In the tense atmosphere, many Anbu shinobi fixed their eyes on the not-so-tall back of Sarutobi Hiruzen.
They had all witnessed the Hokage's indecisive, wavering softness when facing Uchiha Chizumi. But that didn't mean they didn't want Hiruzen to stand up for them. The other side was clearly targeting Konoha's Anbu—was the Hokage really going to keep dithering?
Hiruzen could naturally feel their stares.
"Yamada Keiyuno." At that moment, Uchiha Chizumi began calling out names one after another. His voice was as flat as ever, yet each name made the person called tense up. "Inoue Yuto, Inuzuka Takeya—"
Hiruzen couldn't help drawing a sharp breath as he heard them. These were elite Anbu—people he trusted most. They had carried out many missions he personally ordered and completed them flawlessly—contributors to Konoha.
The crucial point, though, was their methods, which Hiruzen knew well: in the field they could become selectively cold-blooded. And once Anbu went cold, collateral deaths outside mission parameters were very likely.
He had looked the other way about this—so long as assignments were completed perfectly and the village itself wasn't endangered. In the past, no one pursued their mistakes, either.
Over time, Hiruzen nearly forgot about it—until now, at this moment of "crisis," it all came back to him.
"So you're not going to turn yourselves in." Seeing no one step forward, Uchiha Chizumi issued a cold order: "Konoha Police Force, hear me—arrest every Anbu I just named! Take them to the Police interrogation rooms, and notify the Yamanaka to come search their memories."
"Understood, Chizumi-sama!"
Chizumi's hard line instantly fired up many in the Police. How many years had it been since the Uchiha were this forceful? They could hardly remember. Especially after Fugaku took power, the clan had kept yielding under the village's pressure—bowing and backing down—practically trained into Konoha's lapdogs. Now—at last—they could hold their heads high!
As he saw the Police pressing forward, Hiruzen gritted his teeth and spoke at once: "Chizumi! I see nothing wrong with their conduct! And the Police have no authority to seize Konoha's Anbu! The Anbu are the Hokage's secret elite unit and are not under Police jurisdiction. While on mission, they are not bound by civil law!"
"This farce needs to end!"
In the end, Hiruzen chose to shield Anbu to the death, because that base was the only reason he could still sit as Hokage. With the Sarutobi clan's support cooling, Anbu was the only blade left in his hand.
As for Root? Under Utatane Koharu's control it had become so useless Hiruzen couldn't bear to look; he had chosen to ignore it entirely.
With Anbu and the Police squaring off—and two village heavyweights, Chizumi and Hiruzen, both on scene—crowds of bold Konoha villagers gathered to watch.
Neither Chizumi nor Hiruzen kept their voices down, so the bystanders heard everything. The onlookers started whispering: "Why aren't Anbu under Police control or the law? Why are ordinary shinobi like us policed, but not them? Is that fair? Aren't we all shinobi—villagers of Konoha? What makes those mask-wearing Anbu so special?"
A Konoha genin muttered his dissatisfaction—clearly he resented Anbu. At times their behavior in the village really was overbearing: they'd "take you in for questioning" just like that, with no chance to explain. The Uchiha Police, at least, could cite statutes that left you speechless.
"Didn't the Hokage himself say Anbu are his secret unit? Of course they get Hokage-only privileges. In that case, they're bound to be a cut above the rest!" another meddlesome chūnin chimed in. A closer look would show the Nara crest embroidered on his clothes.
"If they've got nothing to hide, why not let the Yamanaka search their memories?" the Nara chūnin added with a smile. "They broke the law and are just feeling guilty." He didn't lower his voice, so Hiruzen and many Anbu heard him plainly.
"That guy—" an Anbu frowned at the chūnin. "He's Nara—" In Anbu eyes, the Ino–Shika–Cho trio had practically become the lackeys of "Absolute Justice."
And there were still Ino–Shika–Cho within Anbu even now. The Anbu's gaze slid to a few colleagues from those three clans—standing at the very edge of the crowd, looking like it didn't concern them.
"Tch—" the Anbu muttered under his breath. "Even after joining Anbu, they choose to stand against the Hokage? Raising them was the Hokage's worst mistake."
What he didn't expect was that the nearby villagers were being swayed by the Nara chūnin's words.
"Right!" a civilian exclaimed in sudden realization. "These masked shinobi are protected by the Hokage. Even if they do wrong, they walk away fine. No wonder so many want to be shinobi—turns out shinobi enjoy these privileges."
"Hey, don't say that! Ordinary shinobi like us don't have those perks. Those are Konoha Anbu—the elite among elites—of course they have privileges."
