Chapter 78: The Aizen Faction
It was late at night, yet neither the great clans nor their shinobi could find peace.
Aizen's relentless criticism over the past few days had left these once-proud family ninjas in disarray. Public opinion, after all, was a double-edged sword. If one side hurled accusations, the other would surely retaliate—and both would be left with deep wounds.
In the eyes of the clans, Aizen's standing had plummeted. But how respectable were the clans themselves in the eyes of others? Even the Uchiha clan, once reviled and ostracized, had begun to rise in reputation.
"At least they admit their flaws."
"Having a bad temper doesn't mean they're rotten inside."
"Other clans produced more cases of the Moon Dream than the Uchiha."
"Honestly, the Uchiha are better than most."
When had it come to this?
When had the noble families of Konoha fallen so far that they were now being compared to the Uchiha—whom they had long despised?
Unable to surpass them in battle and now losing in reputation, the clan elites began to question their own worth. What kind of "noble family" couldn't even earn the respect of the common people?
Besides, wasn't the essence of a clan to protect its own? To rely on family, to stand against outsiders, to preserve their legacy? If they supported each other, was it not natural to assert their influence beyond the clan's borders?
When trouble arose, they thought first of their kin. How could they always prioritize outsiders? Though the clans had coexisted within the village for nearly fifty years, the old bloodlines still ran deep. To say that everything had changed now was far too idealistic.
Everyone knew this war would determine the new balance of power.
But regardless of its importance, life had to go on.
"You talk about serving the village," one elder had muttered bitterly, "but that's because you have nothing of your own to protect. If you had a family of thousands, depending on you for survival, could you really speak so lightly of sacrifice?"
To the clan ninjas, Aizen's faction was moving too fast. They didn't oppose him outright—change simply needed time. Only after people saw with their own eyes that his leadership offered a future greater than the clans could provide would they willingly dismantle their heritage and merge into his ideal system. But that time had not yet come. Why rush it?
The Moon Dream incident had already humiliated many clan leaders. Even within their loose alliance of influence, cracks began to appear.
Younger ninjas—those with little power, few privileges, and more compassion than experience—began voicing sympathy for the victims of the Moon Dream. They argued that the clans should set aside self-interest, sacrifice short-term profit, and help the village end the crisis quickly.
To the elders, such talk was absurd. Their authority was built on generations of conflict. They knew better than anyone what chaos family wars could unleash. They also knew that their enemies lacked the strength to wage a true war of annihilation.
Thus, their stance on "total mobilization" was complicated.
If this wasn't an all-out war—if it wasn't a matter of survival—why should they sacrifice their family's share of power and resources? Why not, instead, weaken the other clans and seize their share for themselves?
And when someone dared to mention the Uchiha as an example, the response was scornful.
"The Uchiha? You call that a family? They're lunatics!"
As accusations and counterarguments mounted, resentment grew. Many clan elders began to feel personally insulted by Aizen's unrelenting attacks.
In their eyes, the clans had already contributed enough to the village. They provided soldiers and funds, upheld order, and safeguarded Konoha's prosperity. Surely that was enough. Why demand so much more—and in so little time?
They had initially planned to appeal to the Sandaime Hokage, but when they arrived, he was nowhere to be found. The Hokage had fled to the embassy, occupied with tense diplomacy among the visiting ninja delegations.
Even the most arrogant clan heads dared not interfere with such delicate negotiations. They could only wait outside, their tempers simmering.
But disappointment grew—not only among the clans, but within Aizen's own ranks.
Many of his followers, drawn from the lower classes and the younger generations of noble families, began to feel the weight of disillusionment. These were the people who had transcended bloodlines, who believed in Aizen's ideals and trusted his vision for Konoha's future.
They understood his teachings. They shared his dream of a new era—one built not on lineage, but on merit.
At first, most clan members fully supported their families' stance. They didn't see themselves as exploiters—after all, they believed their power upheld the village's prosperity. But as the Moon Dream epidemic spread, the hidden scandals and corruption within the major families began to surface one after another.
