February 25th, 11:00 AM.
Hyuga Yu, accompanied by Terai, Sasori, Hiruko, and Kakuzu, arrived just outside the main residential district of Konohagakure, having traveled from the hot spring region surrounding the village.
Turning past the final pass, Konoha's green-painted gates came into Yu's view.
Even from a distance, he could see a massive crowd gathered in front of the gates. The entrance, wide enough to accommodate ten carriages side-by-side, was completely packed.
This made Yu feel slightly surprised. He turned his head to look at Terai beside him. "Am I this popular in Konoha?"
He clearly remembered that before he left the village, it was a profound mercy if these unruly villagers didn't whisper "deadlast" or "Hyuga trash" behind his back when they saw him.
Terai replied expressionlessly, "Of course. Lord Danzo is very generous, after all. Everyone who comes to the village gates to welcome you will receive a bag of rice."
With the Third Great Ninja War drawing to a close, all kinds of supplies were scarce. The price of a bag of rice had skyrocketed to new heights. It had to be said, this was an incredibly extravagant move by Danzo.
It would surely earn Hyuga Yu a good reputation among the civilians.
But hearing Terai say this, Yu only felt a slight twitch in his brow.
Seeing this, Terai immediately began spouting blatant nonsense. "Of course, the rice is secondary, Lord Tennin. They are primarily here out of admiration for your glory!"
Yu shook his head and scoffed, "Yeah, they get to watch a monkey show and get paid for it. Who wouldn't want that?"
Terai comforted him, "Having this kind of awareness shows that your political acumen has already met Lord Danzo's expectations. Lord Ryōma will be happy for you."
Meeting Danzo's expectations, but the one who would be happy is Aburame Ryōma?
Wait, what kind of bizarre cuckold plot is this?
Yu shot Terai a suspicious glance, then quickly adopted a slightly more serious expression and asked, "What are the arrangements for the ceremony later? You're not just going to make me go through the motions, are you?"
Terai immediately explained, "Of course not."
"According to Lord Danzo's arrangements, the first step is for you to appear before the public in a positive light. This is crucial—at the very least, the people of Konoha need to know who you are. And who exactly is 'Tennin'?"
Yu couldn't help but laugh. "I have to prove that I am me?"
"Exactly. That is politics."
Terai explained with a matter-of-fact expression, "Even though Root has already guided public opinion in advance so that Konoha's higher-ups and the major ninja clans are aware of the fact that 'Tennin' is Hyuga Yu, and this information has since spread among the civilians..."
"...However, your past image and your image during the Third Great Ninja War are completely asymmetrical. Therefore, for the sake of future plans, Lord Danzo needs you to reshape your image in everyone's eyes."
Yu keenly caught a blind spot in Terai's words. "The information among the civilians—that wasn't Root's doing?"
This meant that, aside from Root, someone else was manipulating public opinion regarding Hyuga Yu's return to the village.
"It wasn't," Terai shook his head, his brow furrowing slightly as he offered advice to Yu. "Root's operation to spread public opinion this time has gone out of control. Some malicious rumors have been mixed in. Therefore, no matter what you hear later, please do not get angry, and certainly do not take action to punish these unruly civilians."
"We will find the mastermind behind this later and purge those who spread the rumors."
Yu's eyes flashed slightly, and then he nodded. "Is that so... And then?"
"The second step is to meet with the financial backers who supported you in this Hokage election. However, due to certain other factors, most of the backers have only sent representatives to welcome you this time. They will not appear in person for this occasion. Therefore, you will need to gauge for yourself the appropriate attitude to take with these people."
"Among them, there are a few key figures: the Fire Country's Minister of Finance, Shota Onishi, who came from the capital, and Osamu Mukai, a subordinate of the Fire Daimyo's envoy, Yuya Suzuki..."
Terai quickly went over the figures who required attention, and Yu memorized them one by one. Hearing this, Yu also realized that during his time away from Konoha, the subtle and restrained storm of public opinion within the village had thoroughly blown up. This uproar was not as trivial as Terai made it out to be; it had already tangibly affected the level of trust his financial backers had in "Tennin."
