Homura hesitated. "Sasori was talented, sure, but he was still young. He wasn't really a serious threat to Rasa's position, was he?"
Hiruzen's brow furrowed. "Does that matter? We're spreading a rumor, not writing history. The point is whether it creates chaos and hurts Sunagakure. Are you saying I actually had a reason to kill Minato now?"
Homura shut up.
Danzo spoke up. "Lord Hokage, one rumor at a time works better. Spreading two at once might dilute the impact."
Hiruzen nodded. "You're right. We'll go with Rasa secretly murdering Sasori. If it drives a wedge between him and Chiyo, even better. Danzo, take a team to the Land of Wind and start spreading it. You have the most experience with this kind of work."
Danzo's face stiffened. "Me?"
"Yes. You're the best man for the job, and I know you already have agents inside Sunagakure. Get it done quickly."
Danzo clearly didn't want to go. He had other priorities right now. "Lord Hokage, can someone else handle it? I have urgent matters—"
"No. I don't trust anyone else with this. Only you can do it right."
Danzo had no choice. "Understood. I'll leave tomorrow."
"Good. Make it fast." Hiruzen turned to Homura. "Once Danzo's rumor starts circulating, I want you to echo it in Konoha Weekly. Copy Sand's style exactly. Can you handle that?"
Homura thumped his chest. "Consider it done, Lord Hokage."
After they left, Hiruzen felt a small surge of satisfaction. He stared out the window. "Rasa, you think you're the only one who can weaponize rumors? Konoha can play that game too."
The good mood didn't last.
On his way home, Hiruzen passed a group of villagers playing Ninja Kill on the street.
"I activate Will of Fire!" one player shouted.
His opponent groaned. "That jutsu is broken! Total bullshit!"
The player shrugged. "Hey, it's on the card. If it's there, I get to use it."
The spectators started chatting.
"Minato-sensei's card is actually really strong."
"Lord Kazekage must've really respected him. They fought each other and still admired one another's strength."
"Shame Minato died so young."
"Maybe that's why they gave him the Will of Fire ability—because he was the one who truly lived by it."
"'Where the leaves dance, the fire lives on.' Sounds nice, but it's just pretty words."
"Minato gave his life for the next generation. He shouldn't have had to die."
Someone tried to shush the speaker. "You really gonna say that out loud?"
"But it's true! Hokage didn't show up at all during the Nine-Tails attack. Minato was still young—he had decades left. Wouldn't it have been better for Konoha if he survived instead?"
Hiruzen's face turned to stone.
The second he got home, he started smashing everything in sight. Books, scrolls, furniture—nothing was safe.
"Selfish! Every last one of you selfish bastards!"
"Minato could've protected you for another thirty years, so you'd rather the old man died instead? I deserve to die just because I'm old?"
He kicked over a table. "Do any of you even understand what actually happened that night? Blame the Uchiha. Blame Minato and Kushina themselves! Kushina was the Nine-Tails jinchuriki—she knew getting pregnant would weaken the seal, but she still insisted on having the baby. Was that more important than the safety of the entire village?"
"My own wife died that night too! I did everything I could. Why the hell should I have to die on top of it? Just because I'm old? Just because of some flowery line about the Will of Fire?"
Hiruzen stood there breathing hard, chest heaving. After a long while he forced himself to calm down.
"Don't fall into Rasa's trap. Ordinary people are idiots. There's no point arguing with them. I've already done more than enough for this village. Everything I've done has been for Konoha."
...
...
In Iwagakure, Ōnoki stared at the two new cards in his hands with a strange expression. One was Minato Namikaze. The other was old Roshi.
"That little desert rat is really trying to piss off Konoha and Hiruzen," he muttered. "Is he doing this on purpose? Has Sunagakure already prepared for another war?"
He frowned, suddenly serious. But his spies said Sand was pouring every resource into that massive Sun Disk project. They didn't have the strength for another full-scale conflict right now. So why provoke Konoha like this?
Still, he had to admit the move was clever. One game could shape the entire ninja world's opinions for decades. Minato's card especially was a brutal blow to Hiruzen—tying the Will of Fire directly to a dead man while the living Hokage looked like the opposite.
Ōnoki turned his attention to Roshi's card.
[Roshi – Lava Man]
[Ninjutsu 1: Scorch Release – Deal one extra point of bleed damage to the enemy.]
[Ninjutsu 2: Dodge – Become immune to one attack.]
His eyes narrowed. "What the hell is 'Dodge' supposed to mean?"
A cold suspicion crept in. "Is that little bastard Rasa implying I forced Roshi out? That he ran away because he was scared of me?"
Ōnoki's grip tightened on the card. "Sunagakure wants to stir shit inside Iwagakure too, huh?"