The People's Hearts Are Everyone's Hearts

The riot at the mahjong parlor that day seemed to be just the beginning.

Since then, more and more people gathered throughout the deserted village, only to be quickly dispersed by the heavily monitored Anbu and Uchiha Police Force.

However, neither the civilians nor the ordinary ninja of civilian origin seemed to fear the once-renowned Anbu anymore. Almost every day, the sounds of people gathering and conflicts could be heard throughout the village.

Thud—

Looking at the damage report on his desk, Sarutobi Hiruzen slammed his fist down.

The veins on the middle-aged man's forehead were taut, and his expression was extremely serious.

"They're having trouble on the front lines, and some people are causing trouble in the rear."

"As my disciple, you're actually adding to my troubles as your teacher?"

This granddaughter of Teacher Tobirama was his most beloved disciple since she was a child, perhaps even the only one.

However, in Sarutobi Hiruzen's heart, Tsunade was practically stabbing him in the back right now.

Yes.

In Sarutobi Hiruzen's mind, whether it was the Disabled Ninja Association, Konoha Revival Society, Civilian Ninja Union, Civilian and Ninja Clan Friendship Association, and others that had suddenly sprouted up from every corner like mushrooms after rain, they were all Tsunade's way of causing him trouble.

Since she didn't have a direct armed force like Root, she naturally had to gain power through other channels.

At least, that's what Sarutobi Hiruzen thought.

But, in Sarutobi Hiruzen's opinion, Tsunade absolutely should not have directly confronted him, the Hokage, and she should not have damaged his authority as Hokage with all that nonsense.

The Will of Fire had painstakingly built its theoretical foundation for over a decade. Now, you've instantly broken these theories, causing so many people to turn around and follow you. Doesn't that make him, the Hokage, seem incredibly incompetent?

No matter how excessive Shimura Danzo's actions were, he hadn't touched the sphere of influence of him, the Hokage, had he?

As a seasoned politician, he had a very clear understanding of the rules of this game.

"Hmph."

Shimura Danzo, sitting beside him, watched his troubled expression and sneered softly, "Now you finally realize the threat of that foolish woman?"

"I told you long ago that you would regret it, Hiruzen."

"Now look, the businesses of several ninja clans are almost unable to continue. That's why they've come to me."

"Tell me, what was the point of all this?"

Shimura Danzo's smile became increasingly smug.

Hiruko's strategy, implemented through his unscrupulous means, had achieved great success.

In his opinion, both these ninja clans and civilians were disrespectful fellows.

If he didn't display power in front of them, there would always be those ignorant people who would suddenly jump out and cause trouble at crucial moments.

As for Tsunade's little resistance, it was even more laughable.

What kind of waves could a few civilian ninja stir up in front of true powerhouses?

Listening to his smug laughter, Sarutobi Hiruzen seemed to suddenly realize something. He sharply raised his head to look at him and said coldly:

"Danzo, I advise you to put away your little schemes."

"Do you think I care about trivial matters like a few shops being smashed?"

"Tch."

Shimura Danzo was now completely in a victorious stance, scoffing disdainfully:

"Relax."

"Those mediocre Chunin-level people won't cause any major problems, even on the battlefield."

Just hearing this, Sarutobi Hiruzen knew that Danzo hadn't grasped the seriousness of the issue at all.

He turned his head and said in a low voice to his old friend, "Have you ever considered whose interests this so-called Hokage faction of ours truly represents?"

"If Tsunade gains the support of those people, will we still be the Hokage faction?"

"Just with those civilian ninja?" Danzo instinctively felt that this bastard Hiruzen was trying to fool him again.

"Just with them."

However, Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice was unprecedentedly firm: "—Therefore, no matter what, you cannot make a move against those people."

Danzo immediately frowned.

From the perspective of his own interests, he instinctively believed that this was because Sarutobi Hiruzen's authority had been damaged, and he was forcefully trying to suppress both sides and stop this pointless struggle.

But he was about to win!

The ninja clans had already sent several representatives to negotiate with him.

At this time, you old man are coming out to take sides?

What's more, he really felt that this guy Sarutobi Hiruzen was making a mountain out of a molehill.

