Chapter 248: Was Danzo Killed by You?
After Ōnoki saw the first newspaper, he immediately wanted to collect the previous issues as well.
To him, this thing almost shattered his worldview. From a ninja’s perspective, was this really something ordinary civilians and low-ranking ninja should be allowed to read?
Wasn’t this basically leaking intelligence on purpose?
Still, Ōnoki was an extremely sharp man. Even if his thinking had grown somewhat rigid with age, he was still someone who had sat firmly in the Tsuchikage’s seat for years.
He quickly thought of many possibilities.
After examining it carefully, he realized these so-called pieces of intelligence did not actually affect the village much.
To put it bluntly, most of them were scraps and side details. They would not cause any serious impact on a village’s overall situation.
In fact, publishing this intelligence could even intimidate neighboring villages, letting them know Konoha was always watching them.
That kind of silent deterrence could frighten many people.
In a certain sense, it was a way to subdue enemies without fighting.
In Ōnoki’s eyes, this method was actually quite clever.
But that thought did not last long.
After his subordinates collected earlier newspapers, he suddenly felt the situation was not what he had imagined.
Who was Orochimaru?
He was Hiruzen Sarutobi’s disciple, one of the Sannin, and one of Konoha’s commanders.
If someone like him defected from any village, the matter would definitely be buried as tightly as possible. Not a single detail would be leaked.
Yet this so-called newspaper had exposed it directly.
And it had even received ANBU’s approval?
What did that mean?
There were only two possibilities.
Either Konoha was caught in internal conflict, or this newspaper was not something Konoha itself had created.
The fact that Konoha had internal conflict was already very clear. Reporting Orochimaru’s matter did not look normal at all.
And this article explicitly stated that the information had been provided by ANBU.
ANBU was an organization under the Hokage.
So could Ōnoki interpret this as ANBU being dissatisfied with the previous Hokage after the Third Hokage resumed power?
Especially since Minato Namikaze was still alive, had Konoha’s internal division developed into a power struggle?
Aside from that, the newspaper itself might not belong to Konoha.
If it did belong to Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi should have had a way to ban it.
After all, this thing was far too dangerous.
Even if forcibly shutting it down would cause trouble, that would still be better than letting its suffocating, invisible influence spread above his head at all times.
But if this newspaper came from outside, if it did not belong to Konoha or even the Land of Fire, then Hiruzen Sarutobi really would need to think carefully.
The consequences of acting rashly would be serious.
Would he dare suppress a commercial organization, especially one backed by ANBU and not seriously violating Konoha’s regulations?
Forcefully shutting it down would damage his credibility.
And with Orochimaru’s incident already there, Hiruzen really would not dare act lightly.
"What an interesting thing. Still, ANBU must have paid them quite a lot to promote themselves like this."
Ōnoki looked at the contents of the newspaper and thought silently.
He also began considering whether he should create something similar.
After all, he could clearly see the influence this newspaper had.
This thing could guide public opinion. If placed in his hands, it would definitely become a sharp weapon.
But during this period, he had also carefully reviewed the intelligence ANBU had previously sent back.
After reading it, he hesitated.
Because he discovered that this so-called newspaper was not easy to run.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had personally tried to create one in Konoha, but the result had been ineffective. The old man simply could not beat professionals at their own game.
Besides that, these newspapers were reportedly sold at extremely low prices, so low that almost anyone could afford them.
In other words, the early investment would be enormous.
And that meant the newspaper had to earn money elsewhere.
In Ōnoki’s view, this newspaper had clearly taken ANBU’s money. That was why it gave ANBU so much space and such detailed coverage.
Even though the writing was realistic and objective, and even though Ōnoki knew the stories were true, the articles were still exciting, and the promotion was wide-reaching.
After that kind of publicity, who would not know that Konoha’s ANBU was outstanding? Who would not think Konoha’s ANBU was powerful?
That was excellent reputation-building.
If Ōnoki did this himself, putting aside the size of the early investment, where would he find money to support it?
One major reason Iwagakure had marched toward Konoha during the Third Shinobi World War was that they were also relatively poor.
Of course, they were still much better off than Sunagakure.
In truth, just as he had said during the Fourth Shinobi World War, wars continued largely because the villages developed unevenly and the distribution of benefits had become seriously imbalanced.
Add hatred into the propaganda, and large-scale wars naturally appeared.
"Doing it myself probably isn’t realistic. But there’s no way to seal this thing off either."
Ōnoki felt somewhat troubled.
Honestly, he did not want something like this entering the village.
But it was obvious there was no way to block it.
