A sinister reprisal, rumors everywhere

"Possessed by the Nine-Tails?"

Yamada Naoto ripped the flyer off the noticeboard. The paste had not dried yet, and it smeared half his hand.

The old vegetable seller beside him stepped back half a pace. Even when a radish rolled out of his basket onto the ground, he did not dare pick it up.

"What it says is really frightening." A civilian ninja leaned over to read. "Sasuke Uchiha manipulated the Nine-Tails' chakra, deliberately lured Itachi into killing on the night of the massacre, then seized power..."

"Bullshit!" Yamada Naoto crumpled the flyer into a ball. "I was outside the Hokage Building last night. If he really was possessed by the Nine-Tails, would the Third Hokage have just stood there watching?"

Someone in the crowd immediately retorted, "What do you know? The Nine-Tails is an expert at deceiving people. An eight-year-old becoming clan leader, killing people in public outside the Hokage Building—doesn't that strike you as sinister?"

Yamada Naoto turned. "Who are you?"

The man wore an old bamboo hat, his face hidden in its shadow. "Who I am doesn't matter. What matters is that we can't let the Nine-Tails hurt the village again."

"Hurt it again?" Yamada Naoto stepped forward. "Explain yourself."

The man in the old bamboo hat backed away. "Have you forgotten how many people died on the Night of the Nine-Tails? Now the Uchiha have produced another eight-year-old monster, and you still dare to be his dogs?"

The words had barely left his mouth when someone shouted from the alley entrance, "There's one outside my house too! It goes into more detail. It says Sasuke's eyes turned red last night, and he had fox tails behind him!"

"I saw it too! Red light was flashing everywhere outside the Hokage Building!"

"Could the reorganization of the Konoha Military Police Force be a way to plant the Nine-Tails' people in the village?"

The chatter rolled from one street to the next.

Dawn had barely broken, yet flyers already covered Konoha's walls, wells, and the entrance to the mission office. They claimed Sasuke was controlled by the Nine-Tails and that the dead Uchiha had been sacrifices. They even invented scenes of Nine-Tails chakra running wild and killing people. The handwriting was crude, but the words were venomous, aimed straight at the villagers' fears.

Outside the police force's temporary registration office, several civilian ninja who had only signed up the night before stood at the back of the line. They clutched their application scrolls but would not step forward.

Takaya arrived on patrol with his men, his expression dark. "Record everyone who tore down flyers and everyone who put them up!"

A newly registered Genin asked quietly, "Lord Takaya, Clan Leader Sasuke really has nothing to do with the Nine-Tails, right?"

Takaya's hand settled on his sword hilt. "Say that again?"

The Genin paled and hurriedly lowered his head. "That's not what I meant. The rumors sound so convincing. They even say someone saw fox tails with their own eyes."

"With their own eyes?" Takaya ripped a flyer off the wall and slapped it onto the table. "You were at the Hokage Building last night too. Did you see any?"

"No."

"Then who do you believe?"

The Genin gritted his teeth. "I believe the ledger from last night, but my family is scared."

Another civilian ninja beside him gave a bitter smile. "The moment my mother heard the words 'demon fox,' she wouldn't even let me leave the house. She said my father died in the street the year the Nine-Tails attacked."

For a moment, Takaya could not bring himself to curse.

By the time Fugaku arrived, the registration office was in chaos.

"Where's the clan leader?"

"In the compound courtyard." Takaya gritted his teeth. "The clan leader ordered everyone not to arrest rumor spreaders without authorization."

Fugaku stopped in his tracks. "No arrests?"

"Right. No tearing down all the flyers, no beating anyone, no closing off the streets. We're only allowed to keep records."

Fugaku's brows drew together. "Take me to him."

Inside the Uchiha Clan Compound, Sasuke sat on the courtyard's stone steps. His teacup sat untouched beside him. A stack of flyers lay on the table, sorted by neighborhood, with times marked in their corners.

Kakashi leaned against the courtyard wall, his forehead protector covering his left eye, and examined one of the flyers.

"They certainly know how to scare people." Kakashi put the paper down. "The Nine-Tails, the Uchiha, the massacre, a power grab—they've gathered every subject the village is most sensitive about."

