Uchiha Fugaku handed over thirteen Anbu ninjas to the Third Hokage and accompanied him to the Hokage Tower.
Not long after, he placed thirty-five pairs of Sharingan eyes into a sealed scroll and left the Hokage Tower.
Unless the Third Hokage had foreseen this and hidden the Sharingan in different locations, these should be all the Sharingan that the Third Hokage had in his possession.
There was no doubt that Fugaku had won this confrontation.
The Third Hokage tried to falsely accuse him but ended up giving Fugaku an opening to retrieve the Sharingan.
Moreover, if the Third Hokage thought this matter was over, he was gravely mistaken.
Thinking of this, Fugaku's lips curled into a mocking smile as he quickly returned to the Anbu headquarters.
When he arrived, Uchiha Yakushi approached him.
"Captain, it's obvious these Anbu ninjas spread rumors to frame you under the Third Hokage's orders. Are we really going to let this go?" Yakushi asked.
Although Shimura Danzo was indeed killed by the clan leader, since the Third Hokage had no evidence, it was naturally just a rumor.
"Of course not," Fugaku replied with a smile and a shake of his head.
"So, what is your plan, clan leader?" Yakushi asked, puzzled.
If the clan leader wasn't going to let this go, why did he release these thirteen men?
"The second step of the plan must begin. I intend to use this incident as the start of the second step," Fugaku said with a smile.
"The second step of the plan..." Yakushi's eyes lit up.
With the clan leader's current reputation, the first step of the plan had clearly succeeded, so it was time for the second step.
The second step was to expose the Third Hokage's dirty dealings, ruin his reputation, and force him down from the Hokage position.
Fugaku intended to use this framing incident to reveal the Third Hokage's true nature and undermine his prestige.
Then, he frowned slightly.
"But those thirteen Anbu ninjas have already been handed over to the Third Hokage. We don't have any evidence—"
"Such evidence is unnecessary," Fugaku interrupted with a shake of his head.
"It is certain those thirteen came from the Anbu. That alone is enough."
"Just knowing they're from the Anbu is enough?" Yakushi thought for a moment and understood Fugaku's meaning.
"I see. The Anbu are controlled by the Third Hokage. Anyone with common sense would guess that these thirteen acted on his orders."
"As long as we publicize this matter and these thirteen identities, anyone who isn't completely foolish will naturally suspect the Third Hokage's involvement."
"Exactly. Next, have the Anbu members spread this through their patrols."
Fugaku nodded.
"But we absolutely must not say the Third Hokage ordered this. We can't make the same mistakes he made."
Only reveal what these thirteen did and their Anbu affiliation, without stating the Third Hokage's involvement.
Even if the Third Hokage discovers the Anbu members spreading the news, he won't be able to arrest them.
Because what they say contains no lies or slander.
But even without lies, people will infer the Third Hokage's orchestration, damaging his reputation.
"Yes, I'll order it immediately," Yakushi quickly agreed and left.
Soon after, many Anbu members appeared on the streets of Konoha.
They chatted casually, seemingly inadvertently revealing that Fugaku was framed and the framers were from the Anbu.
Naturally, the Anbu noticed this quickly, and a monkey-faced masked man came to report the situation to the Third Hokage.
"He took the Sharingan but still won't back down?" the Third Hokage was angry.
He had expected Fugaku to stop after taking the Sharingan but was surprised that Fugaku planned to continue.
"Arrest all the Anbu members spreading rumors," he ordered the masked man.
"But what they say is true, not rumors, and they never said you ordered it. We have no grounds to arrest them," the monkey-faced man said helplessly.
"Damn it!" The Third Hokage's face flushed red with anger.
...
Thanks to the Anbu's spread, rumors that Fugaku was framed by spies from other ninja villages disguised as Anbu spread quickly.
Some were shocked that spies existed within the Anbu, while others understood the deeper meaning behind this news.
"Didn't expect there to be spies in the Anbu. Good thing they were found, or the consequences would've been disastrous," said a tall, strong youth named Yamashiro Kage, who wore a forehead protector, indicating he was a ninja.
Two others stood beside him.
One was a slightly shorter boy also wearing a forehead protector, named Gekkou Keisu, from the Gekkou clan.
The other was a ponytailed girl named Shiranui Shika, from the Shiranui clan.
Upon hearing Yamashiro's words, Gekkou habitually retorted, "Idiot, the Anbu are the most strictly vetted group in Konoha. How could there possibly be spies from other villages?"
"But the news clearly said spies from other villages were found in the Anbu," Yamashiro looked at Gekkou in confusion.
"Believe everything you hear without thinking? You're hopeless," Gekkou said, rubbing his forehead and staring at him as if he were an idiot.
"There can't be spies in the Anbu, so these people must be genuine Anbu members," Shiranui explained.
"Real Anbu members? Then why would they spread rumors to frame Clan Leader Fugaku?" Yamashiro scratched his head in greater confusion.
"Because someone ordered them to," Shiranui sighed and explained.
"Someone ordered them? Who? Who gave the order?" Yamashiro was shocked.
"Idiot, who else in all of Konoha could command the Anbu except that one person?" Gekkou said helplessly, defeated by Yamashiro's stupidity.
"You mean..." Yamashiro finally understood, greatly shocked.
Only the Third Hokage could command the Anbu, meaning those people acted under his instructions.
The kind, gentle Third Hokage who appeared when he first enrolled had actually ordered the Anbu to frame a fellow village ninja!
This shattered his beliefs.
Seeing this, Gekkou and Shiranui both shook their heads.
Not just Yamashiro, they too were deeply shaken, never expecting the Hokage to have such a dark side.