To pay off the debt, become Hokage!

Uchiha Shigeka smiled and said, "Mikoto, you will understand this kind of thing once you experience it more. Go and hand over the case file to Master."

Uchiha Mikoto hugged the file tightly and nodded seriously.

"This time, I will not pass on the message for Lord Hokage."

"No, no." Uchiha Shigeka shook his head again: "Mikoto, just say whatever Master asks you to say. Only when you say it, can I refuse."

"......Eh?"

Uchiha Mikoto felt a little dizzy.

——It seems that she still has a lot to learn.

......

"Oh no! Sunagakure and Iwagakure have joined forces and attacked the frontline headquarters!"

"Ah? How could this be? Didn't we just hear the news of our victory over Sunagakure? It's only been over a month, right? How did the situation suddenly turn out to be such that Konoha is suffering?"

"So are Sakumo-sama and the others okay?"

One of the villagers said with a twinkling look in his eyes and a somewhat sad tone, "I heard that Lord Sakumo was not there that day, leaving Lord Jiraiya alone to face the siege of Iwagakure and Sunagakure. He was powerless, and many of his companions sacrificed their lives to resist the enemy."

"How did this...how did such a good situation turn out like this?"

Upon hearing this, the villager quickly said, "I heard that there was a traitor on our side. He leaked our Konoha's layout and the specific personnel and content of the mission to Sand Village and Iwagakure. Our Konoha was like naked and was suddenly attacked without any preparation, suffering heavy losses."

"Damn it, he's actually a traitor! Is he a spy or an undercover agent of the enemy?"

"Neither." The villager looked at the police officers in the distance and whispered to everyone, "The traitor is a native of Konoha. It is said that he is a close friend of Lord Sakumo."

"..."

Several people looked at each other in bewilderment.

They couldn't believe the information they heard. The traitor who caused Konoha to suffer heavy losses was actually Lord Sakumo's best friend?

The villager continued, "Lord Sakumo once personally commissioned his friend to carry out a secret mission, and it was after that secret mission that the man's identity and position changed and he betrayed Konoha."

"When Lord Sakumo learned of his friend's betrayal, he couldn't believe it at first, but then he calmed down and planned to deal with his friend who betrayed Konoha personally..."

"I guess you must be thinking that on the day Konoha was attacked, Lord Sakumo was not there because he went to meet his good friend, and after some negotiations, Lord Sakumo chose to let his good friend go and leave the traitor alive, right?"

The villager nodded subconsciously.

"Yes, that's right! That's it, Master Sakumo..."

The villager couldn't continue speaking. He looked at Uchiha Shigeka with horror as he smiled fakely behind him.

“Master…Master Chonghua?!”

Everyone who had been listening attentively suddenly felt nervous when they saw Uchiha Shigeka.

Someone quickly explained, "This... this has nothing to do with us. This person is the one who spread rumors. Yes, Master Zhonghua, I report this guy, he spread rumors about Master Shuomao!"

The others followed suit, nodding their heads and saying, "Right, that's right! We are here to listen to his farts because we want to hear the specific content. We will report every detail to the police department."

"Hey, you guys!?"

The villager looked at these people in disbelief.

Uchiha Shigeka looked at the villager with a cold face and said, "Come with me and tell me everything you heard!"

......

Chapter 210: Hatake Sakumo: What, it’s right to give up the mission this time?

The frontline headquarters was suddenly attacked jointly by Sand Village and Iwagakure, and Konoha suffered considerable losses - the battle report on this incident was only sent back yesterday.

The Konoha high-level officials have not responded to this yet. Today, some people from all over Konoha are talking about what is happening on the front line.

After all the villagers knew about it and the situation escalated, these people began to intentionally or unintentionally guide public opinion to focus on the love-hate relationship between Hatake Sakumo and his good friend who betrayed Konoha.

They try every possible means to create some tricks and conspiracy theories out of it.

By the time Uchiha Shigeka found out, the story had already developed to the point where he was dissatisfied and resentful towards Hatake Sakumo, which led to his good friend's betrayal of Konoha.

He wants to take revenge on Hatake Sakumo, and for this he will make Konoha, the city he protects, pay the price!

......As for why they are dissatisfied and why they resent, no one can explain it clearly.

