As the afternoon approached, the rumors that were unfavorable to Sakumo had spread to most corners of the village after a whole morning of fermentation. They were only one step away from becoming "everyone knows".

No matter how hard the Uchiha ninjas of the police force try to curb the spread of rumors, compared to the huge population of Konoha Village, the manpower of the guard force is already stretched thin. It is too late to arrest people, let alone stop the spread of rumors.

Already.

Sakumo's house is located in a 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 "Hagi" was written on the door number.

When Shiraishi and Liuli came here, they saw Kakashi standing at the door, looking even more silent than usual.

"Kakashi, is Sakumo-sensei at home?"

Kakashi heard someone calling his name. He looked up and saw Shiraishi and Ruri coming. He nodded slightly to indicate that Sakumo was at home.

Baishi and Liuli breathed a sigh of relief. Things would be easier to handle if they were at home.

"But, father..."

When Kakashi said this, he looked like he didn't know how to explain it.

"Take us to see him."

Shiraishi sighed, knowing that Kakashi must be in a bad mood now.

Rumors spread so quickly that there was no way Kakashi didn't know about it.

Kakashi led the way, taking Shiraishi and Ruri into Hatake's house.

The Hatake House is a relatively typical Japanese-style building, and the houses also look a bit ancient. The three of them arrived at the door of Sakumo's room within a few steps.

Before he was ready to knock on the door, a word of "come in" came from inside. It was obvious that Sakumo, who was inside, already knew that someone was coming outside.

Shiraishi had no choice but to slide the door open and shouted to the people inside: "Teacher Sakumo, let's come..."

The voice stopped.

Shiraishi and Ruri looked at Sakumo in front of them in a daze.

"Teacher Sakumo, what are you..."

Sakumo in front of them did not become depressed because of the rumors as they imagined. Instead, he was sitting at the table, eating a large bowl of ramen with a good appetite.

Seeing Shiraishi and Liuli arriving, he calmly picked up a napkin and wiped the greasy lips. The two people who had been visiting him asked in confusion: "Why are you two here?"

"..."

"..."

Shiraishi and Ruri didn't know how to answer Sakumo's words.

Before they came, they had imagined many scenarios in which Sakumo would be depressed due to rumors, but they did not expect this scenario.

"Teacher Sakumo, about the rumors outside..."

In the end, Liuli stood up.

"Did you come to me for this kind of thing?"

"Yes, this is the work of our security team. I want to know the whole story, and I would like to ask Sakumo Jounin to answer."

Liuli walked up to Sakumo and spoke to Sakumo in a serious tone.

He was not questioning him as a member of the former Sakumo squad, but as a squad leader of the security team to investigate the cause and effect of the matter.

Sakumo thought for a moment, and since this was the job of the security team, there would be no problem.

So he readily recounted what happened at that time.

"This time we were carrying out a confidential mission, but we encountered some troubles on the way. Considering that my companions at the time could no longer continue fighting, I chose to abandon the mission and come back with my people. This also led to the failure of the mission.

"

When Sakumo said these words, he did not have any personal emotions. He just told what happened as a bystander, and it was left to Ruri, a member of the security team, to judge.

Shiraishi and Ruri frowned, and even Kakashi looked puzzled.

I always feel that things happen too simply.

"What kind of secret mission is it?"

Liuli stared at Sakumo's face.

This is the main purpose of her coming.

Even confidential tasks may vary from light to heavy, big or small.

Some can be related to the survival of the village, while others are just insignificant.

"I don't know. The order I received was to seize something, but the mission failed. Naturally, the thing was not brought back to the village. I don't know what it was specifically."

In response to Ruri's question, Sakumo shook his head slightly, saying that he didn't know what he wanted to capture in the mission.

Liuli felt that things were a bit tricky.

There is very little information obtained from Sakumo. If you want to know what Sakumo captured during this mission and how much the village lost due to the failure of the mission, you can only start from the higher-ups.

After all, the mission was initially handled by them and then handed over to Sakumo for him to complete.

But the rumors have spread to this point, and there is no movement from the higher-ups. Even if I ask now, it is impossible to get anything.

Otherwise, they would have clarified the rumors and suppressed the impact to a minimum.

After coming out of Hatake's house, Shiraishi and Liuli looked at the sky and let out a sigh of relief.

Looking at each other, Liuli asked Xiang Shiraishi: "What should we do next? Teacher Sakumo cannot use this place as a breakthrough. Do you want to find the guy who was rescued by Teacher Sakumo?"

"What we can think of is that the people who spread the rumors had already expected it, and they were probably 'protected' when they planned the operation. We just went to the hospital now, and the person has already 'disappeared'."

"Did the higher-ups do it?"

"Besides them, there seems to be no one else. When such a big thing breaks out, according to usual practice, Teacher Sakumo has been invited by the ANBU to drink tea and chat, instead of sitting at home."

Shiraishi was certain that someone at the top had done this, or that more than one person was behind it.

"A dispute over the position of Hokage?"

Liuli shook her head. The top management had done everything possible to do this, and the police force alone could not accomplish anything.

Compared with ANBU, the police force does have greater power, but its reputation in Konoha is not very good, and it does not have the strong authority of ANBU.

Once the ANBU is dispatched, it represents the will of the Hokage himself.

"That should be the case. After all, the candidate meeting for the Fourth Hokage will be held in the near future. At this time, it is natural to exclude some irrelevant people."

It's a bit cruel to say that, in Shiraishi's view, Sakumo is just a victim of the power struggle.

His subjective will and thoughts are not the most important, and no one will understand. As long as his current reputation can damage some of his interests, it is enough.

It doesn't matter whether you want to be Hokage or not, what matters is whether you have the qualifications to be promoted to Hokage.

"That's fine. Now that the political capital is gone, after this incident is over, the senior officials will have no reason to suppress Mr. Sakumo."

Liuli understood what Shiraishi meant 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 those of the Sannin, and who is not affiliated with any party, is of course the highest priority target to eliminate.

There seems to be no harm in suppressing Sakumo's reputation, plundering Sakumo's political capital, and letting him become a Konoha jounin in the future.

On the contrary, Sakumo will definitely be reused again in the days to come.

Because this is an important period for candidates to be the Fourth Hokage, as long as this stage is passed, Konoha White Fang will still be Konoha White Fang.

Based on Ruri's personal opinion, Sakumo is indeed not very suitable for the position of Hokage.

He has neither ambition nor desire, he is just an excellent Jounin of Konoha.

that is it.

"Really? It would be great if that were the case..."

Shiraishi murmured to himself, thinking of Sakumo's nonchalant look before, a layer of gloom fell over his heart.

That's not like nothing happened.

◎

Two days later, the rumors became more and more ferocious.

More and more people are coming to the police station to cause trouble, and there are no longer enough cells in the police station.

The crimes of these people are not enough to be imprisoned in Konoha Prison. They are serious criminals. Although these people are spreading rumors, they do not reach the level of 'serious punishment'.

Bringing these people to Konoha Prison will definitely lead to obstruction from the ANBU and unnecessary conflicts.

"What's going on? Are there so many people coming to make trouble?"

Liuli arrived at the guard hall early in the morning. She felt that the place was almost overcrowded, and there was also noisy outside the door, like a vegetable market.

The two members of the security team belonging to Liuli's squad saluted Liuli and replied: "Yes, in the morning, new rumors emerged. The manpower of the security team is completely insufficient."

Having said this, the guard member smiled helplessly.
To be continued...