"The son of a hero! The son of the Fourth Hokage who sacrificed himself to protect the Village! And this is how they treat him?"
"This isn't just stupidity anymore; it's being evil to the core. Filthy power-holders!"
"No wonder that Naruto in the heavenly screen wants to destroy the world! If it were me, I'd damn well do the same!"
A hot-tempered Ninja shouted loudly, and his words instantly resonated with and were agreed upon by countless people!
"Exactly! His father was the hero who saved the Village, yet he was treated like trash! Who could stand that?"
"I heard that the property and house left by the Fourth Hokage were all swallowed up by the Sarutobi Clan! Simply shameless!"
"He couldn't even get enough to eat and had to live on expired milk and instant noodles? And he's the son of the Hokage? Konoha's reputation has been completely ruined by them!"
"I heard Uzumaki Naruto was the shortest in his class!"
Various details were constantly being unearthed and spread, each one fueling the Ninja World's contempt for Konoha's former leadership and sympathy for Naruto.
Konoha, the behemoth that always prided itself on the "will of fire" and being the "number one Ninja Village," instantly became a massive joke and a cautionary tale in the court of public opinion within the Ninja World—an ungrateful, internally decayed entity that drove a hero's descendant to rebellion!
Hiruzen Sarutobi and the old Konoha forces he represented were not only notorious within Konoha but had also suffered "social death" throughout the entire Ninja World.
Their names became synonymous with "stupidity" and "baseness."
And Uzumaki Naruto, a name originally seen as a massive threat because of the heavenly screen, now quietly took on the color of a tragic hero in the narrative of the Ninja World.
People began to realize that the future "world destroyer" might not be inherently evil.
Instead, he was a pitiful person driven to a dead end step by step by a distorted and unjust environment.
Tsunade's move to "clear his name" was not just about setting things right internally.
It was also about seizing an extremely important moral high ground and sympathy points for both Konoha and Naruto on the public opinion battlefield of the Ninja World.
In stark contrast to the stinking and notorious situation of Hiruzen Sarutobi and other former Konoha leaders in the Ninja World's public opinion.
The reputation of the Fifth Hokage Tsunade was praised to the heavens in almost no time!
No matter which Village the Ninjas and civilians were from, in their post-meal conversations, they couldn't help but praise this new Fifth Hokage.
This kind of recognition across camp boundaries was extremely rare in the history of the Ninja World.
For no other reason than the major actions Tsunade took after assuming office were simply brilliant.
"Look at Fifth Hokage Lady Tsunade!"
In a tavern, a Ronin Ninja took a gulp of sake and gestured with a face full of admiration.
"As soon as she took office, she directly branded one of the true culprits of the Uchiha Clan Massacre—Danzo Shimura—as an S-Rank Rogue Ninja! What do you call that? That's setting things right! That's cleaning house!"
"That's not all!" the person next to him immediately added, eyes shining. "This is equivalent to telling Uchiha Sasuke in a roundabout way, 'I've marked your enemy for you; when you're capable enough, go kill him yourself'!"
"She fulfilled the Uchiha's righteous cause for revenge while also soothing a future top combat power for Konoha! Such tactics, such vision! Brilliant! Truly brilliant!"
And the way she handled Uzumaki Naruto made the favorability of countless people in the Ninja World for Tsunade skyrocket.
"And that matter with Naruto! My god, a hero's son with a hidden identity who suffered through bullying! Just hearing that story makes one furious!"
Lady Tsunade directly revealed the truth, cleared his name, pulled him out of the mire, and gave him sunshine and care!
"This is directly uprooting the cause of the 'world destroyer'!"
"Beautiful and cool, decisive and bold—this is what a true Kage should look like!"
"Exactly! I love it! She's so much better than the Kage of our Village—the one who's always gloomy, or the one who only thinks with his muscles, or the one from the Blood Mist, or that stubborn old shorty!"
"Look at other people's Kage!"
Public opinion in the Ninja World is just that realistic and direct.
They might be enemies with Konoha, but they admire the strong.
Especially Tsunade's looks, and most importantly, her eternal youth!
At this moment, the personal prestige of Fifth Hokage Tsunade reached an unprecedented height.
Orochimaru, who had learned of Konoha's recent situation and the Ninja World's public opinion through secret channels, excitedly licked his lips, his golden vertical pupils shimmering with pleasure and calculation.
"Hehehe... Tsunade, I didn't expect you to go this far... As expected of you."
"Branding Danzo as a Rogue Ninja and pointing out the direction of revenge for the Uchiha Orphan;"
"Clearing Uzumaki Naruto's name and attempting to resolve the cause of the world's destruction... Truly a beautiful and ruthless method."
"Tsk tsk, that old fool Sensei Sarutobi really left you a perfect stage to perform."
Meanwhile, outside a temporary stronghold of the Akatsuki Organization.
Uchiha Itachi stood alone under the cold moonlight, his figure looking exceptionally lonely.
The intelligence brought by Zetsu, along with the now almost one-sided public opinion in the Ninja World, pierced his already riddled heart like countless poisoned Kunai.
"Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others are idiots..."
"Persecuting the descendants of heroes is intolerable to heaven..."
"If it were me, I'd destroy the world too..."
These expressions of contempt and abuse toward Konoha's former leadership from all corners of the Ninja World echoed and amplified in his ears like the sharpest mockery.
If... if even the entire Ninja World believed that the actions of Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo Shimura, and the others were stupid, wrong, and unforgivable... then what about him, Uchiha Itachi?
What did that make him—the one who followed the orders of these "idiots," slaughtered his entire clan with his own hands, and whose hands were stained with the blood of his parents, kin, and clansmen?
An unprecedented sense of absurdity and self-doubt submerged him like a cold tide.
Uchiha Itachi had always thought of himself as a lone traveler in the dark, bearing humiliation for a noble goal.
But now, the sunlight outside told him that the "Konoha" he protected was rotten to the core;
The "leadership" he was loyal to made decisions that were utterly stupid;
The "crimes" he committed had their necessity completely negated... so what did the blood on his hands mean?
What about the arrangement he made for Sasuke to hate him?
"Ugh..."
Uchiha Itachi let out a muffled groan and suddenly covered his mouth with his hand. After a fit of violent coughing, dark red blood seeped through his fingers.
The long-suppressed doubt of his own choices, the guilt toward his clansmen, the anger at fate, and the remorse for... that stupid decision surged in his chest like lava, nearly consuming him entirely.
Itachi felt like he was about to break.
"Sasuke, what should I do? Can the path I chose for you still be followed?"