As the afternoon approached, the rumors that were unfavorable to Shuo Mao had already spread to most corners of the village after a morning of fermentation, and it was only one step away from being 'known to everyone'.

No matter how hard the Uchiha ninjas of the garrison tried to curb the spread of rumors, compared to the huge population of Konoha Village, the garrison was already overstretched, and it was a bit too late to arrest people, let alone stop the spread of rumors.

The location of Shuo Mao's house is in the more prosperous section of Konoha Village, and it is not close to the center of the village.

It was a small detached courtyard, and at the door, the word 'Qimu' was written on the door number.

When Shiraishi and Ruri arrived, they saw Kakashi standing in the doorway, looking more silent than usual.

"Kakashi, is Sakumo-sensei at home?"

Kakashi heard someone shouting his name, looked up, and saw that it was Shiraishi and Ruri, and nodded slightly, indicating that Shuo Mao was at home.

Shiraishi and Ruri breathed a sigh of relief at this time, and if they were at home, things would be easy to do.

"Still, my father ......"

Kakashi said this, looking like he didn't know how to explain it.

"Take us to see him."

Shiraishi sighed, knowing that Kakashi must be in a bad mood right now.

The rumors were spreading so badly that Kakashi couldn't have been unaware.

Kakashi leads the way in front and enters the Hachiki Mansion with Shiraishi and Ruri.

Qimu Mansion is a more typical Japanese-style building, and the houses are all a little ancient, and the three of them didn't walk a few steps to the door of the room where Shuo Mao was.

Before he could knock on the door, there was a 'come in' from inside, and it was obvious that Shuo Mao, who was inside, already knew that someone was coming outside.

Shiraishi had no choice but to slide the door open and shouted to the people inside, "Teacher Shuomao, let's ......"

The voice stopped.

Shiraishi and Ruri looked at Shuo Mao in front of them in a daze.

"Mr. Shuomao, you are ......"

In front of them, Shuo Mao did not become depressed because of the rumors as he imagined, but sat at the table, eating a large bowl of ramen, and had a good appetite.

Seeing that Baishi and Liuli were coming, he calmly picked up the napkin and wiped the greasy on the side of his mouth, and the two people who had always visited him asked suspiciously, "Why are you two here?" ”

“……”

“……”

Shiraishi and Ruri don't know how to pick up Shuo Mao's words.

Before they came, they fantasized about a lot of pictures of Shuo Mao being depressed because of rumors, but they didn't expect this kind of picture.

"Mr. Shuomao, about the rumors outside......"

In the end, it was Ruri who stood up.

"Did you come to me for this kind of thing?"

"Yes, this is the job of our garrison, I want to know the whole story, and I would like to ask you to answer it."

Ruri walked up to Shuo Mao and spoke to Shuo Mao in a serious tone.

He was not questioned by a member of the original Shuomao team, but as a sub-leader of the garrison team to investigate the cause and effect of the incident.

Shuo Mao thought for a moment, since this is the work of the garrison, there is no problem.

So, he quickly recounted the events of that time.

"This time we were on a classified mission, but we had some trouble on the way, and considering that my companions at that time could no longer continue fighting, I chose to abandon the mission and return with someone. This also causes the task to fail. ”

When Shuo Mao said these words, he didn't have any personal emotions, but just said what happened as a bystander, and it was up to Ruri, a member of the garrison, to judge.

Shiraishi and Ruri frowned, and even Kakashi looked puzzled.

I always feel that things are too simple.

"What kind of confidential mission is it?"

Ruri stared at Shuo Mao's face.

That's the main purpose of her coming.

Even confidential tasks can be light and heavy, big and small.

Some can be related to the survival of the village, while others are just insignificant.

"I didn't know, I was given the order to seize something, but the mission failed, and naturally it was not brought back to the village. I don't know exactly what it is. ”

Regarding Liuli's question, Shuo Mao shook his head slightly, indicating that he didn't know what he wanted to capture in the mission.

Ruri thinks things are getting a little tricky.

There is very little information from Shuo Mao, and if you want to know what Shuo Mao captured in this mission, and how much the village lost due to the failure of the mission, you can only start from the top.

After all, the task was first handled from them, and then handed over to Shuo Mao for him to complete.

But the rumors have spread to this point, and there is no movement from the higher-ups, so even if you ask now, you won't get anything.

Otherwise, they would have cleared up the rumors and suppressed the impact to a minimum.

Coming out of the Qimu Mansion, Shiraishi and Ruri both looked at the sky and exhaled lightly.

Glancing at each other, Liuli asked Bai Shi, "What should I do next?" Mr. Shuo Mao cannot be used as a breakthrough here. Are you looking for the guy who was rescued by Mr. Shuomao? ”

"As far as we can imagine, the rumor-mongers have long expected it, and it is estimated that they have been 'protected' by someone when they planned the operation. We're just going to the hospital now, and they've long since 'disappeared'. ”

"Did it happen from above?"

"There seems to be no one else but them. Such a big thing made a fuss, and according to the usual practice, Mr. Shuo Mao had already been invited by the dark department to drink tea and chat, instead of sitting at home. ”

Shiraishi was certain that someone in the upper echelons had done this, or that more than one person was behind it.

"Is there a dispute over the position of the Hokage?"

Liuli shook his head, the high-level did this thing perfectly, and it couldn't do anything at all by relying on the manpower of the garrison team alone.

Compared with the dark department, the power of the garrison is indeed greater, but the reputation in Konoha is not very good, and it does not have the strong authority of the dark department.

