On the VIP stand, the tide had completely turned.
Uchiha Yoru still sat firmly in the central seat that should have belonged to the Hokage, one leg crossed over the other.
He held a segment of orange Kurotsuchi had just peeled for him, leisurely picking away the white pith. He looked as relaxed as though he were watching a farce that had nothing to do with him.
Killing people was one thing. Breaking their spirits was another.
This was exactly the effect he wanted.
Before the entire ninja world, he would use the sharpest blade to shred Konoha's leaders' fig leaf—the one painted with the words "Will of Fire"—to pieces.
"Tea... Teacher..."
The Anbu behind Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the agitated villagers below, who seemed ready to storm the stands, and his voice trembled with fear.
"W-What do we do now?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi said nothing.
He merely sat dumbly in that corner seat, his entire body shaking like a fallen leaf in the autumn wind.
His age-spotted face was as pale as paper. His lips quivered, yet he could not utter a single word.
What could he do?
There was nothing he could do.
The lie had been exposed. The truth had been laid bare.
He was now a clown running naked through the village before everyone's eyes!
Once the flames of public opinion were lit, they could no longer be suppressed.
And they only burned hotter.
"Hiruzen Sarutobi! You hypocrite! Get off that stage!"
"Give us back the Fourth Hokage! Give us back Konoha's hero!"
"Liar! You high-ranking bastards are all liars!"
The furious cries rose wave after wave.
They were like red-hot irons pressed viciously against the faces of every Konoha leader.
Even Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, the two old fools who had always lived in comfort