Red Hot Danzo

After hearing Youhu's little tidbit, the villagers all frowned.

"So you're saying the Uchiha beat up prisoners because the Third Lord wanted to forcibly marry the Uchiha Clan Head, and the Uchiha were venting their grievances?"

That was Villager A's statement.

"But I remember the Uchiha Clan Head is a man, and he already has two sons." Villager B scratched his head, looking rather dim-witted.

Villager C widened his eyes and stared fixedly at Youhu. As an avid fan of the Third Hokage, he angrily said:

"The Third Lord has two sons as well. How could he possibly like men? You're talking complete nonsense and ruining the Third Lord's reputation."

"I only heard it from someone else. I'm just saying it for fun. Whether you believe it is up to you."

Faced with the villagers' condemnation, Youhu said unconcernedly, "I still think there's some truth to it. If the Third Lord didn't hate the Uchiha out of love, why would he always target the Uchiha Clan?"

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

"I think the Third Lord either fell in love with the Uchiha Clan Head or is having an affair with the Hokage Assistant. In any case, since this rumor exists, the Third Lord must have done something."

"After all, this is also the tradition of successive Hokage. Weren't the First and Second Lords like this back then?"

At that moment, the sharp-eared Uchiha Tiehuo seemed to hear the rumor nearby and came over with a club in hand.

When he heard the words "the Third Hokage," "forcibly marry," and "Uchiha Clan Head," Tiehuo visibly turned red with rage. He pulled out a short sword and demanded furiously:

"Who's spreading rumors about the Hokage and the Guard Captain here? Do you want to be thrown in prison?"

"Was it you, or you?"

"Who exactly spread the rumor? If you don't hand him over, every one of you will have to report to the Guard Division."

Youhu wore a terrified expression amid the crowd. He hid behind the villagers while casting them a pleading look for help. Seeing this, the surrounding villagers could only signal with their eyes that there was nothing they could do.

Under the mounting pressure, Ordinary Villager Youhu could only flee while Tiehuo had his back turned, but he was still discovered.

The nearby villagers saw Tiehuo coming and, afraid of being dragged into Youhu's trouble, hurriedly pointed him out. "It's him! He's the one spreading rumors about the Hokage and the Guard Division..."

The next moment, the villager Youhu had transformed into slipped into a nearby Izakaya like a loach.

Tiehuo followed him in without hesitation.

A few minutes later, Tiehuo emerged from the Izakaya with a gloomy expression. A daring villager asked curiously, "Captain, did you catch the person spreading rumors about the Hokage?"

"What's it to you? Remember, you absolutely must not spread rumors—especially rumors involving the Guard Division."

When he spoke the final sentence, Tiehuo deliberately emphasized his words. Afterward, he left the street without looking back and headed toward another district.

After Tiehuo left, the Konoha villagers watching the scene immediately erupted into discussion. They began debating what relationship the Third Hokage and the Uchiha Clan Head actually had, and whether the rumors that the Third Hokage had forced himself on the Uchiha Clan Head were true.

Their suspicions mainly stemmed from how violently the Guard Division members had reacted.

This attempt to forcibly silence them, combined with a warning backed by force, not only failed to suppress them but instead made them even more curious about the secrets behind it.

Before long, the rumors spread throughout Konoha, and the villagers began discussing the matter.

Even Ninjas outside the ordinary populace heard about it, and it even attracted the attention of Ninjas from the great clans, as well as Anbu Ninjas.

Some people treated the rumors as mere entertainment. Nothing major had happened in the village for so long, so having something interesting to liven things up was not bad.

They did not care whether the Third Hokage had really forced himself on the Uchiha Clan. Seeing the Uchiha suffer was entertaining enough.

The great-clan Ninjas smelled conspiracy in the air. Rumors were always baseless, and rumors involving the Uchiha and the Hokage were especially suspicious. Someone important in the village had surely spread them deliberately to stir up trouble.

They would not spread the rumors themselves, but neither would they stop them.

Inside Root Base, Danzo's expression shifted between gloomy and bright as he listened to his subordinate's report. He nearly crushed the pen in his hand. As for someone spreading rumors about the Third Hokage, he wholeheartedly approved.

If he did not undermine Hiruzen Sarutobi's prestige, how could he become the village's next Hokage?

But the rumor had inexplicably dragged him into it, claiming that he and Hiruzen Sarutobi had an unspeakable relationship. That was something he found impossible to accept.

He had lived an upright and spotless life. He did not even have a single child, and he had been preparing to meet Teacher Tobirama with a clear conscience.

Yet at this critical moment, people were suspecting that he had a relationship with Hiruzen Sarutobi...

Moreover, he finally understood why Hiruzen Sarutobi had said those inexplicable things yesterday—telling him to take better care of his clan and leave descendants for the Shimura Clan, among other things.

That fellow Hiruzen couldn't really think Youhu had feelings for him, could he?

There had only ever been one thing in his heart: the Hokage Position!

While all of Konoha was in turmoil because of the rumors, the instigator, Youhu, and Tiehuo were leisurely drinking tea inside the Police Station.

[The lie woven by the host, "Secrets Behind Successive Hokage," has spread extensively throughout Konohagakure]

[They half-believe it and half-doubt it. Reward: Deception Points: 1,000]

[Current Deception Points: 1,100]

After hearing the System Prompt Tone, Youhu took out the black tea he had treasured for a long time, added ice and honey, and began to enjoy it.

It seemed that his method of spreading lies by exploiting the villagers' rebellious nature had worked. In just a few hours, he had received a massive response from the system—fully one thousand Deception Points.

If he did this a few more times, evolving the Mangekyo to the Eternal level would be within reach.

However, Youhu knew that was impossible. Most of these Deception Points were nonrenewable resources, and opportunities to obtain them would not come so easily in the future.

The reason was simple: he had actually exploited the bonds created by the Will of Fire.

Because of the special nature of those bonds, Ninjas from the same squad often had relationships that surpassed friendship.

Generally speaking, if a squad had both men and women, it could often produce a married couple. If they were all men, then friendship was all that remained between the squad members.

First there had been the First Hokage and Uchiha Madara, then Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō, and in the future there would be Naruto and Sasuke.

Their emotions had already surpassed friendship. All he had done was convert the friendship represented by their bonds into gay love.

As for the matter of Hiruzen Sarutobi wanting to forcibly marry Uchiha Fugaku, that had been completely fabricated by him.

Just as Youhu was about to study how to allocate his points, someone knocked on the door of the Police Station, and an Anbu Ninja walked in.

The Anbu glanced around the Police Station, then quickly turned his eyes to Youhu and said slowly, "Uchiha Youhu, the Hokage wants to see you. Go there as soon as possible."