As for the factors causing this public opinion storm, after his eyes flickered a few times, Yu quickly formed a guess in his heart and confirmed his subsequent course of action.
At this moment, Terai continued, bringing up the most crucial point: "The third step. Lord Danzo has invited the department heads and clan leaders of various factions within the village to observe the ceremony. Most of these people support Minato Namikaze, but there is also a significant portion of clans that hold marginal positions within the military merit faction backing Minato. These people can be won over. You need to meet with them and establish preliminary relationships—or at least give them a reason to pay you a visit."
"Of course, there might also be those who aren't on Lord Danzo's invitation list who show up on their own initiative. You can completely ignore those kinds of people."
Yu raised an eyebrow. "Not on the invitation list?"
Terai was concise and to the point: "The Hyuga Clan."
Yu almost laughed out loud. It was hard to imagine the scene of Danzo Shimura pointing at the noses of the haughty Main House members led by Hiashi Hyuga and telling them, "You are not allowed to attend the celebration."
"Finally, you will arrive at the Hokage building, where the Third will perform the ceremony of adorning you with the Hokage short haori."
"After the celebration concludes, Lord Danzo will meet with you."
By the time Terai quickly finished his briefing, the group had already arrived near the Konoha gates. They could clearly see the sheer mass of Konoha villagers gathered in front of the entrance. At that moment—
"Woah~!!"
"Woah~!!"
"WOAH~!!!"
Earth-shattering cheers erupted!
The clouds parted, and the midday sun spilled through, bathing the earth in golden light. The Konoha gates, the countless rows of houses clearly visible through them, and the distant Hokage Monument carved with three giant faces were all dyed a brilliant gold. In front of the packed Konoha gates, the crowd spontaneously split into two lines, clearing a path that led straight into the village.
As the paperbushes and camellias by the roadside trembled and swayed under the immense wave of sound, countless curious and expectant gazes converged in front of the gates, fixing upon the figure of the white-eyed youth dressed in a black combat uniform.
The atmosphere grew fervent; even the gentle breeze carried a lively, cheerful scent.
Terai, trailing half a meter behind Yu, suddenly stopped. Watching the scene unfold, the corners of his mouth beneath the mask curled into a subtle arc. "You three, please come with me." He reached out to block Sasori and the other two following behind Yu, then looked at Yu and nodded. "This is Lord Danzo's intention. I will make the proper arrangements."
Yu nodded, not feeling any dissatisfaction at being unable to bring his newly recruited subordinates into the village together. Everything Terai had said leading up to this point conveyed the exact same message: Konoha's internal affairs were not harmonious.
What he needed to prioritize right now was managing the situation inside the ninja village—a surface-level peace that concealed a surging undercurrent of malice!
Terai stood his ground and bowed slightly to Yu. He extended his arm toward the Konoha gates and declared loudly, "Then, please step onto your battlefield—"
"Lord Tennin!"
As his words fell...
"WOAH~!!!"
Another earth-shattering wave of cheers erupted!
"Lord Tennin!"
"It's Lord Tennin!"
"Wow, he's actually so small, how cute!"
"Lord Tennin, I support you! Become the Hokage!"
Under the gaze of countless eager and expectant eyes, amidst deafening cheers, the surging sea of people seemed to pave a smooth road straight to the Hokage's seat. A door to a brand-new world opened up before Hyuga Yu!
Though he knew very well that what lay behind this door was not just the flowers and applause he desired, and that the scene at the gates was nothing more than an illusion created by Danzo Shimura. Beneath these bouquets of flowers lay a rotting stench of human hearts, piled high with corpses, greed, and festering sores!
Still, Yu took a deep breath, his gaze hardening. Without looking back, he took long strides toward Konoha!
Treading on the solid earth, walking through the surging crowd, under a rain of camellia petals that had at some point been tossed into the sky, he maintained the calmest expression and the most composed posture as he crossed through this whitewashed illusion of peace.