So what if a few civilian ninja led a group of civilians in a riot?

Let alone arresting them, even if they were all killed, in this village with blocked communication, who would even know?

Root's laboratory manages to acquire so many orphans each year for spy and personnel selection, and so many test subjects for Ninjutsu experiments. Didn't they capture all of them from the village and surrounding areas?

Hiruzen isn't oblivious to these matters.

The more he thought about it, the stronger the feeling of being manipulated by Hiruzen became in Danzo's heart.

"..."

"What if this old man says 'no'?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen watched him calmly, and said coldly, "Then don't blame me for taking action."

"Hiruzen..." Danzo instinctively wanted to say something.

But his voice was abruptly cut off by Sarutobi Hiruzen: "Danzo, I am the Hokage!"

He was already anticipating the response.

"Hmph."

Without another word, Danzo slammed the door and left.

The more Hiruzen opposed him, the firmer his conviction became.

This time, no one would stop his march towards victory!

After leaving the office, Aburame Ryoma, who had heard everything, added another question:

"Lord Danzo, what should we do if we face those rioters... later?"

Shimura Danzo waved his hand dismissively:

"As usual."

"Understood, sir."

"..."

Inside the room, Sarutobi Hiruzen watched Danzo's retreating back and thought about his own disciple's relentless pursuit of the truth, his heart growing heavier.

Finally, he let out a long sigh.

"The Hokage Building has posted notices! The reason your shop was searched is clearly because of the 'Investigation Order' proposed by Lord Tsunade. If your shop was searched, you must have been evading taxes!"

"Nonsense! The speeches at the Disabled Ninja Association and the Civilian Ninja Union clearly stated that Lord Tsunade is investigating the big figures! Look, this 'Konoha Civilian Ninja Newspaper' clearly states it."

"Why are you cursing people? Are you saying the notices from the Hokage Building and the Uchiha Police Force are fake? What's there to read in your roadside tabloid?"

"Fake is fake..."

Similar arguments could be heard in any restaurant on the street.

However, it seemed that because the 'skylight' had been opened, the various ninja riots had raised the Uchiha Police Force's psychological threshold. Arguments like these, which would normally lead to arrests, were no longer being paid much attention.

The Konoha Prison is only so big, and so many people have been locked up recently. Where would they get enough rice to feed them all?

The few Uchiha ninja on the eaves clearly heard the commotion, but at this moment, they completely pretended nothing was happening and walked past.

"Konoha villagers are the most moderate. If you say to chisel a window, they will absolutely disagree, but if you say to tear down the roof, they will rush to mediate and compromise, agreeing to chisel a window."

Tsunade, transformed into a different appearance, listened to the shouting in the restaurant from the shadows, and quietly drank a cup of tea.

Sahara Mizu's words unconsciously echoed in her mind.

During this month of waiting for public opinion to take effect, she had initially been very impatient, and even somewhat afraid of the consequences of the civilian ninja she had incited being suppressed on a large scale, leading to the loss of many lives.

It must be known that Konoha is a standard military group, and according to regulations, publishing such extremist remarks in the village could result in a death sentence by the Anbu.

However, the consequences Tsunade had worried about did not happen. Instead, things were gradually developing exactly as Sahara Mizu had indicated.

"Seek rights through struggle, and rights will exist; seek rights through compromise, and rights will be lost."

In the past month, they had merely helped some poor ninja who were disabled in the war. As Mizu-kun had said, they held some kind of 'complaint meeting' among them.

Those people, for some reason, suddenly seemed to have changed completely, bursting with a drive that Tsunade herself could not have imagined. They no longer had the difficult appearance of those burdened by suffering that she had first seen. They began to give speeches everywhere like Sahara Mizu, calling on those in the same situation as themselves.

In just one short month, Konoha gained more than a dozen large and small associations, and even several more miscellaneous magazines and tabloids.

"However, this alone is far from enough."

"Just as the founding of Konoha was the result of years of bloody battles between the Senju and Uchiha clans, the reform of Konoha today must also begin with bloodshed and sacrifice."

