Red Hot Danzo

Hearing the gossip from Youhu, the villagers frowned repeatedly.

"Are you saying that the Uchiha beat up the prisoner because the Third Lord wants to force a marriage with the head of the Uchiha clan, and he's just venting his inner dissatisfaction?"

This was the speech from Villager A.

"But I remember the Uchiha clan head is a man, and he already has two sons." Villager B scratched his head, looking none too bright.

Villager C widened his eyes, staring fixedly at Youhu. He was a fanatic fan of the Third Hokage and said angrily:

"The Third Lord also has two sons; how could he possibly like men? You are talking complete nonsense and damaging the Third Lord's reputation."

"I'm just repeating what I heard from others. It's all for fun; believe it or not, that's up to you."

Faced with the villagers' denunciation, Youhu remained indifferent and said, "Anyway, I think there's some truth to it. If the Third Lord didn't have love turn to hate, why would he always target the Uchiha clan?"

"Besides, the Third's wife has been dead for so many years, and we haven't seen a new Hokage wife."

"I think the Third Lord either fell in love with the Uchiha clan head or is having an affair with the Hokage assistant. Regardless, since this rumor exists, the Third Lord must have done something."

"After all, this is the tradition of successive Hokage. Back then, didn't the First and the Second Lord do the same?"

At this moment, the sharp-eared Uchiha Tiehuo seemed to hear the rumors from this side and walked over, carrying a club.

Upon hearing the words "Third Hokage," "force marriage," and "Uchiha clan head," Tiehuo turned visibly red-hot with rage. He drew his dagger directly and questioned them aggressively:

"Who is here fabricating rumors about the Hokage and the Guard Captain? Do you want to be thrown into prison?"

"Was it you, or you?"

"Who exactly spread this rumor? If you don't hand the person over, all of you will have to report to the Guard Division."

Youhu, standing in the crowd, looked terrified. He hid behind the villagers while casting glances seeking help. The surrounding villagers, seeing this, could only signal with their eyes that they were helpless.

Under the urgent pressure, the ordinary villager Youhu could only try to escape while Tiehuo turned away, but he was discovered nonetheless.

The villagers nearby saw Tiehuo approaching and, worried about becoming innocent victims of Youhu's actions, quickly pointed him out: "It's him! He's the one fabricating rumors about the Hokage and the Guard Division..."

The next moment, the villager that Youhu had incarnated as slipped into a nearby izakaya like a loach.

Tiehuo chased after him without the slightest hesitation.

A few minutes later, Tiehuo walked out of the izakaya with a gloomy face. A bold villager asked curiously, "Captain, did you catch the person who was spreading rumors about the Hokage?"

"What business is that of yours? Remember, you are absolutely forbidden from spreading rumors, especially those involving the Guard Division."

When he said the last sentence, Tiehuo deliberately emphasized his tone. After speaking, he left the street without looking back and headed toward other districts.

Once Tiehuo left, the Konoha villagers who had been watching the scene erupted into a frenzy. They began to discuss the true nature of the relationship between the Third Hokage and the Uchiha Clan Head, questioning whether the rumors of the Third Hokage coercing the Uchiha Clan Head were actually true.

They harbored these suspicions primarily because the reaction from the Guard Division members had been so intense.

This behavior of forcibly silencing others combined with threats of martial prowess not only failed to suppress them but instead made them even more curious about the secrets hidden behind the scenes.

Soon, these rumors spread throughout all of Konoha, and the villagers began to gossip about the matter.

Even those beyond the ordinary citizenry, the ninjas, had heard whispers of it, and it even drew the attention of ninjas from great clans and the Anbu.

Regarding these rumors, some took a "spectator" attitude, simply looking for a bit of fun. Since no major events had occurred in the village for a long time, having a little entertainment to pass the time was not all that bad.

They did not care if the Third Hokage had truly coerced the Uchiha Clan; seeing the Uchiha suffer a setback was quite amusing to them.

Ninjas from great clans, however, smelled the scent of a conspiracy. Rumors were never baseless, especially those involving the Uchiha and the Hokage. This was surely being spread intentionally by some big shot in the village to stir up trouble.

They would not take the initiative to spread these rumors themselves, but they would not stop them either.

Inside the Root base, Danzo's expression was dark and uncertain after receiving reports from his subordinates. He nearly crushed the pen in his hand. As for someone spreading rumors about the Third Hokage, he personally gave it two thumbs up.

If he didn't strike at Hiruzen Sarutobi's prestige, how else was he to become the next Hokage of the village?

But for this rumor to drag him into it, claiming that there was an unspeakable relationship between him and Hiruzen Sarutobi, was something he found impossible to accept.

He had lived his life with a clean slate, not even having a single descendant, preparing to meet Teacher Tobirama with a clear conscience.

And yet, at such a critical juncture, he was being suspected of having an affair with Hiruzen Sarutobi...

Furthermore, he finally understood why Hiruzen Sarutobi had said those nonsensical things yesterday—about letting him take more care of his clan, leaving behind descendants for the Shimura Clan, and so on.

Could it be that this guy Hiruzen actually thought he had feelings for him?

His heart had always held only the position of Hokage!

While all of Konoha was in an uproar over the rumors, the instigators, Youhu, Tiehuo, and the others, were leisurely drinking tea in the police station.

[Detected that the lie "Secrets Behind Successive Hokage" woven by the Host has spread widely within Konohagakure]
[They are half-believing, reward: 1000 Deception Points]
[Current Deception Points: 1100]

After listening to the system prompt, Youhu took out some black tea he had been saving for a long time, added ice cubes and honey, and began to enjoy it.

It seemed his method of using the villagers' rebellious psychology to spread lies was correct. In just a few hours, he had received a massive amount of feedback from the system, totaling a full one thousand Deception Points.

If he could pull this off a few more times, evolving his Mangekyo into the Eternal stage would be just around the corner.

However, Youhu knew this was impossible. Most of these Deception Points were non-renewable resources; there wouldn't be such easy opportunities to obtain Deception Points in the future.

The reason was very simple: he had actually utilized the bonds of the Will of Fire.

Due to the unique nature of these bonds, ninjas on the same squad often possessed relationships that surpassed mere friendship.

Generally speaking, if a squad consisted of both men and women, it was common for a married couple to emerge. If they were all men, only friendship remained among the squad members.

There were the First Hokage and Uchiha Madara in the past, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō in the present, and Naruto and Sasuke in the future.

It was their emotions themselves that surpassed friendship; all he had done was convert the concept of friendship within those bonds into bromance.

As for the matter of Hiruzen Sarutobi wanting to force a marriage with Uchiha Fugaku, that was purely something he had fabricated.

Just as Youhu was preparing to study how to add his points, the door to the Police Station was knocked upon, and an Anbu Ninja walked in.

The Anbu glanced around the Police Station, his gaze quickly landing on Youhu, and he slowly spoke: "Uchiha Youhu, the Hokage has something to discuss with you. You are to head over there as soon as possible."