Exposure

Time passed unhurriedly for another half month.

By now, the Konoha Daily had spread completely throughout Konoha, recording all sorts of major and minor happenings in the village every day.

It also covered significant events from Hidden Leaf Village history, naturally along with various interpretations of the Will of Fire.

Finally, without fail, it praised the Uchiha Clan and advertised Commercial West Street.

Now, people carrying newspapers could be seen everywhere in Konoha. They discussed and even argued over what was written in them.

Yet no one questioned the authenticity of the newspaper's contents. It was as if everyone tacitly accepted that whatever was printed in it was true.

Ren walked through the various parts of Konoha, watching the villagers who had grown accustomed to newspapers and were using them as their primary source of information.

Feeling that the time was ripe, Ren decided to officially set his plan in motion. He had to admit that he was sick to death of writing interpretations of the Will of Fire these past few days.

After all, the original Will of Fire consisted of only a few sentences. Expanding them into article after article was no easy task.

That day, countless Konoha villagers bought newspapers as usual.

When they opened them, they found that the layout was no longer divided into small sections as before. Other than the white words "Special Edition" on red backgrounds printed in the two upper corners,

every page of the newspaper bore the same large headline: The Unknown Secret—Root.

The bewildered Konoha villagers began reading this special issue.

The opening described the origins of Root. During the Second Shinobi World War, in response to the endless stream of scouts and spies from other nations, the Third Hokage had drawn a large number of elite members from the Anbu to form a unit under the command of Konoha Elder Danzo.

After the Second Shinobi World War ended, Root was disbanded. The newspaper thoughtfully included the document ordering Root's dissolution.

However, unwilling to accept this, Danzo secretly rebuilt Root without approval.

Thus, Konoha's dark era, lasting more than a decade, descended.

Root gathered orphans from both outside and inside the village to train from childhood. At the same time, it kept a close eye on talented children from Konoha's various clans and the Ninja Academy, secretly abducting them and taking them back to Root.

The article then revealed the brutality of Root's training: endless drills, where failing to endure meant death.

At the same time, the children were divided into pairs. Amid the incomparably cruel training, the teammate in their group became their best friend and closest person.

After completing all their training, before officially becoming Root shinobi, the two members of each pair would be arranged to fight each other to the death. The survivor could officially become a Root shinobi.

"Is this fake? How could Konoha have such a terrifying place?"

"Is it true? My child failed the Ninja Academy assessment before, and I was so disappointed. Thinking about it now, maybe that was a good thing."

"Was the shinobi world really this terrifying?"

It then described the rules Root followed when carrying out missions.

No names, no past, and no future.

Mission failure: death!

Information leaked: death!

Mentioning intelligence to outsiders: death!

Assassination mission: after the mission was completed, death!

Captured alive: death!

The string of deaths made the villagers reading it feel their scalps tingle.

Some people naturally thought of talented children from neighboring families they had heard about before, who had disappeared not long afterward.

The back of the newspaper also included photographs taken earlier at the Root base: Root training grounds, dormitories, and box after box of documents bearing Root's covers.

Finally, the newspaper compared Kirigakure's Blood Mist Policy, which had made the entire shinobi world tremble in fear, with Root's shinobi training. It clearly stated that the Blood Mist Policy had a higher survival rate.

Many villagers did not believe what the newspaper said was true, and some sought confirmation from shinobi they knew well.

Those shinobi neither confirmed nor denied it. They merely remained silent.

The news spread through Konoha with astonishing speed. The whole village erupted, and every villager fell into panic.

While the village was in an uproar,

Ren appeared in the Hokage's office. Several Anbu had directly "invited" him there.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, wore an angry expression. "Uchiha Yushu! What exactly are you trying to do?"

"I did not interfere when you went around visiting shinobi clans in the village. I did not interfere when you had Uchiha Shisui gathering large numbers of people for activities every day. I did not interfere when you published the Konoha Daily to boast about your Uchiha Clan."

"But exposing Root like this and causing such enormous panic in Konoha is something I can no longer ignore."

Ren was not intimidated by Hiruzen Sarutobi and answered calmly, "I do not want to do anything. Root should not exist. Lord Hokage, you have always indulged Root. I should be the one asking you that."

"Lord Hokage, what exactly are you trying to do? Destroy Konoha?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi knew he had no moral ground to stand on. Konoha had its own system, and Root had indeed been disbanded long ago. Fundamentally speaking, Danzo's Root could not be discussed openly at all.

Unlike the Uchiha Clan's Military Police Force, which was an official department of the village, Root was ultimately an illegal armed force within the village. Even funding Root was improper.

As Hokage, the pinnacle of Konoha's rules and their ultimate beneficiary, Hiruzen Sarutobi could not openly say anything that violated those rules. Otherwise, he would lose the Hokage's authority.

Konoha's rules had granted him the Hokage's supreme power, but they also restricted his actions and words.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stopped pressing him and merely said, "What will it take for you to stop?"

"When Root has completely disappeared, and the day comes when everyone in Konoha can be illuminated by the Will of Fire, I will stop."

Ren's expression grew impassioned. "Before then, as the head of the Konoha Military Police Force, it is my duty to protect the villagers. I will never allow Root, which threatens the safety of Konoha's villagers, to exist!"

Watching Ren put on such an act before him, the Third Hokage's mouth twitched. There was no one here except the Anbu. Why are you acting so hard? Aren't you tired?

Now that everyone in Konoha knew Root existed, the Third Hokage had no intention of continuing to protect it at all costs.

Root had been part of his previous deal with Ren. He only wanted to save Danzo. Once Root completely disappeared, its shinobi would not die; they could simply be absorbed into the Anbu.

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Ren sternly. "Enough. I do not want to hear your nonsense. No matter what method you use, you must eliminate the fear among the village residents."

"Any method?"

"Of course not. You are not allowed to harm Konoha or betray the village. You are also a department head. Do I need to teach you what you cannot do?"

"Understood, Lord Hokage. Then I'll be leaving first."

Ren immediately left the Hokage Building.