Tsunade sipped her tea, recalling the firm, almost indifferent expression on Sahara Mizu's face when he said those words.

It was as if he had personally witnessed similar history somewhere. From the moment he said these words, he had already anticipated the current scene.

"Lord Tsunade, what we are doing is evil. We are evil to the sacrificed, but for those who come after, the result will be a barely acceptable good one."

"We are just fleas clinging to this elephant, breaking out of this cage with them, for survival."

"The pain brought by sucking blood has only provided them with a slight impetus to charge forward."

"For this reason, if you have the opportunity to lead them forward in the future, please proceed with a sense of guilt and caution."

Beneath that youthful face, the words spoken seemed to have been tempered by the wind and frost, creating a laughable sense of incongruity.

However, when everything he said became reality, it was no longer possible to laugh.

"Whoosh—!"

Just as Tsunade was thinking this, not far from the secluded restaurant, inside a Root base disguised as a library, a sudden burst of deafening shouts and speeches erupted.

Before long, the sounds turned into the pained cries of a group of civilian ninja under attack by Root.

Hearing the noise, Tsunade closed her eyes slightly, but her fists on the table clenched uncontrollably, turning white.

At this moment, this woman, who was always soft-hearted, felt a strange sense of hesitation again.

If, in order to avenge Kato Dan and make insects like Shimura Danzo pay, more people had to die, could she truly hold onto that conviction for revenge?

However, things had reached a point where it was no longer up to her.

On the cliff across the street, Sahara Mizu opened his eyes, his azure pupils containing brilliant stars, and silently looked at the scattered corpses on the ground in front of the Root base.

It was regrettable, due to the practical reason that the public relations and mobilization time was too short, every determined person among the small group he had organized was extremely important and could not be wasted.

Therefore, this group of people were loyalists he had borrowed from Yagura Karatachi.

But it didn't matter.

After these people died, no one would care whether they were civilians or spies before.

Everyone in Konoha only needed to know that the organization called 'Root' had indiscriminately killed seventeen people in one go, simply because people were giving speeches in a library.

That was enough.

The blame had to be squarely placed where it belonged.

And so, while Shimura Danzo and Sarutobi Hiruzen were still completely bewildered.

After a full month and a half of brewing, with countless shocks and speeches raising the threshold of tolerance.

An unprecedented assembly of ten thousand people, sweeping across the entire Hidden Leaf Village, finally unfolded at the front gate of the Hokage Building at noon the next day.

Before the speeches began, everyone waited quietly in front of the Hokage Building, surrounding the intersection densely.

In front of the Hokage Building gate, the Anbu, encountering this situation for the first time, were standing guard as if facing a formidable enemy, watching the gathered crowd with cold sweat beading on their brows.

If something truly happened here, should they act or not?

Lord Third Hokage hadn't given any orders...

Sarutobi Hiruzen stood in the Hokage's Office on the fourth floor, looking out from the floor-to-ceiling window at the endless crowd gathered at the intersection. He wasn't even holding his pipe, which was always with him, his expression extremely grim.

His worst-case scenario had come to pass.

At the same time.

Tsunade, Sahara Mizu, and Hatake Sakumo stood behind the makeshift podium.

They were taking advantage of this time to whisper amongst themselves.

"Lord Tsunade, have you memorized your speech?"

"It's just that little bit, I finished memorizing it after a few glances... But will what you've written actually work?"

"You just have to speak. If you speak, you'll win."

"What about these people? Did you find all of them?"

"No, they'll follow whoever wins."

"Then why are you still making me..."

The scattered murmurs did not reach the even more chaotic crowd in front of them.

Even when Tsunade, Sahara Mizu, and Hatake Sakumo finally stepped onto the temporary podium, the crowd below did not quiet down.

Most of them weren't particularly enthusiastic. They had simply heard that someone had been killed for giving a speech and impulsively followed along. Some had simply seen the large crowd and figured there was safety in numbers, so they wanted to see what the commotion was about.

However, for some reason.

When they met the gaze of the particularly young boy on the stage, his azure eyes, and watched him seemingly murmur something, a strong sense of sadness and grief inexplicably rose in their hearts, as if they had been 'infected' by his emotions.

