Rumors That Shook the Hidden Leaf: The Leadership and Fugaku's Collective Fury

Deep beneath the Hidden Leaf, Root base.

A damp, moldy stench filled the corridors that never saw daylight. Torches along the walls stretched human shadows into twisted, eerie shapes.

Shimura Danzō sat upright in a shadowy stone chair, his exposed eye as cold and sinister as a viper's. After hearing the report from the Root spy kneeling on one knee before him, the fingers tapping his armrest suddenly froze.

"What did you say?" Danzo's voice was hoarse, carrying an incredulous sense of absurdity. "Senju Sosuke, that sickly wretch who could drop dead at any moment, secretly met Uchiha Fugaku's fiancée by the Naka River? And he forced Fugaku to back down right in front of him?"

"I saw it with my own eyes." The Root ninja wearing a raccoon mask lowered his head and spoke rapidly. "The two were holding hands, their manner extremely intimate. Uchiha Fugaku drew his blade against him, yet Senju Sosuke forced him to refrain from attacking with just a few words. In the end, he left in disgrace with his men."

Crack.

Danzo crushed the stone armrest in his grip, fragments raining down.

His clouded eye flickered wildly as countless vicious political calculations flashed through his mind. A dying Senju orphan and the Uchiha clan's precious jewel—how could two people with nothing to do with one another end up together?

"Uchiha! Fugaku!" Danzo abruptly rose to his feet, driving his cane heavily into the floor as he ground his teeth. "I was wondering how he could tolerate having his woman stolen. So this was all a self-directed act staged by the Uchiha clan!"

In the eyes of a schemer like Danzo, love between a man and a woman did not exist. He instinctively believed this was a honey trap deliberately laid by the Uchiha leadership to seize the Senju Clan's Wood Release bloodline. Once Mikoto became pregnant with Senju blood, or the Uchiha clan used the excuse of "protecting their Senju son-in-law" to interfere in the affairs of the Senju Clan Grounds, the First Hokage's Wood Release legacy would fall completely into the hands of those red-eyed lunatics!

"We cannot let the Uchiha clan succeed..." Danzo's chest heaved violently, killing intent fully exposed in his eyes. "Send the order. Activate every agent planted in the village. I want to know every movement within the Senju Clan Grounds immediately!"

Meanwhile, at the Hokage Building, in the top-floor office.

Sunlight filtered through the blinds, yet it could not disperse the heavy smoke in the room. Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his large desk, the pipe in his hand having gone out long ago without him noticing.

On the desk lay an urgent report that had just been delivered by the ANBU.

Its contents were precisely the farce by the Naka River.

Hiruzen Sarutobi rubbed his aching brow. The face that usually wore a kindly smile was now terrifyingly grim.

Senju and Uchiha.

Placed together, those two surnames were the Sword of Damocles hanging over every Hokage's head. When the Hidden Leaf was founded, it was these two great clans that had built its foundation together. Later, as the Senju Clan withdrew and declined, and the Uchiha clan was marginalized, the Hokage faction had finally been able to sit securely in power.

"Hiruzen, what do you make of this?" Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura entered through the door, the faces of both high-ranking advisers equally filled with uncertainty and alarm.

"It is too strange." Hiruzen Sarutobi relit his pipe, took a hard drag, and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke. "I personally confirmed Sosuke's physical condition. Even extracting chakra is difficult for him. How could he dare provoke an Uchiha woman?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Mitokado Homura snorted coldly. "The Uchiha clan must have noticed signs of Wood Release awakening in Sosuke! They want to use marriage to drain the last remaining value from the Senju Clan. Once the Uchiha clan gains the power of Wood Release, who will be able to suppress those madmen in the police force?"

The hand holding Hiruzen Sarutobi's pipe trembled slightly.

Out of control.

Those four words gnawed at his nerves like venomous snakes. His original plan had been to keep Sosuke in the village as a useless invalid, both to placate Tsunade and to slowly plot for Wood Release. Yet this worthless chess piece, through a strange twist of fate, had become a powder keg capable of detonating the Hidden Leaf's political situation.

"Does Tsunade know yet?" Hiruzen Sarutobi looked up and asked.

"She is still performing surgery at the hospital, so she probably has not heard the news yet." Utatane Koharu frowned. "Hiruzen, we must intervene immediately. No matter what, we cannot allow the Uchiha clan and the Senju Clan to become connected!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi rose and walked to the window, looking down over the entire Hidden Leaf. A cold, decisive glint flashed through his seemingly clouded eyes.

"Do not act in haste. Let the rumors spread for a while." Hiruzen Sarutobi exhaled a stream of white smoke. "Fugaku is proud and arrogant. Having his fiancée stolen in public is not something he can swallow. We can use this chance to see what the Uchiha clan truly intends, and also see... whether that boy Sosuke is truly a fool or merely pretending to be one."

While the leadership plotted in the shadows, the streets and alleys of the Hidden Leaf had already erupted.

Sosuke had made no effort to conceal his movements. Holding Mikoto's hand, he swaggered through the busiest commercial street in the Hidden Leaf. Countless civilians and ninja witnessed the sight.

In less than half a day, the scandal had spread through every corner of the village as though it had grown wings.

"Have you heard? The Uchiha clan head's fiancée ran off with that sickly young master from the Senju Clan!"

"My god, isn't the Senju young master practically dying? How is he this fierce?"

"What do you know? This is true love! I saw them walking by hand in hand with my own eyes. Uchiha Mikoto was blushing like an apple. Did she look remotely forced to you?"

The gossip became the sharpest of blades, cutting again and again into the Uchiha clan's pride.

Uchiha Clan Grounds, main residence.

Bang!

