Chapter 158:
Konoha News, Issue No. 342
Front Page: Shocking!!! The monster that appeared in Konoha Village actually did this at night!
Second Page: The first thing Naruto Uzumaki, heir to the Namikaze Group, did after returning to Konoha Village was actually this!
For various reasons, while Naruto was away training under Jiraiya, most of the Namikaze Group's assets were donated to Konoha Village, helping it pull through a severe economic crisis.
...
"Where is this place? It's so cold."
A chill wind brushed against her, making Sarada shiver instinctively as she spoke.
"Hmm... This should be Konoha Village..." the Jar Merchant replied, picking up a trampled newspaper from the ground and showing it to Sarada.
"Konoha News..." Sarada adjusted her glasses and read, "Issue No. 211... Shocking! The Uchiha Clan was wiped out for this reason!?"
The entire page was filled with words condemning the Uchiha clan for bullying the weak, exploiting the innocent, and running amok, painting the clan's extermination as completely justified.
Due to severe environmental pollution, Konoha Village looked shrouded in darkness, even during daylight hours.
"It seems we really need to understand this unfamiliar version of Konoha Village first," the Jar Merchant said, looking toward Sarada. "And since gathering intel is a basic skill for any ninja, I'll leave that to you."
Sarada nodded. Just as she was about to say something, a rough male voice suddenly called out:
"Hey! You two! Hand over your money, now!"
The Jar Merchant and Sarada exchanged glances. The Jar Merchant said, "Well, I didn't expect intelligence gathering to be this easy. Sarada, it's your time to shine."
"You two think I'm some kind of joke, huh?!"
"Calm down... I just want to ask a few questions about this place..." Sarada said as she slowly advanced toward the man, revealing her Sharingan.
"R-Red... red tomoe eyes... A-Are you... the Clown!?" the man trembled violently, his eyes filled with fear.
Even though someone like him—living at the very bottom of society—had never seen the Clown in person, he had definitely heard the terrifying stories.
Meanwhile, at Konoha Bank—
Though it was night in appearance, it was actually 9:00 a.m. in the morning.
A group of masked criminals, each wearing a clown mask and wielding scientific ninja tools, stormed into the bank.
Once someone tastes the fruits of capital, it's not something they easily give up.
Even though scientific ninja tools posed a threat to social stability, during the chaos that followed the Third Hokage's death—and before the Fourth Hokage officially took over—Danzō had succeeded in opening stores selling these tools across the village.
The current Hokage in office was Tsunade. As for the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, he had died the night before his inauguration. Out of respect, Tsunade allowed the Namikaze Group to retain the title on paper—it was, after all, just a name.
Inside the bank, the clowns each carried out their assigned roles, swiftly completing the robbery.
Suddenly, with a blast from a scientific ninja tool, one of the clowns fell to the ground.
"Do you punks even know whose money you're stealing? This bank is run by the Hyūga clan!" shouted a man with Byakugan eyes, wielding a scattershot-style scientific ninja tool. "I guarantee every one of you is dead!"
"Six shots... seven shots..."
Once the Hyūga man emptied his last round, a clown sprang from the shadows and opened fire with his own scientific ninja tool.
"Hahaha! Look at all this money, we've struck it rich!" one of the clowns laughed. "Hey bro, robbing under the Clown's name is genius! I take the cash, and the Clown takes the fall—brilliant!"
"No... I'm the one who's getting rich..."
"R-Red... red tomoe eyes... Y-You're the real Clown!"
The fake Clown began trembling uncontrollably.
The real Clown slowly removed the mask from his face, revealing a deathly pale complexion and scars at the corners of his mouth.
"Mm... much better now." The Clown shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair, staring at the terrified fake. "You look... scared."
The imposter frantically shook his head.
"What are you afraid of, hmm?" The Clown stepped forward, grabbed the fake's collar, and asked coldly, "Is it these eyes you fear... or my mouth?"
"Kh..." The dying Hyūga man lay slumped on the ground, watching the two clowns argue. "Uchiha... Sasuke... you're done for... the Hyūga clan will never forgive you... Look at yourself now. Once a great clan rivaling the Hyūga, and now you're just a mad clown... What a joke..."
"Trying to provoke me?" Sasuke stepped over to the Hyūga man, grabbing him by the hair. "If my appearance brings a smile to your face, then I'm honored—after all, I'm a clown. I live to bring laughter."
"Maybe... this is my chance to kill the Clown..." the fake Clown muttered as he looked at Sasuke's back.
But in the end, his fear of death overcame his terror of the Clown.
Quietly, he crept up behind Sasuke, trembling as he raised a pistol-shaped scientific ninja tool and pulled the trigger.
But Sasuke, still gripping the Hyūga man's face, continued speaking:
"Wouldn't it be nice... if you were a happy little Konoha citizen, just like me?"
The moment he finished speaking, the gunshot rang out—but the fake Clown had turned the weapon on himself, blowing out his own brains.
"Sharingan Genjutsu..."
As a Hyūga, the dying man immediately understood why the fake Clown had committed suicide.
"Tsk, tsk... What a shame..." Sasuke clicked his tongue and shook his head as he glanced at the corpse. "Now I only have one toy left... You know, nameless Hyūga... I've always believed that whatever doesn't kill you will only make you weirder. Just like when Uchiha Itachi spared my life back then..."
Outside Konoha Bank—
The new Konoha Police Force—formed after the Uchiha clan's fall—had been fully mobilized and surrounded the bank.
After all, it was a Hyūga-owned bank.
"Captain, we only found one person inside..."
A three-man squad reported over the radio after entering the building.
A man strapped to a chair, wearing a clown mask, made muffled noises through his gag.
"Damn Clown!" one squad member grumbled, punching the man in the gut. "My hard-earned day off—ruined because of you!"
"All right, enough." The team leader tried to calm his teammate. "Let's take off his mask and see what the infamous Clown really looks like."
As if triggered by the words, the bound man began thrashing violently.
Amid joking and laughter, the team peeled off the mask—only to be greeted by a pair of Byakugan eyes, and a bomb-shaped scientific ninja tool stuffed in the man's mouth.
The clown mask was the trigger.
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