From the very beginning of the publicity campaign, Hozuki Shingetsu had known that if Konoha wanted to break out of its predicament, it would have to resort to one of two methods.
Either it could play things down, or muddy the waters and confuse the issue, diverting everyone's attention away from itself.
Both methods could work because although the Konoha Threat Theory had seemed serious, it had been too vague. It had threatened no one's interests—not any individual's, nor any faction's. In truth, it had barely affected Konoha at all, beyond causing a little trouble.
After all, to people who knew nothing about the matter, Konoha's actual strength and whether it posed a threat simply didn't matter. And the various large and small shinobi villages that Konoha might cause trouble for knew what was really going on. Besides, the major shinobi villages had quickly seized this opportunity to spread all sorts of rumors and annex small countries. So although this publicity crisis had seemed serious for Konoha, the response had been far less enthusiastic after the initial uproar.
Well, so far, at least, there hadn't been much of a reaction. As for whether they would gang up on Konoha when the Second Shinobi World War broke out... that remained to be seen.
So the panic in Konoha at the start had mostly come from the fact that they'd never encountered this sort of tactic before. They'd lost their heads a little. In time, though, they gradually figured out how to respond.
But what if Konoha were suddenly confronted with a sensitive issue that had a clear target, demanded immediate action, and was something everyone in the Shinobi World would love to see?
Like... the Uchiha problem?
Wouldn't Konoha be thrown into chaos then?
That was why, back during the first wave of publicity, Hozuki Shingetsu had already sent people to hide in major cities throughout the Shinobi World. They were to wait until the time was right, then launch their campaign in several places at once, promoting the Uchiha Human Rights Report across the Shinobi World.
They would use the same tactics as before: storytellers traveling from place to place, nobles stirring up public opinion, and so on. Hozuki Shingetsu even went multimedia, writing Kill That Uchiha as the campaign's theme song and hiring singing girls and children in these important cities to hum it everywhere.
On top of that, he had his film crew make a movie based on his script, titled Twelve Years a Slave, to portray the Uchiha Clan's miserable lot in life.
The movie took an "objective," "impartial," and "truthful" approach, documenting the Uchiha Clan's ups and downs from the founding of Konoha to the present day through the eyes of an observer.
The film followed Hollywood's classic three-act structure to the letter. It began with Uchiha Madara full of ambition as he founded Konoha, moved on to the earth-shattering moment when he defected, and ended with the despair that now seemed to be everywhere. It was a perfect depiction of the Uchiha Clan's plight.
The key was to emphasize the stark contrast between then and now.
Hozuki Shingetsu had even considered why Hollywood popcorn movies had been so successful. So he made a point of adding beautiful women and special-effects scenes that cost a fortune.
As for the beautiful woman... the only famous beauty from Uchiha Madara's time might have been Uzumaki Mito. But to really get the hearts of all those old lechers racing, Hozuki Shingetsu combined Uzumaki Mito's face, Tsunade's bust, and the Fourth Tsuchikage's legs to create an entirely new "Uzumaki Mito."
Who wouldn't be dazzled by that?
Anyway, when Uzumaki Mito walked out in a high-slit ninja outfit, her buttons straining, her long legs clad in black stockings, and her feet in slender high heels, the whole cinema filled with appreciative gasps.
I won't say who. No need to make anyone look in a mirror.
And with the genuine ninjas of the Hozuki Clan helping out, the high-effects scenes were no problem at all.
Hozuki Shingetsu even recreated the Battle of the Valley of the End, one to one.
Well, of course, only the part before they started piloting giant robots. Once those two had climbed into their giant robots, even making the battle look similar would have been no easy feat.
It was worth mentioning that Hozuki Shingetsu himself played Uchiha Madara in that scene. At last, he paid tribute to a classic, delivering that famous line on the silver screen as Uchiha Madara.
"You want to dance too?"
Then he got beaten up by Hozuki Zangetsu, who was playing Senju Hashirama.
Well, in every sense of the phrase, it was a father beating his son.
Even so, the audience in the cinema let out a chorus of exclamations. They'd never seen such a thrilling battle before.
It was the sort of thing that made men's blood boil and left women unable to close their legs.
To a transmigrator like Hozuki Shingetsu, the film was childish. They'd had too little time to shoot it and no experience, the filming techniques were crude, and the equipment was a disaster. Yet this piece of trash, which Hozuki Shingetsu considered worthless aside from its special effects, caused an explosive sensation across the Shinobi World. It was a major turning point in the development of cinema there.
With peace returning to the Shinobi World, technology had advanced somewhat. But film was still a new form of entertainment, and it had arrived too late. There were too few movies to choose from. When Twelve Years a Slave came out, it felt like there was nothing else in the Shinobi World that could compete.
And with Transformation Technique allowing the costumes, makeup, and props to be recreated down to the last detail, plus special effects performed by actual ninjas, it was no match for those bargain-bin effects. The movie completely outclassed them.
A plan laid in wait for ages, a publicity network spanning the Shinobi World, and a comprehensive campaign combining reports, songs, and movies swept away the outdated publicity methods used by the other major shinobi villages.
What era did they think they were living in, still relying on traditional publicity?
Did they have any idea what kind of publicity the people of the modern Shinobi World actually loved?
This time, the target was more specific, the publicity methods were more varied, and the name of the Uchiha, a clan with a thousand-year history, was simply too famous. The campaign's results were especially impressive.
What?
You're saying that the reincarnation of the Sage of Six Paths wasn't exciting enough?
Sorry, but to ordinary people, it was anyone's guess whether the Sage of Six Paths, who supposedly saved the world a thousand years ago, had even existed. The Uchiha, on the other hand, were right there in front of them!
Though cinemas were still few and far between in each city, since movies were a novelty, that also meant the people who could watch them were usually rich or influential.
And people with a certain amount of status—especially nobles and wealthy merchants in the Land of Fire—had a good chance of having met Uchiha ninjas while commissioning missions. Their arrogant, condescending manner had left a deep impression. Now people could use their eyes to "watch" and their ears to "hear" about the Uchiha getting their comeuppance...
It was just so satisfying!
After all, seeing a stranger get into trouble was nowhere near as satisfying as watching someone you knew—and couldn't stand—get what was coming to them. So spread the word! Make sure you spread it far and wide!
And when the cinema owners and Kabuki House owners saw what was happening, they naturally started promoting it themselves.
As for people from other countries... did anyone need an excuse to enjoy the show?
I had to help this place (×) spectacle (√) all the way!
And so, with every level of society in the Shinobi World joining in the promotion...
Before you continue