White Fang's Vindication and Naruto's Identity

Konoha Village's Hokage Ceremony was in full swing. A wooden platform had been set up outside the Hokage Building.

Tenzo was not some blindly loyal fool. After being persuaded by his respected senior, Kakashi, he was released without charge the next day.

He also joined the new ANBU directly under the Hokage, remaining under his senior Kakashi's command.

And Tenzo had built that wooden platform.

It was worth mentioning that Takuya had given Tenzo a new name: Yamato.

Yes, Yamato had originally been his name.

A sea of heads surged beneath the wooden platform. To control the pace, Nara Shikaku had planted quite a few shills and hecklers among the crowd.

At crucial moments, they would spur the crowd on, shouting things like "Long live the Hokage!" and leading the applause.

At that moment, Takuya stood atop the platform, wearing the Hokage Hat and the brand-new ceremonial cloak of the Fifth Hokage, speaking with confidence.

The villagers below watched with solemn expressions. As for what they were truly thinking, no one else knew.

But Takuya was certain that many of them felt uneasy about him succeeding as the Fifth Hokage.

After all, the Uchiha Clan had offended plenty of villagers while controlling the Konoha Police Force.

But he did not care.

No matter how unwilling those civilians were, they could not stir up any real trouble.

All he needed to do with these ignorant fools who believed every rumor was control public opinion.

In this world where strength reigned supreme, whoever had the bigger fist was God.

Fugaku naturally looked exceptionally imposing. As Takuya spoke on the stage, the villagers below hardly dared breathe, afraid of angering their new Hokage.

Over the past few days, they had heard that after the Uchiha Clan's patriarch became Hokage, he had thrown quite a few people into Konoha Prison.

They had no desire to enter that dark, gloomy Konoha Prison.

So they obediently listened to Takuya's speech. Along with the shills Nara Shikaku had placed in the crowd, the Hokage Ceremony proceeded exceptionally smoothly.

Even clearing Hatake Sakumo's name was absurdly easy. A large portion of the crowd had lived through the Second and Third Shinobi World Wars, and they knew just how powerful Konoha's White Fang had been.

Back then, Danzo's people had guided public opinion, so even those who respected Konoha's White Fang did not dare speak up for him.

As time passed, no one dared mention Konoha's White Fang anymore.

But things were different now.

Now that Root had submitted to Takuya, those who manipulated public opinion had vanished. The people who had always respected Konoha's White Fang immediately began cheering in support when they heard that the new Hokage was clearing his name.

That sight stirred waves in Kakashi's heart as he stood by on standby as captain of the ANBU directly under the Hokage.

Father, you really shouldn't have died so easily.

After learning from Takuya that Konoha's White Fang had been driven to death by Konoha's upper ranks, Kakashi could not help but harbor some resentment.

But no matter what, it was already too late.

His father had been dead for so many years. Resentment was useless now.

A complicated look flashed through Kakashi's eyes before he returned to his usual dead-fish stare.

When Yamato heard Kakashi yawn beside him, he could not help asking, "Senior, are you sleepy? Why don't you go rest for a while first?"

Kakashi glanced coolly at this enthusiastic subordinate, patted him on the shoulder, and said nothing.

Seeing that, Yamato stopped speaking and instead watched the new Hokage's speech onstage with a solemn expression.

"From this day onward, all of you will be witnesses, watching our village grow better and better..."

After silently listening to the new Hokage for a while, Yamato's gaze grew considerably more fervent. It seemed that Lord Fugaku becoming the Fifth Hokage was not such a bad thing after all!

Listening to the Fifth Hokage's ambitions and expectations for the future, Yamato could not help feeling a trace of guilt. I'm truly awful. Why did I try to assassinate Lord Hokage the day before yesterday? What a sin.

After Takuya finished speaking briefly, he cleared his throat and brought up Naruto's matter once more, openly revealing that Naruto was a hero of Konoha and the son of the Fourth Hokage.

The people below instantly erupted. The previously quiet venue became as noisy as a marketplace.

"Ah! Is that true?"

"My God! That demon fox brat is actually that lord's child?"

"Unbelievable..."

"What did I do back then? I really deserve to die!"

"How could it be fake? Would Lord Fifth Hokage lie to us?"

"I know Lord Fifth Hokage would not lie to us, but why was the demon fox... uh, the Fourth Hokage's child's identity kept hidden all this time?"

"Who knows!"

The villagers argued fiercely, each talking over the next.

Most of them had relatives or friends who had died during Nine-Tails Night years ago. Thus, they had never treated Naruto, who had been branded a demon fox, kindly. They hated him deeply. Whenever they saw Naruto, they thought of the relatives and friends who had died during Nine-Tails Night. They had beaten and cursed him, and even made their own children isolate him.

Now that the new Hokage had announced that Naruto, the so-called demon fox, was actually the child of the Fourth Hokage, who had heroically sacrificed himself to resolve the Nine-Tails Uprising, their reactions were intense.

Some regretted it, some felt guilty, and some refused to believe it.

But the believers were in the majority. After all, the newly appointed Fifth Hokage had no reason to deceive them.

When they heard the Fifth Hokage explain the origin of the demon fox, they were all shocked.

"My God, so that demon fox was sealed by the Fourth Hokage into his own newborn child? All to save us in Konoha... The Fourth Hokage's sacrifice was too great! Not only did he die sealing the Nine-Tails, he even used his newborn child as the vessel to seal the demon fox! We survived thanks to the Fourth Hokage! And yet we treated his only remaining child like that?!"

At that point, the shills planted among the crowd began speaking with feigned shock.

Under their guidance, those who had already felt guilty became even more distressed.

If Naruto appeared before them now, they would probably swarm him and apologize.

What the shills said was true. After all, if the Fourth Hokage had not sacrificed himself to seal the Nine-Tails back then, at least half of these people would have died before the Nine-Tails incident could end.

"Alright, alright, quiet down."

Takuya raised both hands and pressed them downward. The previously clamorous crowd immediately fell silent.

"In the past, the Third Hokage kept Naruto's identity from you. I will not pursue what happened before, but from this day onward, I do not wish to see anyone mocking or ridiculing our hero's son again. Do you understand?"