Tsunade rushed at Toyoma, fury written all over her face, her hand already swinging toward him.
Toyoma saw it coming. At the last second, he activated a substitution and swapped places with Minato, who had been standing close enough behind him to take the hit.
Slap!
Tsunade's palm connected cleanly with Minato's cheek, snapping his head to the side.
For a second, Tsunade simply stood there, staring at what she had actually hit. Even some of the Uchiha behind the counter flinched at the sound.
She turned around, searching for Toyoma.
He was already standing a few feet away, casually running a hand through his hair as if nothing had happened.
"Stand still, you little shit!"
"Does something written on my head say I should stand still?" Toyoma asked, picking at his hair. "Why the hell would I just stand there and let you hit me?"
A couple of Uchiha kids nearby struggled to hold back their laughter.
Tsunade's face twitched.
She didn't wait another second.
Using Body Flicker, she shot toward Toyoma.
But before she could reach him, Uzuku stepped directly between them.
"Lady Tsunade."
His voice remained calm, but his hand had already moved to the hilt of his sword.
"It would be better if you kept your hand still."
His eyes locked onto hers.
"Otherwise, don't blame the Uchiha when things get dirty."
The atmosphere around them immediately became tense.
"It would've been better if you Uchiha taught your kids how to talk to elders," Tsunade shot back without backing down.
"Uchiha kids know how to talk to elders," Toyoma said slowly, his voice almost calm.
"But there's a difference between a good elder..."
He looked directly at Tsunade.
"...and a hypocrite bastard wearing the title."
A ripple went through the crowd.
Several people exchanged looks.
Before the argument could go any further, one of the clan heads pushed through the crowd.
Inuzuka Clan Head stepped forward, with the Aburame Clan Head and several other minor clan heads behind him. Their expressions were still filled with disbelief after hearing what Toyoma had revealed.
"Lady Tsunade..."
His voice cut through the noise.
"Is it true?"
"Did the Elders' clans really suffer no losses during the war?"
He paused.
"Not even a single one?"
"The same goes for the Hokage's clan?"
Tsunade's eyes swept across the gathered clan heads.
For a brief moment, something changed in her expression.
Anger.
Uneasiness.
Maybe even a hint of panic.
But it quickly disappeared.
"What?"
"You're seriously going to believe this brat's nonsense?"
She pointed toward Toyoma.
"Don't you all know how badly the Uchiha want to break this village?"
"The more chaos they create..."
"...the happier these Uchiha bastards become."
Her glare moved toward Kohaku and then Uzuku.
Several of the smaller clan heads exchanged uneasy glances.
They weren't ready to accuse Tsunade.
But they weren't completely convinced by her answer either.
"Well..."
Toyoma's voice came from behind Uzuku.
"That's true."
Everyone looked toward him.
Toyoma shrugged slightly.
"But that's not the point."
"The question is..."
"Is it true?"
He looked directly at Tsunade.
"Huh?"
"Tell them."
His tone was deliberately provocative.
"Who the hell are you to ask me that?"
Tsunade shouted.
"Someone who fought for this village with his whole clan's neck on the line."
Toyoma's answer came immediately.
"And what did we get?"
His expression hardened.
"While we were out there bleeding..."
"...someone was making damn sure their own people didn't suffer any kind of loss."
He took a step toward her.
"And they still dare to target us."
His eyes moved toward Tsunade, Orochimaru, Minato, and Kushina.
"And you bunch of hypocritical orphans who hold the title of heroes..."
"...have the audacity to tell us to sacrifice for the village."
Orochimaru's expression didn't change, but his eyes became sharper.
Minato's hand quietly moved toward Kushina's arm, as if he was already preparing to stop her if things went any further.
Toyoma turned his attention back to Tsunade.
"Listen here, Senju Tsunade."
His voice became colder.
"Not everyone here is parentless..."
"...clanless like you lot."
He pointed toward the crowd around them.
"They all have families."
"They all have clans."
"They have people they want to protect."
"And people they want to support."
The words hit Tsunade like a hammer.
Her face twisted with rage.
Before anyone could react, she stepped forward and grabbed Toyoma by the collar.
She lifted him straight off the ground.
The crowd gasped.
Kohaku still hadn't moved, but his eyes sharpened as he watched every second.
Toyoma didn't struggle.
He didn't even flinch.
He simply stared straight into Tsunade's eyes.
His voice remained calm.
"Try it."
Tsunade's grip tightened.
Toyoma's eyes narrowed.
"And I swear..."
"I'll cut these hands off you."
"Even if I die today."
The entire street fell silent.
No one dared move.
Tsunade held Toyoma in the air, her anger burning in her eyes.
