The newspaper's influence gradually began to take hold.
At the Hatake Clan residence.
As Kakashi read the newspaper, his emotions were complicated.
Now that the truth about what his father had done all those years ago had finally been set straight.
An indescribable feeling welled up inside him.
As it turned out, his father's sacrifice back then had been unnecessary.
"Kakashi, come face me in our one hundred and ninety-eighth duel!"
"..."
Outside the door.
Hearing Guy's voice, Kakashi remained silent. He gave no answer, and the room stayed quiet.
Right now, he had no interest in any duel.
Facing his father's memorial portrait, he picked up the silk cloth beside it and wiped it clean.
So many years had passed. Others might have forgotten, but Kakashi could never forget that day.
He had never imagined that the Uchiha would be the ones to do this for the Hatake Clan.
At the Hyuga Clan residence, the main family members were gathered together, discussing something. Nearby, the strong-willed, stubborn Neji read the newspaper, struggling desperately to hold back the tears in his eyes.
Yet Hyuga Hiashi still noticed them.
This child...
After today's news came out, he had handed the newspaper to Neji.
All these years, Hyuga Hiashi had been willing to bear it all, including Neji's hatred, because he had been the one who should have died.
Hizashi had died in his place.
There was nothing wrong with Neji hating him for that.
Now, the newspaper had accurately reconstructed the truth of what had happened back then, though he felt that it made no difference to him.
Even clearing his name could not bring Hizashi back.
But Neji would learn the truth sooner or later. Since that was the case, he had decided to let him know sooner.
"I'm sorry... Uncle..."
Neji lowered his head. In the past, he would never have uttered those words, even if someone had killed him.
But now that he knew the truth, he realized just how wrong he had been.
His hatred had been misplaced all along.
Hyuga Hiashi had not forced Hizashi Hyuga to his death. The Hyuga Clan had chosen to go to war, but Hiruzen Sarutobi had refused, while Kumogakure had demanded that the culprit be handed over.
That was why the situation had reached a stalemate.
In the end, Hizashi had chosen to take his own life to settle the matter.
And all these years, Neji had not even known the truth.
"It's all right. I owe Hizashi that much."
Hyuga Hiashi spoke calmly. He had never been good at expressing his feelings.
He had always felt that he owed Hizashi for that tragedy.
No amount of words could change that.
However, that was not what occupied Hyuga Hiashi's mind right now. He was also recalling things he had discussed with Bai Ye before.
Perhaps he really could work with Bai Ye to change the Hyuga Clan's circumstances.
The Caged Bird Seal had indeed protected many Byakugan from falling into outside hands.
But it had also held back a great many talented members of the clan.
After all, the Byakugan and the Sharingan were different.
The Byakugan consumed very little chakra, unlike the Sharingan, which could not be deactivated at all.
And for someone who was not an Uchiha, the chakra drain was enormous.
Kakashi, for example, had actually been held back by his Sharingan.
True, he had earned the title of Copy Ninja.
But ultimately, that meant little. He knew plenty of ninjutsu, but lacked the chakra to keep up.
More importantly, it had forced Kakashi onto a path he had never intended to take.
Originally, Kakashi had wanted to follow the same path as Hatake Sakumo.
But the Sharingan had forced him to change course, even dragging down his potential.
The Byakugan, however, was different!
The Byakugan was genuinely ready to use as soon as it was transplanted. Once the Caged Bird Seal was removed, many Byakugan would undoubtedly fall into outside hands.
Most importantly, this would inevitably expose the Hyuga Clan to more attacks from other ninja.
Even so, Hyuga Hiashi still believed that the Caged Bird Seal had to be dealt with.
Otherwise, it would completely restrict the Hyuga Clan's development.
The strength Bai Ye had displayed this time had only reinforced his resolve.
After all, why did the Uchiha Clan produce so many geniuses?!
Was the Hyuga Clan incapable of producing them?!
That was absolutely impossible!
The Hyuga Clan had plenty of geniuses too, so why did they all end up fading into mediocrity?!
