press on

In this strange atmosphere, everyone in Konoha seemed to be whispering amongst themselves. The Uchiha even captured several spies and had Itachi, who hadn't slept for days, write a letter to the Third Hokage. Clearly, the scandal had spread, damaging their long-cultivated reputation. They begged the Third Hokage for a solution.

The situation deteriorated so much that even the two advisors could no longer remain silent. Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu were very concerned about Konoha's reputation, and knew that if the turmoil continued, the Hokage's authority would be in grave danger.

When the two men heard the secret agents recount the 'spectacular scene' of the previous night, they felt their hair stand on end. If ordinary villagers found out, they might even start to flee.

Because... ninjas were experimenting on ordinary people!

"Hiruzen, you must give me an explanation immediately."

"We can't hesitate any longer."

As soon as Luna opened her eyes, she heard this conversation. She stretched and felt like dancing the samba. In her heart, she was happily singing: Come on~~~~ Let's have fun, we have plenty of time anyway.

Finally, the intensity has been increased.

However, Danzo and the Third Hokage still wanted to find the person responsible for the problem. They didn't believe in things like vengeful spirits or divine retribution. But this sudden incident made the investigation much more urgent.

"I understand." The Third Hokage was quite helpless. He went to discuss the matter with Danzo in person and first suspended him from his post, claiming that an investigation was underway.

Danzo looked displeased, but he knew best whether he was a human or a ghost: "I did it all for Konoha."

The Third Hokage sighed inwardly, knowing that Danzo had completely conceded. Now, all he could do was try to save them; he couldn't afford to weaken Konoha's strength at this crucial moment.

Save it?

The onlookers were stunned. These people were utterly shameless. Just because the person who died wasn't their child, did they think they could be completely indifferent? Look at all these lost souls, all these despicable acts—and they could justify it all with a simple "for the village."

Luna, in her true form, was organizing documents in her office when she learned of this intelligence. She had only ever seen the shamelessness of certain politicians on television before; this was the first time she had witnessed it firsthand. She took a deep breath and blurted out:

"I have never seen such a shameless person."

Your Excellency, Prime Minister, help!

The child's young heart was hurt.

Compared to Naruto, Fairy Tail is definitely a fantasy world.

Luna was furious. She took a deep breath to calm herself. Her mother had always said... when you're really angry, don't worry about manners or restraint. When you want to verbally abuse someone to death, and your own life isn't threatened, you absolutely shouldn't hold back. Only by going all out can you avoid being bullied.

If we can't curse now, let's try another method.

Her eyes darkened, and she twirled her pen between her fingers: "Since you refuse to be dignified, I'll have to help you be dignified!"

>>>>>

Two days later, vengeful spirits began to appear in the Hokage Building again at night. The Third Hokage immediately ordered the Anbu to use a large-scale genjutsu to put the ordinary people who tried to watch to sleep. Many ninjas were able to break free, but they were too afraid to come out.

The wronged souls accused Danzo of not investigating at all, not even bothering to search for their remains or notify their families, and of showing no intention of making Danzo apologize.

Will Danzo confess? Of course not. He conducted his research for Wood Release, for Konoha; he trained Root members, also for Konoha.

"I did this for Konoha. What right do you people have to criticize me?"

I used children as experiments for the sake of the village.

I coveted money to support my private army, all for the sake of the village.

I abused my power to send people to their deaths, all for the sake of the village.

The leading wandering spirit boy raised his head, stared directly at Danzo's face, and forced a stiff smile that looked worse than a grimace. He then charged at Danzo and vanished.

"For Konoha."

Thump!

Danzo was overwhelmed by the violent mental attack and collapsed to the ground, unable to get up.

"Danzo!" The Third Hokage was startled. Wasn't it said that phantoms couldn't cause any real harm?

Hiashi Hyuga, who was watching, remained silent. This was exactly the same shock he had experienced; it took him several days of treatment by medical ninjas for the discomfort to subside.

Three generations of his family were exhausted by the severe disruption to their work and the repeated burning of various documents. Coupled with these relentless wronged souls and the perpetrators who could not be found, his back became even more bent.

