Rasa noticed Danzo's emotion value rising at a remarkable speed, and a smile immediately tugged at his lips.
"It looks like Danzo has already gotten wind of the Ninja World Weekly."
"My assumption was correct."
"Using a newspaper like this to mock and provoke him definitely counts as hostile interaction. It was bound to generate a huge amount of negative emotion from Danzo."
"And this is only the beginning."
"Getting two thousand emotion points won't be difficult."
"With two thousand emotion points, I can exchange them for two thousand lottery points."
"And with Ebizo continuing to push the Hyuga rumor on his side, even if the points come in a little slowly, there will still be a steady stream of income. It shouldn't take long before I reach three thousand points."
"And then… the third thirty-pull."
Yatagarasu beat its wings rapidly, carrying Rasa away at high speed until his figure soon vanished from the skies above the capital of the Land of Earth.
"Smash!"
Danzo hurled the cup in his hand to the ground with savage force. It shattered instantly into countless shards.
"This is too much!"
"This is going too far!"
Danzo's face had gone pale with fury.
The headline on that newspaper was far too eye-catching. The moment anyone got their hands on it, the first thing they would see was that front-page story.
The failure of his operation had already left him miserable.
The pain of losing an arm had already left him seething.
Danzo already hated Rasa to the bone.
But now, with the appearance of the newspaper, he felt even worse.
The news of his failed operation would spread throughout the entire ninja world.
Konoha.
The Land of Fire.
The Land of Earth.
The Land of Wind.
The Land of Water.
The Land of Lightning…
Even the smaller countries and minor ninja villages would know.
All of them would know, clearly and thoroughly, just how badly he had failed.
He would become a laughingstock for the entire ninja world.
"Rasa, you little bastard… shameless!"
"To create something like this just to disgust people—never before, not once in the entire history of the ninja world, has anyone done anything like this!"
"What is he trying to do?"
"What ninja hasn't lost before?"
"I've only lost this one time. Before this, I succeeded so many times. Just because of one failure, does that erase everything I've done?"
"My contributions to Konoha are greater than Hiruzen's."
"I am stronger than the overwhelming majority of shinobi in this world."
Danzo was not afraid of people calling him vicious.
Danzo was not afraid of people calling him sinister.
What he feared most… was being called incompetent.
That was something Danzo absolutely refused to accept.
In his own mind, he was an exceptionally capable shinobi—no worse than Hiruzen Sarutobi. The only reason he had failed to become Hokage was because, back then, he had been one step too slow.
The Hokage's seat was one he could have taken as well.
But Danzo knew very clearly that once this newspaper spread and that headline was seen by the people of the ninja world, he would become, in their eyes, a useless old fool.
That pain cut even deeper than the day he lost the chance to become Hokage.
"I, Danzo, am not incompetent!"
Eyes bloodshot, Danzo looked down at the Root shinobi below him.
"How far has this newspaper spread?"
"Reporting to Lord Danzo," the shinobi below answered immediately, "large quantities of these newspapers have appeared throughout the Land of Fire, the Land of Wind, and the Land of Earth. They were scattered directly from the sky."
"They're all over the battlefield as well."
"Some Hyuga shinobi reported seeing what appeared to be Rasa's summon, Yatagarasu, high in the air. These newspapers were most likely being distributed by Rasa personally."
In that instant, Danzo felt his blood pressure surge.
If this newspaper had only spread within a limited range, he would have mobilized every bit of strength he had to intercept it.
No matter the cost.
But with things having developed to this point, there was no stopping it now.
"That Rasa… too shameless!"
"He's learned every dirty trick Onoki ever used."
"And he's taken them even further."
Danzo ground his teeth so hard they nearly cracked.
Seeing the ugly look on Danzo's face, the shinobi below hesitated for a moment before offering a suggestion.
"Lord Danzo, the content in this newspaper slanders you far too viciously. It's outrageous. I think you should speak publicly and clarify the false information on it."
"That way, Sunagakure's newspaper won't be able to keep causing such a negative impact."
Danzo: "…"
Danzo stared at him deeply.
Had he not been certain of this subordinate's absolute loyalty, he would have been tempted to suspect the man had been sent by an enemy to provoke him to death.
As if it were that simple.
As if he hadn't already thought of that himself.
The problem was that the front-page story was, in essence, true.
Aside from a few embellished details on Rasa's side, the core facts—the numbers, the time, the people involved—were all correct.
Sunagakure could even produce the corpses of the dead Konoha shinobi.
There were also a great many witnesses.
Including witnesses on Konoha's own side.
And as for his severed arm, plenty of people in the medical department knew about it.
Arguing over details would only make things worse the more it was pursued.
Which meant that the best approach was total denial.
"Spread word that everything in that newspaper is false. Every last bit of it is fabricated by Sunagakure."
"Yes, Lord Danzo."
Danzo turned to look out the window, his eyes brimming with venom.
"That Rasa… targeting me like this."
"To stoop to such despicable methods…"
"This hatred cannot be shared beneath the same sky. Either he dies or I do!"
The next moment, Danzo forced himself to stand, ignoring the fact that his injuries had not yet healed.
Soon afterward, Danzo's denial statement spread.
Some people chose to believe it.
"Sunagakure is shameless, fabricating fake news like this."
"Lord Danzo is one of Konoha's elders. He wouldn't be so reckless."
"Besides, Root is already gone, isn't it? Where would he even get that many shinobi?"
"We can't fall for this."
"We can't wrongly accuse Lord Danzo."
"This is exactly what Sunagakure wants!"
But there were also many who did not believe it.
On Sunagakure's side, the names of many Konoha shinobi had been listed clearly in the paper.
There were even photos printed beneath the text.
The level of detail was astonishing.
Could something fabricated really be made to look that real?
Not long afterward, Danzo arrived at the Hokage Tower.
"Hiruzen."
Hiruzen Sarutobi was holding a copy of the newspaper in his hand. Only when Danzo entered did he set it down on the desk.
"Danzo."
Danzo pointed furiously at the paper.
"Hiruzen, this thing is far too destructive. Once it spreads, no matter what Sunagakure writes in it, it will bring enormous negative consequences to Konoha."
"It must all be destroyed!"
"Hiruzen, issue the order now."
"Throughout all of Konoha—no, throughout the entire Land of Fire—this thing must be banned."
Hiruzen folded his hands together, his elbows resting on the desk.
"Danzo, I know you're in a hurry… but don't be so quick to panic."
"I understand the impact of this thing better than you do."
"But before dealing with it, I have one question I want you to answer honestly."
"The content in this newspaper about you… is it true?"
"Or is it false?"
Danzo's expression shifted at once.