Chapter 86: Slander
As the afternoon approached, the rumors unfavorable to Sakumo had already spread to most corners of the village after a morning's fermentation, and it was only one step away from the level of "everyone knows".
No matter how hard the Uchiha ninjas of the security team try to curb the spread of rumors, compared to the huge population of Konoha Village, the security team is already stretched thin, and it is too late to arrest people, let alone stop the spread of rumors.
The location of Sakumo's house is in the relatively prosperous section of konoha Village, not close to the center of the village.
It was a small independent courtyard. At the door, the word 'Hatake' was written on the door plate.
When Shiraishi and Ruri came here, they saw Kakashi standing at the door, looking more silent than usual.
"Kakashi, is Sakumo-sensei at home?"
Kakashi heard someone calling his name, looked up, and saw that Shiraishi and Ruri were coming, and nodded slightly, indicating that Sakumo was at home.
Shiraishi and Ruri breathed a sigh of relief. Things would be easier if they were at home.
"But, father, he..."
When Kakashi said this, he looked like he didn't know how to explain.
"Take us to see him."
Shiraishi sighed, knowing that Kakashi must be in a bad mood right now.
Rumors spread so much, it is impossible for Kakashi to not know.
Kakashi led the way ahead, and brought Shiraishi and Ruri into Hatake House.
The Banner House is a typical Japanese-style building, and the houses also look a bit old-fashioned. The three of them arrived at the door of the room where Sakumo was located within a few steps.
Before he was ready to knock on the door, he heard the word 'come in' from inside. It was obvious that Sakumo, who was inside, already knew that someone was coming from outside.
Shiraishi had no choice but to slide the door open, and shouted to the people inside: "Sakumo-Sensei, we came..."
The voice stopped.
Shiraishi and Ruri looked at Sakumo in a daze.
"Sakumo-Sensei, this is..."
Sakumo, who was in front of them, did not become depressed because of the rumors as he imagined. Instead, he sat at the table, eating a big bowl of ramen, and had a good appetite.
Seeing Shiraishi and Ruri coming, he calmly picked up the napkin and wiped off the greasy mouth, and asked the two people who came to visit him, "Why are you two here?"
"..."
"..."
Shiraishi and Ruri didn't know how to answer Sakumo's words.
Before they came, they fantasized about Sakumo's depression due to rumors, but they didn't expect this kind of picture.
"Sakumo-Sensei, about the rumors outside..."
Finally, Ruri stood up.
"Did you come to me because of this kind of thing?"
"Yes, this is the job of our security team. I want to know the whole story. I would like to ask Sakumo Jonin to answer."
Ruri walked up to Sakumo, and spoke to Sakumo in a serious tone.
It was not a member of the former Sakumo team who questioned him, but came as the captain of the security team to investigate the cause and effect of the matter clearly.
Sakumo thought for a while, since this is the work of the guard, there is no problem.
So, he readily described the events at that time briefly.
"This time we were carrying out a classified mission, but we encountered some troubles on the way. Considering that my companions at that time were no longer able to continue fighting, I chose to abandon the mission and bring people back. This also caused the mission to fail."
When Sakumo said these words, he did not bring any personal emotions, but just told what happened as a bystander, and it was up to Ruri, a member of the security team, to judge.
Shiraishi and Ruri frowned, and even Kakashi was puzzled.
I always feel that things happen too simply.
"Excuse me, what is the secret mission?"
Ruri stared at Sakumo's face.
This is the main purpose of her coming.
Even if it is a classified task, there are light and heavy, big and small.
Some can be related to the survival of the village, while others are just irrelevant.
"I don't know. The order I got was to seize something, but the mission failed, and that thing was naturally not brought back to the village. I don't know exactly what it is."
Regarding Ruri's question, Sakumo shook his head lightly, expressing that he didn't know what was to be captured in the mission.
Ruri felt that things were a little tricky.
I got very little information from Sakumo. If I want to know what was captured by Sakumo in this mission, and how much the village lost when the mission failed, I can only start from the top.
After all, the task was first handled by them, and then handed over to Sakumo for him to complete.
But the rumors have spread to this point, but there is no movement from the higher-ups. Even if they ask in the past, it is impossible to get anything.
Otherwise, they would have clarified the rumors and suppressed the influence to a minimum.
Coming out of the Banner house, Shiraishi and Ruri looked at the sky and exhaled lightly.
Looking at each other, Ruri asked Shiraishi: "What should I do next? Sakumo-Sensei can't be a breakthrough here. Are you looking for the guy who was rescued by Sakumo-Sensei?"
"What we can think of, the people who spread the rumors have already expected it. It is estimated that they have been 'protected' when planning the operation. We have only gone to the hospital now, and the person has already 'disappeared'."
"Is it done by the higher-ups?"
"Except for them, there seems to be no one else. According to the usual practice, Mr. Sakumo should be invited by Anbu to drink tea and chat instead of sitting at home when such a big incident breaks out."
Shiraishi can be sure that this matter was done by someone in the high-level, or more than one person was behind it.
"A dispute over Hokage?"
Ruri shook her head, the high-level officials have done this matter impeccably, relying only on the staff of the security team who can't do anything at all.
Compared with Anbu, the security force is indeed more powerful, but its reputation in Konoha is not very good, and it does not have the strong authority of Anbu.
Once Anbu is dispatched, it represents the will of Hokage himself.
