"Print it all. No cuts."
"Yes, Lord Kazekage."
The newspaper office squeezed other stories and ran the Fourth Raikage's full interview—every single word—front and center in the Ninja World Big Events Weekly.
Two days later the new issue hit the stands.
Even with the ninja world at war, merchants still cared about one thing: money.
Getting the Weekly meant instant heat and foot traffic.
More people meant more sales.
The issue spread across the entire ninja world in hours.
"One Piece is ending soon?"
"Then I've gotta read today's chapter. Maybe I can guess the ending from it."
The big finale teaser pulled in even more readers.
Soon people noticed the interview section.
"The Fourth Raikage's interview? About the Hyuga clan?"
"The Raikage himself admitted everything was Hiruzen Sarutobi's plan?"
"Their ninjas were invited to Konoha by Hiruzen?"
"The infiltration of the Hyuga compound was arranged by Hiruzen too?"
"The Cloud ninja's death was an accident, and Hiruzen offered Cloud a pair of Byakugan as compensation?"
...
Eyes went wide.
This news was nuclear.
Before, no matter how bad the rumors got, people could still say they were just gossip.
The suicide note could've been faked. The Hyuga clan hadn't made a scene. Hiruzen had quickly shut down the talk inside Konoha and made it all feel like a rumor.
But now? This was still just a rumor?
The Fourth Raikage had said it with his own mouth.
The Ninja World Big Events Weekly had printed it in black and white.
"I can't believe it's actually true."
"This is insane."
"Hiruzen Sarutobi is really that kind of person."
"To protect his Hokage seat and keep it in the Sarutobi family, he'll do anything. That's terrifying."
"If the Hyuga thing is real, then all the other stories are probably real too."
"It started all the way back with the White Fang."
"Worried the White Fang would threaten his position, he set him up and drove him to suicide in pain."
"Minato Namikaze was too good, so he triggered the Nine-Tails attack and blamed the Uchiha."
"The second rumors about the White Fang started spreading, he went after Kakashi."
"Scared Jiraiya would avenge Minato, he didn't even spare his own student."
"Forced the Uchiha clan to rebel."
"Suppressed the Hyuga clan and turned the main family against the branch family."
"He'll do anything. Absolutely anything."
"Completely shameless."
...
Hiruzen finished some paperwork and stepped out of the Hokage Tower, planning to head back to the Sarutobi compound.
On the street he heard the gossip and his face changed instantly.
"It's starting again?"
"A whole new wave of slander against me?"
"These people never stop. What the hell did they do this time?"
"An interview?"
Hiruzen suddenly remembered—today was the day the Ninja World Big Events Weekly came out.
"Did Sunagakure pull something again?"
"That little bastard Rasa!"
"Who gave the interview this time? What kind of shit are they saying about me now?"
Hiruzen desperately needed a copy.
Right then an Anbu showed up.
"Lord Hokage, bad news."
Hiruzen spotted the Weekly in the man's hand.
"Why the hell are you so late?"
"Lord Hokage, Goat ran into trouble. When I took over his shift I couldn't find him, and we still haven't located him… I came as fast as I could."
The Anbu felt wronged getting scolded.
"Lord Hokage, the paper has the Fourth Raikage's interview. He pushed all the blame for the Hyuga incident onto you, Lord Hokage. Said it was all your plan."
"What?"
Hiruzen felt like thunder had exploded in his skull.
"The Fourth Raikage?"
"How dare he?"
"How dare he lie like that?"
Hiruzen's rage exploded.
His whole body shook.
His face kept changing—red, white, red again.
"Pfft!"
Blood sprayed from his mouth. His chest heaved violently.
"Cloud Village… completely shameless!"
"They've gone too far!"
"That shameless little shit. I'm going to kill him!"
Hiruzen spun around and rushed back to the Hokage Tower at full speed.
He opened the paper and read.
"Shameless! Shameless! Shameless!"
"Lies! All lies!"
"Cloud Village. Raikage. I swear I'll never forgive you!"
Hiruzen was beyond furious.
None of it was true. Cloud knew the real story. Hiruzen had already backed down and given them massive benefits.
Yet the Fourth Raikage still lied through his teeth.
Framing him. Slandering him.
And he did it in Sunagakure's Ninja World Big Events Weekly.
That meant the whole ninja world could read it.
Lies. Straight-up fabrication.
Coming from a Raikage, how many people were going to believe it?
Hiruzen didn't want to imagine.
Kakashi's interview had already done serious damage. Hiruzen had barely contained it by having an Anbu use Transformation Technique to impersonate Kakashi and walk around the village.
But the Fourth Raikage's influence was way bigger than Kakashi's.
His credibility was way higher too.
Konoha couldn't just create a fake Fourth Raikage.
"Ungrateful bastard!"
"Scum!"
Hiruzen ground his teeth, cursing the Raikage nonstop.
"You'll die a miserable death!"
The previous rumors had already caused him massive trouble and tanked his reputation. Even inside Konoha, plenty of people no longer trusted him.
And now the Raikage's interview was the final straw.
No—not a straw.
A fucking boulder.
It crashed down on his head, cracked his skull open, and sent him sinking deeper into the sea of rumors with no way to surface.
"Announcement! I need an official announcement right now!"
"I'm going to lay out the full truth about the Hyuga incident."
"At the same time I'll publicly condemn the Raikage for slandering me like this."
"I'm going to strike back at Cloud Village!"
"They're going to pay for this!"
Hiruzen's eyes were blood-red.
In that moment, his hatred for Cloud Village had completely overtaken his hatred for Sunagakure.