Under this tense atmosphere, many Anbu ninjas set their gazes upon the not-so-tall back of Sarutobi Hiruzen.
They had, in fact, all witnessed this Hokage's indecisive and hesitant attitude when facing Uchiha Keizumi.
But that didn't mean they didn't want Sarutobi Hiruzen to stand up for them.
The other side was already clearly targeting Konoha's Anbu—was the Hokage still going to remain indecisive?
Sarutobi Hiruzen could naturally sense their stares.
"Yamada Kei." At that moment, Uchiha Keizumi had already begun calling out one name after another, his voice as calm and steady as ever, yet enough to make the named individuals' hearts suddenly tighten. "Inoue Yūto, Inuzuka Takeya…"
Upon hearing those names, Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't help but draw in a sharp breath inwardly.
These were all elite ninjas of the Anbu—and also the ones Sarutobi Hiruzen trusted the most.
They had carried out numerous missions under his direct orders, all completed flawlessly, all contributors to Konoha.
The most crucial point was—
Sarutobi Hiruzen actually knew their way of handling things. When carrying out missions, they would selectively become cold-blooded. And once Anbu ninjas turned cold, there was a high probability of causing some unnecessary casualties outside the mission parameters.
Regarding this point, Sarutobi Hiruzen had always turned a blind eye in the past—after all, as long as they completed the missions he assigned perfectly, it was fine.
As long as it didn't endanger the village's safety.
And back then, no one ever pursued accountability for the mistakes these people committed.
This had led Sarutobi Hiruzen to nearly forget all about it.
Until now—
At the moment this "crisis" arrived—
He finally remembered.
"So, it seems you don't plan to confess." Seeing no one step forward, Uchiha Keizumi coldly issued an order: "Konoha Police Force—hear my command. Arrest all the Anbu ninjas whose names I have called! Take them to the Police Force interrogation room, then summon the Yamanaka Clan's ninjas to come and search through their memories."
"Yes, Keizumi-sama!"
Uchiha Keizumi's forceful attitude instantly roused excitement among many Police Force ninjas.
How many years had it been since the Uchiha clan had shown such firmness?
They could no longer even remember.
Especially after Uchiha Fugaku came to power, the entire Uchiha clan, under Konoha's relentless pressure, had kept retreating, kept bowing their heads, until they had practically been trained into obedient dogs by the village.
But now—
At last, they could hold their heads high again!
When he saw the Police Force ninjas pressing forward, Sarutobi Hiruzen gritted his teeth and immediately said, "Keizumi! I believe their actions were not wrong in any way! And the Police Force has no authority to arrest Konoha's Anbu personnel! The Anbu are a secret elite force under the Hokage's direct command—they are not subject to the Police Force's jurisdiction. During missions, they are not bound by the laws either!"
"This farce must come to an end!"
In the end, Sarutobi Hiruzen still decided to protect the Anbu at all costs, for that was the foundation that allowed him to continue holding his position as Hokage.
With the Sarutobi clan's attitude toward him already growing increasingly indifferent, the Anbu were the only blade left in his hand.
As for the Root?
The Root controlled by Utatane Koharu had already become such useless trash that even Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't bear to look at it anymore—he had simply chosen to ignore it.
...
With both the Anbu ninjas and the Police Force confronting each other, and with Uchiha Keizumi and Sarutobi Hiruzen—two of the village's leading figures—present at the scene, it naturally drew the attention of quite a few bold Konoha villagers to watch.
And whether it was Uchiha Keizumi or Sarutobi Hiruzen, both of their voices were not low, so everyone could clearly hear their exchange.
This caused the gathered Konoha villagers watching the spectacle to begin whispering among themselves.
"Why are the Anbu ninjas beyond the jurisdiction of the Police Force? Why are they exempt from the law's constraints? Why do we ordinary ninjas have to be under the Police Force's supervision? Is that fair? Aren't we all ninjas? Aren't we all villagers of Konoha? Why are those mask-wearing Anbu ninjas so special?"
A Konoha genin muttered discontentedly under his breath.
Clearly, he harbored quite a bit of resentment toward the Anbu.
After all, there were indeed times when the Anbu's behavior within the village was rather overbearing and unreasonable.
If they said they were taking you for investigation, they'd take you—without even giving you a chance to explain. At least the Uchiha ninjas of the Police Force would cite legal articles to the point where you couldn't argue back.
