Hiruzen felt bored when he saw this scene.

He didn't believe that these two old friends couldn't see that this was a dispute initiated by Danzo.

However, these two people came to him first to ask for an explanation. Obviously they knew that they could not find a breakthrough from Danzo, so they could only come to him to nag, hoping to calm the matter on his side, and take the initiative to negotiate with Danzo and bring the whole village to his side.

The rumors were put to rest.

Because if the rumors are allowed to ferment, no one knows whether more characters will be revealed and more people will get angry.

"Hiruzhan, what are you going to do about this?"

Mitomon Yan looked directly at Hiruzen and asked.

"I have asked the ANBU and the security team to control the direction of the rumors. As for when it will end, I don't have the final say."

"But you are Hokage!"

"I won't be anymore soon, and now I am unable to suppress Danzo's ambition."

Hiruzen's words surprised Mito Kadoyan, but he quickly calmed down.

"No matter what, you are the most vocal figures in the village, and you cannot let people in other villages laugh at it. I hope this farce ends as soon as possible, and we will also provide help to control the rumors in the village."

As advisors, the two of them also have many close associates who can assist the ANBU and the security forces in their operations.

No matter how long this struggle for the position of Hokage lasts, the issue of rumors must be controlled and cannot be left unchecked.

"If you had stood by me like this before, things wouldn't have gotten to this point."

Looking at the two people leaving in a hurry, Hiruzen blew out a smoke ring and showed a complicated look in his eyes.

"As a consultant, I may have my own difficulties."

Shikaku said from the side.

After all, there are many people watching that high position, and it is human nature to want to firmly control the authority of the consultant.

"But the current situation does not allow them to be mere wallflowers anymore. The balance that Konoha has maintained for many years is about to be broken."

Hiruzen coughed. Although he was still struggling to hold on, his aura was no longer as strong as in his prime, and he was full of depressive twilight.

Suffering from the political struggle within the village and the pressure from the outside ghost country, his body has long been exhausted after these years of hardship.

"So, continuing the previous topic, how do you think Danzo can stop this incident? Or, in other words, how can we buy enough time before Tsunade comes back?"

Hiruzen looked up at Shikaku.

"It is impossible to completely control the rumors. The only way is to negotiate with Elder Danzo."

"I'm afraid this is also the situation Danzo hopes to see."

Hiruzen naturally knew that if he wanted to solve the rumor problem once and for all, he could only go to face-to-face negotiations with Danzo.

But this means that he has given up the initiative and will gradually increase Danzo's bargaining chip.

Hiruzen had no intention of doing this until the situation was unclear.

"Other than that, I can't think of any other way."

Shikaku shook his head.

At this point, exploring the rumors itself is not the key to reversing the situation.

Shikaku would not consider the authenticity of those rumors.

If this source is not cut off, public opinion in the village will continue.

Rumors are not terrible. What is terrible is that Danzo wants to use this rumor to achieve some unknown purpose.

Shikaku was worried about this.

◎

The process of controlling rumors has not been smooth.

Due to the scarcity of manpower, Kakashi only controlled the rumors in the downtown area. As for the rumors in some remote corners, they should still be spread secretly, and the content of the rumors became more and more outrageous and divorced from reality.

For example, at the beginning, they talked about the Wood Release Experiment, saying that the Third Hokage had desecrated the remains of his ancestors. Later, he pointed the finger at the Third Hokage for using the power of the Hokage to secretly steal children in the village, and conspired with Orochimaru to conduct taboo research and obtain stronger weapons.

Power controls Konoha.

Afterwards, he was investigated by an unknown elder named "Danzo" and exposed Orochimaru's ugly deeds. However, because there was still the protector of the Third Hokage, Orochimaru calmly escaped from Konoha even if the matter was exposed.

Even after leaving the village, he still had a close relationship with his mentor, the Third Hokage.

This is also the reason why Orochimaru has been able to remain at large for so many years.

An unknown elder rebuked him many times to no avail.

In short, many things cannot be confirmed to be true or false, but they are spread in a certain way.

Even insiders like Kakashi heard this and had to sigh that Genbu was really good at spreading rumors.

Although these voices are still very weak at present, the influence of such content will continue to accumulate.

When it accumulates to a certain level, it doesn't matter whether the content is true or false. What's important is that this is a fact that people recognize.

At that point, everything is over.

Therefore, such voices must be suppressed and cannot be allowed to gain momentum.

…

"They are talking nonsense, Grandpa Hokage is not that kind of person!"

Hearing the rumors on the street, Naruto couldn't restrain his inner anger. He clenched his fists and wanted to go up and argue with those people.

"Don't mess around, Naruto. Those are just ordinary people. If you hit them, you will be arrested by the security team immediately."

Unlike Naruto, although Sasuke is also very angry about these rumors, he also knows that these civilians who spread rumors are just a group of followers. The real hateful people are the people behind all this.

He had always had a good impression of the Third Hokage and did not believe that he would collude with a dangerous person like Orochimaru.

"But, what they said was too..."

Naruto was so angry that he was speechless.

"Sasuke is right. If we go up to this kind of thing, it will only be a waste of time. Let's let the ANBU and the security team handle it."

Sakura also came to stop Naruto and told him not to act rashly at this time.

Although the rumors continue, not everyone is blindly following them.

Those who had at least benefited from the Third Hokage were arguing with each other and starting to fight against those who spread rumors.

Genin like Team 7, who had a very good impression of the Third Hokage, naturally stood on the Hokage's side and were at odds with the rumormongers.

"The most important thing now is to do your job well. If we hit them now, it will only put the Hokage in a more disadvantageous situation."

Sasuke was very calm.

As chuunin and genin, they can only wait and see what happens.

In such a struggle, to be honest, they are dispensable pawns and cannot play any key role.

"Speaking of which, where is Mr. Pervert?"

Naruto asked this question as he didn't see Ebisu's figure.

"With such a big thing happening, Ebisu-sensei can't sit still. I guess all the Jonin have been mobilized now."

Sakura said helplessly.

"Damn it! Don't let me know who did it!"

Naruto could only retract his fist unwillingly and endure the bad words spoken to Naruto by the people around him.

"Go back. It seems that all missions will be stopped these days. If something happens, don't be violent."

Sasuke shook his head, and after reminding Naruto and Sakura, he was not in the mood to stay outside and left directly.

After something like this happened, Class 7 no longer even had the mood to practice.

◎

"It seems that the situation is not going well."

His father, who left in a hurry, came back in a hurry. Shikamaru, who was sitting on the corridor at home, turned his head and said.

Lu Jiu nodded without concealing it with a heavy heart.

"I didn't expect that even you knew about it."

"It's hard to figure out this kind of thing after walking around outside. So, how is the situation over there, Hokage-sama?"

The village has long been filled with all kinds of rumors that are not good for the Hokage. Even if they are suppressed by ANBU and security forces, it will take time to be effective.

If the Hokage does nothing during this period, it will definitely make this matter worse and make people in Konoha panic.

"With the current level of rumors, it is impossible to shake Hokage-sama's position. But the worst part is this."

"It's just like a warm-up exercise before the official game, is what you want to say."

Shikamaru spoke with a very vivid metaphor.
To be continued...