A precious set of celadon teaware was hurled violently against the wall and shattered to pieces. Scalding tea splashed across the floor, while several tea leaves clung forlornly to the tatami.

Uchiha Fugaku paced back and forth through the spacious room like an enraged beast. His eyes were bloodshot, three tomoe spinning wildly within his pupils, while violent chakra nearly solid enough to take form radiated from his body.

Unbearable humiliation!

Not only had he been mocked to his face by a sickly wreck with ruined chakra pathways, he had now become the laughingstock of the entire village! Everyone was whispering behind his back, saying that Uchiha Fugaku could not even keep his own woman from being taken by a man on the verge of death!

"Bastard! Senju Sosuke, I will kill you!" Fugaku kicked over the low table before him, sending wooden splinters flying.

The paper door slid open, and the Uchiha clan's Great Elder entered, leaning on his cane and surrounded by a group of senior officials. The old man's expression was equally ugly, though it held more calculation than Fugaku's.

"Enough, Fugaku. Will smashing things restore the Uchiha clan's honor?" The Great Elder rapped his cane against the floor, his voice stern.

"Great Elder! You have heard the rumors outside as well!" Fugaku spun around, his eyes bloodshot from overwhelming rage. "That bitch Mikoto dared betray the clan in public! I will go to the Senju Clan Grounds now, drag her back, and enforce clan law!"

"Fool!" the Great Elder shouted coldly. "If you go there to demand her now, the Hokage and Danzo will immediately send the ANBU to intervene. Do you truly think they do not want an excuse to weaken us?"

Fugaku's fists clenched with cracking sounds, his nails digging deeply into his palms as blood dripped through his fingers. "Are we supposed to let that Senju trash dump this disgrace onto the Uchiha clan?!"

A greedy glint flashed through the Great Elder's clouded eyes. "Look at it from another angle. This may be an opportunity. Since Mikoto has already attached herself to him, we can play along. The Senju Clan is nothing more than an empty shell now, but it still possesses a large number of ninjutsu scrolls and resources left behind by the First Hokage. As long as Mikoto can keep that boy under control, once he breathes his last, will everything belonging to the Senju Clan not rightfully become ours, the Uchiha clan's?"

Fugaku froze. Looking at the Great Elder's calculating face, he felt his stomach churn.

For the clan's interests, they could even swallow such humiliation? He was a man, the future clan head! If he had to swallow his anger after his fiancée was stolen, how could he ever hold his head high before his clansmen again?

"No... I absolutely refuse!" The last of Fugaku's reason was completely swallowed by fury. "I want the Senju Clan's resources, but I also want Senju Sosuke's life! I will never let that trash live even one day longer!"

Clang!

Fugaku abruptly drew the ninja blade at his waist and strode toward the exit.

"Fugaku! Stop right there!" the Great Elder roared.

Fugaku turned a deaf ear. He shoved open the paper door and bellowed fiercely at the dozens of elite police force members assembled in the courtyard, "First squad, second squad, full armament! Follow me to the Senju Clan Grounds!"

At dusk, the setting sun was as red as blood, painting the crumbling walls of the Senju Clan Grounds with a bleak crimson glow.

In contrast to the tense turmoil outside, the inner courtyard of the Senju Clan Grounds was exceptionally tranquil.

Sosuke had changed into a loose, pale moon-white yukata and sat beneath the eaves, unhurriedly arranging the tea set before him. Wisps of tea fragrance drifted upward, obscuring his gentle yet unfathomable face.

Mikoto sat kneeling beside him, gently pouring his tea. She had already changed out of the outfit bearing the Uchiha clan crest and into plain everyday clothes.

Though rumors had already spread wildly outside, sitting beside this man gave Mikoto an unprecedented sense of peace. He was like an abyss, blocking every storm from reaching her.

"Sosuke..." Mikoto looked at Sosuke's pale profile and could not help speaking, a trace of worry in her voice. "I have heard all the rumors in the village. I know Young Master Fugaku's temperament. He cannot endure this kind of provocation. He will definitely come looking for trouble. The Hidden Leaf leadership must be watching us too."

Sosuke lifted his teacup, gently blew on the tea leaves floating on its surface, and smiled as though everything was already within his grasp.

"Mikoto, do you know what part of fishing is the most interesting?"

Mikoto paused slightly and shook her head.

"It is not the moment you pull the fish ashore. It is watching the fish beneath the water tear at one another and lose all order over the bait you cast." Sosuke took a sip of hot tea, his gaze so deep that one scarcely dared meet it. "The Third is suspicious, Danzo is panicking, and Fugaku is going mad. With a single rumor, I have torn off every one of their hypocritical masks."

He set down the teacup, turned to Mikoto, and reached out to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear. His cool fingertips touched her warm cheek, making her shudder involuntarily.

"Do not be afraid. Since you have moved into the Senju courtyard, the sky over the Hidden Leaf will not fall."

Sosuke's voice was soft, yet it carried an absolute confidence that looked down upon the world.

Just then, an exceptionally disorderly and violent series of footsteps shattered the peace of dusk.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The old red-lacquered gates of the Senju Clan Grounds were pounded from outside with earth-shaking force.

Over the courtyard walls, dozens of blazing torches could be clearly seen, turning half the sky crimson. Dense clashing metal and suppressed killing intent surged into the ancient residence like a tide.

"Senju Sosuke! Get out here!"

Fugaku's howl, laced with immense resentment and fury, exploded from beyond the gates.

Mikoto's face instantly turned pale, and she instinctively gripped Sosuke's sleeve.

Sosuke did not rise. He remained seated beneath the eaves, not even lifting his eyelids much. He looked toward the withered old tree in the center of the courtyard. Deep in his eyes, a chilling green radiance slowly lit up like an awakening dragon.

"The fish has taken the bait."