And Toyoma simply stared back at her.
"Lady Tsunade."
Uzuku's voice was quiet, but it carried through the tense street. He didn't say anything else, simply standing there and waiting.
Tsunade was still holding Toyoma by the collar, staring him.
Then she felt a hand land on her shoulder.
"Release him, Tsunade."
Jiraiya had arrived beside her. His expression was already frustrated.
Tsunade held on for another second, her jaw tight, before finally releasing Toyoma with a frustrated exhale. Toyoma dropped back onto his feet as if the whole thing hadn't fazed him.
Jiraiya looked at him for a moment.
Toyoma looked right back.
Neither of them said anything.
Finally, Jiraiya spoke.
"The Fire Times won't be sold in Konoha without Elder Council approval," he said calmly. "Other than that, we don't care."
He turned and walked away without waiting for a response.
The crowd immediately parted for him, giving him a clear path. The ANBU followed behind him, several of them giving Toyoma one last look before leaving.
Orochimaru, Minato, and Kushina lingered for another moment. Each of them looked at Toyoma before following Jiraiya, as if silently assessing him and trying to understand.
Once they were gone, Toyoma turned toward the crowd that still filled the street.
"Well..." He spread his hands slightly. "If the village leadership doesn't want The Fire Times sold in Konoha, then we have no choice. We'll sell it in the other towns instead. At least those citizens might understand what kind of world they're actually living in."
He looked over the crowd, a faintly pitying expression appearing on his face.
"It's a shame. Some people will spend their entire lives in the dark and never even realise it."
With that, Toyoma turned around and walked away with the other Uchiha.
"Well... whatever."
He casually brushed the matter aside and left without looking back.
The people remained where they were, watching the Uchiha disappear down the street. For several moments, nobody said anything. The shop had suddenly become strangely quiet despite the number of people still standing inside.
Then the same thought began appearing in more than a few minds.
If there is even a possibility that what he said is true...
Then how much of our own village have we been kept in the dark about?
The clan heads exchanged uneasy looks. The clan shinobi standing behind them wore troubled expressions, and even the civilian shinobi had begun whispering among themselves.
Finally, the Inuzuka clan head spoke in a low voice.
"We have to find out if it's true."
Several heads turned toward him.
No one disagreed.
Slowly, the crowd began to disappear, people returning to their homes while clan heads and shinobi hurried away to report what they had heard.
But the tension didn't disappear with them.
If anything...
It settled deeper into Konoha.
A new doubt had taken root in the village, and this time, no order from the Hokage could make it disappear.
"Sensei."
Minato's voice reached Jiraiya's back, but Jiraiya didn't respond. He didn't slow down either. He simply kept walking, leaving Minato with nothing but silence.
Tsunade was still visibly frustrated. "We should've taught that brat a lesson."
"And then what?" Orochimaru replied coldly. "The whole Uchiha clan comes down on us, and nobody lifts a finger to help."
He was angry as well. The insults Toyoma had thrown at all four of them had clearly gotten under his skin.
Yet his eyes remained fixed on the retreating figure of Uchiha Toyoma.
What exactly makes this boy different from the other Uchiha?
Orochimaru had met plenty of Uchiha before. But Toyoma was different. He didn't simply react to situations. He created them, manipulated them, and somehow always seemed to know where to strike.
Orochimaru wanted to know why.
Meanwhile, the news had already begun spreading through the clans. Shinobi who had witnessed everything hurried back to report to their clan heads.
One after another, the clan heads heard what had happened inside the Uchiha shop.
And with every report...
A strange feeling settled inside them.
Something close to betrayal.
Their own clans had suffered losses in more than double digits during the war. Some had lost far more than that.
Yet Toyoma had claimed that the Hokage's clan and the elders' clans hadn't lost a single person.
How could that be possible?
Then...
Another memory suddenly came back to them.
The census.
At the beginning of the year, the Uchiha had conducted a detailed census among the clans. Names, numbers, family members...
At the time, most people hadn't thought much of it.
Some had even wondered why the Uchiha were suddenly so interested in collecting such information.
But now...
Everything made sense.
So that's what they were doing.
The Uchiha hadn't simply been collecting numbers.
They had been building records.
Records that could now be used to expose the truth.
The clan heads exchanged uneasy glances.
One of them finally turned toward his subordinate.
"Go."
"Purchase a copy of The Fire Times."
He paused.
"Now."
The other clan heads immediately gave similar orders.
They needed to know.
Not rumors.
Not what the elders told them.
Not what the Hokage told them.
They wanted to see the records for themselves.
And for the first time...
The question wasn't whether The Fire Times was dangerous.
It was whether the Uchiha had been telling the truth.
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