According to ANBU’s intelligence, these newspapers had already appeared in the small countries around them, places treated as "raw material centers," "mission centers," and "battlefields."
And these newspapers were rapidly spreading outward.
Ōnoki knew this thing would enter the Land of Earth sooner or later.
In fact, it might already have entered the Land of Earth. It simply had not reached Iwagakure yet.
Likewise, Ōnoki could not seal off the newspapers, and he did not dare ban them.
He did not want to create a credibility crisis for Iwagakure.
Even if no one in Iwagakure endorsed these newspapers, if they could be sold everywhere else but not in Iwagakure, would that not imply Iwagakure was unsuitable for development?
If those newspapers then spread that message elsewhere, it could deal a blow to Iwagakure’s reputation.
"Since that’s the case, let them in. But I need to meet their president first."
Ōnoki was decisive.
Since he could not stop it, he might as well guide it along.
Many times, blocking something was worse than channeling it.
As long as he controlled the newspaper’s tone and achieved a good cooperative relationship with it, this might bring good results for himself and Iwagakure.
"And I saw advertisements in there too. I could imitate that, but my influence would probably be limited to Iwagakure. Using them to promote some of Iwagakure’s specialties and bring in more income wouldn’t be bad either..."
Once Ōnoki made a decision, he acted immediately.
The ones who suffered were naturally the ANBU members.
Fortunately, from the moment Hikaru established this organization, he had already begun training stationed personnel outside the village.
He did not want everyone to know the newspaper was connected to Konoha’s ANBU.
This decision thoroughly protected that secret now.
Iwagakure’s ANBU found the newspaper branch in the Land of Grass and conveyed that the Tsuchikage wished to speak with their president.
This news immediately dumbfounded the person in charge of the Land of Grass branch.
They had only just settled here, and they had already attracted the Tsuchikage’s attention?
Fortunately, the person in charge was an experienced ANBU veteran.
He had been born a civilian ninja and had none of the traits of a clan ninja, so the chance of his identity being exposed was even lower.
He calmly dealt with Iwagakure’s ANBU and then immediately found time to send the information back to Konoha.
Almost that same day, the message appeared on Hikaru’s desk.
"Tell me what you think."
Inside ANBU’s meeting room, Hikaru looked at the elite ANBU seated below him and could not help shaking his head softly.
Honestly, he had not expected this situation to arrive so quickly.
He had predicted that his newspaper would attract the attention of other village Kage, but this speed was beyond his preparations.
They wanted to meet the president.
The problem was, Hikaru had not had time to prepare a proper president.
In other words, this was genuinely troublesome.
While Hikaru felt troubled, the expressions of the people sitting below him were similarly strange.
Saya and Ayame looked somewhat distressed. They were already thinking about who should be sent this time.
Kakashi, Trout, and Antelope, the three squad captains, looked at one another. They had not participated deeply in this plan.
They only knew some members from their teams had been transferred over. Beyond that, they did not understand much.
Mole, sitting at the outermost edge, rubbed his head. He also looked troubled.
Mole was someone Hikaru had recently promoted.
He was responsible for the former Root members Hikaru had taken over.
Hikaru understood Mole fairly well. Back then, Mole had been on the same team as him, and during the squad captain selection, he had even been one of Hikaru’s rivals.
After Hikaru took over as ANBU Minister and began cleaning out and investigating ANBU personnel, Mole had still remained in ANBU.
Naturally, Hikaru could not ignore someone like him.
After hinting to Antelope to promote him to platoon captain, Hikaru observed him for a long time.
Eventually, after obtaining Root’s external division, he placed Mole in charge of that section.
However, the number of people in the village-external division was not small at all. Added together, they probably exceeded the size of an entire squad.
Hikaru naturally would not let Mole manage it alone. He would choose people he trusted to assist him.
These included Kakashi, Pakura, and the four members of the Internal Affairs Office. There were many managers involved. It was only nominally handed to Mole.
Mole did not mind.
He was self-aware. He knew he still had a lot to learn, and he also knew he was not yet fully qualified.
He understood that he had reached this position because of Hikaru, so he had no complaints at all. He simply completed every task Hikaru assigned him honestly and quietly.
But today’s issue was truly giving him a headache.
He now stood in a very special position inside ANBU, and only after reaching it did he understand more things.
He discovered, with some embarrassment, that there were still too many matters he could not handle.
Finding someone who could fight was easy. ANBU was full of such people.
But finding someone suitable for this kind of role...
They had been preparing candidates, but those preparations were not yet complete.