Once the shadows are dispatched, it represents the will of the Hokage himself.

"It should be so, after all, the candidate meeting of the fourth Hokage will be held in the near future. At this time, it is also a natural result to exclude some irrelevant people. ”

It's a bit cruel to say, but in Shiraishi's view, Shuo Mao is just a victim of the power struggle.

His subjective will and thoughts are not the most important, and no one will understand, as long as his current fame can damage some of the interests.

It doesn't matter if you have the will to be the Hokage or not, the important thing is whether you have the qualifications and threats to be promoted to the Hokage.

"That's okay, now that the political capital is gone, after this incident passes, the high-level people will have no reason to suppress Teacher Shuomao."

Liuli understood what Baishi meant, and also felt that she was a little anxious here.

The dispute over the position of the Hokage involves the interests of many factions in Konoha.

A person whose fame and strength surpass the three ninjas, and who are not affiliated with any party, is of course the highest priority target.

It doesn't seem to hurt to suppress his prestige, plunder Shuo Mao's political capital, and make him a Konoha shinobi in the future.

On the contrary, in the days to come, Shuomao will definitely be reused again.

Because this is an important period for the candidate for the fourth Hokage, as long as he passes this stage, Konoha White Fang will still be Konoha White Fang.

In Ruri's personal opinion, Shuo Mao is indeed not very suitable for the position of the Hokage.

He has neither ambition nor the will, he's just a good Konoha shinobi.

So much for.

"Really? If that were the case......"

Shiraishi muttered to himself, thinking of Shuo Mao's casual appearance before, and his heart was clouded with a layer of haze.

It's not like there's nothing.

◎

Two days later, the rumors grew fiercer.

More and more people are making trouble in the garrison, and the cells of the garrison are no longer sufficient.

And these people's crimes are not enough to be imprisoned in Konoha Prison, those are all felons, although these people are spreading rumors, but they are not at the level of 'heavy punishment'.

Bringing these people to Konoha Prison will definitely attract the obstruction of the shadows and cause unnecessary conflicts.

"What's going on? Are there still so many people coming to make trouble? ”

Liuli came to the hall of the garrison early in the morning, and felt that it was almost overcrowded, and there was a lot of noise outside the door, like a vegetable market.

The two members of the garrison belonging to the Liuli squad saluted Liuli and replied: "Yes, in the morning, there were new rumors that the garrison was completely understaffed. ”

Speaking of this, the member of the garrison smiled helplessly.

He didn't know that a rumor could be promoted like this.

It's just that the mission failed, Konoha White Fang is indeed a well-known ninja in the ninja world, and in the past few years, it has gradually become a signboard for Konoha to deter enemies.

But even if it's Konoha White Fang, it's a human, not a god.

Once in a while, a mission failure is not a big deal, and it is not said above anyway, what serious consequences have been caused by the failure of the mission.

If you say it in this way, the so-called three ninjas are also like that, after all, this name is the name of the general of the defeated army.

But how many people dare to underestimate the three ninjas?

In the eyes of the Uchiha ninja of the garrison, it was these villagers who were making a fuss, talking about it without knowing anything, and even saying some ugly things that they couldn't listen to the members of the garrison, and gradually detached themselves from the core essence of the problem.

It is not in accordance with the rules to beat them, but to take them to the garrison for discipline, the room is no longer enough.

So, the garrison ninjas who came to work this morning have a lot of headaches.

If these people are released, the rumors will intensify.

Don't let them go...... Overcrowding will affect the efficiency of the garrison.

"Find a few people who can escape, and get some improvised cells outside."

Ruri's face was frighteningly cold.

“…… Be. ”

One of the members of the garrison immediately went down to find a few people in the garrison who could escape and expand the temporary cell outside.

"Won't that affect anything?"

The remaining garrison ninja smiled wryly.

"What's wrong, we just follow the rules, even if the Hokage comes, I have reason to reason with him."

"That being said, but if this continues, the reputation of our garrison ......"

"The garrison has long lost its reputation, why do you care so much? They don't have to be given lunch or dinner, and their families are not allowed to bring food, just feed them some water, they won't die of hunger anyway. ”

Ruri snorted coldly.

“…… I see. ”

Since it is the order of the detachment leader, it only needs to be carried out.

As Liuli said, starving for two meals will not kill these people.

"By the way, you just said that there are new rumors?"

"Yes, didn't Sakumo Shangnin give up the mission because he saved people? The person who was rescued seemed to be accusing Shimo Shangnin of not having a big picture of the overall situation, saying that he was not suitable to be a ninja, and criticizing and humiliating Shimo Shangnin......"

Seeing that Ruri's face was getting more and more ugly, the garrison ninja didn't continue.

Speaking of which, I believe Liuli already understands what is going on.

"Where is that man?"

"I didn't find it, and when we went, the person had 'disappeared'."

It's hidden. Ruri sneered secretly.

"I see, you go down and get busy."

"Yes...... Well, in fact, I don't have to worry too much, although I'm not familiar with Shinobu Shuo Shige, but a ninja like him has a very tenacious willpower. He would just laugh at this kind of rumor. ”

He knew that his squad leader Liuli was once a member of Shuomao's team, and his relationship with Shuomao must be very good, so before leaving, he comforted Liuli.

"Did you laugh it?"

Ruri thought that when she went to visit Shuomao two days ago, the other party was eating ramen in a good mood, and she was not half shaken by the gossip outside.

This really comforted Ruri, and yes, even if those rumors would make him feel a little uncomfortable, but for Shuo Mao, it should be fine.