The next day.
The Konoha Villagers, who had woken up early, were preparing to greet a day full of energy.
A somewhat shocking piece of news soon reached their ears.
The former Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had defected!
Both the newspaper and Konoha Voice gave it ample coverage.
The newspaper's headline detailed the entire incident.
After several years, everyone understood that Konoha Voice had a period of commercials, or 'junk time,' between programs. Today, however, Konoha Voice canceled its commercial breaks, instead broadcasting the general details of this incident during every program interval.
All the Konoha Villagers were greatly startled when they first learned of this matter.
Hokage!
Defection!
These two words, normally completely unrelated, indeed shocked the Konoha people when they appeared together.
At first, the Villagers, looking like they had big news, shared this shocking information with those around them.
However, these Villagers soon realized that it seemed no one was unaware of this news.
Their excitement quickly faded, but soon their desire for gossip became uncontrollable.
On the way to work, on the way to take their children to school, while working.
People were gossiping everywhere in Konoha.
That's right!
Just gossiping.
The shock was only slight, and only for a short while.
To be honest, after learning that it was the former Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had defected, the Konoha Villagers didn't feel much.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had indeed ruled Konoha for about twenty years, but without him realizing it, Yuuki had already intervened and replaced his role.
Yuuki had achieved what Hiruzen Sarutobi had always wanted to do but couldn't: privatize Konoha.
Before Yuuki became Hokage, Konoha already belonged to the Department Head, and the Hokage was more like a spiritual symbol, with very little influence on Konoha.
After Yuuki became the Fifth Hokage, Konoha was stamped with Yuuki's seal, from the inside out.
Hiruzen Sarutobi?
For most people in Konoha, he was a very distant memory.
If he hadn't been the Hokage just over a month ago, many would have almost forgotten his name.
The newspaper, which had seen continuously declining sales for several years, surprisingly sold out today.
Konoha Voice was good, but once you listened, it was gone.
The newspaper had an unparalleled advantage: it could be stored. Such a major news event, rare in a lifetime, was worth buying a paper to collect.
The Konoha Villagers, enjoying this rare big scoop, felt their spirits lifted considerably.
All sorts of discussions and opinions were also gathered on Yuuki's desk.
Yuuki briefly flipped through them, and it was pretty much as expected, mainly various criticisms of Hiruzen Sarutobi, as the contrast in Hiruzen Sarutobi's character was indeed strong.
The second most popular topic was Asuma. This hero, who turned the tide, was also a subject of much discussion. His identity as Hiruzen Sarutobi's son added a lot of drama, and the father-son estrangement and righteous renunciation of family ties were highly debatable.
Next was the discussion about the Sarutobi Clan. Combined with Hiashi's previous actions, the Sarutobi Clan's reputation dropped another notch.
The top three trending topics were all related to the name Sarutobi. Indeed, they gained widespread fame, unrivaled for a time.
After a brief glance, Yuuki put them down and picked up another document.
This document excluded civilian discussions, mostly recording the statements of Konoha Ninja.
Although the Anbu had been disbanded by Yuuki, teams with similar functions still existed.
Yuuki read the few pages of content much more carefully; though Ninja were few, they were crucial.
Compared to civilians, Ninja were much more cautious, and most remained silent, so not many statements were recorded.
The topics discussed were generally similar to those of the civilians, but the discussions focused more on technical details.
The emphasis was also on the battle, with many speculating whether Hiruzen Sarutobi and Asuma Sarutobi held back during their fight and what Asuma's true strength was.
Flipping to the end, Yuuki saw content that greatly concerned him.
"I think the Fifth Hokage is truly too benevolent; he's been really lenient with the Sarutobi Clan!"
"Oh? How so?"
Clearly, this was a conversation. Yuuki happily turned the page to read further.
"Think about it, during the darkest period, so many useless members of the Sarutobi Clan occupied high positions, causing so much loss to Konoha, and now they even harbored rebellious intentions. The Fifth Hokage merely sent them to the border to atone for their sins. Isn't that benevolent enough?"
"The Fifth Hokage allowed the Sarutobi Clan to continue to exist and stated that he would not treat other Sarutobi Clan members differently. Isn't that lenient enough?"
"If you ask me, the Sarutobi Clan is inherently evil. Konoha doesn't need the Sarutobi Clan!"
"Hmm, what you said makes sense, but what did you mean by 'darkest period' just now?"
"Of course, it was the period when Hiruzen Sarutobi was Hokage. Those twenty years or so were the darkest period for all of Konoha. Ninja like me, who had talent and ability but no good background, could only struggle bitterly."
"Really? But it seems you were quite close to the Sarutobi Clan!"
"Nonsense! I was clearly enduring humiliation for a greater purpose!"
The content after that was missing, presumably inconvenient to display. Yuuki then saw the location and participants of the conversation.
Such familiar names!
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