"Didn't Hokage-sama just say that the Anbu are his personal secret unit? Of course they'd enjoy the Hokage's special privileges. In that case, it's only natural they'd rank above the rest of us!"
A Konoha chūnin, who clearly enjoyed stirring up trouble, chimed in.
If one looked closely, they would see that his clothing bore the clan emblem of the Nara Clan.
"If they have nothing to hide, then why not let the Yamanaka Clan inspect their memories?" The Nara chūnin smiled faintly as he continued, "Obviously, they broke the law and are now feeling guilty."
He didn't lower his voice at all, so his words naturally reached the ears of Sarutobi Hiruzen—and those of many Anbu ninjas.
"That guy…" One Anbu ninja frowned tightly, looking toward the Nara chūnin. "He's from the Nara Clan…"
In the eyes of the Anbu ninjas, the three clans of Ino, Shika, and Cho had practically become the lapdogs of [Absolute Justice].
Moreover—
There were still ninjas from the Ino–Shika–Chō clans within the Anbu even now.
That made this particular Anbu ninja unable to stop himself from glancing at a few of his colleagues who had also come from those three clans.
He found that those colleagues were standing at the very edge of the crowd, each looking as though the matter had nothing to do with them.
"Tch…" the Anbu ninja muttered in a low voice. "Even after joining the Anbu, they still choose to stand against the Hokage? Hokage-sama training them was truly his greatest mistake."
But what this Anbu ninja hadn't expected was that the nearby Konoha civilians all seemed to have been swayed by the words of that Nara chūnin.
"Oh, that's right!" a villager exclaimed as if suddenly enlightened. "Those mask-wearing ninjas have Hokage-sama's protection. Even if they really did something wrong, they'd still get away unscathed. No wonder so many people want to become ninjas—turns out ninjas have that kind of privilege!"
"Hey, hey, don't lump us all together! We ordinary ninjas don't have any such privileges. Those guys are Konoha's Anbu—they're the elite among ninjas, naturally they've got special treatment."
"How could Hokage-sama do this…? As Hokage, shouldn't he remain impartial, especially when the other side is clearly at fault?"
"Shh, Hokage-sama is right up ahead! Are you trying to get yourself killed by openly criticizing him here?"
"What's the big deal…? We used to even call Uchiha Keizumi a bringer of misfortune, yet he never did anything to us. Is Hokage-sama really going to do something to us?"
"Hard to say."
"…"
When the villagers' murmurs reached Sarutobi Hiruzen's ears, the wrinkles on his aged face twitched slightly.
This was bad.
If these villagers kept talking like that, the reputation of the Third Hokage might soon plummet to rock bottom.
"Keizumi-sama! Why don't you announce the crimes of those Anbu ninjas whose names you've called—let everyone in the village hear what unspeakable acts they've committed! Show us the faces of these Anbu ninjas who refuse to confess!"
The sudden shout from the Nara clan chūnin even drew glances from several Police Force ninjas.
"That guy…"
A Police Force jōnin raised an eyebrow. "Truly worthy of the Nara Clan—by shouting that, he's practically thrown the Third Hokage right onto the fire. Was that Nara Shikaku's signal for him to do so? Or is he acting on his own to cooperate with Keizumi-sama?"
Another Police Force ninja said, "Most likely acting on his own. With Nara Shikaku's personality, he'd only help from the shadows—he wouldn't openly send his clansmen to provoke the Hokage."
Uchiha Keizumi cast a glance at the Nara clan ninja who had shouted.
Sarutobi Hiruzen muttered inwardly, 'Not good.'
"Yamada Kei, Anbu ninja." But it was already too late to stop it—and impossible to stop at all. Uchiha Keizumi's cold, detached voice had already begun to echo slowly.
"Ten years ago, during an Anbu mission, she was accidentally witnessed by someone. In order to prevent the operation from being exposed, she used genjutsu to hypnotize the witness. However, she failed to realize the witness was just an ordinary civilian. The genjutsu drove the witness insane, leaving him unable to care for himself and subjected to social scorn. He lived only three more years before committing suicide."
"The witness's wife had already passed away, leaving behind two children. After losing both parents in succession, one of the children followed his father in death, while the other became withdrawn for years—eventually starving to death at home."
As Uchiha Keizumi's voice continued to echo, the surroundings seemed to fall utterly silent, leaving only the faint sounds of breathing.
