Chapter 20: The Scenery of Konoha Depends on the People
The atmosphere of war among the Five Great Nations was growing heavier by the day.
Merchants began to feel its sting first. Trade routes slowed, transactions faltered, and even Konoha's internal market started to stagnate. Though the village stood as the strongest among the five powers, its economy was still bound by old methods—fragile, simple, and easily disturbed.
Once the flow of goods halted, prices surged like wildfire.
But that crisis never fully took hold—because Aizen had foreseen it.
After presenting his proposal on commerce and public confidence to the Third Hokage and Danzo, Aizen was granted temporary authority over sections of the Anbu and Root. With precise efficiency, he launched an operation to crush profiteers and stabilize trade.
Of course, many of those profiteers were under the protection of powerful clans. Aizen's insistence on equality before policy was commendable in theory—but even he knew that talk alone wouldn't change generations of privilege.
Still, the chaos was contained. Prices remained high but manageable. The crisis passed quietly.
Soon after, the major clans began forming the framework of a commercial alliance—sharing resources, setting prices, and influencing the market behind closed doors.
Meanwhile, the Third Hokage used his authority to maintain unity within the village, ensuring that the Will of Fire continued to burn brightly. To the public, it looked like a victory for everyone.
Even with prices nearly tripled, life continued. Those who struggled the most found solace in the charitable shelters founded by Aizen. There, the poor could work, study, and eat without starving.
In a time when fear and scarcity loomed, that alone was enough to make people believe again.
Still, the taverns at night were filled with noise—ninja with weary hearts and tired bodies drowning their worries in sake.
And in the corner of one such tavern, three men sat quietly, their white haori draped elegantly over their shoulders.
In Konoha, such a sight wasn't rare anymore. Aizen's dignified figure in white had become a symbol—something of a trend. Even civilians and young shinobi imitated the look, strutting through the streets with makeshift haori and toy blades, pretending to embody strength and virtue.
After all, there was something striking about it: the white coat, the black lining, the long sword at the hip. Handsome. Noble. Heroic.
But these three were not imitators.
The numbers stitched into their haori—Two, Six, and Eleven—marked them as something else entirely.
Each wore a distinct crest on the back: the red spider lily, the Uchiha fan, and a dagger.
Unseen by the crowd outside, the three men sat within a private room, sipping sake as the noise of the tavern washed over them like distant thunder.
To the patrons, they were invisible—ordinary figures at a corner table. Even the waiters who served them failed to notice anything strange.
Whether by illusion, perception, or will, they blended into the scenery perfectly.
Even the sharpest eyes of Konoha's surveillance network would have dismissed them as shadows.
"Transforming the soul and simulating cognition," murmured one of them. "Even if we appear openly, no one can perceive us."
A low sigh followed. "Aizen's technique is terrifying."
The man with the Uchiha fan exchanged glances with the silver-haired shinobi beside him, their expressions dark and uneasy.
Aizen had no hidden base, no secret lair. His research facility stood right within Konoha's walls—open for all to see. As long as one didn't harm the village or its people, no one was stopped from entering or leaving.
At first, they thought it was arrogance taken to madness. Surely, anyone would notice such defiance and storm the place down. Yet time passed, and no one did.
Even now, wearing conspicuous haori and sitting plainly in public, they remained unseen—erased not by concealment, but by something far more insidious.
It was as if reality itself refused to acknowledge their existence.
And their "soul-transmigrating bodies," capable of eating, drinking, and feeling sensation, made it all the more horrifying.
Behind the calm streets of Konoha, another world existed—a shadow kingdom that lived unseen within the light.
The passerby you brushed shoulders with might very well be a soul long dead.
But it was because of this that they could now observe Konoha from a detached, almost godlike perspective.
Kagami was the first to speak. "Sakumo. You've been quiet. Any thoughts?"
"Mm?"
"Just now, you looked lost in thought. Don't you have anything to say?"
Kato Dan leaned forward slightly, curiosity flashing in his eyes. "Aizen might not care what we do, but that doesn't mean we should stop resisting. For the future of Konoha, for the sake of everyone—what's your plan?"
Sakumo lifted his head slowly. His eyes reflected the faint light from the window.
"Nothing in particular," he said after a pause. "I was just wondering… is Aizen really a villain?"
"...What?"
Kato Dan and Uchiha Kagami froze, staring at him in disbelief.
For a long moment, neither spoke.
What was he saying?
Aizen's villainy was beyond dispute—wasn't it?
He had lured outsiders into Konoha, manipulated the political balance, undermined the clans' authority, and subtly bent the village to his will.
