When the Uchiha picked up their pens!

"Bai Ye, how are we supposed to put this newspaper together? We've already had people finish all the preliminary preparations as you asked, but now we have no idea what to write!"

At Bai Ye's home, Uchiha Hui sat across from him, looking anxious.

The outsourcing of the police force's duties was complete, and nearly all their promotional events had wrapped up as well.

With the egg giveaway over, far fewer people were coming to the Uchiha.

But thanks to the supermarket's perks, trade with outsiders, and the clan's improving reputation among the villagers,

more outsiders were now visiting the Uchiha Clan Compound.

After all, the neighborhood wasn't home only to the Uchiha and the handful of ninja clans assigned to watch them.

Plenty of ordinary people lived there too.

Land in Konoha was worth its weight in gold. Not everyone could afford to live in the central district.

It was just that the Uchiha Clan Compound had never welcomed outsiders before, and with the clan's poor reputation in the village, naturally no one had wanted to visit.

These changes were real and tangible.

After seeing the results, the Uchiha were naturally more willing to follow Bai Ye's instructions.

As for the newspaper, however, when Bai Ye first entrusted it to them, the preliminary work had gone perfectly well.

But once it came time to produce content, they were stumped!

Because they had absolutely no idea what to write!

"It's simple. The content only needs to cover a few things. First, we need stories, then some political and military news, plus gossip and amusing everyday oddities.

"Oh, and we'll call it the Shinobi World Daily. Don't just cover Konoha, either. Gather interesting stories from other villages too, so we can attract buyers from other villages and countries.

"We need to distribute it widely and make it our best tool for shaping public opinion. If you don't know how to go about it, have Izumi come see me. I'll give her the content, she can prepare the first draft, and then you can print it!"

Bai Ye thought it over. Asking this bunch, who knew nothing but fighting, to come up with newspaper content

really was a bit much.

Hearing that Bai Ye would handle it, Uchiha Hui breathed a sigh of relief. "All right, I'll have Izumi come over. Just pass the content to me once you're done!"

As long as they didn't have to handle the content!

Just thinking about what to put in it gave Uchiha Hui a headache.

With that, he immediately went to find Uchiha Izumi.

When Uchiha Izumi arrived and saw Bai Ye, she immediately ran over with a smile on her face.

Clearly, she was genuinely delighted that Bai Ye had sought her out.

Ever since Bai Ye became clan head, Uchiha Izumi had stopped coming to see him.

Mostly, she figured he must have plenty to deal with.

Besides, the recent events in the village had made her keenly aware that things were changing.

That had also made her feel she might no longer be able to visit Bai Ye.

After all, he was working hard for the Uchiha.

She couldn't disturb him.

Then today, Uchiha Hui had come to her and told her Bai Ye needed her help.

That meant Bai Ye hadn't forgotten her.

"You're here, Izumi. Have a seat."

"Mm-hmm! Bai Ye, you're amazing! So many people in the clan have been talking about how wonderful you are lately!"

Uchiha Izumi nodded, her little face flushed after she sat down.

As she spoke, she looked at Bai Ye with excitement and admiration in her eyes.

"Things will keep getting better, Izumi. But before that, I might need your help with something."

"Just tell me what you need, Bai Ye. Grandpa told me about it. I think I can give the content a try... but I'll need you to check it for me!"

Uchiha Izumi nodded, though a little worry showed on her face.

She wondered whether she might mess this up.

"Don't worry. I've already prepared an outline. You just need to follow what I've written. Here, take a look!"

As he spoke, Bai Ye placed the outline he had prepared earlier in front of Izumi.

When Uchiha Izumi saw the article titles, her expression changed.

The very first piece was an examination of why the Uchiha and the Senju Clan had founded Konoha all those years ago.

This was the political article Bai Ye had prepared.

Next came the gossip piece, about Hiruzen Sarutobi using his crystal ball to peep on people, and Jiraiya inheriting his teacher's peeping habits.

Part of the aim was to smear Hiruzen Sarutobi, while also providing amusing material to entice people to buy.

As for the fiction, Uchiha Izumi's eyes lit up when she read the story.

"Bai Ye, this story is so good! 'Fortunes change. Don't look down on a boy just because he's poor!' So what happens next?!"

"You'll find out later. Come on, I'll dictate it now. Write down what I say!"

"Mm-hmm!"

Uchiha Izumi nodded, then pointed worriedly at the earlier pieces and asked, "Bai Ye, can we really write these?!"

"Yes! Write them without fear. We also need to cover how the other four villages were founded. If we want the newspaper to sell, we need some explosive content!"

"Oh, okay!"

Uchiha Izumi agreed, though she was still a little worried.

But before she came, her grandfather had told her to agree to whatever Bai Ye asked of her.

So she raised no objections to his instructions.

