Speak Up For Me

Shimura Ken was still in the middle of his passionate speech when a dozen Anbu ninja arrived at the school gate. Seeing the dense crowd, they instantly looked troubled. Then, one of them shouted, "Konoha citizens, disperse! We are ordered to take Shimura Ken!"

The onlookers began to protest, "Why are the Anbu here? We're just Konoha civilians! Can't we even watch a show?"

Some of the more timid ones immediately said, "Let's get out of here. The Anbu are here, something bad is going to happen."

A large group of Root ninja quickly arrived. Seeing the packed crowd, they shouted, "We are Konoha Root, ordered by Lord Danzo to take Shimura Ken! Make way for us!"

Qingcheng saw that both Root and Anbu had arrived. He immediately turned to Sasuke and said, "We need to go, it's not safe here." With that, he pulled Sasuke and squeezed out of the crowd.

Under his sunglasses, Qingcheng's Sharingan began to spin, controlling Shimura Ken to yell, "Lord Danzo shall rise! Hiruzen Sarutobi shall fall! Long live the Shimura Clan! Long live Lord Danzo!"

After shouting, Shimura Ken ignited the explosive tags on his body and charged towards several ninja from the Sarutobi Clan.

Shimura Ken then shouted again, "All members of the Sarutobi Clan deserve to die! Remember me, Shimura Ken, speaking out for justice!"

When Qingcheng deactivated his Sharingan, Shimura Ken's body jolted, and he instantly regained consciousness. He found his throat dry and his body very weak, as if he had just accomplished something extraordinary.

Shimura Ken then saw his body covered in explosive tags and instantly panicked, screaming, "What's going on?!"

Those dozens of explosive tags left everyone dumbfounded. Some villagers even shouted, "Shimura Ken is going to explode! Run, everyone!"

Shimura Ken, looking astonished, frantically flailed his arms in his confusion. Accidentally, he grabbed onto a Sarutobi Clan ninja.

The Sarutobi Clan ninja, seeing Shimura Ken holding him tightly, frantically pushed Shimura Ken away, shouting, "You bastard, stop it!"

In an instant, there was a deafening roar as dozens of explosive tags detonated. A thick cloud of black smoke appeared in the crowd.

Flames splattered everywhere. Shimura Ken and several Sarutobi Clan ninja were instantly blown to smithereens. The scene was utterly chaotic.

The school gate, which had just been packed with people, instantly descended into pandemonium, with many people being trampled.

Many children and civilians were trampled underfoot, and screams immediately broke out: "Ah! Don't step on my head! Ah! Help! I've been hit by an explosive tag!"

Sasuke looked at the panicked crowd and seriously asked, "Big brother, should we go help them?"

Qingcheng smiled and said, "Wait. If you rush in now, you won't even be able to get out without being trampled."

Qingcheng looked at the explosion's epicenter. A large number of civilians were injured, and even several Sarutobi Clan ninja had been killed. The explosion was incredibly loud; it was already a major incident.

Let them experience the pressure of public opinion, Qingcheng thought to himself. This is how you dealt with the Uchiha Clan.

Thousands of civilians began to panic. It was a massive crowd, and they immediately started pushing and shoving each other. As happy as they had been watching the spectacle, they were now equally miserable.

Anbu ninja immediately rushed in to help. Members of the Police Force were also frantically busy. Many civilians in the crowd had been accidentally injured by the explosive tags.

These civilians, their faces contorted in pain, cried out, "Come save me, you useless Police Force!"

The Third Hokage, watching the chaotic scene through a crystal ball, his face filled with rage, shouted, "Bring Danzo to me! I want to ask him if he instigated Shimura Ken!"

At the Root base, Danzo watched the surveillance and roared, "Shimura Ken, you idiot! Who told you to detonate explosive tags in public?!"

"It's infuriating!" He then seemed to recall something and said, "Why was Shimura Ken at the ninja academy?"

