The shift in public opinion inside the village allowed Danzo to breathe a sigh of relief.
He had pushed everything onto the Uchiha.
And the others had believed it.
The ones who controlled Kirigakure's ANBU ninja were the Uchiha.
The ones who chose Nohara Rin as the target were the Uchiha.
The ones who spread rumors afterward and drove a wedge between Konoha and Kirigakure were still the Uchiha.
Even that suicide note had been forged by the Uchiha.
The Uchiha were guilty of monstrous crimes!
The Uchiha were vicious beyond redemption.
The Uchiha were the true culprits.
But what gave Danzo a headache was that he still had not discovered who the hidden mastermind targeting the Shimura clan from the shadows was. For now, he could only restrain the Shimura clan's people.
He had them stay within the village as much as possible.
That was the only way to ensure their safety.
But in the end, this was not a long-term solution.
It treated the symptoms, not the root.
The Shimura clan was a ninja clan. To survive, it had to interact with the outside world.
Moreover, the Shimura clan had quite a number of ninja. They could not only take missions inside the village forever.
"A petty rat who only knows how to hide in the dark!"
"Once this old man finds you, I will tear you into pieces!"
Kirigakure.
Yagura Karatachi did not believe Danzo's explanation, but he also had no intention of continuing to pursue the matter.
Kirigakure's current situation was terrible. Everything had to be rebuilt.
There was no time or energy left to deal with Konoha.
Previously, sending death soldiers had only been done to pacify the resentment inside the village toward Konoha.
Yagura rubbed his forehead, feeling an unbearable headache.
The village's situation was far too bad.
The Elder had sacrificed himself voluntarily, but the ninja from his faction had not fully accepted that act.
Instead, they had begun to resent Yagura, the Mizukage.
Then there was the Hoshigaki clan.
Even though the Hoshigaki clan was only a small family and could not even truly be called a ninja clan, that was precisely why people believed Hoshigaki Kisame had not been designated by Sunagakure, but had been targeted by the village's higher-ups for retaliation.
Along with Hoshigaki Goki's death—
That made other small families and civilian ninja feel fear.
They worried that the same thing might one day fall on their heads.
Yagura simply could not control all of Kirigakure.
Even though he had pushed many mistakes onto the Third Mizukage.
"Jinchuriki."
"The Bloody Mist."
"Ninja clans."
"These three matters are the most important issues for Kirigakure right now."
"They must be resolved as soon as possible."
Yagura's eyes flickered uncertainly.
"The Three-Tails will take too long to revive. The current jinchuriki of the Six-Tails is too young. In the short term, he cannot provide enough help to the village."
"The village cannot wait."
"Therefore, the best method is to seal the Six-Tails into my body."
"Elder Harusame—if he can be persuaded, then I will persuade him."
"If he cannot be persuaded, then as Mizukage, I can only act alone."
"After all, this is for the village."
"As for the Bloody Mist…"
Yagura thought for a while.
"The Bloody Mist has indeed created quite a few talents for the village. Hoshigaki Kisame, Momochi Zabuza…"
"But right now, the village has too few people."
"Geniuses may not be more important than ordinary talent."
"It can be stopped for now."
"Once the village has enough manpower, I can decide whether to restore it based on the situation at that time."
"Ninja clans are a major problem."
"The Uchiha. The Kaguya. The Hongshan…"
"Three ninja villages. Three ninja clans. All of them rebelled."
"Even the Hozuki clan would have caused trouble long ago if not for the Third Mizukage's suppression."
"They are clearly members of the village, yet they place their clans above everything."
"They see only clan interests, not village interests."
"The very existence of ninja clans is naturally opposed to the village."
"They are all selfish people."
"Only by uprooting the ninja clans can the village develop to its greatest extent. Otherwise, the village will always be restrained by them."
"But eliminating ninja clans will inevitably meet enormous resistance."
"I need help."
"Who can help me?"
Yagura looked around, and his eyes were filled with confusion.
"In this vast Kirigakure, there is not a single person who can help me."
"I must rely on myself alone."
"Can I still reach the far shore?"
A remote valley.
The entrance was hidden, the surroundings steep. Ordinary people could not approach it.
The Uchiha and Kaguya clans were hiding here.
With the end of the Third Great Ninja War, the situation of the Uchiha and Kaguya clans had instantly become even worse.
Whether it was Konoha or Kirigakure, both had reasons to deal with the Uchiha and the Kaguya.
And now, they had already begun to act.
When members of the Uchiha and Kaguya clans moved outside, they had to be cautious.
Extremely cautious.
If their identities were exposed, what awaited them would likely be endless pursuit.
And they could not return to their base and ask their clansmen for support either.
That was exactly what Konoha and Kirigakure wanted to see.
It would bring disaster upon the entire Uchiha and Kaguya clans.
Uchiha Yashiro's face was dark.
"Shameless!"
"Danzo is shameless!"
"Hiruzen Sarutobi is shameless!"
"Konoha is shameless!"
"It's exactly the same as before."
"No matter what terrible thing happens, they push it onto my Uchiha clan and make us take the blame, even when it clearly has nothing to do with us."
"They keep targeting the Uchiha clan."
"They slander us."
"They destroy our reputation."
"They get our ninja killed."
"They force the Uchiha into opposition with those damned, stupid villagers."
After leaving Konoha, Uchiha Yashiro had thought for a long time.
At last, he had understood why the Uchiha had fallen into their current situation.
It was because of the policies passed down by the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama.
A single phrase—
The Uchiha are evil by nature.
It had beaten the Uchiha clan down until they could not turn over.
So much so that whenever people mentioned the Uchiha, two words would rise in their hearts.
Evil.
Even the way they looked at the Uchiha had changed.
How could the Uchiha, a clan rich in emotion and sensitive by nature, endure that kind of stimulation?
Add in the Konoha higher-ups deliberately targeting them—
And the conflict between them and Konoha had grown deeper and deeper.
"The Uchiha should never have joined hands with the Senju to found Konoha."
"Madara-sama was wrong at first, but later, he woke up."
"But the other clansmen sank into false peace and brought disaster upon their descendants."
Uchiha Yashiro looked at the words on the paper and felt sick.
"It must have been the Uchiha."
"The Uchiha have always been like that."
"This is revenge against Konoha."
"The Kaguya clan also participated."
"I truly hope these two ninja clans disappear like the Hongshan clan."
"They are nothing but disasters to the shinobi world!"
…
At that moment—
An Uchiha ninja quickly ran in.
"Yashiro-sama, someone outside is asking to see you."
"Who?"
"I don't know. He's wearing black clothes and a black mask. He defeated our people in just a few moves. He said he came to make a deal with us. He says he can change the fate of the Uchiha."