Malicious Intent

(Chapter 43: Malicious Intent)

(Next Volume: Renowned in the Shinobi World)

Mirai froze when he heard that. How could there be such a vicious rumor slandering the Uchiha clan? If he were an ordinary villager who didn't know the story, that would be one thing, but he knew perfectly well that the Uchiha clan had nothing to do with this incident.

The person who attacked Konoha had been Uchiha Obito, a member of the Uchiha clan, but that had only been Obito's personal decision. Why were people dragging the entire Uchiha clan into it?

Someone had clearly spread this rumor on purpose. Otherwise, how could a prestigious clan like the Uchiha allow such a rumor to circulate? Even the children knew about it. This was obviously premeditated.

Who could it be? Mirai began to think. Outsiders could be ruled out; they had no reason to do this. That left people in Konoha who had a grudge against the Uchiha clan.

And whoever was behind it had to hold a high position and wield considerable influence. The Third Hokage? No, he wouldn't do something like this. Konoha was in a precarious position, and other ninja villages might attack at any moment. The Third Hokage needed to keep the villagers calm so everyone could band together and get through this crisis. No leader would ever make such a foolish decision.

"Oh, right. I also heard the Nine-Tails didn't die. It was sealed inside a child, and when that kid grows up, he'll turn into the new Nine-Tails and destroy the village. The Fourth Hokage was killed by that kid, and the village was destroyed by him, too."

Mirai's expression changed. He gripped Cunxia Ye by the shoulders and asked, "Who did you hear that from?"

"Just like the rumor before, I don't know how, but it spread throughout the village overnight."

Mirai's expression darkened. They weren't even sparing the Fourth Hokage's own child? He suddenly remembered that at the beginning of Naruto, the villagers had all treated Naruto Uzumaki like a monster. They wouldn't let their children play with him, and they'd all looked at him with utter disgust.

It seemed that the growing resentment and hostility the villagers of Konoha had shown toward the Uchiha clan had ultimately been the direct cause of their rebellion.

Suddenly, Mirai thought of someone he'd always overlooked: Shimura Danzō. At the beginning of Naruto, he'd already been stripped of his position as one of Konoha's top officials. But right now, he should still be part of the Konoha High Command. He was hostile toward the Uchiha and seemed to be the only one targeting them. For the sake of his own ambitions, he wanted to get his hands on more of the Uchiha clan's Sharingan.

Besides, Shimura Danzō had always wanted to become Hokage. He was an ambitious schemer. The Third Hokage had given the position of Fourth Hokage to Namikaze Minato; there was no way Danzō could be happy about that. He must have hated Minato.

"Mirai, what are you thinking about?" the others asked when they saw him lost in thought.

Mirai snapped out of it and smiled. "Nothing. I was just wondering who started these rumors."

Suddenly, someone spoke up. "What difference does it make if you find out who it was? Are you going to kill him to silence him? The Uchiha clan is powerful and influential. They're one of Konoha's prestigious clans, with lots of ninja and a powerful Kekkei Genkai. But when the Nine-Tails attacked, not a single member of the Uchiha clan tried to stop it. They just watched as so many of the village's ninja died. Maybe they wanted to weaken the village's forces so they could carry out some sinister plan."

Mirai looked up. A child nearby had said it. "Hmm... Who's that?" he asked the people beside him.

"Sato! I'm Sato! You should at least know the name of someone you've faced before!" the spiky-haired Sato shouted angrily.

"Oh, sorry. I don't remember ugly things," Mirai said with a smile.

Then a voice came from the doorway. "The Uchiha clan wasn't plotting anything. At the time, the Konoha High Command ordered the security force to escort the villagers out of the danger zone. The security force was simply following orders."

"Yeah, right! Who knows if that's true? But the ninja who fought the Nine-Tails on the front lines all saw the Sharingan unique to the Uchiha clan in its eyes. It must have been someone from the Uchiha clan who controlled the Nine-Tails and made it attack Konoha!"

Uchiha Itachi didn't argue this time. It was an undeniable fact. The Uchiha clan had held several meetings about it, but aside from their ancestors from the earliest days, very few members of the clan had ever been able to control the Nine-Tails. And no one had that ability now. Their meetings had yielded no answers.

Just then, their homeroom teacher, Nakamura Hino, entered the classroom and said, "All right, that's enough. Stop discussing this. Many ninja have sacrificed their lives to protect Konoha. The task of defending the village will fall to you, so you must study hard. When Konoha is in danger, you must step forward to protect it, just as the Fourth Hokage did! Protect the village! Now, let's begin class..."

*******

The Third Hokage was alone in the Hokage Office, smoking his pipe. Suddenly, whoosh! A figure appeared behind him and dropped to one knee. "Report! Lord Third Hokage, we've identified the source of the rumors."

The Third Hokage's expression grew stern. "!"

"It was Sosomu. According to what we've learned, he said those things while drunk. When he sobered up and realized his words had spread until nearly everyone in the village had heard them, he knew he'd disobeyed your orders, Lord Third Hokage, and killed himself."

The Third Hokage furrowed his brow. "Are you sure it was suicide, not murder?"

"It was suicide. Many witnesses saw Sosomu take his own life. He had disobeyed your orders, Lord Third Hokage."

The Third Hokage closed his eyes and took a drag from his pipe. He slowly exhaled, then opened his eyes. His expression was utterly grave. "I understand. Pass down the order: no one in the village is to discuss the Nine-Tails again!"

"Yes!" The ninja left to deliver Lord Hokage's order throughout the village. The Third Hokage knew this matter couldn't be that simple. Perhaps it was the Masked Man's scheme, the one the Fourth Hokage had mentioned. He had to keep the villagers calm, even if he had to use force. With Minato gone, he felt increasingly powerless. It seemed he really had grown old.