He immediately changed his tune, his voice turning resolute without hesitation.
"The Clan Head is wise! We should dispatch our strongest elite forces!"
Konohamaru nodded. His tone eased slightly, carrying the calm confidence of long-term calculation.
"Don't worry. Even if we mobilize three thousand, the clan will still have over two thousand members remaining to maintain our foundations. As long as the roots remain, it won't be difficult to recover with time."
Only then did the elder finally set his mind at ease. A trace of pride even appeared on his face as he turned at once to begin rallying the clan.
The real world erupted in an uproar.
"Five thousand…? The Sarutobi clan has at least five thousand ninja?!"
"Supporting five thousand ninja—just how many people does that clan have in total?"
"This… is this really still a clan? This is practically a miniature hidden village!"
"Sarutobi Hiruzen! Just how much benefit has he siphoned off for his own clan using the Hokage's authority?!"
Questions, shock, and fury flooded the entire shinobi world in an instant.
The Kage of the other four Great Hidden Villages stared at the projection in the sky, their gazes turning ice-cold. Their wariness and fear toward Konoha—and toward Sarutobi Hiruzen—rose to unprecedented heights.
Inside the Hokage's Office.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's face was as dark as the bottom of a soot-blackened pot.
For years, he had painstakingly developed his clan while keeping everything hidden beneath the surface, precisely to avoid backlash from other clans and villages.
And now—just like that—the heavenly projection had ripped the Sarutobi clan's foundations wide open, exposing everything to the eyes of the entire shinobi world.
"Damn it… what a mess…" he muttered through clenched teeth, an overwhelming sense of powerlessness washing over him.
He could already foresee the immense pressure and interrogation he would soon face, both from within the village and beyond.
But then, an even colder thought surfaced—one that caused his expression to stiffen instantly.
"Konohamaru said… 'If the war is lost, what will become of the Sarutobi clan?'"
"Who is he afraid of?"
"Could it be… Naruto in the future, settling accounts with the Sarutobi clan?"
"…Is it because of how we treated him?"
When Hiruzen thought of that lonely child—shunned from infancy, burdened with hatred—growing up to wield power capable of destroying the world, and possibly harboring resentment toward the Sarutobi clan…
A chill ran from his feet straight up to his scalp.
Perhaps… he needed to reconsider his attitude toward Naruto.
"No—wait. Why is Konohamaru the clan head? Where is Asuma?!"
Hiruzen's expression changed drastically. A deep sense of unease took hold of his heart.
The revelation of the Sarutobi clan's "three thousand-man ninja force," along with the implied reserve of over five thousand ninja, was like a depth charge detonated beneath the seemingly calm surface of Konoha's lake.
Within the village, every major clan reacted differently—but all felt the same shock and unease.
The leaders of the Ino–Shika–Chō clans gathered together.
"Five thousand ninja…" Nara Shikaku rubbed his throbbing temples. Even for someone famed for his intellect, the astonishment was impossible to hide.
"I always knew the Third would use his position to benefit his clan. But I never imagined the old fox hid things this deeply—or that his appetite was this big. Truly… old and cunning."
His words carried both anger at being deceived and deep apprehension.
The sheer scale of the Sarutobi clan was now enough to shatter the long-standing balance of power within Konoha.
Within the Hyūga main house, Hyūga Hiashi's face was grim.
He had always believed the Hyūga were Konoha's true foremost clan. The strength now revealed by the Sarutobi clan made him feel an unprecedented sense of threat.
Even at their peaks, the Hyūga and Uchiha combined couldn't have produced that many ninja.
The smaller clans were even more unsettled—shocked by the Sarutobi clan's hidden power, and fearful that future resource distribution and political voice would be further constrained.
Outside the Akatsuki hideout.
The reactions of the rogue ninja were far more direct.
Orochimaru's golden, slit pupils flickered with understanding. His voice was calm, tinged with something between mockery and admiration.
"As expected of my teacher."
He then turned his gaze toward the silent Itachi Uchiha nearby. A playful smile curved his lips as he deliberately raised his voice.
"Tell me, Itachi-kun—at the height of the Uchiha clan, counting even the civilians… did you have five thousand people?"
Hidden beneath his cloak, Itachi's fist clenched tightly, his knuckles turning white.
At its peak, the Uchiha clan had only a few hundred true combat ninja. Even including civilians, it was nowhere near five thousand.
Itachi's expression remained cold. His lips pressed together as he said nothing.
Beside him, Kakuzu stared with his green eyes, counting on his fingers before clicking his tongue in surprise.
"Five thousand ninja? Then the total population must've been tens of thousands. Tch… at that scale, they could easily wipe out any village outside the Five Great Nations."
He sneered and cast a meaningful glance at Itachi.
"'The Uchiha—the strongest clan'? Compared to the Sarutobi, that sounds like a joke."
Itachi's body trembled almost imperceptibly. His composure was beginning to crack.
Yet he still forced himself to remain outwardly calm, as though he hadn't heard the barbed remarks.
The pain of his clan's annihilation—and the mission he bore—left him no choice but to endure.
Seeing no reaction, Orochimaru merely shrugged, as though it had all been casual conversation.
He turned back to the projection and murmured softly, just loud enough for a few nearby to hear:
"To truly see a person, you never look at what they say…"
"…You look at what they do."
The words were quiet—but they struck like a poison-tipped kunai, piercing straight into the most sensitive, painful, and conflicted part of Itachi's heart.
What had he done?
For the sake of the village, he had slaughtered his entire clan with his own hands, bearing all the sin and infamy, becoming Konoha's S-rank missing-nin.
He had done all of that.
Then what, in the eyes of those who knew the truth, had Sarutobi Hiruzen done?
The Third had allowed his own clan to grow to such monstrous proportions—while the Uchiha…
The Third Hokage always said the Uchiha couldn't transcend the limitations of clan-centered thinking.
But the Sarutobi clan—was it truly any different?
With just that light, offhand remark, Orochimaru tore open the psychological defenses Itachi had built with "greater good" and "duty."
Orochimaru smiled faintly to himself.
Still far too young.
The projection continued, showing frantic preparations for war.
Under the unprecedentedly efficient coordination of the Five Great Nations, a shinobi alliance of staggering scale was swiftly formed—
A force of one hundred thousand ninja.
The number alone left the present shinobi world gasping for breath. This was the combined strength of the entire world, and it also served as grim proof of just how utterly despair-inducing the future Naruto Uzumaki would become.