But they listened to these people's words with details and conviction, as if they were at the front line in person, with all the necessary details.

Inevitably, the villagers felt some resentment towards Hatake Sakumo - even though some people felt that what these people said was problematic, Konoha did suffer losses, and their relatives and friends were indeed injured or even sacrificed.

After all, isn't Hatake Sakumo the captain-in-chief of the Konoha forces on the front line?

Since the Second Ninja World War, Konoha has never suffered such a major defeat.

——No matter what happened between Hatake Sakumo and his friends, he must be held responsible for the losses on the front lines!

After learning about the situation, Uchiha Shigeka immediately became alert and led the team personally. In a very short time, he arrested all the people who spread remarks unfavorable to Hatake Sakumo and interrogated them in detail.

Uchiha Muneyuki frowned, patted the newspapers on the table and said, "This is the newspaper they received this morning. The strange thing is that the content is different from the newspaper we received."

In addition to the confiscated newspapers, there was also a newspaper received by the Konoha Police Department.

Uchiha Shigeka compared the contents of the two.

Most of the content is the same, but the content of the column in the lower left corner has changed.

The original column content reported on movies that were released some time ago.

The movie theater was a novelty that appeared in Konoha a few years ago. The villagers were quite curious about it and paid close attention to it.

It is normal for newspapers to follow the trend and have such content.

But...the original content about the movie on those confiscated newspapers was gone, and was replaced by an objective front-line war report, followed by an analysis of the front-line defeat.

Most of the content in this section focuses on the relationship between Hatake Sakumo and his friends.

Uchiha Shigeka sneered after reading it: "These people are really good at exaggerating. Many things are not even written in this tampered newspaper."

"Uncle Zong Xing, have you asked the newspaper?"

Uchiha Muneyuki nodded: "I asked them, and they said they didn't know why the content of the newspaper changed."

"What they said is true. The interrogation department and our Uchiha clan's Sharingan have checked it."

Uchiha Shigeka looked at the transcript, which contained the results of the interrogation department's investigation.

"These people usually like to brag and boast, and they are very good at turning things into conspiracies..."

Uchiha Shigeka put down the notes, frowned and said, "The mastermind behind this is very clear about their style of work. These tampered newspapers were distributed in a targeted manner."

When these people saw the tampered content in the newspaper, they didn't even bother to verify its authenticity. Once they got ahold of the explosive news, they started spreading rumors to everyone they met.

In the past, there were only a few sporadic cases, which were only spread in a small area and would disappear on their own after a short time.

But this time, all the bragging and conspiracy theorists in Konoha acted together without any prior agreement.

The villagers of Konoha didn't understand the nature of everyone, and with so many people spreading the news... some of them believed it.

Uchiha Shigeka was speechless. He couldn't understand why so many people in Konoha believed such a rumor that was full of errors and loopholes.

But when I think about the fact that in the original work the villagers of Konoha believed that Uzumaki Naruto was the reincarnation of the Nine-Tails, and that they bullied and excluded him just to avenge the dead...even if it was to vent their inner pain, this approach was too stupid.

Uchiha Shigeka really couldn't praise the thinking ability of the Konoha villagers.

"Ok?"

Uchiha Shigeka was suddenly stunned, and a memory emerged in his mind.

After discovering that someone was harming Hatake Sakumo, Uchiha Shigeka acted decisively, surging with sage chakra in his body, and created three shadow clones to send to the front battlefield.

Naturally, those who have experienced it firsthand know best what is happening on the front lines.

Moreover, he could go directly to Hatake Sakumo and ask him in person.

The memory that suddenly appeared in his mind was what the shadow clone had inquired about at the front line.

Uchiha Shigeka recorded the information in his memory on paper.

"Uncle Zongxing, this is the detailed situation on the front line. Copy it and post it so that everyone in Konoha can see it."

Uchiha Muneyuki took it and took a quick look at it.

The one who betrayed Konoha was indeed a good friend of Hatake Sakumo, but his level of friendship was not high.

As a Chunin who wasn't even a captain, he had no right to know the various plans made by the headquarters.

The so-called important information revealed to Iwagakure and Sunagakure is a rumor. He does not have that much ability yet.

However, Hatake Sakumo was indeed not there on the day when Iwagakure and Sunagakure raided the Konoha headquarters.