"Inoue Yūto, Anbu ninja. Seven years ago—"
Uchiha Keizumi did not stop. He recited, word by word, the crimes committed by each Anbu ninja whose name he had called.
And the chain of consequences brought about by those crimes.
"This… why does that sound so familiar?" A Konoha villager in the crowd muttered in shock, "It sounds just like my neighbor. He also had two children, and he went insane years ago before committing suicide. His two children died too…"
Many people realized that the victims of the series of consequences caused by the Anbu ninjas' crimes…
Were people they actually knew! Some even found that those incidents had happened right around them!
Some were their neighbors, some were their friends,
And some were even their relatives.
Moreover, without exception… none of those incidents had caused much public stir in Konoha when they happened. It seemed that shortly after each event occurred, an invisible force had quickly suppressed it.
Then who had suppressed it? And who possessed such invisible power?
The Konoha villagers—who were all deeply fond of "conspiracy theories"—instantly had one answer flash through their minds.
—The Hokage!!!
Since the Anbu were the Hokage's secret unit, then the one capable of silencing public outcry for the Anbu and constantly cleaning up their messes could only be Hokage himself!
Even if it wasn't the Hokage directly, it had to be his right-hand man—or another of Konoha's upper echelons!
That made perfect sense…
How could such high-ranking figures possibly be as "pure and spotless" as they appeared on the surface?
The Konoha villagers, who suddenly realized the logic of this "conspiracy theory," felt a surge of dissatisfaction, resentment, and gossipy curiosity rise in their hearts.
The dissatisfaction and resentment came simply because Hokage's "cover-up" was now practically written in plain sight. Why should he protect those Anbu ninjas? Meanwhile, they—the ordinary people working diligently and contributing to Konoha—were being subjected to such strict control?
The gossip came from their eagerness to uncover more inside stories to fill out the logic of their imagined "conspiracy theory."
The whispers had grown chaotic and dense.
The noise was now so loud it nearly drowned out Uchiha Keizumi's voice.
Beads of cold sweat were already forming on Sarutobi Hiruzen's forehead.
He realized that many Konoha villagers had begun directing the spearhead of public opinion toward him—the Third Hokage of Konoha—and had started blaming him, Sarutobi Hiruzen, for everything.
Was he wrong?
This…
Sarutobi Hiruzen wanted to defend himself inwardly, yet he found that any defense now seemed pale and powerless.
Suddenly!
Sarutobi Hiruzen was startled to feel a hand rest on his shoulder. When he turned his head, he saw that the hand belonged to a Konoha Police Force ninja—an Uchiha.
No—
He was the Hokage!
Did this man not understand rank and respect?
The force from that hand then pushed Sarutobi Hiruzen stumbling aside, making him involuntarily take a step back.
And then came the voice of that Police Force ninja: "Hokage-sama, please do not block Keizumi-sama's path. Unless, of course, Hokage-sama intends to stubbornly protect this group of criminals. So… Hokage-sama, are you choosing to stand against justice?"
"…" When Sarutobi Hiruzen came to his senses, his aged face flushed red, and he nearly ground his old teeth to pieces in rage.
He might have been good-tempered, but that didn't mean he had no temper.
Uchiha Keizumi's attitude was one thing—but now even one of Uchiha Keizumi's subordinates dared show him such insolence!
However…
Under the gaze of so many villagers, Sarutobi Hiruzen found that he couldn't lose his temper—because he had no grounds to stand on.
Or rather, in the eyes of these ordinary people—
What Sarutobi Hiruzen believed to be "reason" was not the "reason" acknowledged by Konoha's civilians.
The Police Force's "reason" was the one they now accepted.
If Sarutobi Hiruzen dared to continue obstructing them at this moment, then he, the Hokage of Konoha, might as well resign on the spot. For the people's faith in him had completely crumbled—no one would respect him anymore.
This realization left Sarutobi Hiruzen's body frozen in place.
Then, he locked his gaze firmly on Uchiha Keizumi, no longer caring how strange or dangerous the man's eyes appeared.
"Keizumi…"
As one Police Force ninja after another strode past him with fierce momentum, heading toward the Anbu behind him, Sarutobi Hiruzen clenched his teeth and said, "What a fine show! This was your long-prepared scheme all along, wasn't it? A plan aimed specifically at me?"