Sasuke picked up another sheet. "Root's people put more effort into these than their mission reports."

Fugaku asked the moment he entered, "Why aren't we arresting them?"

Sasuke looked at him. "If we arrest people now, we'll only catch a few putting up flyers. The ones paying them, writing the lines, and spreading the stories are all hiding."

"So we just let them insult us?"

"Let them." Sasuke put the flyer back on the table. "The more they talk, the more people expose themselves."

Takaya could not hold back. "Clan leader, the new recruits at the registration office are wavering. If we delay any longer, the civilians will start fearing us again."

Sasuke looked up. "Are they afraid of the Nine-Tails, or afraid they chose the wrong side last night?"

Takaya froze.

Kakashi rolled up the flyer. "Lord Hokage has already received word. The Anbu asked whether they should issue a clarification."

Sasuke gave a short laugh. "Would he clarify anything?"

Kakashi said nothing.

Fugaku looked at Kakashi. "What did the Hokage Building say?"

Kakashi tucked the scroll into his ninja tool pouch. "Lord Hokage ordered the Anbu to observe and avoid escalating the conflict."

Takaya sneered. "They call that observing? They're watching Danzo smear us."

Sasuke tapped the tabletop. "Write it down. After receiving the flyers, the Hokage Building did not immediately investigate or ban them, did not publicly refute the rumors, and did not arrest the instigators."

Kakashi glanced at him. "You're going to drag the Third Hokage into the records too?"

"I'm only recording facts," Sasuke said. "If he's innocent, he should thank me for keeping a record."

Fugaku looked at the ever-growing pile of flyers on the table. "You already have a target?"

Sasuke did not answer. His gaze shifted beyond the courtyard wall.

On top of the wall, a blond boy had gotten halfway over when his shoe scraped a tile loose, leaving him dangling from the edge.

Takaya was about to draw his sword when Sasuke raised a hand to stop him. "Let him in."

Naruto landed in the courtyard with a thud, then climbed to his feet, rubbing his arm. "I-I'm not here to steal anything!"

Fugaku frowned. "Naruto Uzumaki?"

Seeing a courtyard full of Uchiha, Naruto flushed. "I heard them saying you're the Nine-Tails. I know how that feels. They're always calling me the Nine-Tails too."

Takaya's face remained cold. "Who let you in?"

Naruto ducked his head, but still looked at Sasuke. "Don't listen to their nonsense. When people point at you and yell, you just have to run fast enough that you can't hear them."

The courtyard fell quiet for a moment.

Kakashi turned his head away and said nothing.

Sasuke looked at Naruto. "How many years have you been running?"

The question stumped Naruto. He counted on his fingers for a moment, then gave up. "A long time, anyway."

"Did it work?"

Naruto lowered his head. "No. They still yell at me."

Sasuke lifted his teacup and finally took a sip. "Then why tell me not to let it bother me?"

Naruto scratched his head. "I-I don't know what to say either. I just thought... you saved your clan yesterday, and they're still insulting you. It's too much."

Fugaku looked at Sasuke, waiting for him to handle it.

Sasuke pushed a flyer in front of Naruto. "Can you read?"

Naruto's expression darkened. "Of course I can read!"

He picked up the flyer and read two lines, growing angrier with every word. "Lies! Nine-Tails chakra running wild? They've never even seen the Nine-Tails!"

Sasuke asked, "Have you?"

Naruto's lips moved. "I... I don't know."

Kakashi straightened a little.

Sasuke did not press him. He simply picked up a pen and wrote a few words in the flyer's corner. "This one, below Hokage Rock. The distributor described the Nine-Tails in excessive detail. Suspicious source."

Naruto stared. "You're not angry?"

"What good would anger do?" Sasuke placed the flyer to his left. "Let them keep talking. Once the whole village has heard them, we can settle accounts."

Naruto looked at him for a long moment before managing to say, "You really don't seem eight."

"You certainly do," Sasuke replied.

Naruto puffed out his cheeks. "Hey!"

Footsteps suddenly sounded outside the courtyard gate. Yamada Naoto arrived with two civilian ninja, carrying an unconscious man.

"Clan leader, we caught someone putting up flyers on South Street."