He stepped through Konoha's gates—
The road suddenly broadened, and his field of vision immediately cleared. The cheers were left behind, the flowers and applause completely vanished, and the packed crowds were nowhere to be seen.
Waiting behind Konoha's gates were only two rows of reticent Root ninjas. Dressed in Root uniforms and wearing Root masks, they emanated an aura of murderous intent and cold ruthlessness.
"Lord Tennin!"
As Yu stepped into Konoha, the two rows—totaling eighteen ninjas—simultaneously gave a deep ninety-degree bow. After he passed them, they straightened up, quickened their pace, shifted their formation, and closely followed behind him in two columns.
The streets leading to Konoha's central district had all been cleared out in advance!
The roads were completely empty, swept immaculately clean. Even the oranges sold at roadside stalls bearing signs like "Yatai," "Direct Sales," and "Michi-no-Eki" were stacked into perfect pyramids. The stains in the crevices of the brick walls had been washed and disinfected beforehand.
Under such a chillingly austere atmosphere, not even a single bird dared to fly by!
Clearly, this was the true style of Root.
The doors of the houses on both sides were tightly shut, as if some man-eating demon lurked outside. Only a few cautious gazes fell from the cracks in the upper-floor windows. As Yu and his eighteen Root ninjas passed by, the unruly Konoha villagers inside didn't even dare to breathe. Only when Yu and the Root operatives had walked far away did they incessantly mutter curses from behind their window cracks.
Yu could already feel these gazes harboring malicious intent.
Coupled with his five senses, which were now enhanced by Yang Release and the Tenseigan Chakra Mode, he soon heard whispers entirely different from before he entered Konoha: "That's Tennin? Hah, what a massive show of arrogance!"
"He's from the Hyuga Branch House. Just a dog for the Main House. Now he's clinging to Elder Danzo's thigh. Heh, a dog flaunting its master's power!"
"I heard he used to be a weirdo, running around the streets in clothes looking like a kappa. Absolutely disgusting!"
"Hmph, he just got lucky, just like that eternal Genin master of his..."
"He didn't even attend the Ninja Academy properly and forced his way into the Konoha Hospital. I heard even the doctors there can't stand him. He made a few small contributions on the battlefield and now thinks he's a big shot."
"Keep your voice down, don't let him hear you."
"So what if he hears? Is he going to turn around and hit me?"
"Fighting is forbidden inside the village, even for Jonin. How would a mere Genin like him dare?"
One by one, these malicious, deliberately smeared comments began to spread and circulate rapidly in the shadows, permeating every street and alley in Konoha.
From Yu's past, his quirks, and his status, to his subjugation by the Main House, his wicked act of killing a Main House member to gouge out their eyes, and even using all sorts of excuses to smear the genuine military merits he had established as fraudulently claimed...
All kinds of rumors began to fly everywhere, deliberately guided by ninjas disguised as civilians!
As he walked along, Yu's expression remained perfectly calm. However, deep within his eyes, a trace of icy killing intent quietly flashed.
In the past, when I was weak, you called me a deadlast and trash. I didn't have the capability to make an issue of it. But now—
I am practically invincible in the ninja world, and yet there are still people who dare to use such despicable methods against me?
We will settle this score, slowly!
Yu maintained a placid expression, merely memorizing the chakras and auras of each ninja secretly spreading rumors. He knew very well that there was a mastermind behind this, but he was in no rush. After all, no matter how small a mosquito's legs are, they still have to be snapped off, right?
It wasn't until he strode swiftly past Konoha's central avenue and was nearing Konoha Tea Street at the village center that a large crowd of figures appeared ahead once more. This group stood in square formations, and most of them emanated the auras and chakra fluctuations of ninjas.
There were ninjas from major and minor clans: the Uchiha Clan, the Aburame Clan, the Kurama Clan, the Inuzuka Clan, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio comprising the Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi Clans, and the Kohaku Clan. Along with them were Konoha ninjas led by the higher-ups of major village departments—the Jonin Commander's squad, the Medical Corps, the Cryptanalysis Squad, the Interrogation Unit...