Neither of them went out all day. Bai Ye dictated and Uchiha Izumi wrote, finishing all the content by evening. When the finished work was handed to Uchiha Hui,

he felt rather relieved as he read it. Thank goodness they hadn't come up with the content themselves.

Before approaching Bai Ye, they had considered writing it themselves and had even come up with a few ideas, only to abandon them all later.

Looking at it now, they really weren't up to the task.

"We can print it tonight. Tomorrow, we can start distributing the Shinobi World Daily across the Shinobi World!"

Uchiha Hui swept his hand out, and quite a few Uchiha clan members began working overtime that night.

They worked through the night printing newspapers, planning to saturate Konoha first.

Each copy cost ten ryo. Though the unit price was low, once sales rose, they could cover the cost of outsourcing the police force's duties.

Besides, they couldn't price a newspaper like this too high, or people wouldn't be able to afford it!

Early the next morning,

once stacks of newspapers were handed to the children selling them, all of Konoha soon learned that the Uchiha had come up with something new again!

"Newspapers! Newspapers! The Shinobi World Daily, fresh off the press! Funny stories from the Shinobi World, political developments, and all kinds of gossip! Ten ryo, just ten ryo! A bargain you won't regret!"

"Newspapers for sale! Want a copy, mister? There are stories to read! Just ten ryo a copy!"

At ten ryo, quite a few people were tempted.

After all, it wasn't much money.

And hadn't the Uchiha been making moves lately? They were the hottest topic in the village right now!

Now they'd come up with something new again.

It soon drew plenty of attention.

Then people began snapping up newspapers.

After all, they could spend ten ryo to take a look. If it wasn't any good, they simply wouldn't buy it again.

Whenever something new appeared, plenty of people wanted to give it a try.

"Holy shit! Is this real? Lord Hokage actually uses the Crystal Ball Technique to peep on people?!"

"Like teacher, like student! Wait! Doesn't that mean?!"

"We protest! We have to protest! We must demand that the Hokage destroy that crystal ball! Who knows whether our wives have already..."

"That's right! We can't let this disgusting behavior spread through Konoha!"

At that moment, many of Konoha's residents were outraged.

At first, they had only read it for entertainment.

But then it suddenly dawned on them how serious the problem was.

Wait, what?!

At least Jiraiya had been easy to catch when he peeped, but this dirty old man was using ninjutsu to do it! How were they supposed to catch him?!

Jiraiya had been beaten severely for peeping back then.

So he'd picked it up from his teacher?!

Inside the Hokage's Office, Danzo looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi. "Well? How are you going to deal with this?"

Though he phrased it that way, there was a trace of gloating in his voice.

This man's true colors had finally been exposed.

Now the whole village knew exactly what kind of man Hiruzen Sarutobi was!

"That's none of your concern. I know what to do!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed, well aware that he probably wouldn't be able to use the Crystal Ball Technique much anymore.

He used it to monitor everything happening in the village. The peeping was merely incidental.

Now that the Uchiha had exposed the technique, he could no longer use it so freely.

The Uchiha...

They really had presented him with a difficult problem.

"Heh. Deal with it yourself, then."

With that, Danzo slowly walked away. He had something very important to do.

He had seen the newspaper's influence plain as day.

If he asked the Uchiha for it, they certainly wouldn't give it to him.

So he needed to go back and work out how to launch his own newspaper as soon as possible. Then he too could control public opinion in the village.

Just look at what was happening now. A single newspaper had brought crowds of people to the foot of the Hokage's Office.

Every one of them had come to protest.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was now caught between a rock and a hard place.

They had used this tactic before, only with rumors. But they had never imagined newspapers could be even more powerful, spreading faster than rumors!

In that case, he absolutely had to have one of his own!

It would be an enormous help in his eventual bid to become Hokage.

More importantly, the Uchiha controlled this newspaper. He knew perfectly well that if they exposed more dirt later, he would be left on the back foot!

"Sarutobi, seize the newspaper. We can't let the Uchiha control the narrative!"

Danzo had been about to leave, but as that thought occurred to him, he immediately realized the danger.

They absolutely couldn't allow the Uchiha Clan to control the narrative!

Otherwise, the threat would be enormous!

"On what grounds?"

"..."

Danzo opened his mouth, momentarily at a loss for words.

Exactly!

On what grounds?!

Under the current circumstances, he truly couldn't think of any justification for making the Uchiha hand over their newspaper.

No!

I absolutely can't sit back and do nothing!

At the Ninja Academy,

quite a few students had gathered around Sasuke, chattering with questions. "Sasuke, Sasuke! We heard this newspaper belongs to your Uchiha Clan. That story's so good! Do you know what happens next?!"

"Yeah, Sasuke! What happens after the engagement gets broken off?!"

