Rumors

"I heard Mayu and her whole family died?"

"They did. I saw them being carried out yesterday."

"Mayu's child was only four, right? The same age as my boy. Neither of them had even started school..."

"That monster wasn't going to spare anyone just because they were young..."

"Ah!"

"..."

A group of civilians gathered together, talking.

They all looked battered, with injuries of varying severity, though thankfully, their wounds had already been bandaged.

Uchiha Yakumi and the others stood in a corner. Not many people noticed them, but as a Jonin, Yakumi still caught several gazes settling on their group when they arrived.

They belonged to the Anbu lurking in the shadows and some of the Konoha Ninja responsible for keeping order here.

"I heard Lord Hokage died fighting that monster yesterday..."

Uchiha Yakumi and the others faintly heard another voice. This time, the speaker was a ninja wearing a forehead protector.

"Damn it! Stop talking!"

Another ninja could not help interrupting his companion. His face was filled with anger, and he was clearly in a foul mood. "That kind of monster was never something we could fight. Minato... Lord Minato had to face it alone for our sake!"

He had taken part in last night's battle.

Fortunately, he had survived. Unfortunately, he had lost an arm and a leg, and his chest had been badly injured. He would probably have to rely on crutches and prosthetics for the rest of his life.

As he spoke, he slammed his fist into the pillar beside him, and blood slowly seeped out.

"I heard the Uchiha Clan was even planning to use last night's chaos to stage a coup..."

Without warning.

A voice came from a corner.

Everyone looked that way, but no one could tell who had spoken.

Yet those words had clearly reached quite a few ears.

"I saw a lot of Anbu Ninja intercepting the Uchiha. Even Lord Mitokado Homura, the Hokage's adviser, came out personally..."

Someone else spoke up.

This time, several people turned and saw an injured ninja.

Apparently.

He seemed to have witnessed it himself.

Otherwise, he would not have spoken with such certainty.

"How dare the Uchiha?!"

Someone asked in a low voice, their tone full of disbelief.

"What wouldn't the Uchiha Clan dare to do? Those arrogant bastards never seem to have treated us as comrades. Especially the ones in the Konoha Military Police Force. All you ever see are their nostrils, with their heads tilted so far back they're practically staring at the sky!"

Perhaps because so many "witnesses" had confirmed the story.

Many people's expressions changed, and they could not help venting their resentment.

As more and more people joined the conversation.

One remark after another linked the Uchiha Clan's "unusual behavior" on the night of the "monster attack" together, until they arrived at an extremely "reasonable" explanation!

The Uchiha really did seem to have been planning something that night, but the Konoha High Command had discovered it in time and stopped them. That was also why the entire Uchiha Clan Compound had been sealed off yesterday, the first day after the attack.

It was also because of the Uchiha.

That the Fourth Hokage had been unable to receive reinforcements in time and had ultimately paid with his life!

"Damn the Uchiha!"

"Those bastards should've been driven out of Konoha long ago!"

"Poor Mayu and her family!"

"So many people died the night before last!"

"..."

In the shadows of a corner.

Uchiha Yakumi's expression grew darker as he listened to the conversations around him.

He looked toward a certain corner, but the ninja there vanished instantly. Still, he had caught sight of the ninja's attire. It resembled an Anbu uniform, with the only difference being the mask...

He finally understood why the civilians and smaller ninja clans bore so much resentment toward the Uchiha.

Afterward.

Uchiha Yakumi did not leave immediately.

He had the others behind him spread out to observe other places, while he made his way to different parts of the shelter area.

A little over ten minutes later.

Uchiha Yakumi and the other Uchiha ninja regrouped.

They all looked grim.

If their earlier discovery could have been a coincidence, their continued efforts to gather information in different locations led to a deeply troubling conclusion: ninja who appeared to be Anbu were spreading rumors about the Uchiha in various "temporary shelter areas"!

The claims were all along the same lines: the Uchiha had refused to support the Fourth Hokage, and had even tried to seize the opportunity to launch a bloody coup against the Konoha High Command...

How frightening!

Uchiha Yakumi sensed something unusual.

If the Uchiha had actually done those things, he would have accepted it. But in truth, they had been preparing to reinforce the Fourth Hokage the night before last, only to be stopped by the Hokage's adviser, who had ordered them back to their compound and forbidden them from acting on their own!

Damn Mitokado Homura!

Uchiha Yakumi thought of the Hokage's adviser. If not for his interference, perhaps the Fourth Hokage would not have died, Konoha would not have suffered such severe damage, and the Uchiha would not have become the targets of these fabricated rumors.

Who were those ninja just now?

Uchiha Yakumi thought again of the masked ninja who always spread rumors at crucial moments, and could not help pondering their identities.

He had originally intended to corner one of them.

But they were not weak, and were especially good at hiding. Besides, he did not dare attack someone who appeared to be a "Konoha Ninja" in front of so many other ninja.

In the end, he had failed to detain even one.

"We're going back!"

Uchiha Yakumi felt a sense of urgency. As Uchiha Fugaku's chief aide in the Konoha Military Police Force, he possessed not only outstanding strength but also a keen political sense.

Before long.

Their group found Uchiha Fugaku again.

At that moment.

The Uchiha were helping the owners of an izakaya and a bathhouse clear away the rubble.

"Captain!"

Uchiha Yakumi approached Uchiha Fugaku and called to him quietly.

The two moved somewhere inconspicuous and began a detailed discussion.

In less than two minutes.

Uchiha Fugaku's expression changed several times.

In the end, however, he regained his composure. Only a very few people could have noticed the darkness buried deep in his eyes.

After parting with Uchiha Yakumi and the others.

Uchiha Fugaku's group had also met with repeated rebuffs, and he had realized something was wrong. Still, he had suppressed his unease and continued leading his clansmen in helping the villagers, only for Uchiha Yakumi to return with yet more bad news...

Uchiha Hui strolled down the street.

Their Uchiha district was one of the areas that had remained relatively intact.

But traces of the attack were still visible all around.

Many houses had collapsed, bloodstains remained on the ground, and the atmosphere was somber.

"There's an Uchiha ninja over there..."

"I know him. I think he's the Uchiha Clan Head's younger brother. He may be a Chunin, but if it weren't for his brother's position, that guy would never have been promoted!"

"He sure has it easy!"

"The Uchiha won't be so smug for much longer. The Lord Third will definitely get justice for our comrades who died the day before yesterday!"

"Whoa! Is that story true?"

"Almost certainly!"

"But I don't think the Uchiha would go that far, would they?"

"Yutaro! He indirectly caused Lord Minato's death!"

"Stop talking. I think he's looking this way..."

The two ninja quickly slipped away along the wall, while Uchiha Hui watched their retreating backs with a dark expression.

For some reason.

Perhaps because of his original body's habits.

Ever since he had transmigrated here, he would unconsciously adopt a "cold" or "gloomy" expression, as though it came naturally to him, making people reluctant to approach.

"That was fast!"

Uchiha Hui had thought these rumors would gradually emerge over the coming days. He had not expected them to spread like wildfire after just one day, and they sounded pretty outrageous.

So the Uchiha had indirectly caused the Fourth Hokage's death?

Did these people not have brains?!

It really was laughable!