"This happened far too suddenly. Our preparations are not sufficient."
After a long while, Ayame finally spoke helplessly.
"The president’s training has not been completed yet. This is really..."
"The plan can’t keep up with the changes," Saya also sighed helplessly. "It’s a good thing, but overall, it’s still giving us a headache."
"What about you?"
Hikaru tilted his head and looked toward Kakashi and the others.
"Do you have any ideas? Or any suitable candidates to recommend?"
For infiltration-type missions, candidates were generally selected from combat personnel.
However, whoever was chosen had to be extremely intelligent.
If necessary, even administrative personnel had to be included in the selection.
Strictly speaking, these administrative personnel might be even more useful than combat ninja at times like this.
"How about letting Nara Shikashiro try?"
After thinking for a moment, Kakashi suddenly suggested.
"Shikashiro has been in ANBU for a long time. I’ve read his records. He is highly intelligent and has carried out many missions. It’s just that he’s too lazy, and because of his clan’s recommendation, he eventually entered ANBU looking for a relatively stable job. But he learns very quickly. I think he should be able to handle this mission."
"Oh?"
Hikaru became thoughtful after hearing Kakashi’s words.
Nara Shikashiro was a member of the Nara Clan who had been sent into ANBU.
He seemed to have inherited all the Nara Clan’s strengths and flaws. He was both smart and incredibly unmotivated.
Inside ANBU, he belonged to the type that disliked standing out but had excellent personal ability.
There was no way Hikaru had not paid attention to someone like that. After all, he was a member of the Nara Clan.
He had also been selected for this plan, but the man was so low-key that Hikaru had nearly forgotten him.
Now that Kakashi had reminded him, Hikaru immediately remembered.
Since such a person existed, why not use him properly?
The Nara Clan did have many distinctive traits, but those traits were not impossible to erase through certain methods.
"And since he’s that smart, even if he’s dealing with an old fox like the Tsuchikage, I think there shouldn’t be a problem."
With that thought, Hikaru basically made his decision.
It would be a waste not to use such talent.
Besides, Hikaru was not asking him to be stationed outside long-term.
Even if Shikashiro agreed, the Nara Clan would not.
Using him to deal with this trouble temporarily would be enough.
If he performed well, some matters could be handed to him in the future.
That was also a form of authority.
"What a pain."
Nara Shikashiro sat inside the newspaper branch in the Land of Grass, looking utterly lifeless.
Fortunately, his pineapple-shaped hairstyle had already been shaved off. Otherwise, with that attitude, no one would believe he was not from the Nara Clan.
Nara Shikashiro looked around twenty or thirty years old, but his work history was extremely rich.
Most interestingly, no matter where he worked or what he did, he never attracted much attention at first.
But whenever someone later checked and reviewed his work, all his evaluations were excellent.
He was truly an unusual but extremely lazy talent.
After finishing his previous job under the Political Affairs Department, Nara Shikaku had approached him and recommended that he enter ANBU.
He had no objections to that.
He knew that even if he entered ANBU, he would not become a combat ninja.
Since that was the case, what was there to worry about?
Still, to be safe, he had mentioned it to Nara Shikaku in advance.
As clan head, Shikaku naturally wanted to protect his clan members, so he did not oppose it.
Although the Nara Clan had decent combat ability, what they were best at was strategy and planning.
Thus, Nara Shikashiro smoothly entered ANBU’s Political Affairs Office and began a new phase of life.
But the changes inside ANBU far exceeded his imagination.
No one could have predicted that in the following years, ANBU would change almost day by day.
First, one squad captain died during a mission.
Then Konoha’s youngest squad captain rose to power.
After that came the Nine-Tails incident. The former ANBU Minister was directly killed, and that youngest squad captain became the Minister.
All of this truly made Nara Shikashiro’s teeth ache.
Of course, he could see how many strange things were hidden behind these events, but he had neither the desire nor the courage to get involved too deeply.
The Nara Clan had its own way of surviving, and he had no interest in breaking it.
After the newly appointed Senju Minister, who had shone brilliantly during the Nine-Tails incident, took office, Shikashiro realized that Konoha’s internal power struggle had become terrifying.
He did not know how many former colleagues had been removed from ANBU by this new minister one by one.
And many people from the Operations Division had also inexplicably suffered.
He had thought he might not be far from being removed himself.
But unexpectedly, he stayed.
And as time passed, even his clan moved closer to Hikaru’s side.
He had nothing to say about that change.
He was not part of the clan’s decision-making circle. He only needed to do his own job properly.
Still, there were some things that made him sigh deeply.