In the end, wasn't it because of the Hyuga Clan's Caged Bird Seal?!
The restrictions imposed by the Caged Bird Seal gave the Byakugan a weakness, which held back the Hyuga Clan's development.
After Bai Ye's display of strength, how could the Hyuga Clan compete with the Uchiha Clan for the title of strongest ocular jutsu clan?!
They simply could not compete!
Perhaps they had once stood a chance, but now it was completely impossible!
That alone meant the Hyuga Clan had to change.
But Hyuga Hiashi also knew very well how difficult it would be for him to bring about that change.
Whether he worked with Bai Ye in the future or took some other approach.
For now, Hyuga Hiashi felt that perhaps there was no need to rush.
Meanwhile, as Naruto walked through the streets that day, he felt that things were completely different from before.
When someone later told him the truth, Naruto froze.
He was not the Demon Fox at all. He was the Hokage's son!
He was the son of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze. His mother was Kushina Uzumaki, the previous Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
The Demon Fox inside him was actually the Nine-Tails, and his parents had sacrificed their lives to seal him inside Naruto!
"Hey, Naruto! What are you spacing out for?!"
Choji gave Naruto a helpless look.
Ever since learning his true identity, Naruto seemed to have done nothing but sit there in a daze.
This kid!
The way the village treated him today was completely different from before!
"Just let him calm down on his own. His brain definitely can't handle that much at once right now!"
Shikamaru lay on the grass nearby with a foxtail stem dangling from his mouth. Gazing at the sky, he looked a little wistful.
To be fair, Shikamaru had been very surprised when he learned about it too.
The rumors had already been circulating through the village then.
Most people had still been skeptical, but Shikamaru had gone home and asked his father. He had learned the truth a little earlier than those who found out through the newspaper.
Who would have thought...
Naruto was actually the Hokage's son.
And now that this had been confirmed, the villagers' attitude toward Naruto had changed dramatically today.
Even the students at the Ninja Academy were acting the same way.
In the past, aside from Shikamaru and a few other friends, Naruto had basically been disliked by everyone at the Ninja Academy.
Part of it had been because of the Demon Fox.
The other part had been because of Naruto's pranks.
His loud, boisterous attempts to attract attention really had been somewhat off-putting.
There had already been prejudice against him.
Naturally, plenty of people had disliked Naruto.
But now that the newspaper had revealed his identity, even the previously unpopular Naruto suddenly seemed rather good-looking to everyone.
Shikamaru, however, did not have many thoughts about it. He would treat Naruto just as he always had.
Naruto probably could not take it as casually as he did, though.
Right now, Naruto was probably struggling to come to terms with it.
After all, going from the Demon Fox to the Hokage's son was an enormous contrast, especially after all the mistreatment Naruto had endured over the years...
"Shikamaru, why do you think the Third Hokage kept this from getting out back then? Was it really like the Uchiha said?!"
Choji nodded in understanding.
He thought it made sense. If he were in Naruto's place, he would probably react the same way.
But Choji was also curious about why it had happened. According to the newspaper, they could easily have revealed Naruto's identity back then.
Yet they had not...
He had no idea what they had been thinking.
At Choji's words, a flicker appeared in Naruto's previously unfocused eyes.
He did not know how he should face the Third Hokage.
Though he no longer needed to face him now.
Still, when Naruto thought back on how Hiruzen Sarutobi had treated him, his impression had always been quite favorable.
But it was just as Choji had asked.
Why hadn't Hiruzen Sarutobi revealed who I was?!
Surely...
That couldn't have been so difficult, could it?!
This is so frustrating!!
Naruto felt as though his brain was itching. Right now, this whole matter simply seemed too troublesome.
I'd better stop thinking about things that take so much brainpower.
All I need to know is that my identity has changed now.
I can think about the rest once I've sorted things out.
Come to think of it... this really is nice...
Meanwhile, as the repercussions continued to spread.
