harleyscars Chapter 187 The Hokage Conspiracy Theory of a Konoha Scoundrel
Chapter 187 The Hokage Conspiracy Theory of a Konoha Scoundrel
Chapter 188 The Hokage Conspiracy Theory of a Konoha Scoundrel
In this tense atmosphere, many ANBU ninjas focused their attention on Sarutobi no Saki's not-so-tall back.
They had all witnessed the Hokage's indecisive, weak, and hesitant attitude when facing Uchiha Izumi.
But that doesn’t mean they don’t want Hiruzen Sarutobi to stand up for them.
The other side has clearly targeted Konoha's Anbu. Is the Hokage going to continue to be indecisive?
Hiruzen Sarutobi could naturally feel their gazes.
"Yamada Keino." At this moment, Uchiha Ikezumi began calling out names one after another, her voice as calm and even as ever, yet enough to make the hearts of those whose names were called tighten suddenly: "Inoue Yuto, Inuzuka Takeya—"
When Hiruzen Sarutobi heard those names, he couldn't help but gasp inwardly.
These were all elite ninjas from the Anbu, and also the people that Hiruzen Sarutobi trusted most.
These people had carried out many missions assigned by Hiruzen Sarutobi, and they had all completed them perfectly, making them heroes of Konoha.
The most crucial point is the group's modus operandi. Hiruzen Sarutobi knew this; they would selectively become cold-blooded when carrying out missions. And once the ANBU ninjas turned cold, it would likely cause unnecessary casualties outside of the mission itself.
Hiruzen Sarutobi used to turn a blind eye to this, as long as the tasks assigned to him were completed perfectly.
As long as it doesn't endanger the safety of the village, it's fine.
And in the past, no one would hold these people accountable for their mistakes.
This caused Hiruzen Sarutobi to almost forget about it.
Until now.
The moment the "crisis" arrives.
He finally remembered.
"Looks like they're not planning to turn themselves in." Seeing that no one stepped forward, Uchiha Izumi coldly gave the order: "Police force, listen up! Take down all the Anbu ninjas whose names I've called! Put them in the police interrogation room, and then notify the Yamanaka clan ninjas to come over and have them search these people's memories."
"Yes! Master Chiquan!"
Uchiha Ikezumi's tough stance immediately excited many police ninjas.
How many years has it been since the Uchiha clan has been this assertive?
They can't even remember anymore.
Especially after Fugaku Uchiha took power, the entire Uchiha clan, under the village's constant pressure, kept retreating and bowing their heads, almost being trained into a dog by Konoha.
now---
Finally, I can hold my head high!
Upon seeing the group of police ninjas advancing, Hiruzen Sarutobi gritted his teeth and immediately said, "Ikezumi! I believe their actions are entirely justified! Furthermore, the police have no right to arrest adult members of the Konoha Anbu! The Anbu are a secret elite force under the Hokage, not subject to the jurisdiction of the police. During missions, they are not bound by the law!"
"This farce should end!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi ultimately decided to protect the Anbu at all costs, because this was the foundation upon which he could maintain his position as Hokage.
With the Sarutobi clan's attitude towards him gradually turning cold, the Anbu was the only weapon he had left.
As for the roots?
The Root organization, now under the control of Koharu Utatane, had become so useless that even Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't stand it anymore; he had selectively ignored it.
The standoff between the Anbu ninjas and the police force, coupled with the presence of prominent figures from the two villages, Uchiha Ikezumi and Sarutobi Hiruzen, all made it to the scene.
Naturally, this attracted the attention of many daring Konoha villagers.
Both Uchiha Izumi and Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke quite loudly, and the other two heard their conversation.
This caused the Konoha villagers, who had gathered to watch, to whisper among themselves, "Why are the Anbu ninjas exempt from the jurisdiction of the police force and the law? Why are we ordinary ninjas subject to the police force? Is this fair? Aren't we all ninjas? Aren't we all Konoha villagers? Why are these Anbu ninjas, who always wear masks, so special?"
A Konoha genin muttered something under his breath, expressing his dissatisfaction.
Clearly, he was quite dissatisfied with the ANBU ninjas.