Orochimaru’s defection and Danzo’s death.
He knew that his Minister’s shadow was definitely behind both.
"Young people these days are terrifying. He’s so young, yet his methods are already this sharp."
It really was frightening.
In Nara Shikashiro’s twenty or thirty years as a ninja, he had truly never seen someone like this.
And he realized that this Minister’s mind seemed even sharper than that of many Nara.
This Minister had actually created a newspaper.
Shikashiro was not completely sure what the newspaper was meant for, but he could definitely guess.
It was a tool for controlling and guiding public opinion.
And judging from how Hikaru kept expanding it outward, the Minister was probably planning to use the newspaper for soft infiltration.
So-called soft infiltration meant relying on the contents of the newspaper to weaken the minds of other villages, making them unconsciously begin to approve of Konoha.
Over time, they would become disappointed in their own countries and villages, ultimately creating an extremely favorable situation for Konoha without anyone noticing.
Nara Shikashiro was indeed a smart man.
And because he was smart, he understood how terrifying Hikaru’s move was. That only made him admire Hikaru’s talent and ability more.
He simply never dreamed that he would be dragged into this plan too.
Worse, he had been selected and trained as a newspaper manager.
"Why am I so unlucky?"
Nara Shikashiro had sighed like this in his heart more than once.
Actually, he knew someone like him, with rich mission experience and administrative ability, was the most suitable person for this role.
But he really feared trouble, and he really did not want to take this risk.
Unfortunately, he was in ANBU.
And ANBU’s boss was Senju Hikaru, a ruthless man.
On top of that, his own clan had already sided with Hikaru. He truly had no reason to refuse.
So he could only obediently undergo training.
He had comforted himself by thinking this kind of mission probably would not fall on him.
But he had still underestimated the newspaper’s power and spread.
Or rather, even ANBU had not expected the results to be this good.
This led to someone coming to them before they were fully prepared.
Where could he even complain about such bad luck?
So he could only be forced onto the stage. Then the pineapple hairstyle he had kept for who knew how long was shaved off, he underwent a series of disguises, and he was sent to the Land of Grass.
He knew the person he had to meet this time was the Tsuchikage.
Honestly, he was a little nervous.
The Tsuchikage was definitely not someone easy to fool.
"I hope everything goes smoothly."
Nara Shikashiro sighed inwardly.
But soon, he recovered.
In his mind, he once again reviewed the identity he now had to play.
He was the eldest son of the newspaper president. His name was Uesugi Shikashiro.
His father was in the Land of Fire and had not come. If asked, he would say his father was negotiating with the ANBU Minister and had no time to travel.
After all, if they could obtain so much information from ANBU, it would be absurd to claim they had no connection to ANBU at all.
As for everything else, Nara Shikashiro would have to improvise.
Adapting within certain restrictions was his mission.
It was also why he had been chosen.
"I hope everything goes smoothly."
Nara Shikashiro silently repeated to himself.
Just then, a staff member ran to his side.
He knew this person. He was the person in charge of the newspaper branch and also an ANBU member.
The man did not say much. He simply made a hand sign.
Nara Shikashiro instantly understood.
Ōnoki had arrived.
"I wonder how Shikashiro is doing right now."
In Konoha, Hikaru walked toward home while speaking to Pakura and Ayame beside him.
Hikaru had mentioned inviting Pakura to dinner quite some time ago. At one point, he had nearly forgotten about it. But today, he remembered, so when work ended, he directly stopped Pakura.
Actually, Pakura lived right next to Hikaru. A simple greeting would have been enough. But Hikaru felt it was better to invite her properly, which led to the current scene.
To be honest, Pakura was startled when she ran into Hikaru at ANBU’s entrance after work.
When she learned he was inviting her to his home as a guest for dinner, she was even more surprised.
Still, she had no strong reason to refuse, so she simply followed Hikaru and Ayame.
Along the way, they chatted casually and pleasantly.
But Hikaru, rather inappropriately, brought the topic back to work again, causing both women to sigh.
When resting, should he not stop thinking about work?
In their eyes, there was no need for this. It also contradicted Hikaru’s own policy.
After all, he was the one who had said work should be work and rest should be rest. Work and rest had to be separated.
Yet right in front of the two girls, he somehow dragged the conversation back to work again.
It was truly helpless.
Even Ayame, who had a cool personality, frowned slightly at Hikaru’s attitude.
In her eyes, Hikaru was excellent in every way. He was smart, ambitious, and strong. He would surely lead the Senju Clan back to its peak.