Such a major incident had filled the entire Shinobi World Daily with accounts of what had happened in Konoha yesterday.
These newspapers offered enough juicy gossip to leave anyone stuffed.
And the news was not confined to Konoha.
Across the Land of Fire, the newspapers spread rapidly, soon reaching Tanzaku Town.
Having just finished a busy day and gotten ready to skip town, Tsunade saw Shizune hurrying toward her with a newspaper in her hands.
She was a little puzzled.
Shizune really seemed rather strange today.
No...
Actually, ever since newspapers had become available, Shizune had acted a little like this every day. Tsunade was used to it by now.
After all, every day's news was big news to Shizune.
But today, something about Shizune still seemed off.
At the very least, she looked more hurried than before.
"Lady Tsunade, something terrible has happened!!!"
Shizune hurried up to Tsunade, speaking between gasps.
This time, she truly felt that things were serious!
Today, she had gone to buy a newspaper as usual.
Although they were in the Land of Fire and not particularly far from Konoha, delivering the newspapers still took some time.
That was why they only arrived around this time each day, and Shizune always went to buy one!
She quite enjoyed reading the stories in them.
She had thought today would be another ordinary day, reading the stories first and then the news.
But the red lettering on the largest section of the page had caught her attention.
After she finished reading the entire news report, only one thought remained in Shizune's mind.
It's over!
We're absolutely doomed!
She had to tell Tsunade about this immediately, so she had rushed straight over.
"What are you making such a fuss about? What's gone wrong this time?!"
Tsunade spoke dismissively.
Looking at Shizune, she wondered what could possibly be so bad.
Every time she came over, the first thing out of her mouth was that something terrible had happened.
"It's true!! Lady Tsunade, look! The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, is dead! Bai Ye, the Uchiha Clan's Clan Head, killed him!!!"
Bai Ye had indeed made no alterations to the newspaper's headline.
Everything that had happened yesterday had been recorded in the newspaper, and that was what Shizune found most outrageous.
He had killed the Hokage and even put it in the newspaper. Bai Ye was outrageously arrogant!
But after reading the reasons listed there, she knew that if they were true, there was absolutely nothing wrong with what he had done!
After all, the Uchiha had already been driven into a corner. It was only natural for them to fight back at that point.
Still, even though Shizune felt there really might be nothing wrong with it, she did not dare say so.
He had been Tsunade's teacher!
After hearing Shizune's words, Tsunade, who had been utterly unconcerned just moments before, stiffened, though her expression soon returned to normal.
But to Tsunade, the news had come like a bolt from the blue.
Even if she no longer felt as strongly about Konoha or Hiruzen Sarutobi as she once had.
She still could not help being shocked when she heard the news.
After all, she knew a little about the Uchiha's situation.
Hadn't she been reading about it in the newspapers lately?!
But she truly had not expected Uchiha Bai Ye to kill Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Oh, and Lady Tsunade... Konoha has already chosen its Fifth Hokage. It's Uchiha Bai Ye..."
As though something else had occurred to her, Shizune continued.
As if killing him wasn't enough, he had to disgrace him too!!!
The man who had killed the Third Hokage had actually turned around and become the Fifth Hokage, and from the looks of it, he seemed to have been nominated by Konoha's clans.
That certainly gave her something to think about.
In other words, there was a very good chance that things had happened exactly as Bai Ye had said.
If that really was the case, then Hiruzen Sarutobi had been utterly dishonorable.
It was not just the Uchiha. So many others were involved, and some of those matters even concerned Tsunade.
At that thought, Shizune continued, "Oh, and... there's another piece of news in this newspaper that might have something to do with you..."
She felt that this news might bring back painful memories for Tsunade.
But in Shizune's view, if Tsunade read the newspaper, she would find out sooner or later, even if Shizune said nothing...
After hearing that, Tsunade snatched the newspaper from her and said, "I'll read it myself!!!"
By then, the few things Shizune had told her had already shocked her enough.
And now there was something involving her too?!
What had she done?!
Before you continue