"How can the Hokage be like that? As Hokage, shouldn't he be impartial—especially toward the side that's in the wrong?"
"Shh, the Hokage is right there. You want to die, bad-mouthing him here?"
"What's the big deal? We used to call Uchiha Chizumi a walking disaster, and he never did anything to us. Is the Hokage going to?"
"Hard to say."
As the whispers reached Hiruzen's ears, the wrinkles in his old face twitched. Not good. If this kept up, the Third Hokage's reputation would plummet.
"Chizumi-sama! Why not tell us the charges against the Anbu you named—let everyone in the village hear the shameful things they've done. Show us the faces of these Anbu who refuse to surrender!"
The Nara chūnin's sudden shout even made several Police shinobi glance his way.
"This guy—" a Police jōnin raised a brow. "Classic Nara—one line and the Third Hokage's on the spit. Was that Shikaku's cue, or is he freelancing to sync with Chizumi-sama?"
"Probably acting on his own," another officer said. "With Shikaku's temperament, he'd help from the shadows, not openly send a clansman to challenge the Hokage."
Chizumi cast the shouting Nara a glance. Hiruzen thought, "This is bad."
"Yamada Keiyuno, Anbu." It was already too late—and impossible to stop. Chizumi's cool voice began to roll out.
"Ten years ago, during an Anbu mission, he was spotted. To prevent a leak, he hypnotized the witness with genjutsu—never realizing the witness was just a civilian. The genjutsu drove him insane. Unable to care for himself and ostracized, he lasted three years before taking his own life.
"The witness's wife had died early, leaving two children. After losing both parents in succession, one followed his father into death; the other withdrew for years and starved to death at home."
As Chizumi spoke, the surroundings seemed to fall silent—only the faint sound of breathing remained.
"Inoue Yuto, Anbu. Seven years ago—"
Chizumi did not stop. One by one, he listed each named Anbu's misdeeds—and the chain of consequences they had set off.
"Why does that sound so familiar?" a Konoha civilian murmured, stunned. "It's just like my neighbor—he had two kids, went mad and killed himself years ago, and both children died too—"
Many realized they actually knew victims of the fallout from Anbu actions—these things had happened right around them. Some were neighbors, some friends, even relatives.
And without exception, none of these repercussions stirred much public outcry in Konoha at the time—they seemed to have been quietly smothered soon after they happened.
Who smothered them? Who had that unseen power? The conspiracy-prone civilians of Konoha immediately arrived at one answer—The Hokage!!!
Since Anbu were the Hokage's secret unit, who else could hush things up and clean up after them but the Hokage? And if not him, then his right-hand men—or other Konoha leaders. That made sense—how could figures that high up really be as "spotless" as they seemed?
Once that "conspiracy" clicked for them, the villagers felt a mix of resentment and hungry curiosity. Resentment because the Hokage's "cover-ups" were practically in plain sight: why shield Anbu while ordinary people who toil for Konoha are policed so harshly? Curiosity because they wanted more juicy details to flesh out their imagined conspiracy.
The whispers swelled into a messy buzz, nearly drowning out Chizumi's voice.
Cold sweat beaded on Hiruzen's brow. He could see the villagers turning their ire toward him, the Third Hokage—pinning all blame on Sarutobi Hiruzen. Was I wrong? He wanted to defend himself, but any argument felt feeble.
Suddenly—a hand landed on his shoulder. He turned to find it belonged to an Uchiha officer from the Police. No! I'm the Hokage! Does he not understand rank?
But the pressure of that hand pushed Hiruzen a step aside before he could react. The officer's voice followed: "Hokage-sama, please don't block Chizumi-sama's way—unless you're dead set on shielding these criminals. Do you intend to stand against justice?"
Hiruzen came to himself, his face flushing; he almost cracked a tooth with anger. He had a temper, even if he seldom showed it. It was one thing for Chizumi to act this way—but for a mere subordinate to talk to him like that!
Yet under so many watchful eyes, he found he couldn't lash out—he had no ground to stand on. In the values of these ordinary people, Hiruzen's "reason" wasn't their reason. The Police's "reason" was.
If he dared keep blocking them now, he might as well resign on the spot. The public's faith had scattered; no one would respect him.
He went rigid where he stood. Then he locked his gaze on Chizumi, heedless of how eerie and dangerous those eyes were.
"Chizumi." As squad after squad of Police shinobi strode past him toward the Anbu in the rear, Hiruzen ground his teeth and said, "Quite the show. This was your long-laid plan—aimed squarely at me, wasn't it?"