Danzo stormed into the Hokage Tower, face twisted with rage.
"Hiruzen, Rasa has gone too damn far! We need to negotiate with him right now."
He slammed a copy of the newspaper onto the desk.
"This garbage in the paper? They can't just print whatever the hell they want. None of it's been proven. It's straight slander against me—completely irresponsible."
Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at him but said nothing at first.
Then he asked quietly, "Danzo… did you actually do those things?"
"No. Absolutely not!"
"But my ANBU told me every Uchiha you killed really did lose their eyes."
Danzo's jaw tightened.
"I took the eyes so no one else could. Mist and Sand ninja were crawling around that night. I wasn't about to let them snatch Sharingan for their own twisted research. That would've hurt the Leaf."
"What about the graves?"
"That never happened."
Danzo's voice spiked, sharp and defensive.
"I, Danzo Shimura, would never dig up Uchiha graves. This is pure slander. A setup! I don't know who fed that bullshit to the Sand Village, but it wasn't me."
Hiruzen studied him for a long moment, then nodded slowly.
"Fine. Those Uchiha like Yashiro aren't Leaf ninja anymore, but we still have our own people inside the village. We have to think about them."
"As for negotiating with Rasa? Not happening."
Hiruzen leaned back in his chair.
"The paper already ran the story. That means Rasa's made his choice. If we sit down with him, he'll just use it as an excuse to make demands. Then what? Give him what he wants or tell him to shove it? If we refuse, will he retaliate? The Sand Village isn't the weak little desert outpost it used to be. Not with Rasa and Pakura running things."
Danzo frowned hard.
"So what the hell are we supposed to do? Just let Rasa keep slandering us? Today it's me. Tomorrow it could be anyone—even you. We're just going to sit on our hands?"
Hiruzen shook his head.
"No. We're not relying on anyone else. We handle this ourselves. Instead of begging Rasa for anything, we're building our own Leaf newspaper."
Danzo's eyes lit up for half a second.
"Leave it to Root. Village pays, we do the work."
Hiruzen cut him off immediately.
"No. I've already picked the right person. This goes to Homura. You've got more important things to handle, Danzo. No need to waste time on it."
Danzo's face went stiff.
Inside the village, rivalries ran just as deep as the ones between villages. Danzo and Homura Mitokado had never been close, but decades as fellow disciples of Tobirama had kept things civil. That ended the day Root changed hands. Homura still burned with resentment. If that man ran the Leaf's paper, Danzo knew exactly how this would play out.
Danzo stared at Hiruzen, eyes narrowing.
"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"
Hiruzen didn't deny it.
Orochimaru's victory over the Rock army had reminded everyone why the Sannin were legends. His reputation had surged almost to Minato's level. Hiruzen could no longer guarantee that announcing his retirement would hand the hat cleanly to Minato. He didn't want Orochimaru as Hokage—Orochimaru would destroy the Leaf. So he kept delaying the announcement and quietly crushed Orochimaru's biggest supporter.
Danzo.
The newspaper's reach had exceeded every expectation. The war was over. The Leaf needed its own voice. Giving the job to Homura would hit Danzo where it hurt and earn Homura's loyalty at the same time. Two birds. One stone.
Danzo turned and stormed out, fury radiating off him.
He knew exactly what Hiruzen was doing.
But he couldn't stop it.
"Hiruzen… you will regret this. After everything I've done for this village, this is how you repay me?"
A short while later, Homura Mitokado stepped into the office.
Hiruzen laid out the plan.
Homura's eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning.
"Hiruzen, really? You're giving me the Konoha Weekly?"
Hiruzen nodded.
"That's right. Everyone saw what the Ninja World Big Events Weekly did. I'm counting on you to crush it. Make ours better. More addictive. Find the best writers in the village and give them whatever they need."
Homura stood straighter, chest puffed out.
"Consider it done. The Basilisk Scroll? That's nothing. I'll bury it."
Hiruzen smiled faintly.
"Good. Get started. I want the first issue out fast."
"No problem."
Sunagakure.
Rasa watched the emotion points counter climb at lightning speed. It slammed into the 2000 cap in record time. A slow, satisfied grin spread across his face.
"Just like I thought. Danzo only gives real feedback when he knows I'm the one coming after him. The paper's been out two days and I've already got a full load."
He added the points Ebizo had been farming by spreading the Rin Nohara rumor.
After converting everything, the total sat comfortably over 3000.
"Time for the first three draws of the third rumor."
Rasa closed his eyes and focused.
"Exchange."