Konoha Newspaper

As autumn gave way to spring, there had not been any major news in Konoha Village for some time.

After the Sand Shinobi who had returned earlier left the Land of Fire, they were ambushed by rogue ninja.

The Sand Shinobi later caused Konoha a fair amount of trouble as well.

During this period, however, the entire ninja world was remarkably peaceful.

That was until a piece of news suddenly spread throughout Konoha today.

The Konoha Newspaper had opened for business.

Ever since the Sand Shinobi left, Uchiha Yato had been preparing for this.

Kakashi was now four years old. In another year, by all logic, Danzo Shimura and the others would make their move.

Uchiha Yato would never allow Sakumo Hatake, whom he had brought under his wing, to come to harm.

To fight a war of public opinion, one first had to control the source and outlet of public opinion.

That was where the Konoha Newspaper came in. If all else failed, they could simply let the news cool down. In any case, he would not let Sakumo Hatake suffer as he had in the original story.

So why could Uchiha Yato not simply flip the table?

For now, Sakumo Hatake had only given his word, and he was still considered one of the higher-ups.

It could be said that his body was in Cao's camp, while his heart remained with Han.

Sakumo Hatake had previously asked Uchiha Yato whether he could fake his death and escape the Konoha higher-ups that way.

Uchiha Yato had refused outright. He wanted Sakumo Hatake to walk openly and honorably through Konoha's streets.

If they truly had to fall out, the Uchiha side had two Kage-level powerhouses anyway.

It was still hard to say which side Orochimaru would stand on, while Tsunade and Jiraiya remained undecided.

In a few more years, once the younger generation had grown up, there would be even less reason to fear them.

And right now, this was a perfect opportunity to make Danzo lose the people's support.

It would also let Danzo experience the pain Sakumo Hatake had once endured.

Danzo Shimura was not far from death now. All that remained was for him to lose public support, so the Third could abandon him completely.

As for promoting the Konoha Newspaper, Hiruzen Sarutobi was highly supportive.

Uchiha Yato's proposal had made everything very clear.

It would allow the villagers to better understand the Hokage's policies.

Uchiha Yato even thoughtfully used himself as an example: Hiruzen Sarutobi would no longer need to give speech after speech.

Instead of going everywhere to preach the Will of Fire, he could now spread it with the contents of a single page in the newspaper.

To make it convincing enough, Uchiha Yato had deliberately spent the first three issues praising Hiruzen Sarutobi to the skies.

Although Hiruzen Sarutobi said he did not need it and that it took up everyone's resources.

Uchiha Yato said, "We only established this newspaper with the support of the Third Hokage."

"Of course the villagers need to know that this is the Hokage's initiative."

This was the second part of Uchiha Yato's plan: to praise Hiruzen Sarutobi to death.

It could satisfy Hiruzen Sarutobi's vanity and make him swell with pride by the day.

It could also provoke that nerve in Danzo Shimura that wanted to become Hokage.

Once might not work. Twice might not work. But after enough times, a rift would eventually emerge.

Uchiha Yato was now openly considered a Kage-level powerhouse. Having such a powerful figure flatter him naturally gave Hiruzen Sarutobi a secret thrill.

Before long, the Konoha Newspaper, jointly established by the various ninja clans, began printing newspapers.

The layout was simple: just a single sheet of paper.

Naturally, the opening content was all praise for the Hokage.

Uchiha Yato also suggested praising the achievements of the First and Second Hokage.

But for that very reason, quite a few unscrupulous writers began shipping them in every possible way.

(That would be discussed later.)

And in order to draw the villagers' interest in the newspaper from the very beginning.

Uchiha Yato deliberately included several of his past antics as a gimmick.

Things like <Shocking! It was actually him outside a widow's door in the middle of the night!>

Things like <Terrifying! An elder actually did something like this!>

And so on.

As soon as those eye-catching headlines appeared, countless gossip-hungry villagers rushed to buy them.

Quite a few people had wanted to use this method to rake in money, but Uchiha Yato put his foot down and said this was for the people's benefit, so they could not charge too much.

A newspaper cost only around five ryo, which was extremely cheap.

And while everyone benefited, only Comrade Danzo Shimura received unfair treatment.

The reason was simple. That so-called elder from Uchiha Yato's earlier headline was referring to him.

But Danzo had done nothing at all. It was merely that footage of him entering Root had been captured by the Hyuga paparazzi team.

The Hyuga now handled the photography crew. Their Byakugan gave them unparalleled advantages when it came to candid shots and tracking targets.

Of course, it was not that the Uchiha's Sharingan was inadequate. It was simply that everyone had their specialty, and every ninja clan needed a sense of participation.

For example, when they needed to take prank-style photos, they required assistance from Ino–Shika–Cho.

When they needed to investigate certain information, they also needed their help.

For fine manipulation work, the Aburame Clan lent a hand.

It could be said that Uchiha Yato had put the strengths and advantages of virtually every ninja clan to use within the Konoha Newspaper.

Danzo Shimura was directly subjected to a barrage of candid shots by Uchiha Yato and a group of young chunin from various ninja clans.

That was how Danzo Shimura became a key subject of analysis for the intelligence team at the village entrance. (The old men and old women gossip circle.)

Uchiha Yato was particularly wicked, mixing a little truth with a little falsehood before releasing the news.

Things like Danzo Shimura still being unmarried at his age because he was incapable in that department.

Things like Danzo Shimura constantly dragging Konoha Village down, otherwise it would have been twenty years ahead.

It could be said that Danzo Shimura was no longer like before, when no one paid him any attention as he walked the streets.

If he spotted a promising Root seedling before, he could still swindle and deceive them using his identities as a Konoha elder and the Hokage's advisor.

But now, people in every street and alley recognized him.

He had become Konoha Village's second most talked-about figure.

Who was the number one topic of conversation, you asked?

That was obviously Uchiha Yato.

Uchiha Yato knew full well that if he kept himself outside the spotlight, Danzo Shimura might very well target him.

So he simply became the center of attention himself. No matter how much negative news came out, it could not overcome the traffic drawn by the center of the conversation.

And most of what Uchiha Yato did was prank-related.

For example, he would take wedding candies from someone else's wedding and hand them out in front of a funeral procession, telling everyone to share in the joyous occasion.

The funeral procession had initially been somewhat angry, but after Uchiha Yato's antics, it regained a little liveliness after all.

Like that little girl from before, who had still been immersed in the grief of her grandfather's death. Uchiha Yato's antics, coupled with his handsome face, directly eased her sorrow.

No one knew whether everyone's mindset had changed or whether the old man truly wanted them to be happy.

Not only did the subsequent funeral proceedings go very smoothly, even the old man's photo in the memorial portrait seemed to be smiling.

This relatively relaxed and cheerful atmosphere spread throughout Konoha Village.

These civilians did not need to understand too much of the ninja world's darkness. So long as they were protected by Konoha Village, that was a kind of happiness too.

But unfortunately, good times did not last.

A piece of news soon returned to Konoha Village.

<Sakumo Hatake's mission failed because he saved his comrades>

With the Konoha Newspaper now in operation, this news spread through the mouths of nearly every Konoha villager in just two days.

Uchiha Yato and Danzo Shimura, who had always dominated the trending topics, were directly pushed out of the spotlight.

Sakumo Hatake was thrust straight into the eye of the storm.

Both Uchiha Yato and the Konoha higher-ups knew.

The opportunity had come!