He had tacitly permitted the rumors, intending only to use them to warn Hatake Sakumo and diminish his prestige within the village, lest the ninja clans continue pushing him to compete for the position of Fourth Hokage.
He just had not expected Hatake Sakumo to be so resolute that he would commit suicide outright.
Now things had completely spiraled out of control. Never mind the impact within the village—just the reactions of the other ninja villages were enough to give him a headache.
Only a few years had passed since the Second Ninja World War, and the villages had yet to recover. If another Ninja World War broke out, he feared they would be beaten all the way to Konoha's gates.
This was truly dangerous now.
Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura were equally agitated. They too had never expected Hatake Sakumo to be so fragile as to take his own life outright.
The consequences were far too severe. Others would only think that they had joined forces to scheme against Hatake Sakumo and drive him to his death.
They had no desire to take the blame for that.
"Creak!"
At that moment, the office doors were pushed open, and a figure leaning on a cane walked in. It was Danzo Shimura.
"Danzo, you went too far."
Utatane Koharu was the first to voice her dissatisfaction. Danzo Shimura had arranged the rumors, but now they had developed into this situation, practically leaving all of them roasting over a fire.
Danzo Shimura did not even acknowledge her. He walked straight over and sat down on the sofa.
He had not expected Hatake Sakumo to commit suicide either, but since it had already happened, the most urgent task was to minimize the impact of the incident.
"Was it cleaned up?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen asked.