Ino Yamanaka: Charge! For Sasuke's... Hehehe

"If, if all we're asking for is to uncover the truth and clear the Third Hokage's name, then I guess it wouldn't be impossible?"

The little girl Tenten, with her hair in buns, spoke hesitantly. It seemed she still held some reverence and trust for Hiruzen Sarutobi. That was probably also the attitude of most civilians and lower- to middle-ranking ninja in Konoha.

"Is it really appropriate for us to do this?" Sakura Haruno looked a little panicked, a little scared.

"If the adults find out, they'll stop us, won't they?" The honest child Choji Akimichi considered the matter very seriously.

"You guys are so damn long-winded! How can I, the future Hokage, hesitate and shrink back over something like this?" Kiba Inuzuka crossed his arms, jumped onto the table, and lifted his chin as he declared to everyone, "For the village, I, Lord Kiba, will take on such a grave responsibility! Anyone who's timid or afraid just needs to hide in the back and quietly wait for the good news I bring!"

"Woof woof woof!"

Akamaru, the puppy perched atop Kiba's head, nodded and barked in agreement, cheering on Kiba Inuzuka's courage!

"Who are you looking down on, Kiba? How could I, Ino Yamanaka, possibly be scared!"

The blonde little girl Ino Yamanaka glanced back at Sasuke. If I help the Uchiha Clan get justice, won't Little Sasuke be completely at my mercy?

Then even if I make him put on an underwear male-model runway show just for me, he won't dare say no to his great benefactor, right? Hehehe...

"Piggy Ino, what filthy things are you thinking about while staring at Sasuke-kun? You're practically drooling!" Sakura could tell at a glance that she was up to no good, and jealousy toward her best friend flared instantly.

"N-No, it's nothing..."

Ino Yamanaka's little face flushed red. She reined in her wandering thoughts and turned serious. "I have to take part in this too, whether it's for the village, for our companion Sasuke, or for those seniors who may have died unjustly seven years ago! Everyone feels the same way, right?"

Everyone fell silent. No one voiced any objection.

"Third Hokage, that is exactly what happened. I saw it all with my own eyes. There is not a single lie in it!"

Inside the Hokage's Office, Hiromi Sarutobi, a Jonin of the Sarutobi Clan, lowered his head and knelt on one knee as he reported his unexpected discovery to the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"I understand. You may leave now."

Only after a long silence did Hiruzen Sarutobi finally speak and dismiss him.

Hiromi Sarutobi lowered his head and respectfully left the Hokage's Office. The Third Hokage's voice sounded older and weaker than he remembered, as though he had aged more than a decade overnight.

His heart ached, and he nearly wept. Amid his grief, he could not help but sigh. Rumors really could kill people!

Why couldn't everyone understand the Third Hokage's painstaking intentions? ...Yet he had completely forgotten that there was an innocent child in Konohagakure who had borne even crueler rumors and discrimination since the day he was born, stubbornly surviving until today. Wasn't he suffering too?

People never cared about the suffering of those who had nothing to do with them...

"Hiruzen! It seems some people have already chosen their side. The Hyuga Clan has applied to hold an all-out Jonin Meeting tomorrow to jointly discuss how to deal with Jonin Kakashi Hatake. There's a major problem with the Hyuga Clan. We somehow failed to notice it all this time! First the Uchiha Clan, and now the Hyuga Clan... It seems Minato Namikaze wasn't as honest as he appeared back then!"

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura emerged from a shadowed corner, their expressions ugly. "If you had acted sooner back then, Hiruzen..."

"I said it wasn't me. It had nothing to do with me. Why are you two also—"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's old face was so aggrieved he was practically despairing. First Danzo, then his two old companions. Why was there no one in this world who believed in Hiruzen Sarutobi's innocence? Did Hiruzen Sarutobi really look that much like a schemer, an ambitious conspirator?

"Yes, yes, yes. Those matters had absolutely nothing to do with you, Hiruzen. That's what we should say to the public..."

Mitokado Homura approved of Hiruzen Sarutobi's stubborn insistence on refusing to admit anything. This was the proper face of a politician!

Utatane Koharu was still somewhat displeased. Her old face turned cold as she said, "Hiruzen, it's one thing to hide it from the others and Danzo. Are you going to hide it from the two of us too?"

"..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi did not want to speak right now. He only wanted to die!

"Hiruzen, should we do something in advance about those people making suspicious moves? It seems someone is also calling on the villagers to petition for the truth to be uncovered."

Sensing the awkward atmosphere, Mitokado Homura changed the subject and took the initiative to smooth things over.

"We... shouldn't interfere with anything for now. The situation is far too chaotic at the moment. As things stand, it's more important to distinguish friend from foe through their actions and figure out exactly what they intend to do!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi had always felt that an unseen hand was stirring everything from behind the scenes, but there was too little known information and intelligence for him to make any judgment.

He chose to cast a long line and catch the big fish, find the most dangerous mastermind lurking behind it all, then seize an opportunity to use the Reaper Death Seal and perish together with the enemy.

Misunderstood and stifled to this point, the seventy- or eighty-year-old Hiruzen Sarutobi's mentality had completely exploded. He only wanted to use his own life to cleanse the good name he had built over a lifetime!

If Daren Yi knew what he was thinking, he would definitely mock him. This time, would he seal away another pair of hands, a bridge, or perhaps a clump of air or an illusion?

Late at night, Naruto Uzumaki returned home exhausted after spending another day outside arguing with others. The leftover instant noodles from last night and the night before had still not been thrown out, giving off a sour, unpleasant stench. Naruto had long since grown used to it.

Enduring a reek foul enough to knock Akamaru unconscious, Naruto, smaller than an ordinary seven-year-old child, calmly carried the noodle cups away and threw them out. Then he opened another cup of instant noodles to fill his stomach.

These past few days, he had been busy running around everywhere to defend the Third Hokage's reputation, leaving him no time to eat a proper meal. He had been making do like this all day.

Still, he was used to that as well. The hardships and pain he had endured since childhood had given him incomparable resilience, like a tough little weed rooted among mountain rocks, battered by wind and rain, frost and snow.

"Goodbye, I'm going to sleep!"

After eating and drinking a carton of milk whose expiration date he did not even know, Naruto Uzumaki shouted into the empty room. No one knew who he was saying goodbye to.

After all, in this empty home, the parents and family he had longed for countless times had never existed.

Since the day he was born, his world had contained nothing but himself, alone, along with the rumors of disgust, hatred, and discrimination from strangers.

Even the occasional ray of sunlight that pierced through dark clouds and fell upon him would make the cold, lonely child believe he had embraced the sun itself, leaving him hopelessly enchanted by it.