With Tobirama Senju's urgent order issued.
The ANBU moved at once.
As the saying goes
In a gale the tough grass is known; in chaos the loyal ministers are seen.
Tobirama also intended to use this emergency action to test his prestige and position in the village.
Dozens of ANBU on duty within the village obeyed his order without hesitation. The moment they received the message, they came at once.
These dozens of ANBU were all jōnin and special jōnin—no chūnin among them. If the Hokage were not the inhuman shinobi Hashirama Senju, then a strike force like this, acting in a surprise operation, could overturn Konoha's regime within hours—a power enough to change a village's dynasty.
His disciples, upon receiving the message, also hurried over without delay.
A curve appeared at the corner of Tobirama's mouth.
He was very satisfied with this test's result.
Of course
There were some flaws.
"Put those away!"
"Who told you to draw shuriken and kunai and you there Danzo! You even brought explosive tags!"
Tobirama looked at the fully armed ANBU. They held high-quality kunai and shuriken, and Shimura Danzo had even prepared explosive tags Loyalty!
"But, sensei, didn't your order say there were rioters in Konoha, deliberately making trouble and intending to storm the Hokage building?"
"They're villagers who've been misled. Our goal today is to warn and help, to cure the disease and save the people—give those deceived villagers ideological instruction and make them pull back from the cliff!"
"Switch to wooden batons, disperse the crowd, and send every troublemaker to ANBU custody. Lock them up for a few days of education and make them properly reflect on their mistakes!"
Tobirama swiftly defined the incident as Konoha villagers being incited by villains, doubting the Hokage's ability to govern, even wanting to charge the Hokage building.
Outrageous!
Konoha is a bona fide military organization.
It merely wears the guise of a village.
No military can tolerate such behavior from civilians.
But the villagers were ultimately innocent. Tobirama understood someone was pulling strings. He had built this village with effort; the villagers were part of it, merely deceived and used. He would not strike them too hard.
So this operation was to disperse the crowd and arrest the would-be rioters, give them ideological training with a touch of punishment—let them suffer a little flesh pain and that's enough medical shinobi are in the village, nothing major will happen!
But one point had to be made clear to those villagers intent on trouble: the village's decisions are not for them to question. Understand them and obey; fail to understand and still obey!
"Yes, Lord Tobirama!"
A uniform shout rang out.
Then
Tobirama led the ANBU and his disciples, now armed with wooden batons, to the spot where villagers had gathered to make trouble.
Several teahouses and snack stalls stood there, with a public training field nearby. This was where villagers loved to stroll in their free time—Konoha's easiest place to spread rumors and stir emotions.
"The Hokage governs poorly—he's shaming Konoha. Look at Akatsuki Village next door that's impressive. For their shinobi, they go to war the moment it's called, clean and decisive Why is our Konoha still silent?"
"I heard the Hokage doesn't manage the village; it's always his younger brother"
"Hmph, no wonder—weak and incompetent."
"Better let the Uchiha do it If this keeps up, I'm going to take people to protest at the Hokage building. The village's orders now are an embarrassment to Konoha"
"Why not today then"
Tobirama looked at the hundred-plus villagers gathered before him, his ears filled with complaints, his face expressionless. Their thoughts were dangerous. If some headless fool raised an arm and shouted, they might really be roused to march on the Hokage building.
He waved his hand.
The ANBU lurking around received the signal and spread out, surrounding the area. A small team stayed hidden to catch the mastermind and to ensure no fish slipped the net.
The ANBU quickly closed in on the misled crowd.
"Who told you to gather here and spread rumors!"
"Move. All of you—come with us to ANBU for questioning!"
Seeing dozens of masked ANBU in black combat gear, the villagers turned panicked at once. Even a fool knew these fierce ANBU were here for them.
As for this "ANBU" they spoke of, most villagers had never even heard the name.
Does such a place exist in the village?
If we go, we might never come back!
Run!!!
"Still trying to run?!"
When the villagers bolted, the ANBU grew even more excited.
They were Tobirama's die-hard Senju-line supporters.
What are the Uchiha to us?
You foolish villagers dare defame the Hokage, defame Lord Tobirama!
Tired of living, are you!
"ANBU join actively with the villagers—by hitting them!"
"Three batons break alliance bonds—Sir, I'm from Konoha!"
"One strike to the legs to stop escape, two to the mouth to stop begging, three to the head to stop thinking!"
Shimura Danzo chanted as his wooden club whooshed like a tiger's wind.
In a blink he'd seized more than twenty villagers, all of them clutching their heads, collapsing and wailing on the ground.
"Danzo, you're hitting too hard. Lord Tobirama told us to give a light lesson—how can you beat them like this?"
Danzo was savoring the joy of six swings per second, his stick leaving afterimages.
He dearly hoped Lord Tobirama would see his deeds. Then Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice sounded at his side.
"Enough, Hiruzen. I, Shimura Danzo, owe Lord Tobirama a great debt. I once made a huge mistake; even selling myself couldn't cover the deficit of hundreds of millions of ryō. Yet even then Lord Tobirama forgave me and took me as his disciple. I owe him greatly!"