"It should be like this. After all, the candidate meeting for the fourth generation of Hokage will be held in the near future. It is a natural result to exclude some irrelevant people at this time."
It's a bit cruel to say, but in Shiraishi's view, Sakumo is just a victim of the power struggle.
His subjective will and ideas are not the most important, and no one will understand, as long as his current reputation can damage part of his interests, it is enough.
It doesn't matter if you have the will to become Hokage, what matters is whether you have the qualifications and threats to be promoted to Hokage.
"That's fine. Since the political capital is gone, after this incident is over, the high-level officials will have no reason to suppress Sakumo-Sensei."
Ruri understood Shiraishi's meaning, and felt that she was a little anxious.
The dispute over the position of Hokage involves the interests of many factions in Konoha.
A person whose reputation and strength surpass Sannin, and who is not affiliated with any party, is of course the highest priority to exclude.
Suppressing reputation, plundering Sakumo's political capital, and letting him be a Konoha Jonin in the future seems to have done no harm.
On the contrary, in the days to come, Sakumo will definitely be reused again.
Because this is an important period for candidates for the fourth generation of Hokage, as long as this stage passes, Konoha White Fang will still be Konoha White Fang.
Based on Ruri's personal opinion, Sakumo is indeed not very suitable for Hokage's position.
He has neither ambition nor will, he is just an excellent Konoha jonin.
that is it.
"Really? It would be great if this is the case..."
Shiraishi murmured to himself, thinking of Sakumo's nonchalant appearance before, his heart was covered with a layer of haze.
That's not like nothing happened.
◎
Two days later, the rumors became more and more ferocious.
There are more and more people making trouble at the guard, and the guard's cells are no longer enough.
The crimes of these people are not enough to be imprisoned in the Konoha Prison. Those are serious criminals. Although these people are spreading rumors, they will not reach the level of 'severe punishment'.
Getting these people to the Konoha Prison will definitely attract Anbu's obstruction and unnecessary conflicts.
"What's going on? Are there still so many people making trouble?"
Ruri came to the lobby of the security team early in the morning, and felt that the place was almost overcrowded, and there was a lot of noise outside the door, like a vegetable market.
Two members of the security team belonging to the Ruri squad saluted Ruri and replied: "Yes, in the morning, there were new rumors that the security team was completely short of manpower."
Speaking of which, the guard member smiled helplessly.
He didn't know that a rumor could be propagated like this.
It's just that the mission failed. Konoha White Fang is indeed a well-known ninja in the ninja world. In the past few years, it has gradually become Konoha's signature to intimidate the enemy.
But even Konoha White Fang is still a human being, not a god.
Occasional failure of a mission is not a big deal. Anyway, the above did not say that the failure of the mission caused any serious consequences.
If you put it this way, the so-called Sannin is the same thing. After all, this name is the name of a defeated general.
But how many people dare to underestimate Sannin?
In the view of the Uchiha ninja of the security team, it was these villagers who were making a fuss and talking about it without knowing anything, and even uttered some ugly words that even members of the security team could not listen to, and gradually deviated from the core essence of the problem.
Beating them up is not in compliance with the rules, but bringing them to the security team for discipline, there are not enough rooms.
So, the security ninjas who came to work this morning are very troubled by this problem.
If these people are released, the rumors will intensify.
Don't let them go... Overcrowding will affect the work efficiency of the security team.
"Find some people who can use Earth Style, and then make simple cells outside."
Ruri's face was frighteningly cold.
"…yes."
One of the members of the security team went down immediately, went to the security team to find a few people who could use Earth Style, and expanded the temporary prison outside.
"Is this ok?"
The remaining guard ninja smiled wryly.
"What's wrong, we just follow the rules, even if Hokage comes, I have reason to argue with him."
"That's what I said, but if this goes on, the reputation of our security team..."
"The security team lost its reputation a long time ago. Why do you care so much? We don't have to give them lunch or dinner, and their families are not allowed to deliver food. Just give them some water so they won't die of hunger."
Ruri snorted coldly.
"…Understood."
Since it is the order of the squad leader, it only needs to be executed.
As Ruri said, these people won't die from starvation after two meals.
"By the way, you just said there are new rumors?"
"Yes, didn't Sakumo give up his mission to save his companions? The rescued person seems to be accusing Sakumo of not seeing the big picture, saying that he is not suitable to be a ninja, and criticizing and humiliating Sakumo..."
Seeing that Ruri's face was getting worse and worse, the guard ninja didn't continue.
Speaking of this, I believe Ruri already understands what's going on.
"Where is that person?"
"I didn't find it. When we went, the person had 'disappeared'."
It must have been hidden. Ruri sneered secretly.
"I see, you can go down and get busy."
"Yes...well, don't worry too much. Although I am not familiar with Sakumo, he is a ninja with a very tenacious willpower. He will just laugh off such rumors."
He knew that Ruri, the leader of his branch, was once a member of Sakumo's team, and must have a good relationship with Sakumo. Before leaving, he comforted Ruri.
"Have you laughed it off?"
Ruri thought that when she visited Sakumo two days ago, he was eating ramen in a good mood, and she was not swayed by the rumors outside.
This really comforted Ruri, yes, even though those rumors made him feel a little uncomfortable, but for Sakumo, it shouldn't be a serious problem.
(end of this chapter)
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