Naruto: I, who fooled the ninja world, was hailed as a savior.

Chapter 303 Dissatisfaction with Hiruzen Sarutobi

After the disaster and gloom that nearly dragged the village into the abyss a few days ago, Konoha was blessed with a rare clear morning today.

The lingering smell of burnt food and blood in the air seemed to have been washed away silently by the fresh morning breeze and sunshine.

A soft, warm ray of morning light seeped in quietly through the gaps in the blinds and crept onto a corner of the hospital bed.

Hinata Kumokawa lay on the hospital bed, sunlight falling on his profile, making his slightly pale skin almost transparent, and even revealing the extremely fine downy hairs on his cheeks.

He breathed evenly, his chest rising and falling slightly with each breath, and sunlight cast several beams of light and shadow on his arms, like piano keys.

"..."

Hinata Kumokawa's consciousness slowly rose from his deep sleep and he became awake.

The first sound was a faint but continuous cacophony: shouts, the scraping and colliding of metal and brick, the muffled crash of some massive object collapsing...

Even through the walls and windows of the ward, which filtered out most of the sharp noise, Hinata Kumokawa could still hear it clearly.

That was the sound of Konoha clearing away the rubble and rebuilding the houses.

However, Hinata Kumokawa did not open his eyes immediately because he could still hear a breathing sound very close by.

It was so close, I could even feel its warm breath brushing against my skin, causing a slight itch. The distance was probably no more than ten centimeters.

And, the heartbeat that gradually quickened beneath the sound of breathing...

Hinata Kumokawa controlled himself, his eyelids trembling slightly a few times.

Sure enough, the breathing and heartbeat that were so close at hand suddenly stopped as if electrocuted, and then quickly moved away, leaving behind the soft sounds of clothes rubbing and footsteps moving.

The timing was perfect.

Hinata Kumokawa slowly opened his eyes, his expression perfectly dazed and confused.

My gaze swept across the pristine white ceiling and finally settled at the foot of the bed.

Hinata Aoi stood there, her hands somewhat awkwardly behind her back, her knuckles slightly clenched, her eyes flickering, clearly revealing a guilty conscience.

"morning."

Hinata Kumokawa's slightly hoarse voice broke the delicate silence, pretending not to notice her little actions.

"The weather is nice today," he simply said.

"...Good morning." Hinata Aoi looked at his still calm gaze, as if he was completely unaware of what she had done, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief before replying.

Then, she quickly picked up the thermos and newspaper next to her and handed them over: "I brought you breakfast, and here are the newspapers you wanted from the last few days."

Hinata Kumokawa stretched out his intact arm and used it to prop himself up from the hospital bed. Apart from being slightly pale, he did not show much weakness from recovering from serious injuries.

He took the thick stack of newspapers handed to him by Hinata Aoi; these were clearly news articles published while he was in a coma.

Hinata Aoi sat on a chair to the side, silently opened the insulated lunchbox, and took out the still steaming congee and side dishes...

Hinata Kumokawa opened the newspaper, his eyes scanning over the eye-catching headlines.

Catastrophe Strikes! Unknown Forces Launch Air Attack on Konoha, Causing Heavy Casualties!

The Price of a "Hero": Hyuga Kumokawa Critically Injured and Unconscious, Konoha Loses a Pillar?

The road to reconstruction is long; where will Konoha go from here?

Missing Person Notice Column

The Price of Blood and Tears: What We Need Is More Than Just Afterthoughts

These newspapers either described the entire process of the attack on Konoha, or praised Hyuga Kumokawa's achievements while expressing concern, or published information about missing relatives... Hyuga Kumokawa's face did not change at all, as if he was just reading ordinary news that had nothing to do with him.

Only when he saw those veiled criticisms of Konoha's higher-ups would a barely perceptible smile flash across his eyes.

There are quite a few of these sharp news reports, which usually describe the tragic situation in Konoha and then directly criticize the actions of Konoha's higher-ups.

What were the Konoha ninjas doing while the people struggled in despair?
Although no names were directly named, the implication was that the criticism was directed at the Konoha leadership, especially Hiruzen Sarutobi and Tsunade.

Most importantly, not only the common people, merchants, and nobles of the Land of Fire and Konoha, but even the ninjas of Konoha did not say anything in support of Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"..."

Hinata Kumokawa unconsciously rubbed the newspaper between his fingers, then thoughtfully looked up, gazing out the window into the distance.

Looking out from the third-floor window, despite the relatively bright morning sunlight filtering through the clouds, and despite the few trees that had miraculously survived still stubbornly stretching out their remaining greenery...

However, none of this could mask the horrific traces left by the attack a few days earlier that nearly destroyed the entire village.

Vast amounts of vegetation were reduced to charred, withered bones in the flames and shockwaves, tragically pointing towards the sky.

The building ruins were covered with a thick layer of grayish-white dust and explosion debris, like an untimely "snow" falling on this land ahead of time.

The magnificent Shadow Rock statue is now in ruins, the main building of the Ninja Academy is missing half of its roof, and many more houses and shops are reduced to rubble...

Some of the more devastating places, like once bustling commercial streets, are now just scorched earth and twisted metal frames, with hardly any complete outline left.

The situation was slightly better; a hole was punched in one wall of Konoha Hospital, and most of the mission center was burned down, with the remaining parts barely holding on.

Temporary tents sprang up like mushrooms after rain on the open spaces between the ruins, and countless figures bustled about in these tent-made communities.

The ninjas cleared the rubble, the medical ninjas cared for the wounded, and the surviving villagers spontaneously helped distribute supplies and maintain order.

The entire village is indeed making a painful but determined attempt to stand up again.

but……

"The discontent with Hiruzen Sarutobi is becoming uncontrollable both inside and outside the village," Hyuga Kumokawa thought to himself.

After abdicating following the Third Shinobi World War, and with the outbreak of the Nine-Tails' rampage and the unexpected deaths of the Fourth Hokage and his wife, Hiruzen Sarutobi was forced to take up a critical post and regain power.

Then, the mishandling of the dispute with Kumogakure (Hidden Cloud Village) eventually reignited the war, which lasted for several years and was extremely costly.

Konoha suffered repeated setbacks and heavy casualties on the battlefields of the Land of Rain and the Land of Hot Springs.

It's important to understand that behind every ninja who died in battle were families and friends.

For a long time, the grief and indignation of the families of the fallen and the dissatisfaction of ordinary villagers with the years of fighting have been surging like an undercurrent at the bottom of the village.

However, because the war had not yet ended, there was indeed no more suitable candidate for Hokage at the moment. In addition, the news of the Five Kage Summit made most people suppress their resentment.

This near-devastating attack launched by the Akatsuki organization became the final straw that broke the camel's back.

In their view, the Konoha ninjas reacted slowly, chaotically, and even to the point of being "incompetent" in the critical moment of the disaster, causing heavy casualties among the people.

The long-suppressed discontent finally erupted at this moment.

And the most direct evidence...

Hinata Kumokawa lowered his head and looked at the newspaper in his hand; it was the latest newspaper.

Within the Land of Fire, people have already begun to openly discuss who should be the next Hokage.

Jiraiya, Tsunade, Kakashi Hatake, and Kumokawa Hyuga are the four names that appear most frequently.

(End of this chapter)