Gradually, the crowd below slowly quieted down.

Under the solemn response of the crowd, even Tsunade, who was originally worried, couldn't help but calm down.

The atmosphere was disturbed by the collective reaction.

Guided by this atmosphere, Tsunade, who was already prone to being soft-hearted and emotional, looked at the crowd and almost naturally called out the speech she had already memorized perfectly:

"Most of you have probably learned about the conflict between me and the Council of Elders at the Jonin Council from the newspaper."

"We have always known that Lord Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Hokage, has had his authority usurped by the Council of Elders, who were also disciples of the Second Generation, due to his trust in them."

"However, I still didn't anticipate that such a thing would happen."

"This morning, I only learned that civilian ninja had given speeches in the library yesterday; as soon as I opened my eyes, I received the terrible news that Root had actually used large-scale Ninjutsu, resulting in dozens of casualties, and Ida-kun of the Disabled Ninja Association was among the victims."

"But I was quite skeptical of these rumors."

"I have always dared to speculate the Council of Elders with the worst malice, but I never expected, nor did I believe, that they would be so despicable and cruel."

"However, it has been proven true today; his own remains are the proof. There is also another body, Tajima-kun's."

Amidst this mournful and sorrowful speech, and the subtle hypnotic effect brought by Kyoka Suigetsu, the crowd standing at this intersection listened quietly to Lord Tsunade's speech, looking up at her.

In reality, Konoha isn't that big, with a total population of just over 200,000.

For over a month, various associations had been active everywhere. How could the old Konoha residents, who had lived here for years and had extensive networks, not know what had happened in the village over the past month?

The front lines were still at war, but rumors of high-level corruption had broken out in the rear, and then it was said to be a misunderstanding, just gossip.

All sorts of conflicting information became a jumbled mess, impossible to discern.

Ultimately, all of it drove them to try and hear how Tsunade, as the head of the Senju Clan and one of Konoha's high-ranking figures, would explain herself in front of the public.

And so, Tsunade, by choosing to stand before everyone, unknowingly took control of the narrative.

Everyone who hadn't chosen simply listened quietly.

In fact, they weren't the only ones choosing to listen.

Sarutobi Hiruzen in the Hokage Building was listening, the Anbu blocking the entrance to prevent riots were listening, the many ninja standing on the rooftops were listening, and the clan heads mingled in the crowd were also listening.

Even Shimura Danzo, who was rumored to be the culprit behind it all, was listening.

However, his expression was not so composed.

Shimura Danzo stood on a distant rooftop, staring blankly at the scene at the street corner. A look of confusion couldn't help but surface in his single eye, and a strange chill ran uncontrollably through his body.

His liver and guts were splitting.

The constant cold sweat almost soaked his entire back.

'What is she doing?'

'Tsunade, what, what exactly is she doing?!'

In contrast, Orochimaru, standing on the other side, frowned slightly and listened with interest to his classmate's speech. Recalling the various signs over the past month, he seemed to suddenly understand something.

However, he knew Tsunade better than anyone.

Orochimaru was very clear that that woman did not possess that kind of insight, innovation, or skill.

Naturally, his snake-like eyes turned towards the young man standing beside Tsunade.

As for the speech itself, there wasn't much more to say.

Even Orochimaru, who didn't understand people's hearts, could see it.

From the moment Tsunade created the 'need to gather these people here,' she had already won. Nothing could stop this.

"The hearts of the masses are the hearts of the people, huh?" Orochimaru murmured softly as he watched the scene unfolding before him.

"He's truly an incredible fellow."

He wasn't the only one who understood this.

His teacher, Lord Sarutobi Hiruzen, who prided himself on being skilled in political maneuvering, naturally understood this point as well.

At this moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen listened quietly from his vantage point.

He listened to the voices below shift from sorrow to excitement, and then to passionate fervor.

"Clap, clap, clap—"

Finally, the dense crowd slowly shook off the mournful atmosphere and gradually erupted into deafening shouts and applause.

At that moment, he suddenly understood.

As the Third Hokage, he had completely lost a part of the people's hearts.

(Fifth Hokage - Tsunade ↑)

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