“Bang!”
A dull yet thunderous sound of a door slamming shut exploded within the Hokage Office.
Choked by Hiruzen Sarutobi’s resounding declaration, “I am the Hokage,” and unable to find any flaw in his logic, Danzo Shimura, with a face ashen and wrapped in bandages, slammed the door and stormed out, leaning on his cane without looking back.
At the entrance of the Hokage Office.
Having stormed out in a fit of rage, he happened to bump into two elderly figures rushing over.
They were none other than the two Hokage Advisors of Konoha Village—Homura Mitokado and Utatane Koharu.
The three aged elders of Konoha met unexpectedly at the door.
Although their positions differed subtly, Danzo couldn’t be bothered to speak.
He simply swept a deep, meaningful glance at the two with his single eye, let out a cold snort, and brushed past them, leaving this uncleaned “battlefield” to the two accusers who had just arrived.
Homura Mitokado and Utatane Koharu exchanged a look, seeing the suppressed rage in each other’s eyes, and pushed the door open to enter.
“Hokage-sama!”
As soon as the two elders stepped into the office, they could no longer suppress the raging anger in their hearts and, almost simultaneously, pointed towards the direction of the Uchiha Compound outside the window, flying into a rage.
“The Uchiha Clan is simply too arrogant, too presumptuous!”
Utatane Koharu trembled with rage, her shrill voice echoing in the office.
“Especially that newly appointed Uchiha Akahiro, he is simply lawless! Does he even have any regard for you, Hokage-sama, in his eyes?!”
“Exactly!”
Homura Mitokado was also deeply distressed, stomping his cane heavily.
“He publicly arrested our villagers in the street and injured so many people! Does he have any regard for the rules established in Konoha Village for decades? Does he have any regard for the dignity of us two Hokage Advisors?! If this continues, where will the dignity of us old folks, and yours, Hokage-sama, be?”
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his desk, listening quietly to these impassioned accusations, his cloudy eyes filled with clarity.
He understood it perfectly.
The reason these two old folks reacted so fiercely and rushed over so quickly today was by no means purely for the sake of the Village’s justice.
Because just a moment ago, in the list submitted by the Anbu of those arrested by Uchiha Akahiro on charges of being “spies,” there was clearly a collateral Ninja from the Utatane Family. This story is hosted at novelping.com.
With their own interests touched and their sore spots stepped on, these two elders, who usually held themselves in high regard, had rushed over in such a panic, disregarding their dignity, to seek his backing as Hokage and demand justice.
Facing the incessant, rapid-fire complaints and pressure from the two elders, Hiruzen Sarutobi displayed the top-tier composure and political maneuvering skills honed over his decades of political career.
He did not get angry, nor did he explain.
No matter how sternly Homura Mitokado and Utatane Koharu spoke, or how tearfully they complained with spit flying, Hiruzen Sarutobi simply lowered his head slightly, puffing on his pipe one slow drag at a time.
Wisps of white smoke were slowly exhaled from his mouth and nose, blurring his expression and building a wall of silence that remained unmoved by the storm.
Let you say a thousand words, I remain silent as gold.
Until the two elders complained until their mouths were dry and their throats were parched, and their energy gradually faded, the office finally quieted down.
Hiruzen Sarutobi then slowly lifted his head and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke.
He spoke slowly, using a tone that was extremely vague and general, yet carried a hint of “inscrutable” steadiness.
“Regarding the matter of Uchiha Akahiro… I have already made plans in my heart.”
“You two, there is no need to complain anymore.”
It was just such a hollow, empty “reassurance.”
Yet Homura Mitokado and Utatane Koharu acted as if they had taken a potent pill, their tense expressions instantly relaxing.
They looked at each other and saw relief and anticipation in each other’s eyes.
In their imagination, Hokage-sama’s words “already made plans” clearly implied that he had prepared a brilliant strategy to discipline, or even completely eradicate, the Uchiha, this thorn in their side!
“Since Hokage-sama already has a good plan in mind, we can rest assured.”
Having obtained this false satisfaction, the two elders bowed and took their leave, stepping out of the office with light footsteps.
Leaving Hiruzen Sarutobi sitting alone amidst the swirling smoke, his eyes becoming increasingly weary and complex.
Meanwhile.
The camera pans back to the noisy street of Konoha, where the commotion had long since dissipated, leaving behind a scene of debris.
With the departure of the two titans, Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi and Uchiha Akahiro, the once tense and suffocating standoff site now only left Uzumaki Naruto, who had been completely forgotten in place, and a group of Konoha villagers who had just recovered from the fear of death.
Just moments ago, in the face of the absolute pressure from the two “big shots,” these villagers were silent as cicadas, not daring to even breathe loudly. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
But when they looked around and discovered that the skinny, helpless “demon fox brat” was still standing there foolishly, their pent-up fear and resentment, which had nowhere to vent, instantly found an excellent outlet.
“It’s all because of you! It’s all you, you little monster!”
Don’t know who screamed first, and then, as if the villagers had found a backbone, they scrambled to pick up the rotten vegetable leaves and rotten eggs scattered on the ground, aggressively throwing them in Naruto’s direction.
Filthy vegetable leaves splattered onto Naruto’s body and face.
“It must be because this demon fox has been staying here and causing trouble, emitting that evil and terrifying Chakra!”
A fat auntie threw fiercely while shouting in the most vicious tone, finding reasons for her absurd violent act.
“It’s him! It’s him who corrupted and bewitched the minds of those Uchiha Ninjas! That’s why those people went crazy and arrested us good people without distinguishing right from wrong! It’s all caused by this ominous little monster!”
“Yes! It’s all his fault! Beat this demon fox to death!”
The absurd and vicious scapegoating spread and fermented wildly among the crowd.
Facing the filthy vegetable leaves raining down and these malicious insults that could kill a person’s heart.
Young Uzumaki Naruto had a face full of grievance and helplessness, his big blue eyes filled with tears, yet he stubbornly refused to let them fall.
He neither understood what he had done wrong nor had the strength to resist the surging crowd.
He could only helplessly curl up his small body, clutching his head tightly with both hands, silently enduring this heavy malice that should never have belonged to him.
Cold, lonely, desperate.
Just when Naruto thought that today would be like countless days in the past, spent miserably in this suffocating isolation and bullying.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Amidst the wave of foul language and chaotic insults.
Naruto’s ears, which were sharper than ordinary people’s and like those of a beast, suddenly clearly captured a distinct sound.
It was a sound of steady, clear, and unhurried footsteps.
Stepping on the debris-strewn ground, step by step, firmly walking slowly towards him, the corner abandoned by the whole world…