"Have you heard?"
"Last night, Anbu and the Guards teamed up to wipe out the Sarutobi, Shimura, Tenne, and Mito clans!"
An old woman with curly hair, busy buying vegetables at Konoha's bustling market, whispered mysteriously to the group of elder ladies around her.
"What?"
"Impossible! That's fake! Those four clans are protected by the Third Hokage and his two advisors. Who would dare touch them?"
The other women looked at her in disbelief.
"Why would I lie to you!" the curly-haired woman huffed. "My son is in Anbu. He told me himself last night after law enforcement duty. They were so busy they didn't even have time to drink water! Fortunately, their Anbu captain is a decent man. We booked a few private rooms at BBQ Q and treated them to a feast! My son said their captain even gave everyone a piece of A5 wagyu beef!"
She spoke with pride. Just a few days ago, she had been upset when her son voluntarily accepted half his salary. But yesterday she heard he not only received a bonus, his salary was doubled. On top of that, his captain treated them generously. He came home smiling ear to ear. So this morning, she came to the market early to brag to her friends.
As for whether this information was confidential? She had already asked her son multiple times. His reply had been clear: the more people who knew, the better.
"A5 wagyu beef! That's at least 800 ryō a piece!" one woman gasped.
Another, heavily made-up middle-aged lady, narrowed her eyes and asked sourly, "Where did your son's captain get so much money? Did he embezzle it?"
"Go away! Stop talking nonsense!" snapped the curly-haired woman. "That captain is a hero of three wars, with countless merits to his name. My son said he's young, but completing S-rank missions is as easy as drinking water for him! A man like that earns plenty from missions. Treating his squad to a meal is nothing to him!"
The other women nodded uncertainly, swayed by her conviction.
"What a bunch of ignorant old hens," a sharp voice cut in. An elderly man walking his bird had overheard them. "In such a big matter, all you care about is what her son ate for supper? Four great clans, the Hokage's own—if this is true, the whole village will be in uproar!"
"What's wrong with old women? Weren't you born from one?" the curly-haired lady shot back. "Besides, you only plant flowers and walk birds all day. If it weren't for me, you'd starve!"
"You—!"
The old man trembled with rage but forced himself to calm down. "Forget it. I won't argue. Just answer me—are you sure about what you said? Anbu moved against the four clans, yet the Third Hokage hasn't reacted?"
Normally, he would've walked away, but the news was too explosive. His gossipy heart was burning.
"Oh, if you want to know," the curly-haired woman smirked, "call me sister first."
"You—!"
The old man's face twisted with disgust. But the thought of being first to deliver the news to his fellow uncles made him swallow his pride. "Ahem… dear sister, please tell me quickly."
"Ew~, disgusting!" She wrinkled her nose but relented. "Danzo was officially declared a traitor yesterday. That much you know, right?"
"Of course. The notice was posted all over the village. Hundreds of crimes listed—he truly was scum!" The old man nodded vigorously, his face red with righteous anger.
"Well, then—did you know the Third Hokage defected yesterday? And that Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura were thrown into the Guard Prison?"
"What!"
The man almost dropped his birdcage. "The Third Hokage… betrayed the village? Impossible!"
His exclamation drew more villagers closer. All eyes turned to the curly-haired woman.
The Third Hokage—beloved by countless villagers, a figure of absolute authority and power—why would he turn against the village?
"Oh, why would I lie? My son said the official announcement will be released today. The Third Hokage will be listed as an S-rank missing-nin."
She basked in their stunned attention, delighted to be the center of gossip. Politics didn't matter to her. But this—this was fun.
"Then it must be a struggle between the old and new Hokage," the bird-walking man muttered, frowning deeply. "A clash of power during transition…"
"There you go with your conspiracy theories again!" she snapped.
"You know Danzo's crimes, right? They were all committed during the Third's reign, with his tacit approval! And guess what—last night, Anbu and the Guards seized nearly ten billion ryō of illegal assets from those clans! The Sarutobi alone hoarded over four billion! That money was meant for the village—some of it was the inheritance of shinobi who died in service, meant for their widows and children. Instead, those families vanished without a trace!"
The crowd erupted.
"Ten billion ryō?!"
"This is enough to wipe out entire clans!"
They might not care much about politics, but village funds—money meant for everyone's welfare—that struck a nerve. To hear it was stolen by four great clans, including the Hokage's own, was unbearable.
And the logic was ironclad. Danzo had always been the Hokage's assistant. Could the Third really not have known?
If he knew, he was complicit.If he didn't, he was incompetent.Either way, he couldn't escape blame.
Besides, without the Third's status, would the Sarutobi clan have had the power to swallow four billion ryō? Who would believe otherwise?
The bird-walking man clenched his fists. He had to spread this immediately. As a man of justice, he would nail the Third Hokage to the pillar of shame!
And so, word spread like wildfire across Konoha.
Some tried to defend the Third, but they were drowned out by angry accusations—surely they had profited from the clans' corruption. Public outrage grew into a tidal wave.
By the end of the day, the so-called "Konoha F4"—Hiruzen, Danzo, Koharu, and Homura—were completely nailed to the pillar of shame in the eyes of the villagers.