Before, he had been surrounded entirely by girls, but today, boys crowded around him.

They had all come to ask about the rest of the story.

"What's so great about that stuck-up Sasuke?! Fortunes change. Don't look down on a boy just because he's poor! I, Naruto, can do it too!"

Naruto stared toward Sasuke indignantly.

He couldn't afford a newspaper, and even if he had money, he wouldn't spend it on one.

He had read Shikamaru and Choji's copy that day.

After reading it, Naruto was filled with longing, especially because of that line: "Fortunes change. Don't look down on a boy just because he's poor."

It reminded Naruto of himself!

His blood immediately began to boil with excitement.

"Don't get so worked up, Naruto..."

Shikamaru craned his head toward Naruto, the corner of his mouth twitching.

Sure enough, overdramatic boys like him loved these kinds of stories most.

It wasn't just Naruto. Most of the boys in their class were acting the same way now.

Every one of them was itching to shout, "Fortunes change!"

"You don't get it, Shikamaru! I'm going to turn things around!"

Naruto clenched his fists, brimming with fighting spirit.

He had made up his mind!

From now on, he would train hard and show everyone that he, Naruto, could do it too!

"What's so great about that story? Can you boys get away from Sasuke?!"

The girls, led by Sakura and Ino, soon pushed everyone around Sasuke aside.

Then, gazing at Sasuke with admiration, they said, "Sasuke-kun is just like that domineering CEO. Oh, Sasuke-kun, is there more to that story?!"

Two stories were serialized in today's newspaper.

One was the kind boys liked to read.

The other was The Domineering CEO Falls in Love with Me, the kind girls liked to read. It told a story of him running and her chasing, yet her being unable to escape even if she had wings.

Right at the start, the heroine ran away while pregnant, and the domineering CEO began a torturous romance in which he bitterly regretted losing her and desperately tried to win her back.

It hurt! It hurt so much!!!

Compared to boys, girls naturally paid more attention to all this romantic drama.

Especially since quite a few people had immediately pictured Sasuke as the male lead. The domineering young master of the Uchiha Clan had fallen in love with an ordinary girl like me!

Listening to the noisy chatter around him, Sasuke frowned, but something else was on his mind.

What... went on in that head of his?!

Sasuke felt that he ought to go see Bai Ye.

After what happened last time, he had made up his mind, too. Perhaps Bai Ye really was right!

At least for now, everyone within the Uchiha Clan said Bai Ye was doing a good job, and Sasuke could clearly see the changes in the clan himself.

Tanzaku Town, Land of Fire.

Holding the newspaper she had just bought, Shizune hurried to find Tsunade with an eager look on her face. "Lady Tsunade, look! This is the Shinobi World Daily that the Uchiha recently started publishing!!!"

"The Uchiha? The Shinobi World Daily? Why are you showing it to me?"

Tsunade grumbled in displeasure. She had been busy dodging debt collectors lately.

How could she have the time to read any of this?!

Especially something from the Uchiha!

"Lady Tsunade, please take a look. I think this article is brilliantly written!"

[On the impact of the Senju and Uchiha founding Konoha on the shinobi world, and the history of the founding of the other four Ninja Villages!]

The article described in detail how Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha had sought to spare their clans from further war.

To keep children from dying in battle, they had decided to establish a village to protect them.

Its analysis of that decision and its subsequent effects was also very clear and easy to understand.

It favored neither side, and its analysis was incisive.

[The emergence of the concept of villages also ended the Warring States Period and ushered in the era of Ninja Villages.

It laid the foundation for peace in the shinobi world, but also sowed the seeds of future conflict.

Still, the concept of villages truly was groundbreaking, and Hashirama Senju, who proposed the idea, certainly deserved to be called a great hero!

Coming next issue: an analysis of the triggers and effects of the First, Second, and Third Shinobi World Wars, along with a ranking of the major Ninja Villages!]

Holy shit?!

There was even a preview of the next issue?!

And it looked pretty interesting, too!

Tsunade admitted that she really had underestimated the Uchiha before.

"That brat Uchiha Fugaku actually managed to put all this together?! Not bad!!"

"Lady Tsunade, this wasn't Uchiha Fugaku's work. The Uchiha have a new clan head now. I heard everything in here was put together by their new clan head, Bai Ye!!!"

Seeing her reaction, Shizune hurried to explain.

The Uchiha seemed different from before now.

After hearing Shizune's words, Tsunade froze for a moment. She mulled it over, then finally waved a hand. "Forget it. What does any of this have to do with me?!

"But when the next newspaper comes out, get me another copy. That story in there is pretty good. Fortunes can reverse in thirty years, huh?!"

Yet she was actually long past the age of enjoying stories...

Still, the Uchiha really were different from before.

The Uchiha taking up the pen-it really did feel rather absurd!