Sasuke looked at the man. "Who told you to arrest him?"

Yamada Naoto's expression changed. "We caught him in the act, and he tried to run."

"Search him."

Takaya stepped forward and pulled more than a dozen flyers from the man's clothes, along with two low-denomination Gold Notes.

Yamada Naoto immediately cursed. "Someone really is paying them!"

Sasuke examined the hidden mark on the Gold Notes. "Don't interrogate him, don't beat him, and don't let him die. Take him to the temporary holding site. Record the location and time of his arrest and everything he was carrying."

Yamada Naoto grew anxious. "We're not asking who's behind him?"

"He's only the outermost layer." Sasuke handed the Gold Notes to Kakashi. "Make a rubbing of the hidden mark."

After examining them, Kakashi's eye twitched. "Notes from the Underground Black Market Bounty Exchange. Not an official Konoha channel."

Fugaku understood. "Danzo is using black market money to fund paid rumor spreaders."

Sasuke set down his teacup. "Danzo isn't the only one moving. The people stirring up trouble in the streets, steering the conversation at the mission office, and discouraging recruits at registration-every line has people working it."

Takaya asked, "Clan leader, how long are you going to wait?"

Sasuke looked outside the courtyard as another burst of shouting rose from the street.

"Until they've all collected their pay."

Inside the Hokage Building, the Third Hokage sat behind his desk, smoke gathering by the window.

An Anbu placed a stack of flyers on the desk. "Lord Hokage, the rumors are spreading quickly. Should we publicly refute them?"

The Third Hokage flipped through two sheets, his fingertip stopping on the words "Nine-Tails."

Utatane Koharu stood beside him. "If we intervene now, Sasuke will use the opportunity to demand an investigation into the Root remnants."

Mitokado Homura had changed his sleeves, but his expression was still ugly. "It wouldn't hurt to let the rumors suppress him a little. An eight-year-old's reputation is rising too quickly. He'll get out of control."

The Third Hokage set down his pipe. "There must be no casualties."

Mitokado Homura snorted. "As long as the Uchiha don't act, nothing will happen."

The Anbu hesitated. "Sasuke hasn't taken action. He's recording the sources of the flyers."

The Third Hokage's fingers stilled on the desk.

Utatane Koharu frowned. "Is he waiting for evidence again?"

No one answered.

At the Uchiha Clan Compound, Naruto crouched below the steps, eating a rice ball Sasuke had someone bring him. Even with his mouth full, he kept talking.

"Those people are awful. If you want to fight, I can help you argue with them."

Sasuke glanced at him. "What can you do?"

Naruto thumped his chest. "I can use Shadow Clones! Well, I can't yet, but I definitely will someday!"

The corner of Takaya's mouth twitched.

Kakashi coughed. "Naruto, go home once you've finished eating. It isn't safe outside right now."

Naruto swallowed his rice ball. "I'm not afraid of them."

"Whether you're afraid doesn't matter," Sasuke said. "You're used to their insults. That actually makes you useful."

Naruto blinked. "Useful?"

"We'll discuss it later." Sasuke rose and divided the flyers on the table into several piles. "Takaya, none of the new recruits are allowed to withdraw. If their families are frightened, have the registrars visit and explain. Yamada Naoto, take some men to guard the registration office. Don't arrest anyone. Just record their faces."

Yamada Naoto cupped his fist. "Understood."

Fugaku asked, "What if the Third Hokage keeps pretending not to see?"

Sasuke looked toward the Hokage Building. "Then let the villagers ask him themselves."

Naruto was about to say something else when louder shouting came from outside the courtyard.

An Uchiha guard ran in. "Clan leader, people are gathering outside the Hokage Building. They're holding up flyers and demanding that Lord Hokage expel you from the village."

Takaya drew his sword half an inch. "I'll take men over there!"

Sasuke raised his hand and pressed down on the sword hilt, his gaze falling on the last flyer on the table.

Ink from the black-market Gold Note still stained its corner.

He pushed his teacup aside and stood.

"Let them shout." Sasuke picked up the neatly sorted stack of payment records. "Once they've shouted themselves hoarse, it'll be easier to hear the accounts."