Uchiha Ying Yue stood amid the trees on high ground above Konoha. A gentle breeze swept past his robes, carrying the clamor and unrest of the distant village.
Ever since word of Hatake Sakumo's incident had spread, the atmosphere in the village had become extraordinarily tense.
Almost overnight, all of Konoha had begun discussing Sakumo's "mistake" of abandoning a mission for the sake of his comrades. The speed at which everything had unfolded struck Ying Yue as deeply unusual.
Sakumo was a hero of Konoha, always cautious and devoted to his duties. Especially when it came to classified missions, he had never been negligent.
Ying Yue knew this well. So when public opinion suddenly spread through the village at an astonishing pace, with nearly everyone discussing Sakumo's "mistake," he immediately sensed that something was wrong.
"How could the details of the mission have spread throughout the entire village so quickly? And this was a highly classified mission. Logically, no one besides the highest authorities and the Anbu should have known any of this." Ying Yue pondered calmly, his brows slightly furrowed.
As one of Konoha's top combat forces, Ying Yue knew the village's secrecy protocols inside and out.
Any information regarding classified missions was subjected to strict confidentiality measures after the mission was completed or failed.
This was especially true of operations involving the interests of Konoha's upper ranks. Such matters were of the utmost importance.
No one could casually spread such intelligence, nor could the village's secrecy department possibly be this incompetent.
There was only one explanation—someone had deliberately pushed these rumors.
"This was absolutely premeditated." Ying Yue's gaze gradually turned cold.
He quickly realized that this storm of public opinion targeting Sakumo was no accident. There had to be a force manipulating it from behind the scenes.
And