Inside the Uchiha Military Police headquarters, Haru looked at the furious Uchiha around him and revealed a satisfied smile.
"Quiet."
Haru raised a hand, signaling everyone to calm down, and the Uchiha under him quickly fell silent.
Everyone present stared at Haru.
Their captain had received the news first and immediately gathered them here. There was no way he intended to simply accept Hiruzen becoming Konoha's Third Hokage.
Haru looked at them and began speaking.
"Back then, it was the Uchiha and the Senju who built Konoha together. The First Hokage possessed unmatched power and could suppress all the petty threats of the ninja world with one hand alone!"
"The Second Hokage was full of schemes and could create all kinds of forbidden techniques as easily as breathing."
"Those two becoming Konoha's Hokage was only natural."
As he said that, Haru let out a mocking laugh.
"But what exactly is Hiruzen?"
"He bore the duty of protecting Tobirama-sama, yet in the end he abandoned Konoha's Hokage and fled back to the village in disgrace like a stray dog."
"He brought back Tobirama-sama's final order and shamelessly thinks he can become Konoha's Third Hokage."
"Can you accept such a ridiculous idea?"
"No!"
The Uchiha answered in unison.
If someone like that became Konoha's Hokage, it would be nothing less than a disgrace to the village.
"Good. I don't accept it either."
Haru nodded.
The way the original story had arranged this in his previous life could only mean one thing. Kishimoto must have completely lost his mind while drawing manga.
But in this real Naruto world, there was only one explanation for how that outcome could happen.
Mito had personally supported it from above, suppressed all opposition through sheer power and prestige, and forced Konoha's clans to swallow this pile of dog shit.
Thinking about it, it was almost laughable.
Mito had not chosen her own son to become Hokage.
Instead, she picked someone like Hiruzen.
Poor judgment. No wonder the Senju and the Uzumaki eventually died out and their clans were wiped away.
In the end, even the Uchiha had been dragged down into extinction too.
When she woke in the middle of the night, was she not afraid those clan members who should never have died would come crawling back to demand her life?
"Tekka, take your squad to your patrol sector and spread the word that the escort unit abandoned the Hokage and escaped alone."
"Inabi, take your squad to your sector and spread the word that the escort unit colluded with the Raikage and caused the Hokage's death."
"Tekimu, ..."
Haru fabricated a whole set of different stories in one breath.
Real information and fake information were mixed together and spread at the same time. Once that got added to the public's habit of twisting and exaggerating rumors, Haru could not even imagine what kind of final version would eventually circulate through Konoha.
The Uchiha under him were stunned by what they were seeing.
It could be done like this?
This was pushing the returning escort unit straight toward ruin.
If these stories spread, then forget whether Hiruzen could inherit the Hokage's seat. He would be lucky just to keep his life.
"Captain, brilliant. Truly brilliant!"
"You're even more sinister than Tobirama-sama!"
Without thinking, Inabi blurted it out.
The instant the words left his mouth, he regretted it and looked at Haru in terror.
"No, Captain, that's not what I meant. I was praising you. Clever... I meant clever, right, clever!"
At that moment, Haru really wanted to punch him.
Inabi, if you don't know how to speak, you can always just shut up.
Was this called being sinister?
This was strategy.
Did he even understand what a public opinion offensive was?
Haru looked at Inabi and gave him a standard smile, one that did not reach his eyes at all. It made Inabi's heart turn cold.
"I know. I understand exactly what you meant. After this is done, remember to come find me at my house. I'll personally test how your training has been going lately."
"No, Captain, I was wrong!"
"Brother, say something!"
"Help me out here!!!"
Inabi panicked, hoping Tekka would save him.
If the captain really beat him up, he would probably end up bedridden.
Tekka decisively moved several steps away from his stupid younger brother.
This fool was impossible to carry.
Every single time, he managed to run straight into the captain's muzzle. Clearly, he was asking for a beating.
Tekka absolutely could not let Haru's anger spread onto him too. The captain could beat both of them together without any difficulty.
"Inabi, shut up. All of you, go carry out your orders now. And when you're done, remember to come find me."
"Don't make me come looking for you!"
Haru shot Inabi a vicious glare, then waved his hand dismissively, signaling them to leave. He wanted to be alone for a while.
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone wisely walked out and began carrying out Haru's orders.
Not long after, the Uchiha Military Police became active across every busy corner of Konoha.
At nearly every prosperous street crossing, there was a shop owned by the Uchiha Clan. Sometimes even the land around it belonged to them too.
There were simply too many people in the massive Uchiha Clan.
Supporting such a huge family was no easy matter.
Daily necessities like food, clothing, housing, and transport could mostly be handled by the clan itself.
But training was different.
Ninja tools, ninjutsu training, and all kinds of medicinal supplements for cultivation were far beyond what an ordinary Uchiha clansman could afford alone.
A D-rank mission usually paid around 500 to 1,000 ryo. There was basically no danger, and they were usually handled by genin.
A C-rank mission paid more, around 2,000 to 10,000 ryo, but usually came with some danger, such as suppressing bandits. In peacetime, to ensure safety, the village often assigned a jonin as an escort, though that jonin would take half the payment.
A B-rank mission had a much higher danger level, and the opponent had to be at least chunin level or above. These were usually escort or protection missions too, and only chunin and above could participate. The rewards ranged from 50,000 to 150,000 ryo.
An A-rank mission was basically war-level work. It might involve helping other countries or villages solve major problems, or participating in warfare directly. Tasks at that level usually required fighting strong opponents, so the reward range was huge, from 150,000 all the way up to 1,000,000 ryo depending on the enemy.
Ordinary ninja usually only had access to missions up to B-rank, and they typically completed them in teams. Completion times were not fixed either. Some took days, some over ten days, and some stretched into months.
On average, a normal ninja earning around forty to fifty thousand ryo a month was already doing pretty well.
A refined steel kunai cost 2,000 ryo.
A shuriken cost 2,500 ryo.
An explosive tag cost 5,000 ryo.
After setting aside the cost of daily living, very little was left for training, ninja tools, or medicine.
Many lower and middle-ranked ninja had to empty out their savings just to equip themselves with one suit of armor, a few kunai and shuriken, plus maybe two or three explosive tags.
At times like this, the clan had to step in and subsidize all kinds of training expenses for free.
At present, civilian ninja made up less than one-third of Konoha's total ninja population.
The village's true backbone was still the ninja clans.
Wherever the Uchiha of the Military Police walked into a shop, that shop would receive a message. Then the clerks would casually let those messages slip out during business.
In just one afternoon, the news of Hokage Tobirama's death had spread across all of Konoha.
As for the story of the escort unit abandoning the Hokage and fleeing back to the village, that rumor turned into all kinds of different versions.
In the end, the most widespread version, the one that would continue circulating for decades, became something even Haru had not expected:
That Tobirama and Hiruzen had once shared a forbidden romance.
That Hiruzen had long used his body to curry favor with Tobirama, which was why he had become Tobirama's disciple, and why Tobirama had ultimately been willing to throw away his life just to protect Hiruzen.
(End of Chapter)
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