In the early morning, Naraku saw the note Kakashi left on the table, realizing he was most likely summoned to protect Kushina, who was about to give birth.
"That's fine too; it would be more dangerous to stay in the Village then."
Naraku put away the note, took out two of the leftover dishes from last night, heated them up, and had a quick breakfast.
He also opened a video streaming site to watch the anime episode that was updated late last night.
Since the arc about the Land of Fire's civil war, the animator hadn't released many new episodes.
——
At the beginning of this episode, the camera focused on a young Uchiha Itachi, as a young man's hand had just been removed from his forehead, leaving a small kite-shaped mark.
"This should do it."
The person in the scene, whose voice accompanied the image, was Naraku, whom all the viewers were extremely familiar with.
He patted Little Itachi's head: "Little Itachi has high talent, so this is the safest way."
"Yes, this way we can also feel more at ease."
Itachi didn't quite understand what his parents and older brother were talking about, but he understood that his brother had implanted this very special Sealing Jutsu in him to protect him.
—My brother really loves me the most.
He thought happily, carefully poking his forehead with his finger.
[Naraku himself has been caught in the rain, so he always thinks of holding an umbrella for his younger siblings; he's too gentle, sob sob sob (ノДＴ)]
[I think Shisui should have it too, otherwise, it's impossible that he was still One-Tomoe on the battlefield before… Could it be that Obito's sacrifice and Naraku's near-death couldn't make him upgrade further?]
[Very likely. Shisui was the first young Uchiha to awaken his Sharingan after Naraku. Naraku wouldn't fail to consider this.]
[Old Thief doesn't describe Naraku's experiences in as much detail as Kakashi's, so he probably hid a lot of things.]
[In that case, Little Itachi wouldn't be his brother's "most loved" child, would he? Hehe~]
[Hahahahahaha, you're so mean, commenter before me.]
Several subsequent clips showed Mikoto taking Itachi out shopping multiple times. Each time, he would proudly show his forehead, subtly flaunting his brother's love for him.
The first few times, everyone still greeted him with a smile, but in the last short clip shown in the anime, some people's expressions began to change, and they whispered among themselves.
[Oh, oh, oh, Little Itachi is so smug, afraid that everyone doesn't know.]
[When I was little, my mom bought me a toy car, and I wanted to wear it on my head all the time.]
[Same here, when I was little, I wanted to wear my Disney princess underwear outside.]
[That's quite a show-off.]
[Hmm? Not right! Everyone's gaze seems to have changed!]
[What's wrong now?]
The next second, the screen flashed to The Police Force's office building.
"Clan Head-sama, there are some unfavorable rumors spreading among the Clan Member recently."
Fūyō walked into Fugaku's office, placed several papers on the desk, and looked worried: "If this continues, I'm afraid it will affect Naraku's reputation…"
Fugaku picked up the documents and quickly scanned them. The more he read, the angrier he became. Finally, he slammed them onto the desk and cursed:
"I think those old geezers are tired of living! You and Entō go investigate! Once you find concrete evidence, tie them up and throw them into the Clan meeting for public severe punishment!"
"Yes."
Fūyō raised his voice and responded loudly, then turned and walked out decisively.
The screen went dark and then lit up again.
This time, Fugaku and Fūyō were sitting and standing across the desk, respectively, staring at each other, unsure what to say.
Fūyō looked confused: "Clan Head-sama, after investigation… the elders truly don't have much suspicion."
"This…" Fugaku coughed awkwardly twice, feigning composure, and said, "First, notify all Clan Member to gather at the shrine tomorrow night at 7 PM for a full Clan meeting. I will explain in detail then and suppress the rumors."
"I'll go now."
"Also, have Entō come in; I have something to tell him."
"Yes."
[Rumors? What rumors?]
[Is Fugaku referring to the Uchiha elders as 'old geezers'? Why would they spread rumors about Naraku? Are they tired of living?]
[This is the only pair of Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan in the entire Clan. Where did they get the guts to target him?]
[The rumors are probably related to the Healing Seal and would harm Naraku's reputation? Could it be that they think Naraku used this Jutsu to trick Little Itachi?]
[I know! "The struggle for the heir has always been thus," right!]
[Can these Uchiha Clan Member use their brains or not? Why would Naraku trick Itachi? What's his motive, I ask?]
[Uh, this is… a mistake in the investigation?]
[Hahahahahahahahaha, how embarrassing!]
[This move has confused both Fugaku and Fūyō.]
[Laughing to death, just now they said they would tie people up for criticism, and then the camera turns and slaps them in the face.]
[Elders: We don't know! It really wasn't us! We've been very well-behaved lately!]
[If not them, then who could it be?]
[Does this method look familiar to everyone? I suspect Danzo has been resurrected.]
[Danzo didn't even leave a corpse; how could he be resurrected?]
[Hiss… Could it be…]
In the latter half of the episode, nearly a thousand Uchiha Clan Member gathered bustlingly at the Naka Shrine, awaiting the Clan Head's upcoming speech.
Once most people had arrived, Fugaku cut straight to the chase: "Clan Member, recently, I have also heard some false statements circulating within the Clan."
"Someone is baselessl y speculating that Naraku would use a Sealing Jutsu to harm his younger brother, which is simply alarmist nonsense!"
Naraku, sitting beside him, knelt respectfully on a cushion, his head slightly bowed, his hands clasped into fists on his thighs.
Due to the camera angle, viewers could only see his trembling eyelashes and his tightly pursed, silent lips.
[Holy crap, just as I thought!]
[This tactic of framing Naraku is truly vicious; it's a direct attack on his spirit.]
[Fortunately, Fugaku didn't believe it at all, otherwise, I can't imagine what would have happened.]
[Naraku must be very sad and scared, right? If Fugaku and Mikoto had even the slightest doubt, what would he do then?]