Behind them was a group of "ordinary people" of distinguished status: managers sent to negotiate by the bosses of the Fire Country's major multinational corporations, representatives dispatched by officials of all ranks in the Fire Country, and subordinates of envoys sent by a few great nobles and major landlords.
And at the very back of this crowd—which ironically placed them right at the very front facing Hyuga Yu—stood none other than the Hyuga Clan.
Led by Hiashi Hyuga, there was a host of Main House elders, members, and their wives and children, along with a number of Branch House higher-ups who served the Main House. The dense, sprawling crowd numbered well over a hundred.
At this moment, seeing Yu appear on the bleak, deathly silent street flanked by two rows of Root ninjas, Hiashi Hyuga's eyes immediately lit up. He hurried forward with an eager posture, his pure white eyes revealing an incomparably "sincere" emotion. Upon seeing Yu, it was as if he were looking at a beloved family member. He walked over so hastily that one of his ninja sandals—which had intentionally been tied loosely—slipped right off his foot.
"It's Yu!"
Before they even met face-to-face, Hiashi's warm, spring-breeze-like voice rang out. "Hyuga Yu, do you still remember me?"
"It's me, Hiashi Hyuga, the current head of the Main House. You've finally returned to the village!"
He ran forward with an enthusiastic face, adopting a very humble posture. Despite being the high-and-mighty head of the Main House, he treated Yu as an equal. When the distance between them closed to less than three meters, he outright opened his arms, seemingly intending to clap both hands on Yu's shoulders to offer him some hearty encouragement.
This scene immediately caught the attention of everyone gathered on Konoha Tea Street. The surrounding ninjas fixed their gazes upon them, and the leaders of both major and minor clans frowned, beginning to reevaluate the relationship between Hyuga Yu and the rest of the Hyuga Clan.
Further back, the envoy teams sent by the Fire Country's nobility knitted their brows deeply. Watching this unfold, flashes of severe dissatisfaction immediately appeared in their eyes.
These people had all been roped in by Danzo Shimura because of the name "Tennin." But now, seeing Hyuga Yu acting so close to the Hyuga Main House, they all felt an intense, severe discomfort. Their expressions changed drastically, as if they had just been cuckolded and then had a cockroach shoved down their throats.
However, right at this moment—
"Hyuga Yu, you've worked truly hard these past days!"
"Quickly, my good little brother, let me see if you've been injured!"
As Hiashi drew near, flashing a genuinely joyous smile—acting as though the person before him wasn't the Branch House's Hyuga Yu, but his own blood brother, Hizashi Hyuga—and moved in for a loving hug, Yu slightly narrowed his eyes. He instantly realized the purpose behind his teacher Danzo orchestrating this exact scene—
Suddenly, Yu furrowed his brow, revealing a look of utter disgust, much like seeing a cockroach jumping around right in front of him. He stopped dead in his tracks, causing Hiashi to hug thin air. Just as Hiashi tried to adjust his movements to salvage the awkwardness, Yu slowly lifted his head, revealing a pair of pure white, freezing, and imperious eyes!
Bearing a contemptuous gaze as if looking at a lowly insect, he slowly extended his right hand, raised it high into the air, and delivered a clean, resounding slap!
Slap!
The sound of the slap echoed across the entire street!
Struck by an overwhelming force, Hiashi was sent spinning half a circle in place, completely unable to control his own body!
He then raised his head, clutching his burning cheek with both hands, his face frozen in an expression of shock, disbelief, and furious indignation.
This caused the eyes of everyone present who witnessed the scene to widen, their pupils shrinking abruptly in shock!
Immediately after, they heard "Tennin's" cold, indifferent, and incredibly clear voice—sounding as natural as if it were a universal law, yet filled with absolute disgust: "What kind of thing are you, trying to act like a brother with me?"
"Kneel!"
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