But Luna's actions weren't over yet. She wouldn't stop until the Third Hokage agreed to punish Danzo. She'd heard somewhere that almost no politician was clean; no one could withstand scrutiny, and once investigated, that person would inevitably be found guilty.

Finance and treasury are the places most likely to produce "Smith commissioners"—one loves to balance the books, and the other loves to burn down warehouses.

Even Luna hadn't expected to get a rare item from her blind box purchase. She had simply given the Third Hokage's file-checking personnel a hint to verify the amount and inventory. Such a routine instruction didn't seem out of place to the staff; supplementary documents naturally required physical evidence, and the accounts couldn't be wrong in the slightest. Wasn't it perfectly reasonable for the Hokage to order an inventory check?

Unexpectedly, this uncovered a series of corruption cases. Several people from these two departments were arrested, including team leaders, section chiefs, and even a deputy minister. They were all subordinates cultivated by Danzang, who routinely "raised funds" for him to nurture his faction, waiting only for him to launch his rebellion and achieve his grand ambition.

Under the illusion, these people confessed to their crimes without hesitation: "Third Hokage, we did it all for Konoha!"

"Yes, Lord Danzo is short of funds, and the Root organization's expenses are so high."

Hearing such an outrageous statement, even the Third Hokage was shocked. He never thought Danzo could become Hokage because he had no support among the various clans or among the Jonin. He never expected that these 'small places' would have so many brainwashed followers.

The sense of crisis from having his authority challenged made the Third Hokage take the matter seriously for the first time; Danzo had changed course.

"That money was all for Konoha, I only took a little bit as a reward for my hard work."

"You, you, you..." Upon hearing such an outrageous statement, Koharu Tsurugi was so angry that she almost fainted.

"I refuse to accept this! I want to see Lord Danzo! He's the one who made me do it all! I did it all for Konoha..." His shouts echoed through the Hokage Building, which was under renovation, causing many people to frown.

The two advisors were also taking a deep breath; they needed to re-evaluate Danzo.

-at the same time-

The small pier by the lake has always been the place where Itachi and Izumi meet. This time, the two sat on the grass, quietly eating tricolor dumplings together amidst the dappled sunlight reflecting off the vast expanse of green. White, pink, and green dumplings were neatly skewered on thin bamboo sticks, chewy and shimmering with a soft sheen, glistening with syrup, and the faint aroma of sweet glutinous rice could be smelled.

Behind a large rock not far away, Sasuke and Naruto were spying. One of them was secretly following Itachi, and the other was quietly tailing Luna, only to stumble upon the two on a date.

Naruto felt disheartened, as if he had just met a really nice person who had been snatched away by Sasuke's brother.

Sasuke's world has collapsed. His older brother, who rarely gets a day off, actually abandoned his younger brother to come here for a date!

Both of them looked shocked. If they knew the songs "Little Cabbage" and "Yellow in the Field," they would definitely sing them out in a melancholy tone. Especially Itachi, who seemed so happy, as if he and Luna had endless things to talk about.

In fact, Itachi hadn't rested in a long time, and his first thought was naturally to talk to Luna about the development of the Uchiha clan, as this change was what he truly desired. He was also somewhat relieved that the Uchiha hadn't faced much criticism this time, well… except for his father being bullied by Danzo.

As for his younger brother and Naruto behind him, he would definitely stop them if it were just his younger brother, but it would be difficult for him to handle Naruto if he caught up.

"Ugh~" Luna responded softly, clearly not in high spirits. She ate the meatballs absentmindedly, wanting to rinse her mouth with the spicy snacks she had been eating.

"Are you having trouble at work?" Itachi asked with concern, as if he was finding it difficult to continue his work.

Luna put on her act, looking down at the lake and sighing amidst the green hills and clear waters: "It's just disillusionment. I thought the Third Generation Lord cared about the people in the village, but I didn't expect him to be just like the high-ranking officials, completely disregarding the people at the bottom."

"What are you saying?" Itachi's expression changed slightly. This was Uchiha territory, a place under surveillance. Even though only one Anbu member remained on duty, he couldn't just say anything.

"Isn't that right?" Luna seemed like a fan who had been betrayed, going from heartbroken to numb.

