How Could a Ninja Village Fail to Deal with Rumors?

In the early hours of the morning, a kunai pierced through the Hatake Clan's window and embedded itself in the living room table with a letter attached.

Before the kunai even flew through the window, Kakashi Hatake had already noticed it. He instantly entered a combat stance, flipped out through another window, and tried to catch the ninja who had thrown it.

But that ninja was too fast. Kakashi did not even see his shadow.

This left Kakashi Hatake deeply unsettled. Suspicious of everything, he repeatedly inspected the kunai and letter, only opening it after confirming there was nothing wrong with them.

Very quickly, Kakashi's eyes widened, and his breathing became hurried.

He crumpled the letter in his fist and growled, "How is this possible?"

"Yes. I need to go see for myself—see what really happens."

Naruto Uzumaki was surrounded and attacked by villagers after school, and he injured every one of them in his counterattack.

Only minutes after the incident erupted, Uchiha ninja from the Konoha Military Police Force, Anbu ninja under the Third Hokage, and Root ninja under Shimura Danzō all mobilized at once.

The Konoha Ninja swiftly sealed off the scene and tightly suppressed all news of the matter.

The villagers who had dared attack Naruto Uzumaki, only to have their bones broken in his retaliation, were all arrested by the ninja.

The villagers watching nearby were arrested as well. Even more than a dozen Konoha Ninja were seized without exception.

Some were thrown into prison by the Anbu, while others were locked in the Konoha Military Police Force's cells by the Uchiha.

Some of the unluckier villagers fell into Root's hands. After suffering inhuman torture, they ultimately vanished into one of Root's secret laboratories.

Shazo stood atop Hokage Rock, quietly watching the Hokage Building.

On the roof of that central building, a white-haired Jonin hid in the shadows and watched the entire incident unfold from afar.

Following the contents of the anonymous letter, Kakashi Hatake had arrived there before the Ninja Academy let out.

He saw the entire farce of the villagers attacking Naruto. He saw Naruto's ruthless yet restrained counterattack. More importantly, he saw the joint operation of Konoha's three major law enforcement divisions.

The longer Kakashi watched, the graver his expression became. He even pushed up the forehead protector over his left eye, using the power of the Sharingan to see every detail clearly.

The Hokage's authority represented by the Anbu, the intimidating power of the Uchiha in the Konoha Military Police Force, and the dark terror of Root ninja forcibly suppressed every unstable factor.

Kakashi Hatake remained there watching until the sun set and everything had calmed down. Only then did he take out the letter someone had given him from his clothes.

Under the faint moonlight, the Sharingan could still clearly read the words on the letter.

Kakashi felt as though every word was jumping, leaping off the paper and stabbing into his heart.

Especially the final line: Before the Konoha White Fang committed suicide, was the Third Hokage truly unable to stop the rumors?

Kakashi's fingers tightened slightly. The letter quickly wrinkled, then ignited amid flickering lightning and burned to ashes.

"So that's how it was..."

"Rumors can be stopped."

"That's right. Konoha is a hidden ninja village, the largest ninja organization in the Ninja World. The Third Hokage commands more than twenty thousand Konoha Ninja."

"How could Konoha possibly be unable to deal with mere rumors?"

Kakashi Hatake's voice grew softer and softer, until he vanished from the roof of the Hokage Building along with it.

After the incident involving Naruto's attack, everyone understood.

Naruto Uzumaki was no longer the honest child who would smooth things over and willingly suffer losses.

He had changed. He had become the biggest troublemaker around.

Yet the Third Hokage, Shimura Danzō, and Fugaku Uchiha had jointly proven that Naruto Uzumaki was the person most qualified to cause trouble.

Naruto Uzumaki's living conditions in the village improved greatly.

Although few people were still willing to sell things to him, no one dared chase him away anymore, and no children dared throw stones at him.

Even the Anbu ninja assigned to watch over and protect Naruto no longer monitored him as closely as before.

If Naruto noticed them and started making a scene, they could not bear the consequences.

As a result, after returning home, Naruto Uzumaki had more private space to do certain secret things.

For example, taking off his "mask" and letting the real Naruto Uzumaki come out for some fresh air.

As long as his strength reached the required level, there was a good chance he could evade the Anbu ninja's surveillance and sneak over to Shazo's house for a lavish meal.

He would no longer have to wait at home for Shazo to arrive like before.

Having tasted the benefits of causing trouble, Naruto became even more arrogant, turning into a little delinquent despised by everyone in Konoha.

Shazo did not care about the feelings of Konoha's villagers.

But he found Naruto's changed behavior toward him hard to endure.

The once obedient and affectionate Naruto Uzumaki had turned into a little brat who deliberately made mistakes and sent people's blood pressure soaring.

Whenever Shazo saw Naruto Uzumaki like this, he could not help regretting it.

Kushina Uzumaki's few minutes of nonsense had completely ruined the Naruto upbringing plan.

If he had known this would happen, he should have awakened only Minato Namikaze within Naruto Uzumaki's mind and left Kushina Uzumaki asleep.

After all, a father and son meeting was not that different from the whole family meeting, was it?

That night, Naruto Uzumaki happily welcomed Shazo, along with the feast Shazo had brought.

At top speed, he swept through the lavish food like a whirlwind, then burped in satisfaction.

Feeling immensely content after eating his fill, Naruto Uzumaki lay on the floor, rubbed his stomach, and muttered, "I'm full. Being full really is such a happy feeling."

After waiting a few minutes, Shazo ordered, "Get up now. I have something new to teach you."

Naruto Uzumaki immediately rose to his feet, stuck out his belly, and shouted, "Yes!"

Shazo placed a hand on Naruto's head, mobilizing the Yang Release chakra within him and guiding it through his entire body.

Naruto Uzumaki felt warm all over, so comfortable that he nearly moaned.

Only after guiding it through three cycles did Shazo ask, "Did you remember the feeling of mobilizing Yang Release chakra and the route it takes through your body?"

Naruto carefully recalled it for a while and tried mobilizing and circulating it himself. After confirming that he had it right, he smiled and replied, "Big Brother Shazo, I remembered it all."

Shazo was very satisfied with Naruto's memory and ordered, "Good. I'll watch you practice it ten times."

Having received praise, Naruto happily answered, "Yes!"

With that, he closed his eyes, mobilized the Yang Release chakra within him, and circulated it along the route Shazo had shown him. Once again, he felt that warm and comfortable sensation.

Very soon, he discovered that the food he had eaten was being digested at a rapid pace.

By the time he had completed ten cycles, Naruto's belly, which had been swollen high after his feast, had completely flattened.

Shazo was very satisfied with the result and instructed, "Practice more by yourself after I leave. Keep practicing without stopping."

Naruto Uzumaki asked in surprise, "Big Brother Shazo, how long do I have to practice?"

Shazo smiled. "For the rest of your life."

"Practice until you no longer need to consciously control it—until the chakra circulates on its own as soon as the thought arises. Then you'll have achieved something."

Based on the cultivation principles within Five Spirits Battle True Interpretation, Shazo had combined Wood Release and Yang Release to imitate the First Hokage Hashirama Senju's self-healing technique.

The goal was to replicate the powerful regenerative ability said to make "Hashirama never die in battle." It was particularly suited to Naruto Uzumaki, who possessed immense vitality and also had the Nine-Tails within him.