But this man seemed to have very little interest in women. It was as if his attention had never been focused on that side at all.
She could sense that both Uchiha Saya and Pakura, who was walking beside them now, held varying degrees of goodwill toward Hikaru.
There was no need to mention Uchiha Saya.
She had once been Hikaru’s desk mate, and Hikaru had helped her many times.
That girl had always kept Hikaru in her heart. It did not seem strange at all.
As for Pakura, whose codename was Phoenix, she was a kekkei genkai ninja from Sunagakure. When Ayame first learned this, she had also been shocked.
But after understanding Pakura’s experiences, especially after learning that Hikaru had seen through Sunagakure’s scheme and ultimately saved her, Ayame understood what had happened.
She did not mind that her fiancé drew so much attention.
Excellent people were excellent. Others were not blind.
Besides, she knew clearly that this fiancé of hers might not necessarily like her that much either.
After all, their engagement had been arranged by the clan.
And this fiancé of hers was very good at breaking rules.
Just look at the current state of Konoha.
Konoha’s present situation had truly been shaped by her fiancé’s own hands.
Ayame sighed inwardly.
She did not know how far she and Hikaru could go.
All she could do was take things one step at a time.
"Don’t worry. I believe Shikashiro will be fine," Ayame said coolly. "He is an excellent ANBU member, and he was personally selected by you, Hikaru. I trust your judgment."
"Is that so?"
Hikaru rubbed his chin and thought for a moment before saying, "Honestly, I’m not sure how well Shikashiro will perform. After all, the one he’s facing is an old fox of the ninja world."
"Old fox..."
Pakura’s mouth twitched when she heard Hikaru’s words.
Was it really appropriate to call a Kage an old fox so casually?
But after thinking carefully, Ōnoki had sat in the Tsuchikage’s position for so long. Perhaps he really was like an old fox.
Pakura had personally experienced being schemed against by Rasa, and she had also seen Hikaru trap who knew how many people along the way.
As a Kage, Ōnoki’s performance definitely would not be poor.
But if Ōnoki was an old fox, then what was Hikaru?
"A little fox?"
Thinking of this, Pakura immediately shook her head.
A white-haired fox somehow felt wrong.
The group chatted and laughed along the way, and soon arrived at Hikaru’s house.
Looking at the large house before her, Pakura felt somewhat emotional.
Her home was very close to here, but she had truly never entered this place before.
This was her first time visiting Hikaru’s home. While feeling emotional, she also felt strangely excited.
"Welcome."
Hikaru smiled and said this to Pakura.
But the moment he stepped inside, he froze.
Because there was an extra pair of shoes in the house.
Clearly, there was a guest.
Ayame noticed this as well. After thinking briefly, she roughly guessed who had come.
Hikaru had also guessed.
Sure enough, when Hikaru and Ayame brought Pakura inside, an old man was sitting in the living room, drinking tea.
That old man was Senju Shōma.
"Long time no see, Elder Shōma."
Hikaru smiled and greeted Senju Shōma.
Ayame also bowed slightly to Senju Shōma.
Only Pakura looked somewhat awkward.
She had not expected to meet someone from the Senju Clan here, and judging from his appearance, his status seemed quite high.
"It has been a long time, Hikaru."
Senju Shōma nodded. His gaze swept across Ayame and Pakura before he smiled freely.
"Looks like I chose a bad time to visit."
"It’s just a gathering between friends. There’s no right or wrong time."
Hikaru gently shook his head, then asked curiously, "May I ask why you came this time, Elder?"
"Naturally, there are some things I want to discuss with you."
Senju Shōma nodded, then stood up and looked seriously at Hikaru.
"Alone, if you have the time."
"Of course."
Hikaru chuckled, then turned to Pakura and Ayame.
"You two rest for now. I’ll speak with the elder."
After saying that, Hikaru followed Senju Shōma out of the living room.
He was genuinely curious about why Senju Shōma had come to find him.
In recent years, Hikaru had been extremely busy, so naturally he had not had much time to visit Senju Shōma.
Perhaps because of that, this elder felt uncomfortable.
When they reached the balcony, Senju Shōma stopped.
After a long while, he sighed softly.
"We haven’t properly talked about many things in a long time, have we?"
"Sorry, Elder."
Hikaru nodded gently.
"It has indeed been a long time."
"You are busy. I know that. After all, you are the ANBU Minister now."
Senju Shōma shook his head and sighed slightly.
"But I also hope I can help you, and I hope I can understand more."
"For example, some of your specific thoughts, and..."
"Was Danzo killed by you?
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