"Shisui, Naruto is in your hands. Make sure you keep a close watch on him!"
In the Hokage Office, Sarutobi Hiruzen gave the half-kneeling Shisui a grave order.
His tone was earnest.
The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki was far too important.
As long as Naruto remained with the Uchiha Clan, he could not sleep soundly! He had even urgently recalled Shisui from a mission outside the village just to have him monitor Naruto's movements.
Within the Uchiha Clan, Shisui was the only one he could trust.
"Rest assured, Third Hokage-sama. I will protect Naruto's safety with my life!"
Shisui, a short sword strapped to his back, lowered his head deeply.
He had heard about Naruto while outside the village.
Naruto's presence among the Uchiha was undoubtedly a massive hidden danger!
The already strained relationship between the clan and the village had instantly become even more precarious.
Seeing Shisui's response, Sarutobi Hiruzen was immensely gratified. His wrinkled face bloomed like a chrysanthemum.
"Among the Uchiha Clan, only you and Itachi have inherited the Will of Fire."
Shisui felt even more ashamed.
"The clan members do not understand your painstaking efforts. Please give me some time. I will properly persuade them."
"Good."
Hearing Shisui's answer, Sarutobi Hiruzen's taut nerves relaxed slightly.
The situation was not yet beyond saving.
Perhaps it was time to bring Itachi into the Anbu.
Once Itachi joined the Anbu, he could serve as the spy Sarutobi Hiruzen had planted within the Uchiha Clan.
No movement by the Uchiha would escape his eyes.
He needed to find an opportunity to have a proper talk with Itachi about it.
Just as he was mulling it over, an Anbu suddenly appeared, looking flustered.
"Hokage-sama, a large number of unfavorable rumors have suddenly appeared in the village."
"Rumors?!"
The Anbu hesitated.
"Speak!"
"A rumor says that Danzo-sama has been secretly researching the powers of the Sharingan and Wood Style. He even abducted an Uchiha to use as an experimental subject. That subject escaped Root three years ago and, out of hatred for Konoha, controlled the Nine-Tails..."
The Anbu's voice grew quieter and quieter. Beneath his mask, his forehead was already covered in sweat.
The contents of this rumor were far too sensitive!
More importantly—
As he spoke, he suddenly felt that the rumor actually made some sense.
Following that logic, many previously incomprehensible matters could be explained.
As an Anbu, he knew full well that traces of both the Sharingan and Wood Style had been discovered that night!
But the moment that thought arose, he immediately strangled it.
He did not dare think it, nor could he! Sarutobi Hiruzen trembled with rage. From his clenched fists and shaking shoulders, it was obvious just how furious he was.
"Absurd!"
"Utterly absurd!!!"
"How could Danzo possibly do such a thing? Quickly! Immediately forbid the villagers from discussing this any further! And find out where this rumor came from!!!"
The whites of Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes were webbed with bloodshot veins. He practically ground out those words through clenched teeth.
This rumor was too vicious! It directly pointed to him and Danzo as the source of the Nine-Tails Attack!
If it were allowed to spread, who knew how much damage it would cause!
Amid his fury, deep confusion rose within him as well.
Who exactly was spreading such a rumor through the village?
Most importantly, Danzo really was researching the Sharingan and Wood Style!
As for whether he had abducted Uchiha Clan Members as test subjects, Sarutobi Hiruzen did not know. But based on his understanding of Danzo—
He might actually have done something like that!
That was precisely why cold sweat streamed down his back.
"I heard that night had something to do with Danzo-sama?"
"Apparently one of his test subjects escaped. He actually possessed both the Sharingan and Wood Style—the power of the God of Shinobi! It almost makes me want to become a test subject too."
"Keep dreaming! That test subject must have suffered inhuman torture, or why would he hate the village and control the Nine-Tails for revenge?"
"What a pity. The Fourth Hokage's child is truly so pitiful..."
At that point, the several villagers became despondent. Some even wiped away tears.
Naruto had suffered far too much! Every one of them had once bullied Naruto. That was why, after learning his true identity, they sympathized with him even more! Such a small child, living all alone, getting cursed at by them every day! I'm fucking awful! Namikaze Mirai's earlier exposure of Naruto's identity had achieved an unexpected effect at this moment.
Out of sympathy for Naruto, the Konoha villagers utterly hated the culprit responsible for all of this!
So the moment this rumor appeared, it immediately seized their attention! At the same time—
Root Base.
Danzo was dumbfounded.
He was sitting at home, and a blame fell from the sky! What the hell!
A test subject escaping, Wood Style research—the mastermind behind it all was actually himself???
"Damn it! Which bastard is smearing this old man!"
Danzo was so angry he trembled with cold! Could this world get any worse?
Why did every single black pot have to be dumped on him? Was he some kind of professional scapegoat??? He had failed to become Hokage, yet somehow became the Pot Kage! Amid his fury, a wave of unease rose within him.
Other than there being no escaped test subject, he had basically done everything mentioned in the rumor! Where had things gone wrong? Always skilled at steering public opinion to attack others, he was finally tasting what it felt like to be attacked by public opinion for the first time.
The shot he had fired years ago had struck him right between the eyes!
The rumors in Konoha showed no sign of stopping. Perhaps because they scratched the villagers where they itched, they even evolved into multiple versions as they spread.
Some claimed that the test subject was actually Danzo and an Uchiha's illegitimate son! That Danzo had nine more test subjects just like him!
Others said the mastermind had been disfigured during the experiments, which was why he always wore a mask and dared not show his true face...
All sorts of versions spread with vivid detail.
On Hokage Rock, atop Namikaze Minato's stone likeness, Namikaze Mirai stood on Minato's head, his azure eyes looking down upon the village below.
From this position, he had an unobstructed view of the entire village.
He was the one pushing those rumors from behind the scenes.
More precisely, he had asked Uchiha Setsuna to spread them.
After capturing those villagers Root had planted last time, the Uchiha Police Force interrogated them through the night and extracted their methods and strategies.
They had almost copied the same approach, stirring up a storm of public opinion throughout Konoha.
Thanks to Namikaze Mirai's storytelling ability and the villagers' hatred for the culprit behind the Nine-Tails Attack, the rumors spread remarkably smoothly.
The results were even better than expected.
Yet Namikaze Mirai had no mood to reap the rewards.
Standing atop Minato's stone likeness, he used the height of the terrain to expand his Biological Magnetic Field perception to its limit.
It covered all of Konoha!
On an inconspicuous tree at the edge of the village, a scarlet eye watched the village outside through a mask.
"It has already been confirmed. Your identity has not been exposed. These rumors must have merely hit the mark by chance."
White Zetsu emerged from the tree trunk beside him, exposing the upper half of his white body.
To be honest, when these rumors first surfaced, even he had been startled.
Other than having nothing to do with Danzo's test subjects, nearly everything matched: possessing both Wood Style and the Sharingan, wearing a mask, and so on.
After learning this, Obito had not even had time to continue monitoring Nagato in Akatsuki. He had to find out just how much of his identity had been exposed!
The only person who should have seen him wearing a mask was Minato, yet Minato was already dead.
Dead in the upheaval caused by the scheme he had launched with his own hands! Fortunately, it now seemed to be nothing more than the wild imagination of some villager.
His identity had not been exposed.
The worry hanging over his heart gradually eased.
Obito prepared to leave.
At almost the exact same moment! On Minato's Hokage Rock likeness, Namikaze Mirai abruptly opened his eyes! His azure eyes were filled with savage scarlet blood vessels! "I found you!"
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