"You heard these villagers' dangerous talk. They dare question the Hokage, dare question Lord Tobirama! Without a lesson, they won't remember."
Only actions can prove my loyalty!
"You'll regret this!"
Hiruzen shook his head.
He swung his baton too, but only once per second. He felt Danzo was too heavy-handed. The villagers were wrong, but not to this extent. Even with medical shinobi as a safety net they still shouldn't
"Hmph. Are you disloyal?"
"Don't forget, you, Sarutobi Hiruzen, also"
Danzo curled his lip.
His hands sped up again.
In a flash two more villagers were clubbed to the ground. Hiruzen's expression changed; he could not bear the stain of disloyalty, and he too had to quicken his swings.
The other ANBU strove to display their loyalty, zealously arresting would-be rioters. Villagers scattered in panic, and the nearby teahouses and stalls were turned upside down.
Powerless civilians had no means to resist wolves like the ANBU. If they squatted with hands on heads, they might take fewer blows; if they resisted or tried to fight back, their only fate was six swings per second.
Noise and cries rose and fell.
Soon
Every would-be rioter here was under arrest,
"Sensei, all these rioters are in custody!"
Danzo beamed, eager to show his loyalty to Tobirama. All the culprits present had been captured.
"Danzo, they're Konoha villagers. Don't say things that harm unity. Lock them all in ANBU. If they're hurt, have medical shinobi treat them at once. Then give them ideological instruction. Tonight I want to see repentance letters from some of them!"
Tobirama corrected Danzo's wording, then continued issuing orders. Danzo nodded. He only felt his teacher was too kind. These rioting villagers had suffered mere scrapes; rest would mend them.
Yet Lord Tobirama even assigned precious medical shinobi to treat them—likely without charging a fee. Medical shinobi were extremely scarce; even ordinary mid- and low-rank shinobi wounded on missions didn't enjoy such free treatment!
A wave of public-opinion unrest thus met the visible hand's crackdown and was temporarily quelled.
News of Konoha's no-limits fighting tournament inevitably spread. It involved hundreds in a mass brawl; there was no hiding it. Around the arena, even bystanders had watched the fun.
The sight of hundreds of villagers being seized by shinobi shocked those onlookers.
Fearing they would be next, they tucked their tails and behaved.
The owners of those teahouses were also taken by ANBU for questioning.
By that evening alone.
Restaurant and teahouse owners across the village hung neat, uniform plaques in their shops—"Do Not Discuss Village Affairs"—afraid loose-tongued patrons would speak out under their roof and bring calamity upon them, leading to arrest by village shinobi.
Evening.
Still unaware, Hashirama Senju strolled Konoha's streets as usual. He found fewer villagers than normal, and strange plaques—"Do Not Discuss Village Affairs"—hung at diners and teahouses he had never seen before.
Even
On ordinary days, villagers greeted him warmly in the street.
Today only the occasional passerby he met head-on greeted him under duress; more villagers avoided Hashirama of their own accord.
Shinobi and civilians were like two different species. Usually Hashirama led the way in humble gentleness toward the villagers. The Uchiha, though proud, had little interest in bullying commoners—unless a villager truly violated village ordinances, and then
Over the years.
Konoha relied on the strong being gentle.
And on the village rule—"Konoha shinobi may not use ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, or other violence against villagers. Violators will be harshly punished!"
Thus villagers briefly forgot how they should regard shinobi.
Today, ANBU's whistling batons reminded them of their identity and station.
Shinobi and villagers are not the same class. On ordinary days, shinobi can be gentle and peaceful; villagers, as the weaker group, may even enjoy preference. But cross the village's red line—defy the will of the shadow Hokage, the Nine-Thousand-Year—and the iron fist falls, with no reasoning to be had.
As for whether this violates the principle—"Konoha shinobi may not use ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, or other violence against villagers. Violators will be harshly punished!"
Sorry the principle forbids it.
But the principle now sits in Tobirama's hands.
"What's going on? The village's atmosphere is strange today."
"Why do the villagers seem afraid of me today?"
Slow though he was to react, Hashirama soon sensed the change in the village's air. He stopped a villager who kept trying to dodge him, wanting to ask what had happened.
"Lord Hokage, don't hit me!!
"Don't let shinobi take me for questioning!"
"I was wrong!"
"I shouldn't have bad-mouthed you at the teahouse the day before yesterday!"
"I was wrong!!"
The villager Hashirama grabbed babbled in terror.
He wasn't the only one. Anyone who had attended the gatherings and bad-mouthed Hashirama now lived in dread that shinobi would suddenly burst into their homes and take them away.
Clearly.
The villager Hashirama stopped had also taken part, not only voicing dissatisfaction with the village but even attacking Hashirama in words which is human nature.
Nice guys invite guns to their heads!
They all knew Hashirama was a nice guy. That image had lasted so long the ordinary villagers dared speak ill of him behind his back.
But now the iron fist had fallen
The man was scared to death.
He bitterly regretted his previous disrespect to the Hokage, and even more that, with the village in such turmoil, he'd gone out at dusk to buy things—only to be caught by the Hokage himself.
"What are you talking about!"
"How could I hit you?"
"I won't send shinobi to take you for questioning either!"
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