Unrest in Kirigakure

It had been nearly a month since Danzo's death, and Konoha had remained quite peaceful.

However, one matter had surprised the Hidden Leaf Village's residents: the Konoha Daily had stopped publishing, replaced by the Hokage News.

About half a month earlier, when Ren arrived at his office, he found a newspaper sitting on his desk.

Ren looked it over. It had essentially copied the former Konoha Daily, except it barely mentioned the Uchiha Clan and instead lavishly praised the Hokage's achievements.

That same day, Ren went straight to the Hokage Building. After submitting a request, he met Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Ren's first words were, "Lord Hokage, this is terrible! Someone is trying to subvert Konoha!"

As he spoke, he waved the Hokage News in his hand.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's face immediately darkened. So when Uchiha Yushu published a newspaper, it was to save Konoha, but when he published one, it was to subvert Konoha?

Without a pleasant expression, Hiruzen Sarutobi said bluntly, "Get to the point!"

Ren put on a grave expression. "Lord Hokage, when I previously founded the Konoha Daily, I discovered an extremely serious problem."

"At the time, I was overwhelmed with work and couldn't oversee it every day. By the time I discovered someone had been publishing false information in the paper, it had already been distributed. There was no way to remedy it."

Hiruzen Sarutobi remained unmoved. False news had gone on for half a month—was this department head even busier than the Hokage himself?

Ren continued, "Lord Hokage, newspapers must be reviewed before publication. Otherwise, certain false rumors could be exploited by people with ulterior motives!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi still said nothing. The person with ulterior motives was you, wasn't it?

"How about this, Lord Hokage? Have every Konoha department send a dedicated reviewer to determine whether content is suitable for publication in the Hokage News."

Hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi finally began to consider it seriously. After the White Fang incident and the earlier Danzo incident,

Hiruzen Sarutobi had come to understand the power of public opinion. That was also why he had been so eager to establish the Hokage News.

Although Uchiha Yushu was detestable, he had made a valid point. Many things in Konoha were not suitable for the villagers to know, since there were certainly spies from other nations among them.

"Enough. We'll discuss this at the interdepartmental meeting."

After saying that, he no longer looked at Ren. Ren tactfully took his leave as well.

Hiruzen Sarutobi moved quickly. Since it concerned Konoha's safety, he convened a meeting the very next day.

As the head of the Konoha Military Police Force, Ren naturally had the qualifications to attend. At the meeting, he did not cause trouble and secured the Military Police Force's rightful quota for one reviewer.

The moment Ren returned to the Military Police Force, he summoned Mitsuba's husband, Uchiha Qiyue.

After a long talk,

"Qiyue, do you understand your mission?"

"Yes, Chief."

"Good. Qiyue, the Hokage News may not contain material praising the Uchiha Clan, but it absolutely cannot contain material slandering the Uchiha Clan."

Then he patted Qiyue on the shoulder. "The Uchiha Clan's honor is in your hands, Qiyue. Don't let everyone down!"

"I swear to defend the Uchiha Clan's honor to the death!"

Uchiha Qiyue gave a very solemn salute.

"Mm. Go."

Over the next half month, Ren more or less kept regular hours, leaving most Military Police Force matters to the four captains.

During the day, Ren was either networking or on his way to network.

Hiashi had asked him several times when they would begin their operation against the Third Hokage, but Ren said that the time was not right.

The Third Hokage was not Danzo. Though he had made plenty of mistakes, it was clearly unrealistic to use them to bring down the Third Hokage.

Ren merely told Hiashi to be patient. After calculating the timing, Ren said they would definitely find an opportunity within six years.

There was nothing Ren could do for the moment. In any case, six years later would be the time of Orochimaru's Konoha Crush Plan, so he would wait and see for now.

Ren's focus was now on human experimentation. That was right, human experimentation.

At first, Ren had been very disdainful of "Shinato," but after using it, he found it truly appealing.

On the night it was activated, after discovering traces of White Zetsu, Ren did not act immediately.

Instead, the next day, he brought Shisui along to capture a White Zetsu. After that, they gradually captured several more groups of White Zetsu.

After that, there were no more, which left Ren somewhat regretful.

He should have known better than to capture them all. He should have let one or two go back, so there would be a steady supply, right?

When they had captured nearly ten White Zetsu, Shisui finally could not contain his curiosity.

"Ren, what are these strange creatures? You seem to care about them a lot."

"Shisui, don't underestimate them. They are the Uchiha Clan's light!"

Ren no longer needed to worry about his ocular power, since his Mangekyo could recharge.

But Shisui and Fugaku's Mangekyo did not have that kind of endurance. There were still a little over ten years until the Fourth Shinobi World War.

Fugaku was fine. Having entered retirement early, he probably would not need to use his Mangekyo. Shisui, however, was different.

So Ren began experimenting on White Zetsu, though there was no need for Shisui to know about such matters.

When he arrived at a somewhat crude laboratory, the person continuously recording experimental data inside was Uchiha Qingyue.

The Uchiha Clan truly had no research talents. After searching through the clan, Uchiha Qingyue was the only one who barely qualified.

"How is it? Can it be separated?" Ren asked directly.

Uchiha Qingyue stopped what he was doing. "Clan Head, not for the time being."

"It's fine. Keep working at it."

Ren merely offered some encouragement. If Qingyue could not do it, then he certainly could not either.

Having been a humanities student since high school in his previous life, he could not even understand the equipment.

He still needed scientific talent. There was definitely not enough time to train any, so it seemed he could only pick up ready-made talent.

While Ren lived a leisurely and relaxed life in Konoha,

Kirigakure's shinobi were incredibly tense.

About half a month earlier, the Mizukage had issued a war mobilization order, targeting the Land of Fire.

Quite a few Kirigakure shinobi immediately voiced their opposition to war.

Those who merely complained a little were fine, but those who spread the message everywhere were taken away by the Anbu.

No one ever saw them again.

Obito, who had taken out his anger over Rin's death on Kirigakure, had never regarded Kirigakure shinobi as human beings.

"Ugh! We're going to war again. Can we win?"

"What do you think? That's Konoha—the Konoha with those two people."

"Why does Lord Mizukage want to start a war? Can the Hidden Mist Village really withstand this kind of turmoil?"

"Shh! Keep your voice down. Don't let the Anbu hear you."

"Then what do you think we should do? We can't beat them. Isn't this just sending ourselves to our deaths?"

"What else can we do? If we die, we die. This is a shinobi's fate."

In half a month, Kirigakure's shinobi forces had finished assembling.

Kirigakure's large-scale movements naturally did not escape the spies of the various sides. Before long, Konoha received the news as well.

The instant Ren received the meeting notice, he began pondering inwardly, Tobi, was this you?