Control slipped away.
Soon, the younger and older generations were openly clashing, both in words and in fists.
Aizen's relentless speeches at council meetings and the clans' refusal to change had only deepened the divide, but paradoxically, they also forced a dialogue between the upper and lower ranks. Yet this "conversation" carried an unmistakable hostility—an exhausting tug-of-war for those caught in between.
"You're still wearing that white haori? Take it off already! The elders are furious!"
"Why should I? They're wrong! The whole village is on the brink of war, and they're still clinging to their money. When everyone's dead, they'll still be counting coins!"
"Watch your mouth! Who said we'll die in the war?"
"Oh? So you plan to surrender?"
"Calm down! No one's surrendering. I'm just saying it's not that simple. You think Aizen can slaughter everyone in Konoha? Even if the war happens, they'll still need us clan ninjas to manage things. That's how it's always been, even back in the Warring States Period!"
"But this isn't the Warring States Period—it's the Ninja Village Era!"
"It's all the same, kid! You think the First and Second Great Ninja Wars weren't brutal? Our family survived both, didn't we? That's proof enough. The truth is, family interests come first. Aizen just bought you over with pretty ideals. But when it comes down to it, villagers are outsiders—we are blood."
"Then what does being a family mean to you? Shouldn't the stronger among us protect the weaker—contribute to both the clan and the village? Does contribution mean exploitation? Oppression? Everyone knows what our family has done, especially with Yue Zhiyu's case!"
"You brat! How dare you talk like that! Don't you even know who's family and who's not?"
"Eighty percent of my mission pay goes to the clan, and I still can't tell the difference?!"
Arguments like these broke out endlessly within every major family. No one knew how many such fights had erupted over the past month.
Dozens of pure-blood clan ninjas, disillusioned by their families' greed and compromise, left their compounds in protest. Dressed in white haori—the symbol of Aizen's ideals—they joined his followers on the streets, maintaining order and assisting civilians to calm their growing anger.
To the clans, these deserters were nothing more than Aizen's puppets.
And when they saw that even the commoners had begun to favor Aizen's philosophy, the clan elders felt an overwhelming sense of betrayal.
In their eyes, their fury was justified.
"We gave our lives and wealth to build this village!" they thought. "Why should the commoners, who contributed nothing, reap the rewards? Didn't we form Konoha to survive together? If we've bled for generations for this village, then what was the point of founding it at all?"
But to civilians—and to the younger generation of ninjas who had never known the chaos of the Warring States—such words rang hollow.
As tension reached its peak, the young shinobi wearing white haori—those who had once gathered under Aizen's banner—finally snapped.
Restless, angry, and burning with a raw sense of justice, they sought an outlet for their frustration.
And they found one.
Their target was none other than the man Aizen himself had praised—the hero of Konoha, the architect of the village's balance, and the current bearer of the Will of Fire: the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"He's the Hokage! He'll understand us!"
"The elders must be hiding him. If we go to the embassy and ask him to come out, everything will be resolved!"
"Right! Master Aizen always said the Sandaime is the embodiment of the Will of Fire—the man who loves this village the most. If he steps forward and purges this corruption, everything will be fine!"
"Konoha's fate depends on this!"
After a heated discussion, Aizen's supporters reached a dangerous conclusion: they would go directly to the Third Hokage to seek justice.
It sounded reckless, even absurd—but in their eyes, nothing could be more righteous.
So, under the cover of darkness, while the clan elders watched in silent rage from behind their compound gates, the white-haired youth marched through the streets.
Their white haori glowed faintly in the torchlight as hundreds of voices echoed through Konoha's sleeping streets.
Driven by passion, ignorance, and an unwavering belief in justice, they advanced toward the embassy district—where the Third Hokage awaited.
<><><><><>
[Check Out My Patreon For +40 Advance Chapters On All My Fanfics!]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]
[Every 100 Power Stones = +1 Bonus Chapter]
[Join Our Discord Community For Updates & Events]
[https://discord.gg/MntqcdpRZ9]