers an explanation.
"Speak. Why did you call us here?"
Using Wood Release to create two exquisite wooden chairs, Ling Yu pulled Tsunade down to sit beside him.
In truth, Ling Yu had no intention of wasting words with Hiruzen Sarutobi. As the Third Hokage, Hiruzen couldn't possibly be as kind and gentle as he appeared on the surface.
Who knew how many dirty deeds he might have done behind the scenes—perhaps even working together with Danzō? If they let Hiruzen control the pace of the conversation, one misstep and they would fall right into the trap he had dug.
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