A Root ninja from the Shimura Clan respectfully replied, "Young Master Min arranged for him to go to the ninja academy to publicly humiliate Uchiha Qingcheng. We didn't expect things to turn out like this."

Shimura Danzo said with a ferocious expression, "It's all because of those damned Uchiha! And that hypocritical Hiruzen! If you had listened to me and wiped out the Uchiha, none of this would have happened today!"

All the Root ninja, upon hearing this, knelt on one knee, looking serious. A ninja from the Shimura Clan asked, "Lord Danzo, what should we do? Should we just kill those two Uchiha?"

Danzo thought for a moment, then said grimly, "Go and eliminate all of Shimura Ken's family. Such an idiot doesn't deserve to live in this world."

As soon as he finished speaking, Danzo immediately stood up, leaning on his cane, and walked towards the Konoha tower, preparing to discuss matters with his old friend.

The incident at the school gate spread like wildfire throughout the village. Everyone began to resent the Sarutobi Clan ninja, just as they had previously resented the Uchiha.

Especially when they saw Sarutobi Asuma, who was the designated Fifth Hokage, people couldn't help but say, "The Sarutobi Clan still wants to abdicate the position? Do they really think they're emperors?"

Kurenai Yuhi, hearing these reports, was instantly astonished. She said with a skeptical expression, "Was the Nine-Tails incident really caused by the Third Hokage? Was my father killed by the Third Hokage?"

Sarutobi Asuma walked down the street with a basket of flowers, a smile on his face, thinking to himself, Will Kurenai be especially happy if she receives my flowers?

However, passersby looking at Sarutobi Asuma discussed among themselves, "Is this the future Fifth Hokage? He's so pathetic, already has a big beard at such a young age."

Some civilian ninja also commented, "This guy wants to be the Fifth Hokage? Dream on."

And some civilians glared at Asuma, saying with strong displeasure, "His father is the one who killed the Fourth Hokage, and he's using the village's hard-earned money to strengthen his own Sarutobi Clan!"

Similarly, some ninja who supported the Third Hokage angrily said, "That's the Shimura Clan slandering the Third Hokage! Everyone, don't believe it! Shimura Danzo has ulterior motives."

Sarutobi Asuma, looking at the murmuring crowd, instantly felt ashamed. He said with a doubtful expression, "Is all of this true?"

As Hiruzen Sarutobi's son, Asuma was very rebellious. One could say he weighed a hundred pounds, ninety of which was defiance, otherwise he wouldn't have run off to the Land of Fire to become a Guardian Ninja.

In the main hall of the Hyuga Clan, Hiashi Hyuga, with a serious expression, looked at the intelligence in his hand and said, "Hiruzen Sarutobi, I always knew you were a hypocrite. You're fighting with the Shimura Clan over the Fifth Hokage position. I still remember the grudge for my brother Hizashi."

The Ino-Shika-Cho clans began to meet and discuss. The two clan heads came to the Akimichi Clan. Shikaku said with a serious expression, "We need to see Uncle Torifu."

Choza Akimichi, looking simple and honest, said, "Uncle Torifu already knows. Please come in!"

The three then entered the main hall. A corpulent old man sat on a tatami mat drinking tea. Seeing Shikaku and Inoichi arrive, he smiled and said, "Are you two here because of Danzo and Hiruzen?"

Shikaku nodded, his expression serious. "The Uchiha Clan was destroyed, and now the Shimura Clan has stepped forward to prove their loyalty with their lives. I feel like Konoha is about to change."

Torifu said with a serious expression, "You don't need to concern yourselves with Hiruzen and Danzo's affairs. Just continue to remain neutral."

Shikaku said with a serious expression, "Uncle Torifu, if there's pressure from the higher-ups, I hope you can negotiate. We Ino-Shika-Cho cannot get involved in such a struggle."

Torifu took a sip of hot tea and sighed, "The village has experienced so many changes due to uneven distribution of resources. Hiruzen, Danzo, you two have truly reached this point."