If that wasn't evil, what else could it be?
Faced with the puzzled looks of his two companions, Hatake Sakumo slowly shook his head.
"He never performed human experiments on shinobi, nor did he desecrate the bodies of the dead. On the contrary, it's us—the people of Konoha—who have done such things before."
He paused, his tone calm yet heavy.
"And as for our resurrection… after all the threats and demands, he didn't harm us. In fact, he treated us with a strange generosity—gave us money, food, even lodging. He said we disturbed the rest of the dead, but… I think being resurrected was better than staying in the dark."
Kato Dan and Uchiha Kagami exchanged uncertain glances as Sakumo's voice grew quieter.
"I thought that after I died, Kakashi and the rest of Konoha would become more united. More understanding. But my death didn't bring unity—it just became a joke. The one who actually united them… is Aizen, the man we've always despised."
Sakumo looked out the window. The streets outside were nearly empty, the lanterns dim in the mist.
"So tell me… is he really a villain?"
Silence followed.
For a shinobi, killing required no justification. But defining who deserved to die—that required conviction.
And the other two had that conviction.
To Uchiha Kagami, Aizen was an enemy.
Aizen's reforms had steadily strangled the bloodline clans' privileges. His proposal to rotate family shinobi with common-born ones—eventually merging them—was seen as an attack on their heritage and power.
To Kato Dan, Aizen was no less a threat.
A loyal Konoha official and Tsunade's lover, Dan viewed Aizen's reforms as reckless and destabilizing. They disrupted the village's traditions, altered the Hokage's authority, and—most dangerously—risked affecting Tsunade's standing and the political balance.
But from Hatake Sakumo's perspective… was Aizen truly their enemy?
His son had found a mentor who gave him knowledge and protection, even secret techniques—without asking for anything in return. The living conditions of ordinary ninjas had improved. The gossip and scorn that once plagued Kakashi had faded away.
Aizen might have been a destroyer to the noble clans and Konoha's old order—but to a man like Sakumo, he couldn't find much to condemn.
Except, perhaps, his arrogance and sharp tongue.
Sakumo lowered his gaze. "Dan fights for Tsunade's future. Kagami fights for the Uchiha and Konoha's pride. But what about me? What do I hate him for?"
He looked at his calloused hands, the faint tremor of emotion showing through his stoic composure.
"The Will of Fire that drove me to my death? Or the village that sneered at my son?"
"You both still have something to protect. I only have one thing left—my son."
The quiet confession struck both men like a blade.
Kato Dan and Uchiha Kagami fell silent, unable to respond.
Hatake Sakumo's death had been both tragic and humiliating—one of the rare times Konoha's upper echelons had deliberately sacrificed a loyal shinobi to preserve order.
A village that preached the Will of Fire, that honored teamwork and compassion, had turned against a man who chose his comrades over a mission. They had driven him to suicide through ridicule and whispers.
And after his death, Konoha's ideals hadn't strengthened—they had rotted.
Conversations grew cautious. Trust thinned. Compassion became a luxury. The unity between clans and commoners that once flourished began to decay.
No one felt this change more than Uchiha Kagami.
He remembered his youth—the time when the Second Hokage had fought beside him on the battlefield, when even the Uchiha still worked for the sake of the village. They had their pride, but they believed in something larger.
But now?
The Uchiha, embittered and suspicious, ruled the Konoha Military Police with growing arrogance. They demanded privileges, territory, and recognition—openly distrusting the Hokage's leadership.
The White Fang's death, meant to preserve the village's image, had instead cracked its very foundation.
The man who once symbolized Konoha's selflessness had become a reminder of its hypocrisy.
People whispered his name as though it were a curse. His sacrifice was mocked as foolish. His honor, erased.
No one likes a mirror that reflects their own ugliness.
To most, Sakumo was that mirror.
And for that, they hated him more than they pitied him.
At last, Sakumo broke the silence with a small, weary smile.
"Let's stop talking about this," he said. "What do you two think about that long-term mission Aizen mentioned?"
Kagami blinked. "Long-term mission?"
"The one where someone's been investigating Konoha in secret. They've been spying near the Uchiha ancestral grounds. We're supposed to trace the source."
"I'll handle that," Kagami said immediately, his voice sharpening.
"Yeah," Kato Dan added, nodding thoughtfully.
Sakumo took another sip of sake, watching the faint reflection of candlelight in his cup.
Then he looked up at Kagami—at those dark, intense eyes—and smiled faintly.
It was a quiet smile, but within it lingered something deeper.
Resolve
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