After all, sometimes the actions of the ANBU ninjas within the village can indeed be quite domineering and unreasonable.
They can take you away for investigation without giving you a chance to explain. Meanwhile, the Uchiha ninjas in the police force can readily cite legal provisions, leaving you speechless.
"Didn't you hear the Hokage say that the Anbu is his secret force? They must enjoy special privileges reserved for the Hokage. Under such circumstances, wouldn't they be superior to others?"
A Konoha Chunin, always eager for drama, chimed in with a comment.
If someone looks closely, they can see that the Nara clan crest is embroidered on his clothes.
"If you have nothing to hide, why can't you let the Yamanaka clan investigate your memories?" Nara clan chuckled and continued, "You must have broken the law knowingly, and then you felt guilty."
He didn't lower his voice when he spoke, and it naturally reached the ears of Hiruzen Sarutobi and many other ANBU ninjas.
"This guy—" An ANBU ninja frowned as he looked at the Nara clan's Chunin: "It's the Nara clan—"
In the eyes of the ANBU ninjas, the Ino, Shika, and Cho clans have almost become lackeys of "absolute justice".
and·.
In fact, there are still members of the Ino-Shika-Cho clan in the Anbu today.
This made the ANBU ninja unable to resist turning his gaze to his colleagues who came from the Ino-Shika-Cho triad.
I noticed that my colleagues were standing at the very edge of the crowd, seemingly indifferent to what was going on.
"Shout—" the ANBU ninja muttered under his breath, "Even after joining the ANBU, they still chose to stand against the Hokage? The Hokage made the biggest mistake of training them."
But to the surprise of this ANBU ninja, the nearby Konoha civilians seemed to have been misled by the words of the Nara clan Chunin.
"Oh, right!" a civilian exclaimed in sudden realization. "These masked ninjas are protected by the Hokage. Even if they do something wrong, they'll still be safe and sound. No wonder so many people want to be ninjas; it turns out ninjas have this kind of privilege."
"Hey, don't talk nonsense! What kind of privilege do ordinary ninjas like us have? They are Konoha Anbu ninjas, the elite among ninjas, so naturally they have privileges."
"How could the Hokage do this? As the Hokage, you shouldn't favor either side, especially when that side is in the wrong."
"Shh, the Hokage is right ahead. Are you out of your mind to talk about the Hokage like that?"
"What's the big deal? We used to even call Uchiha Ikezumi a plague god, but he never did anything to us."
Is the Hokage going to do something to us?
"Hard to say."
When the whispers from the villagers reached Hiruzen Sarutobi's ears, the wrinkles on his old face twitched slightly.
Oh no.
If these villagers continue their gossip, the reputation of the Third Hokage will likely plummet.
"Lord Ikezumi! Why don't you reveal the crimes of the ANBU ninjas you've named, so that everyone in the village can hear what unspeakable atrocities they've committed? Please let everyone see the true faces of these ANBU ninjas who refuse to confess!"
The sudden shout from the Nara clan's Chunin caused even many police ninja to glance at him.
"This guy—"
A Jonin from the police force raised an eyebrow: "Truly worthy of the Nara clan, those words alone are enough to put the Third Hokage on a roasting rack. Was this at Nara Shikaku's behest, or did he act on his own initiative to cooperate with Lord Ikezumi?"
Another police ninja said, "It's highly likely that they cooperated spontaneously. Given Nara Shikaku's personality, he would only help secretly, not openly send his clansmen to challenge the Hokage."
Uchiha Ikezumi glanced at the Nara clan ninja who was shouting.
Hiruzen Sarutobi thought to himself, "This is bad."
"Yamada Keino, an ANBU ninja." But it was too late to stop her, nor was it possible to stop her. Uchiha Ikezumi's cold voice slowly rang out.
"Ten years ago, during a covert mission, I was caught on camera. To prevent the operation from being leaked, I used illusion magic to hypnotize the witness. However, I didn't realize that the witness was just an ordinary person. The illusion magic caused the witness to go insane, and he became unable to take care of himself and suffered discrimination. He only lived for three years before committing suicide."
