"The Mangekyo Sharingan cannot be faked!"
"Now everything is clear. Everything is Uchiha Fugaku's fault!"
"The one who caused the Nine-Tails' rampage was Uchiha Fugaku!"
"The one who placed me in a second coma was Uchiha Fugaku!"
"The one who controlled the Nine-Tails and attacked Sunagakure was also Uchiha Fugaku!"
"It was all Uchiha Fugaku's conspiracy!"
"Kill Uchiha Fugaku!"
"Kill him!"
"Kill him!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Uchiha Fugaku with hatred in his eyes.
Previously, Hiruzen Sarutobi had trusted Uchiha Fugaku for a period of time. He had even intended to cultivate Uchiha Fugaku and allow him to enter Konoha's higher ranks.
But now, after seeing Uchiha Fugaku's Mangekyo Sharingan, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt that all of it had been done by Uchiha Fugaku.
It was Uchiha Fugaku who had harmed him.
Everyone's eyes widened.
"Could it really be Uchiha Fugaku?"
"But if Uchiha Fugaku possesses the Mangekyo Sharingan, why did he not protect the Uchiha?"
But now, whether Uchiha Fugaku had truly done those things no longer mattered.
Following Hiruzen Sarutobi's order—
Immediately, every shinobi in the village joined the crusade against Uchiha Fugaku.
Some shinobi rushed forward, raising their hands to form seals.
Some shinobi of lesser strength provided support from behind.
Others simply cursed him.
Uchiha Fugaku had already become the target of the entire Konoha.
"Kill!"
The enraged crowd rushed into the Uchiha clan compound.
They began killing without restraint.
Uchiha Fugaku's eyes were blood-red, and his fury reached its peak.
"Clan Head-sama, go!"
"As long as you live, there is hope!"
"Avenge us!"
…
Uchiha Fugaku watched helplessly as his wife and clansmen died at the hands of Konoha's shinobi. Yet he was powerless. He could do nothing. Rage burned in his heart.
Two thoughts kept circling back and forth in Uchiha Fugaku's mind.
One was to charge forward and continue fighting these Konoha shinobi to the death.
The other was to escape first, survive, and then take revenge.
Uchiha Fugaku hesitated for a long time.
In the end, he still chose the latter.
Using Susanoo to withstand the damage head-on, he charged in the direction away from Konoha.
While fleeing, he turned back and attacked those pursuing him.
The distance between them kept widening.
Only when he was far enough away did Uchiha Fugaku dispel Susanoo. But he did not stop. He continued moving farther and farther from Konoha until no one could follow him anymore.
Uchiha Fugaku looked back in Konoha's direction, his eyes bloodshot.
"Konoha!"
This sudden change had caught Uchiha Fugaku completely off guard.
He had still been wondering whether he might have a chance to touch the Hokage position.
But now, not only had Konoha branded him a rogue ninja, even the Uchiha who followed him were gone.
Not a single one remained.
"Mikoto, Sasuke…"
Uchiha Fugaku felt as though his heart were being torn apart.
It hurt too much.
Then, a trace of confusion appeared in Uchiha Fugaku's eyes.
"Where should I go now?"
"Konoha no longer has any place for me."
"Because of the rumors, Sunagakure will refuse me at its gates."
"Iwagakure and Kumogakure will both believe I am a member of the Akatsuki organization and try to kill me."
"What about the Uchiha? What about the Uchiha sailing fleet?"
In truth, Uchiha Fugaku had not supported Uchiha Sanga.
It was only because of his identity as Uchiha Sanga's son that the radical Uchiha faction had feared him, distrusted him, and left him with no choice but to remain in Konoha.
Uchiha Fugaku had even deliberately indulged the radical Uchiha faction when they stole away his eldest son, Uchiha Itachi.
"If I go now, will they accept me?"
An ANBU shinobi brought an infant before Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Hokage-sama, aside from Uchiha Fugaku and the previously missing Uchiha Shisui, the Uchiha clan has been completely killed. Only this child remains."
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the infant in the ANBU shinobi's hands.
"This is?"
"Reporting to Hokage-sama, this is Uchiha Fugaku's second son, Uchiha Sasuke."
Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned.
The name Sasuke made Hiruzen Sarutobi inevitably think of his own father.
He had cared about this matter before.
Most people reused an existing name out of respect.
But in Uchiha Fugaku's case, Hiruzen Sarutobi did not think so.
Instead, he felt that Uchiha Fugaku might have done it out of some kind of malice.
Now, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt that even more strongly.
"Uchiha Fugaku has committed endless evil. Though this child is young, the blood of Uchiha Fugaku still flows through him. This naturally evil bloodline cannot be allowed to continue existing."
"Deal with him."
The ANBU shinobi nodded.
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
Very soon, Hiruzen Sarutobi's announcement spread across the entire shinobi world at astonishing speed.
"Konoha has no connection with the Akatsuki organization."
"Konoha knew nothing about the attacks on the various shinobi villages."
"The one who controlled the Nine-Tails was Uchiha Fugaku."
"The one who attacked Sunagakure was Uchiha Fugaku."
"The one who cooperated with the Akatsuki organization was Uchiha Fugaku."
"The one who caused Konoha's Nine-Tails rampage back then was also Uchiha Fugaku."
This announcement pushed everything away from Konoha cleanly and placed all blame entirely on Uchiha Fugaku.
At the same time, Hiruzen Sarutobi sent a letter to the capital of the Land of Fire.
A letter for Jiraiya.
First, he expressed his apology. As Jiraiya's teacher, he had failed to trust Jiraiya.
After that, he said that he had been completely deceived by Uchiha Fugaku. Uchiha Fugaku had used genjutsu methods on him.
He hoped Jiraiya could return to Konoha, bringing Tsunade with him.
The current Konoha needed Jiraiya.
If this had been before, Jiraiya might have believed him immediately.
But now, Jiraiya no longer trusted Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Teacher Sarutobi, you can push all these matters onto Uchiha Fugaku."
"But what about Nawaki?"
"What about Orochimaru?"
"What about Senior White Fang?"
"Were those also because you were deceived by Uchiha Fugaku?"
"No. I am more willing to believe that you have now simply betrayed Uchiha Fugaku, pushing all those damned matters onto him. Uchiha Fugaku is merely a pitiful worm you chose to abandon."
"Though he is hateful as well."
A trace of disdain appeared in Jiraiya's eyes.
"Ending up like this is also what he deserves!"
Rasa looked at the intelligence sent back by the intelligence shinobi, and his eyes lit up slightly.
"The material for creating the fifteenth rumor has arrived!"
"And at exactly the right time."
"I returned from the moon just in time. Had I been a little later, creating this rumor would not have been so convenient."
The captain of the ANBU rumor squad came before Rasa.