[Again, I'm grateful that Fugaku and Mikoto are sufficiently kind people.]
As layers of comments floated by, Fugaku's voice continued.
"I have already made it very clear before, Naraku is my eldest son, and he is the unshakeable Young Clan Head!"
"He doesn't need to do such things to solidify his already unassailable position!"
The screen appropriately showed a flashback, informing the audience that Fugaku had made this decision at a Clan meeting shortly after the war ended.
[Young Clan Head!? Fugaku, you've truly moved me a little; this is treating Naraku completely as his own son!]
[The Uchiha Clan Head is not always inherited within the same lineage; it's basically whoever has the ability…]
[Indeed, wasn't Uchiha Madara's lineage the Clan Head a few decades ago?]
[And Naraku is currently the strongest Uchiha. If not him, then who should be the Clan Head?]
[However, for Fugaku to make such a decision proactively in his prime shows how much he truly loves Naraku as a child.]
After Fugaku finished explaining the purpose of the "Healing Seal: Modification (Zhen Yu Feng Yin - Gai)" in detail, everyone understood that this was actually the method Lady Tsunade had used to slow the progression of the Young Clan Head's bloodline limit sickness.
Now, with slight modifications, it could suppress the explosive growth of Dōjutsu Power (Pupil Power) in highly talented children, preventing them from awakening their Sharingan too early, thereby minimizing the probability of developing bloodline limit sickness.
By releasing the Jutsu at an appropriate age, the suppressed Dōjutsu Power (Pupil Power) could quickly recover to its original intended strength, with almost no side effects.
[What kind of Uchiha genius suppressor is this?]
[So, if a child could originally awaken a One-Tomoe Sharingan due to stimulation, this Sealing Jutsu merely postpones the awakening time without causing any loss or damage?]
[That's a bit too amazing.]
[This will be a life-saving divine Jutsu for countless Uchiha geniuses in the future!]
Next, Entō appeared to speak, further adding credibility to Fugaku's explanation.
The animator timely inserted several short clips to explain the cause and effect to the audience.
In the scene, Naraku, probably shortly after his "resurrection" and return to Konoha, was performing a Jutsu on Shisui despite his ailing body;
Shisui, wearing a forehead protector, was overcome with grief upon hearing of Obito's sacrifice, his Sharingan evolution prevented by the Sealing Jutsu;
Later, he personally witnessed Naraku critically ill and unconscious in bed, repeating the same experience.
The two "awakening" times were very close, and Shisui was young. If it weren't for the "Healing Seal: Modification (Zhen Yu Feng Yin - Gai)" suppressing his surging Dōjutsu Power (Pupil Power)… to quote his biological father Entō, who knows what would have gone wrong with the child's body.
[From a parent's perspective, this is indeed a very reliable safeguard.]
[Naraku saved Shisui again; Naraku is good. Those who spread rumors slandered Naraku; they are bad.]
[So Naraku thought of this so early; he always loves those around him more than he loves himself (T_T)]
[But it's also this love that gave him strong evidence to refute the rumors!]
The last few minutes of the anime showed the parents of Kazuki and a few other children actively standing up and asking Naraku to place the seal on their children.
Just as Shisui had said, the little witch Kazuki and her two younger brothers, Hibiki and Tsubaki, repeatedly showed off this matter on the streets and were uniformly dragged home by their parents for a scolding.
[This isn't a seal; it's practically a certificate of exceptional talent for the Uchiha Clan!]
[I'm dying of laughter; this little girl Kazuki is even more smug than Itachi.]
[Oh no, oh no, now Itachi will surely know he's not unique anymore; there's a good show coming~]
[The rumor creators are still a mystery! I'm so curious it's driving me crazy!]
[Excluding the Uchiha elders, there aren't many suspects left who could have done this.]
…——
Naraku actually had a theory in mind. After exiting full screen, he went to the comment section of this episode and found the top-rated comments to further verify his conjecture.
——
@Black Forest Cake Wizard: Brothers, I'm back! Many friends are curious about who the mastermind behind the rumors in this episode is, right?
Your humble servant dares to present a theory for everyone here!
Actually, Old Thief gave pretty obvious hints, and many people in the comments guessed the same as me: the mastermind is—Hiruzen Sarutobi!
Firstly, spreading rumors to attack the heart is a tactic Danzo frequently used, and he used it against Sakumo back then. Hiruzen Sarutobi is naturally adept at it.
Secondly, from the previous episodes, we can see that this old geezer was quite displeased with Minato's succession.
Fugaku played such a significant role in forcing him to step down and also has an excellent relationship with Minato. Could he just sit back and watch the Uchiha Clan remain peaceful internally? Absolutely not!
Thirdly, Hiruzen Sarutobi wanted to train Minato to be a puppet Hokage, which meant reducing the latter's power and connections. Removing the Uchiha Clan's Young Clan Head is essentially a disguised way of reducing Minato's supporters.
In conclusion, I think it's pretty much Hiruzen Sarutobi, no doubt about it!
Comment 1: Rigorous, reasonable. I believe you, Wizard-sama!
Comment 2: I also feel it's Hiruzen Sarutobi. Ever since Old Thief made him go dark, he's the first person I think of for any scheme.
Comment 3: Yes, this consistent method; it's probably him. At worst, it's Koharu Utatane and Mitokado Homura.
Comment 4: If Danzo is an option, choose Danzo; if not, choose the monkey (Hiruzen)!]
Comment 5: Poor Naraku, this tactic is especially powerful against him. If it had succeeded even a little, I can't imagine how much he would have suffered.
Comment 6: He would probably die to prove his innocence, right?
Comment 7: Thank goodness, thank goodness, Fugaku and Mikoto gave him one hundred percent trust…