HGBW: Ch. 117

Mountains and seas of people, almost as if the entire population of Konoha had gathered here.

In the gaze of thousands of villagers and ninjas, Hiruzen, clad in his white Hokage robe and wearing the Hokage hat, suddenly appeared, standing at the very top of the Hokage Building.

"The Third Hokage!"

Despite rumors spreading throughout the village, Hiruzen had long established himself as a steadfast and trustworthy Hokage.

Thus, when he appeared under the watchful eyes of the entire village, the ninjas and villagers alike all displayed respect and admiration.

"There is no need for excessive formalities. I have gathered you all here today to clarify some matters."

"You must have heard the rumors—how the ANBU Commander was defeated in a single move by a genius; how I only appoint my own kin and so on. Let me tell you here and now—these are all baseless lies."

Hiruzen swept his gaze across the crowd, his tone calm yet carrying the weight of a mountain.

"Regardless of whether you are a ninja or not, you should all be aware of Konoha's confidentiality protocols. In our village, the identities of ANBU members must be kept absolutely confidential for their own safety. This applies to everyone—ordinary operatives, squad leaders, and even the ANBU Commander."

"And yet, what do we have now? Rumors about the ANBU Commander are spreading throughout the village."

"I ask you this—when did Konoha's security become so lax?"

"The identity of the ANBU Commander is one of the highest-level secrets in the village, and yet even young children seem to know about it?"

"Heh… Even if I were the most incompetent Hokage, I wouldn't be so useless as to fail at keeping such a basic secret, would I?"

With a hint of self-mockery, Hiruzen controlled the pace of his speech, guiding the sentiment of the crowd.

"That's true."

"The ANBU Commander's identity is a top-level secret in Konoha. How could it possibly be leaked so easily?"

"Then why is the entire village talking about this?"

"What exactly is going on?"

A villager in the crowd shouted, and many others followed suit, voicing their concerns.

"Please remain calm. Soon, you will see and understand."

"Fox."

Hiruzen raised both hands, signaling for silence, then turned to look behind him. Under his gaze, a tall figure wearing a fox mask stepped forward and stood by his side.

"This is our ANBU Commander. Remove your mask."

After introducing the ninja beside him, Hiruzen gave the order.

"…"

The previously noisy and chaotic surroundings of the Hokage Building suddenly fell silent.

The ANBU Commander was about to reveal their identity.

In Konoha, the position of ANBU Commander was second only to the Hokage and held supreme authority over all ninjas. Moreover, no previous ANBU Commander had ever revealed their true face in public, so naturally, countless curious gazes were fixed on this moment.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the ninja whom Hiruzen had called Fox reached up and removed their mask.

As the fox mask was lifted, a pale face with piercing snake-like eyes was revealed to the villagers and ninjas.

"WHAT?!"

"It's Orochimaru-sama!"

"So the ANBU Commander was Orochimaru-sama all along, not Shinnosuke!"

Orochimaru's face was simply too recognizable—anyone who had seen him once would never forget it.

His reputation as one of the Sannin further solidified his identity. The moment he removed his mask, the entire crowd instantly recognized him. Some still harbored doubts, but for the ninjas present, it was now clear what Hiruzen was trying to convey.

"A while ago, in order to assess whether the Hyūga clan's genius was qualified for promotion to jonin, I arranged for Shinnosuke, a jonin, to serve as his opponent in an evaluation."

"In that battle, Tanaka performed exceptionally well, achieving an overwhelming victory against Shinnosuke and successfully passing the jonin assessment."

"To prevent enemy villages from obtaining information about our jonin's abilities, I ordered a complete lockdown of the evaluation grounds, forbidding any leaks of the event. It was precisely because of this secrecy that spies within the village saw an opportunity to exploit."

Hiruzen's voice suddenly grew louder, his tone filled with anger.

"In order to tarnish my reputation, they falsely accused me of favoritism—claiming that I appointed Shinnosuke as ANBU Commander."

"In their attempts to uncover the true identity of the ANBU Commander, they went as far as to spread absurd rumors—saying that I even assigned elderly members of the Sarutobi clan to the ANBU."

"In an effort to incite internal strife and plunge Konoha into chaos, they have been relentlessly spreading lies, twisting the truth at every turn."

At this point, Hiruzen paused, but his expression remained furious.

After allowing the crowd some time to fully process what he had said, he continued:

"Once the rumors began spreading, I immediately convened a meeting with the village's top officials and dispatched the ANBU to conduct a covert investigation. As of last night, we have already identified and captured the spies responsible for spreading these lies."

"However, by the time we uncovered the truth, the village was already engulfed in rumors, causing widespread panic and distrust."

"In order to put an end to the speculation and dispel the falsehoods, we had no choice but to publicly reveal Orochimaru as the ANBU Commander—bringing him out of the shadows and into the light, despite the immense danger this poses to him."

With that, Hiruzen let out a long sigh, his tone filled with helplessness, concern, and guilt.

These emotions were genuine.

He had personally chosen to "sacrifice" Shinnosuke—how could he not feel regret, worry, or self-reproach?

But he was the Hokage.

In Konoha, anyone could be wronged—except him. Besides, he was not doing this purely for himself. By making one person bear the burden, the entire village could remain at peace.

Forgive me, Shinnosuke. Everything was for Konoha. Silently, in his heart, Hiruzen apologized to his son.

"So in the end… we were all just being used by enemy ninjas?"

"Every doubt we voiced, every rumor we spread, only played into the hands of those damn spies?"

"I'm sorry, Hokage-sama."

"I'm sorry, Orochimaru-sama."

After realizing the truth, the villagers reacted with a mix of emotions—some blushing with embarrassment, others filled with guilt, and some overcome with fear. In the end, all they could do was repeatedly apologize.

"It's alright, this is not your fault."

"This is all because of the enemy ninjas—how insidious they are. This is all because I failed to see through the deception and expose the spies sooner."

Suppressing the guilt he felt toward his own son, Hiruzen waved a hand in a magnanimous gesture.

"Do not dwell on this matter any longer. I did not summon you here today to assign blame, nor to criticize you. I only wanted to clarify the truth, put an end to the rumors, and ensure that the enemy's scheme does not succeed."

"Now that everything has been settled—go home."

His every word and action radiated the magnanimity and compassion of a Hokage.

However, only a select few standing at the pinnacle of Konoha truly understood the ruthless cruelty hidden beneath his seemingly benevolent exterior.

One of them was Orochimaru, who stood beside him.

So this is what it means to be Hokage?

If today it had not been Shinnosuke who needed to be sacrificed, but me instead, would you have cast aside your prized student just as easily?

Just like you did with Nawaki?

Orochimaru stared at Hiruzen's back.

For someone who was always regarded as a cold, ruthless snake, this was the first time he felt a deep, chilling fear.

He had used the rumors as an opportunity, collaborated with Danzō, and successfully secured his position as the ANBU Commander—just as he had planned.

And yet, he felt no joy.

First, because the path to the Hokage seat was far filthier than he had ever imagined, shattering the last remnants of his admiration for Hiruzen.

Second, because in the process of losing that admiration, he had begun to notice things that he had previously ignored.