The Plan Is Underway

...But in truth, his heart burned with boundless resentment. After this ordeal, he who originally had no complaints against the village now had plenty.

Lord Hokage, Lord Hokage! Hahaha! Lord Hokage, is it?

Damn him to hell!

In his heart, after days of beatings and kicks, hunger and torment, a fierce rebelliousness had taken root. What kind of bullshit Lord Hokage was that? He was nothing but a beast!

If he had the power, he would beat that damned Lord Hokage to death!

That bastard Hiruzen Sarutobi!

Unfortunately, he was just an ordinary person, powerless to do anything.

Just then, a screaming figure was dragged over.

"Please, no! I was wrong, I was really wrong! I shouldn't have spoken ill of Lord Hokage! Let me go! I truly am sorry!"

The figure thrashed and screamed.

Slap!

The next moment, a palm struck his face.

"Shut up! You people, full of lies! Who gave you the nerve to speak ill of the great Lord Hokage? Unforgivable! If you dare insult Lord Hokage today, I can't imagine what you'd do tomorrow! Get in there quietly!"

Those figures brushed past him.

He immediately lowered his head and fled the Military Police Force as if escaping a wolf's den.

"Excellent. Just like that."

In the Military Police Force office, Uchiha Kazuto watched the fleeing figure, a faint smile curling at the corner of his mouth. Then he lifted his head and looked toward Konoha.

Lately, the atmosphere in Konoha had grown somewhat solemn.

Stealing? Beat them! Causing trouble? Beat them!

Dare to insult the great Lord Hokage? Beat them! Beat them hard!

The Military Police Force had become utterly terrifying now. The slightest mistake invited their thunderous crackdown.

Especially those who dared to slander Lord Hokage—they were viciously beaten, then arrested and locked up for days.

Of course, in doing all this, Uchiha Kazuto acted entirely in the name of Lord Hokage.

You dare insult Lord Hokage? Then you are undermining the village's unity. You are dissatisfied with the great Lord Hokage. You lack the Will of Fire.

Otherwise, why would you insult or slander Lord Hokage? Why speak ill of him?

If you truly had Konoha in your heart, if you truly understood the Will of Fire, if you weren't a spy, you should be praising Konoha! You should revere Lord Hokage with awe, as faithfully as gazing at the great sun!

That is what a normal, qualified Konoha villager looks like!

Uchiha Kazuto didn't understand politics, but he knew how to borrow authority to intimidate, how to stir up public resentment, and how to use his power to turn a faction into a powder keg.

Forced fruit doesn't taste sweet. So-called worship and reverence should come from the heart. Forcing people to worship, forcing them to revere—unless you brainwash them—using violent methods like his would only ignite rebellion in the villagers' hearts.

On the surface, they would show Hiruzen Sarutobi utmost respect and devotion, but inside, they would hate him to the bone.

This is what they call one fan doing more harm than ten critics.

Of course, the Military Police Force wouldn't escape unscathed either. In this process, the villagers would accumulate fear and hatred toward the police force. But compared to the main target—the nominal object of their forced worship—the hatred would be lighter. And with proper explanation, Uchiha Kazuto could even extricate himself entirely.

Sorry, everyone. It was all Hiruzen Sarutobi's orders. I didn't want this either. When I struck you, it pained my heart.

As long as he bowed and apologized, everything would be fine.

"Still not enough."

Uchiha Kazuto gazed at Konoha outside the window. The pressure on the village wasn't yet sufficient. It hadn't reached the point where a single spark could ignite—or even explode.

And his own power hadn't accumulated enough either.

"Lord Kazuto!"

Just then, a figure appeared at the office door.

"Come in."

Uchiha Kazuto said. Soon, a man stepped inside.

"Lord Kazuto, here is a list of some spies in the village."

Uchiha Tekka handed over the document.

"Good. Continue surveillance."

Uchiha Kazuto took the list, nodded, and began to read.

If they don't erupt in silence, they will perish in silence.

Excessive pressure might not cause Konoha to explode. It could also crush the villagers under its weight, shatter their spirits entirely, and turn them into numb corpses.

That was not what Uchiha Kazuto wanted. So he needed a fuse. He needed a spark.

This fuse, this spark—he couldn't handle it himself, nor could he let his subordinates handle it. Though Uchiha Kazuto understood nothing of politics and was merely an ordinary man, he still knew that much.

So how could he obtain the fuse that would ignite and blow Konoha apart?

Spies!

Whether it was Konoha or any other power, as ninja organizations, they couldn't avoid sending spies to investigate other factions. Everyone knew this.

And this was Uchiha Kazuto's method—through suggestion, even genjutsu, to turn these spies into the detonator for Konoha's explosion.

However, according to his plan, he needed to set off two explosions to thoroughly kill Hiruzen Sarutome and completely remove himself from suspicion.

And now, what he needed to do was keep applying pressure, keep striking down, to deliver righteous punishment to these villagers in the name of Lord Hokage.

For the sake of the plan to come!

No, this was all for Lord Hokage!!

How could someone utterly loyal to Lord Hokage ever harm him?

"Lord Hokage, loyalty!"

A faint smile curled at the corner of Uchiha Kazuto's lips. He looked toward the distant Hokage building and raised his hand.

He wasn't worried about Hiruzen Sarutobi discovering anything. After all, the Uchiha Clan was like this—wasn't a little extremism perfectly normal?

Especially since Uchiha Kazuto's current persona was one of absolute loyalty and fervent worship toward Hiruzen Sarutobi—loyal, serious, earnest, single-mindedly devoted to Konoha and Lord Hokage.

With such an extreme persona, no matter what he did, as long as he didn't go too far, as long as he added the banner of "for Lord Hokage," as long as the act seemed like a genuine display of loyalty, it was all normal.

Even if Hiruzen Sarutobi found out, he could hardly say anything.

Because this was the Uchiha Kazuto they saw!

In fact, if someone were to administer truth serum to Uchiha Kazuto right now, they would only conclude that everything he did was for Lord Hokage—because that was exactly what Uchiha Kazuto believed.