I became Hokage in Tokyo

Chapters 120 and 122: The Emperor's New Clothes

April 25th, Sunday.

It's already the end of April. With the weather warming up and the grass growing and birds flying, it's also the time of year when hay fever is at its worst in Japan.

Naruto Uchiha took the train to school. There weren't many people wearing masks on the train, but when he got off and walked on the street, more than a third of the pedestrians were wearing masks.

Hay fever is practically a national ailment in island nations.

The timing of the hay fever outbreak in the island nation coincides quite closely with the timeline of the cherry blossom season, leading some foreign tourists to believe that the hay fever was caused by the cherry blossoms.

But the real culprit is actually the Chinese fir. Chinese fir is an economic tree that is very suitable for planting in mountainous areas. During the post-war economic recovery period, in order to ensure that both greening and development needs are met, the country encouraged the planting of foreign Chinese fir trees all over the mountains and fields.

The pollen fog of the Chinese fir forest is spectacular. During the flowering season, it looks like a yellow rain or mist from a distance, or like wildfires rising from the treetops.

Every year around this time, hay fever torments the island nation, and many public figures deliberately avoid this period by going abroad to protect their voices or avoid losing their composure by crying and sniffling in front of their fans.

Although Naruto Uchiha did not have hay fever, seeing the passersby looking like they were facing a formidable enemy made his nose feel a little sore and dry.

As usual, Uchiha Naruto arrived at the classroom of Class 1-B.

"Achoo!"

Sitting in front of Uchiha Naruto, Tanaka Hikaru was wearing a mask covering his face. He looked like he was suffering from severe hay fever, with red and swollen eyes and tear stains.

"Tanaka, it seems like you have a serious hay fever problem."

Naruto Uchiha nodded to him, asked a casual question, and then took out his textbook from his bag. There was still a monthly test this week, and he dared not be careless.

"I'm alright... Achoo!" Tanaka Hikaru couldn't help but sneeze again.

"By the way, Uchiha, have you heard about what happened over the weekend? The one about the Buddha statue in Ota Ward appearing to be miraculous..."

Even in his current state, Tanaka Hikaru still couldn't resist showing off the latest information he had obtained in a mysterious way.

"What is it? I slept all weekend and didn't pay much attention to the news," Uchiha Mei said calmly.

In reality, this was a complete lie. Uchiha Naruto personally orchestrated the battle between Jiraiya and Sasori on Saturday.

At that time, two giants, each over twenty meters tall, collided in a tremendous explosion in downtown Tokyo, a commotion that could not be concealed.

After that, Naruto Uchiha kept a close eye on the matter online, and the incident quickly became a hot topic, easily topping the trending searches.

Although it was taken down immediately, rumors inevitably spread like wildfire.

Online, especially among users of websites in Daejeon, people claimed to have seen the Buddha manifest, appearing as a Buddha statue to suppress demons, and even posted pictures and videos. However, these links did not last long before being blocked.

Some people were still unwilling to give up and tried to post it on the outside internet, but Facebook can block even the president, let alone a nobody like you from a small island nation. All these images and materials disappeared without a trace. In the end, they simply blocked all IDs from the island nation, regardless of the circumstances.

Those IDs that were most active and making the most noise quickly fell silent. Then, a day or two later, some deleted all their posts, while others published new content claiming that all their previous statements were misleading and decided to apologize to all readers.

As for the island nation's local newspapers and magazines, they all remained silent, as if nothing had happened. The official propaganda department also made no statement, and even some of the foreign media outlets on the peninsula that most like to contradict the island nation kept quiet.

At this time, the state apparatus’s control over all aspects of public opinion was fully demonstrated, even managing to erase all video footage of the Daejeon incident from the internet.

Naruto Uchiha couldn't help but feel a bit of admiration.

Although the incident appeared to be a big deal, the damage to the city and the number of people injured were not serious because the area where it occurred was the street where Sato's secondhand store was located, which had been sealed off long ago.

Naruto Uchiha didn't mind the information about his extraordinary abilities being leaked to the public, but he also didn't want to harm innocent people. When he was controlling the Buddha statue to fight the clay giant, he tried his best to avoid causing too much damage.

It is precisely because of this that, with the full cooperation of all parties, that the situation has been able to be barely contained.

If it were like Ultraman fighting a monster, destroying several city blocks in one fell swoop, leaving countless dead and injured, and affecting hundreds or thousands of people, even the island nation's government would no longer pretend to be dead.

Geese leave their calls as they fly by, and everything that goes by leaves a trace. Even if the authorities block it immediately, there will always be clever people who can save the information quickly, such as the video that Tanaka Hikaru downloaded on his phone.

"Uchiha, take a good look. I had a hard time copying this video from my cousin face-to-face to my phone. If you post a link to it or on social media, it will be blocked immediately."

After a brief shake, the screen on Tanaka Hikaru's phone showed a golden statue of a Myō-ō, six or seven stories tall, locked in a fierce battle with a clay giant of similar height.

The house, beneath the feet of the two giants, was like a sandcastle built on the beach, easily crushed by a single step.

The entire battle lasted only a dozen seconds before the phone screen slipped from my hand, the camera falling to the ground with a thud, and the screen went completely black.

"See? This isn't special effects!"

"Hmm, impressive." Uchiha Naruto said indifferently. He was right there at the scene, so how could he be moved by such a small scene?

He is now more concerned about the impact of this incident on society. Although the authorities have indeed demonstrated great efficiency in handling this matter, traces have inevitably been left on the internet.

In the past few days, he has seen many people online relentlessly seeking resources, and even calling for demonstrations at Congress to demand that the government stop covering up the truth.

Although searching for news related to Daejeon Ward online now yields little to no results, the lively discussions on other online forums reveal that a major event has occurred.

Like the Emperor's New Clothes, a secret is brewing on the internet that you and I know, but no one dares to reveal.

(End of this chapter)