As those people said, Hatake Sakumo personally went to deal with his friend who betrayed Konoha, but in the end he did not let his friend go, but captured him back.

"How did Iwagakure and Sunagakure know the specific layout and personnel arrangements of our frontline headquarters?"

Uchiha Shigeka stated the inferences of Hatake Sakumo and others.

"Sakumo-senpai, they believe that someone else betrayed Konoha and leaked the information."

Uchiha Muneyuki looked thoughtful: "In other words, it's not just Sakumo's friends who betrayed Konoha... Could it be that Iwagakure or Sunagakure are undercover agents planted in Konoha?"

Uchiha Shigeka shook his head: "I don't know. Senior Sakumo and the others are still investigating. Let's not talk about the front line. Uncle Soxing, the most urgent thing is to dispel the rumors as soon as possible and clear Senior Sakumo's name."

......

The information about the front line recorded by Uchiha Shigeka was very detailed, and the smear and rumors against Hatake Sakumo were quickly quelled.

But soon, a new statement suddenly emerged and quickly spread throughout Konoha.

"Sakumo-sama, why didn't you give up your mission and come back to rescue the frontline headquarters? If Sakumo-sama was here, how could those guys from Iwagakure and Sunagakure cause such great losses?"

"Yeah, why would the captain-general have to deal with a traitor who betrayed Konoha himself? There must be a special team dealing with traitors at the front line, right? Just because the person who betrayed was a good friend of Sakumo-sama!?"

......

Chapter 211: It's Still Guoying

"What's going on? Didn't you announce the detailed situation on the front line? Why is public opinion now shifting to discussing whether Sakumo-senpai should give up the mission?"

Tsunade raised her head and drank the wine in her hand, looking a little confused.

"Tsunade, it's obvious that someone is targeting Sakumo-senpai."

With a pair of dark golden snake eyes full of deep meaning, Orochimaru looked at Uchiha Shigeka opposite him intriguingly.

Uchiha Shigeka glanced at him.

——Orochimaru’s expression…it seems like he knows something.

Uchiha Shigeka narrowed his eyes slightly and said tentatively: "Senior Orochimaru, do you know who is targeting Senior Sakumo?"

"Shigeka-kun, I can't tell you too much about the details." Orochimaru said calmly, "I can give you a hint. The mastermind behind the targeting of Sakumo-senpai is the top brass of Konoha."

Tsunade heard this and after a moment's silence, she seemed to have thought of something. She looked at Orochimaru and said, "The top leaders of Konoha are just the old man and his advisors."

"Of course, there is also a former Hokage who is assisting him who is somewhere unknown."

Tsunade put down the wine glass and said in a deep voice: "Shimura Danzo is back?"

"If what you said is true, among the Konoha high-ranking officials, the only one I can think of who would have the time to target Sakumo-senpai is that old dog Shimura Danzo."

Orochimaru smiled but did not answer.

Uchiha Shigeka was concerned about another question: "Senior Orochimaru, why did the mastermind you mentioned target Senior Sakumo?"

To say that Danzo Shimura was afraid of Hatake Sakumo's reputation and was afraid that he would become the next Hokage...that's complete nonsense.

Unless he doesn't want to do it anymore or resigns, he will basically continue to work as a Hokage until his death.

The position of Hokage is lifelong; there is no such thing as retirement.

There was no doubt that Sarutobi Hiruzen wanted to continue staying in the position of Hokage, and the Second Ninja World War was going very smoothly - although his home was robbed this time, the loss was not great enough to force Sarutobi Hiruzen to resign.

No matter how great his achievements are or how strong his reputation is, he cannot shake Sarutobi Hiruzen's position as Hokage.

No matter how obsessed Shimura Danzo is with the position of Hokage, he wouldn't really go crazy and target Hatake Sakumo for this reason...

"Strictly speaking, the mastermind behind this is not targeting Senior Sakumo, but the fact that we signed the petition in the first place."

Orochimaru said slowly: "Sakumo-senpai is the first, but not the last. Tsunade, Shigeka-kun, me, and others are his targets."

Tsunade frowned, she understood the meaning of Orochimaru's words.

Her face suddenly darkened, and she said unhappily, "What does he mean by this? Is he trying to threaten us to cancel the co-signing?"