If We Keep Quiet for Fear of Being Arrested, How Is That Any Different from Already Being Locked Up?

As the Konoha bystander raised his voice, the noisy reading area of the bookstore fell into an eerie hush. Villagers and ninjas who had been queuing and browsing stopped what they were doing and turned to look.

"Do you think we're all idiots?!"

The bystander leading the uproar gave a cold laugh and looked around. Once he saw he had everyone's attention, he grew louder. "Isn't it obvious? Someone got nervous and rushed to write this Konoha Record of Awakening overnight to clear his name!"

"As for all those rumors going around about the Second secretly pushing the Uchiha Clan aside, even plotting against Uchiha Madara... Whether they're true or not..."

He drew out the last words, his face twisting with contempt and mockery.

"Well, I believe there's no smoke without fire. There's something going on here... Heh. Forget it. Think it over. Really think about it! Some things run deeper than you'd imagine."

He shrugged, then stopped himself and clicked his tongue like a man who knew better than to say too much. Disgust and wariness filled his face. "If I say another word, those cold-blooded Anbu ninjas might charge straight into this bookstore and arrest me on the spot.

"Then they'd slap some charge on me, like 'maliciously spreading rumors and endangering village security.' Tsk, tsk... Ordinary people like us, with no power or connections, can't afford to cross the ninjas in the Hokage Building..."

He finished with a knowing shake of his head, making a show of scanning the bookstore from the corner of his eye.

His sarcastic tone and pointed insinuations spread through the crowded bookstore at once.

The Konoha villagers and ninjas watching nearby stood stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter. They knew exactly what he meant.

Their laughter echoed through the spacious