Seeing her expression, Itachi was momentarily speechless. Konoha was rife with rumors; the Third Hokage's inaction and failure to punish Danzo had severely damaged his reputation. Koizumi had previously been a staunch supporter of the Third Hokage, so this disappointment… wasn't her fault.

"What you see is only the surface. There must be someone plotting something behind this kind of vengeful spirit. The Third Hokage just doesn't want to wrong Lord Danzo." Itachi's explanation came out smoothly, far more sophisticated than his usual lies.

"Really? If the investigation is thorough, will the Third Hokage really not protect them? Will he give those Konoha children justice?" Luna's expression softened slightly. She looked up at Itachi with her little face, repeatedly recalling the moment she heard the diagnosis in her previous life, in order to portray a heartbroken look.

Help! This damn village-loving man!

You know more than Uchiha, so why are you explaining things for him?

Luna mentally ranted, "This guy is so close, yet he sees how outrageous Danzo was and how biased the Third Hokage was, and he doesn't waver at all. His brother and family live in the village, why doesn't he think about finding someone better?"

If he truly wants what's best for the village, he needs to step down!

"The Third Hokage is the most fair man imaginable," Itachi said again, though it was unclear who he was addressing.

"If only... Lord Minato were alive." Luna had no choice but to continue stirring up trouble in Itachi's mind. If she could, she would certainly hope that Itachi could become an ally. Even just not causing trouble would be a great convenience for her.

Minato Namikaze is like Junpei in Naruto—he just doesn't know how to live a good life. People can't help but sigh, "If only he were still alive."

Hearing this, Itachi was visibly taken aback. He remembered hearing his father sigh similarly when he was a child. Now, with more insight, he realized the truth in it. If the Fourth Hokage were alive, Danzo wouldn't be so arrogant, and the Uchiha clan wouldn't be in such a difficult situation.

However, the brilliant and talented Minato Namikaze is dead.

Itachi then turned to the side, covering his lips, and said, "Koizumi, don't say things like that again. I'll take you home."

He didn't want Koizumi to be resented by Root, that would be too dangerous!

Luna nearly rolled her eyes upon hearing this. The fact that Itachi was so careful, afraid of saying the wrong thing, meant he fundamentally understood the true nature of Konoha's higher-ups. If that's the case, why was he so stubborn?

She was already in a bad mood today, and being forced to win over this guy made her blurt out, "Itachi, why don't you make any demands on them? If the clan leader is corrupt and biased towards his own clan, we'll be dissatisfied. The books say... only those who are recognized by the people can become Hokage. But that doesn't mean everything ends once they've been 'recognized.' Isn't it only natural for the people of Konoha to expect the Hokage to be fair and treat the villagers like human beings?"

"Konoha is different from the Uchiha; it's a huge organization. Nothing is certain yet, so don't overthink it," Itachi reassured her again, then pulled her towards home.

"..." Luna was completely numb; this guy was utterly unappetizing.

Heavens above!

Let's crack open his skull and let some air out!

She felt she was being very conservative, only playing an offensive-defense game, without even considering taking the bird spot. Itachi was still cowering, insisting on trusting the Third Hokage—please, what has he done that makes you believe him?

Why are you so afraid of conflict? Conflict is necessary for dialogue. When the survival of the people is at stake, if you can't win, you shouldn't fight. Do you expect Danzo to be morally upright?

In truth, Itachi had considered these things. He had thought about many paths for the Uchiha clan, but given his limited abilities and vision, many things were impossible for him. His father and the Uchiha clan clearly wanted to rebel, leaving him caught in the middle. The difficulty for his father to become Hokage was unimaginable, and who in Konoha could become the Fifth Hokage?

Danzo wields immense power and commands a private army; a direct confrontation would have devastating consequences and weaken Konoha's strength. Furthermore, the Uchiha clan, having been under surveillance for years, has had no chance to retaliate.

Luna and Itachi focused on replacing the Uchiha's top brass, buying time to change the clan's dynamics. Itachi, on the other hand, only wanted to change the Uchiha clan itself, believing that only the transformation of its members could solve the problem. These two completely incomprehensible individuals, so different in spirit and thought, seemed incapable of becoming allies.