"The witness's wife died young, leaving behind two children. After losing their mother and father in succession, one of the children followed their father in death, while the other became withdrawn and starved to death at home for several years."
As Uchiha Ikezumi's voice continued to ring out, the surroundings seemed to quiet down, leaving only the sound of soft breathing.
"Inoue Yuto, an ANBU ninja. Seven years ago—"
Uchiha Ikezumi did not stop; he recounted, word by word, the atrocities committed by each of the Anbu ninjas whose names he mentioned.
And the series of consequences caused by their evil deeds.
"This sounds so familiar!" a Konoha civilian in the crowd murmured in shock. "It sounds just like my neighbor. He had two children, and he committed suicide years ago due to mental instability. His two children are also dead—"
Many people have discovered that they actually know the victims of the series of consequences caused by the evil deeds of the Anbu ninjas! Some of these incidents even happened right next to them!
Some were their neighbors, and some were their friends.
Some of them were even their own relatives.
And without exception—the consequences of these atrocities did not cause much of a stir in Konoha at the time; it seemed that they were suppressed by an invisible force not long after they occurred.
So who suppressed it? And who has this invisible power?
The Konoha civilians, who were big fans of conspiracy theories, immediately had an answer pop into their minds.
Hokage-sama!!!
Since the Anbu is the Hokage's secret force, the only person who can quell public opinion and constantly clean up messes for the Anbu is the Hokage!
Even if it's not the Hokage, it's either one of the Hokage's right-hand men or another high-ranking member of Konoha!
That makes sense. How could such an important person be as "pure and innocent" as they appear on the surface?
The Konoha civilians suddenly realized that the logic behind the "conspiracy theory" was reasonable.
A mixture of dissatisfaction, anger, and gossip immediately arose within me.
The dissatisfaction and anger stemmed purely from the Hokage's blatant, almost overt, use of the word "protection." Why should these ANBU ninja be protected? Meanwhile, these ordinary people who diligently work for Konoha are being treated with such harshness?
Gossip stems from their desire to uncover more inside stories that complete their fabricated conspiracy theories.
The whispers had become extremely chaotic.
The sound was so loud that it almost drowned out Uchiha Ikezumi's voice.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was already sweating profusely.
He discovered that many Konoha civilians were beginning to direct their criticism at him, the Third Hokage. They were starting to blame everything on him.
It's all blamed on Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Was I wrong?
Hiruzen Sarutobi wanted to defend himself, but found that all explanations seemed utterly futile.
suddenly!
Hiruzen Sarutobi was surprised to find a hand on his shoulder. When he turned around, he saw that the hand belonged to an Uchiha ninja from the police force.
No!
I am the Hokage!
Does he understand hierarchy?
Immediately afterwards, the force from that hand pushed Hiruzen Sarutobi so far that he involuntarily moved aside.
Then came the voice of the police ninja: "Hokage-sama, please don't block Izumi-sama's path. Unless you're determined to protect these criminals, Hokage-sama. So, are you trying to stand against justice?"
"..." After realizing what was happening, Hiruzen Sarutobi's old face turned slightly red, and he was so angry that he almost bit his teeth to pieces.
He has a good temper, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have one.
Uchiha Ikezumi's attitude is one thing, but how dare you, a mere subordinate of Uchiha Ikezumi, show such an attitude to this old man!
However·--·
Under the watchful eyes of many villagers, Hiruzen Sarutobi found himself unable to vent his anger, because he was completely in the wrong.
Or rather, in the values of these ordinary people.
His Hiruzen Sarutobi's "reason" is not the "reason" in the eyes of the common people of Konoha.
The "reason" of the police force is the only "reason" they recognize.
If Hiruzen Sarutobi dared to continue obstructing him now, he could resign as Hokage of Konoha on the spot. The people's hearts had completely turned against him; no one would respect him anymore.
This caused Hiruzen Sarutobi to freeze in place.
Then.
He fixed his gaze on Uchiha Ikezumi, no longer caring how strange and dangerous the other's eyes were.
"Chiquan."
As one police ninja after another swaggered past him toward the ANBU ninjas behind him, Hiruzen Sarutobi gritted his teeth and said, "What a show! Was this a long-planned scheme specifically designed to target me?"