Lies and Truth

Without Uchiha Kazuto's spectacular coup against Hiruzen Sarutobi, the protest by these ordinary people would have been a joke—a pure act of suicide.

Did they really think Hiruzen Sarutobi was dead? Did they really think Anbu wouldn't act?

So what if those ordinary people spread the word all over Konoha that they planned to hold a protest? What could a bunch of ordinary people possibly do?

Kill a few troublemakers, suppress the rest, and it would all be over. These ordinary people simply weren't worth worrying about.

After all, who could have imagined that powerless ordinary people would dare hold a protest and stage a coup, brazenly trying to replace the Hokage? It made no sense.

Everything had been part of Uchiha Kazuto's plan.

How could Shimura Danzō's diary possibly exist? Uchiha Kazuto had made the whole thing up, even Fuu Yamanaka's memories.

"How could Hiruzen have been the one who killed the teacher!"

Torifu Akimichi gazed at Hiruzen Sarutobi's corpse in anguish, but there was nothing he could do. It was too late.

From the moment the villagers of Konoha rioted and began their protest to the moment Hiruzen Sarutobi was defeated and beheaded, the whole thing had happened incredibly quickly.

By the time Torifu arrived, Hiruzen Sarutobi had already been sent to the guillotine.

He'd wanted to go forward and explain things to Hiruzen Sarutobi, but who would believe him?

Everyone now believed that Hiruzen Sarutobi had killed the Second Hokage and ordered Shimura Danzō to conduct human experiments on the village's own people. How could a former teammate of Hiruzen Sarutobi explain that away? And who would believe him?

Once most people believed a lie was the truth, the real truth often no longer mattered.

Knowing this, the people around Torifu had held him back. In the current situation, if he dared to speak up for Hiruzen Sarutobi, he would surely be branded an accomplice and killed.

"It wasn't easy, but I finally became Hokage—the one at the pinnacle of Konoha's power. And what power!"

Uchiha Kazuto closed his eyes. He'd never felt so good. Even if he kept Susanoo active twenty-four hours a day and maintained the current size of his forces, he still wouldn't run out of ocular power. The pity was that these were just ordinary Mangekyō Sharingan, not even Eternal Mangekyō. All that immense ocular power gave him was tremendous stamina and incredibly powerful genjutsu; it couldn't grant him some transcendent strength.

He didn't even have a system. He was just a penniless transmigrator with nothing to his name.

But that wasn't a big problem. He could still establish all kinds of powerful departments and add all sorts of settings. The trouble was, even if he could make things up however he liked, whether those settings actually took effect was another matter.

For instance, he could create a department and declare that every member was omniscient and omnipotent. But even if that drained him dry, the setting still wouldn't come true.

The best settings were ones that enhanced the members' Chakra, physical abilities, and learning capacity, like those of the First Unit and the other units.

Next, Uchiha Kazuto began restoring order in Konoha.

First, he lifted the strict controls that had been in place. The severe, oppressive atmosphere had all been due to Hiruzen Sarutobi's orders. Now that Uchiha Kazuto was the new Hokage, he obviously wouldn't rule with the same iron fist. Freedom of speech was important.

Next, he continued running the Study Corps. All of Konoha's ninja had to join and undergo half a month of study and training.

This was meant to strengthen the ninja's ability to learn, as well as their teamwork and coordination.

Of course, in reality, the goal was to indoctrinate these ninja completely. Half a month wouldn't have been enough before, but Uchiha Kazuto was no longer short on ocular power. He could fully activate the Study Corps now, and in just half a month, he could produce a group of utterly loyal ninja.

At the same time, all students graduating from the Ninja Academy would also have to attend the Study Corps after graduation.

With this approach, Uchiha Kazuto believed he could soon make all of Konoha as solid as a single iron plate.

"Yes, Lord Hokage!"

Uchiha Tekka nodded respectfully, then left the Hokage's Office.

"Then there's... the matter of passing some new laws..."

Uchiha Kazuto looked out over all of Konoha and began to think.

"Something's wrong. Why hasn't Konoha descended into chaos?"

Somewhere in Konoha, Kawasaki Sora sensed that something was off. He couldn't make sense of it. The situation was completely different from what he'd expected. He'd thought that after the riot, Konoha would descend into chaos in no time, and that the whole village might even face serious problems. But what was happening now?

Why was Hiruzen Sarutobi dead?

And what was Uchiha Kazuto doing here?

This was nothing like what he'd imagined!

He hadn't realized that there was anything wrong with his thinking. His plan had been full of holes. Most importantly, would a protest and riot by a bunch of ordinary people really accomplish anything? And why had it never occurred to him to inform the village?

Unfortunately, he'd run out of chances!

Bang!

The next moment, his door was kicked open.

Several ninja rushed in and pinned him to the ground.

"What are you doing? What are you doing?!"

He lay on the floor, bewildered and terrified, shouting at them.

"Damn spy! You actually planned to harm the village and our great Lord Hokage!"

Bang!

The next moment, a baton struck him on the head, leaving him dizzy.

But it also made him understand what had happened: they'd discovered that he was a spy.

But how was that possible?!

"You've got the wrong person! I'm not a spy! I'm an honest citizen!"

He began to struggle, but it was useless. Before long, they'd taken him away and thrown him into a cell at the Military Police Force headquarters.

The other spies were all arrested too.

From the beginning, Uchiha Kazuto had never planned to let these spies go. Once he'd used them, shooting them was perfectly normal, wasn't it?

The next day.

At the Military Police Force headquarters.

Inside a cell that looked normally furnished and hardly resembled a typical prison cell.

"Hiruzen actually listened to that naturally evil Uchiha, Uchiha Kazuto, and had us locked up. It's simply..."

Utatane Koharu clenched her fists. Every time she thought of what had happened that day, she felt furious.

She didn't know that Hiruzen Sarutobi had already been beheaded and was dead.