"Azula-sama, how could you do something like this?" Genosuke said, genuinely baffled by her Madara manga. "The whole village won't stop talking about Madara and the Uchiha now. I feel like our reputation won't be nearly as fearsome as before."
Azula, who had been deep in concentration writing, paused and slowly looked up at him. "Surely you didn't interrupt my precious time just to demand a personal explanation of my actions, right?"
Her voice carried that edge. She was never in a good mood when doing paperwork. And someone asking her to explain herself made it even worse.
That single glance was enough to turn Genosuke's blood ice-cold.
"No, no, Azula-sama! You know me, I've been your most fervent supporter since day one!"
He quickly straightened up. "It's just… the way the villagers are looking at me now feels weird. Weirder than when that Izuna-sama book came out. And since you're our leader, I thought you should know how me and a lot of our clansmen are feeling."
He said it so smoothly that he almost sounded completely reasonable.
_Huh?_ Azula thought. _Since when did Uchiha become reasonable? Is this because of my molding and leadership?_
She immediately began praising herself internally.
Genosuke was your average Uchiha elite. Three Tomoe Sharingan, stronger than a regular Jōnin, but not quite Kage-level.
Solid, but not spectacular.
But like he said, he was fiercely loyal to Azula. And that's all she really cared about. If she wanted to make him stronger later, that was easy enough.
"I have to say," Azula said, putting on a dramatic tone, "I'm disappointed in you."
Genosuke flinched.
"Since when did the Uchiha clan start caring about what others think of us?"
She spoke as if she wasn't in the middle of a massive propaganda campaign to increase the Uchiha's reputation and legitimize her own claim to the Hokage seat.
Her plan was simple: make everyone believe the Hokage position was promised to the Uchiha 30—ahem—promised to them since before the village was even founded.
The gaslighting worked beautifully as Genosuke's face twisted with shame.
_Yes,_ he thought. _Since when do Uchiha care about other people's opinions? Am I getting mentally weak?_
He immediately bowed. "I'm sorry, Azula-sama. I didn't think it through. You're right, I am an Uchiha. We are the strongest clan in the village and shouldn't care about whispers. Only the strong have rumors about them anyway."
Azula nodded approvingly. "It seems you still have some sense. Good now go calm the rest of the clan."
She gestured vaguely at the mountain of paperwork on her desk. "I have so much work in front of me. It would be very disappointing if I ever had to stop and manage their feelings too. The Uchiha shouldn't be weak."
"Yes, Azula-sama!" He nodded, bowed again, and hurried out. "Excuse me!"
The door slid shut.
Azula sighed and rubbed her temples.
"...Should I be worried," she muttered to herself, "that the Uchiha are a little too honest and easy to fool?"
"But then again," she murmured, feeling a little better, "it seems my plan is working even better than I expected."
Genosuke's discomfort was actually a good sign. It meant the villagers were looking at the Uchiha with less fear than before.
Plus, she had sent out clones earlier, disguised, of course, whose sole job was to observe public opinion and gently guide it.
They were doing excellent work. Memories from those clones popped into her head every now and then, and so far, everything was on track.
"It should be about time to start the second phase of the plan," she thought, referring to the next step: spreading the news about Kumo's condition for signing the peace treaty. "But first… I should deal with these bugs."
Her expression hardened. Then she smiled and stood up from her chair.
It was the kind of smile that would have paralyzed Genosuke if he were still in the room.
She had just received a new memory from one of her clones.
The fight for public opinion had started with her, but Hiruzen and his little band obviously weren't going to turn a blind eye. There were discordant voices here and there, just nothing too obvious, thanks to the Uchiha clan patrolling the streets.
So she had sent a Shadow Clone specifically to deal with them. After a full day of investigation (and yes, she could absorb days' worth of memories without any problem), the clone had mapped out their entire network.
A network directed by Danzō. From the shadows.
•••
(Atsuchi's POV)
What do you do when your superior orders you to do something that goes against your heart and conscience, but you have no choice?
I looked at Danzō, the Hokage's right-hand man. His face showed nothing with my report.
"Team 7 and Team 12 are acting according to plan."
The plan was simple: smear Azula-sama's reputation outside the village. Inside the village, it was impossible without getting caught immediately.
He nodded, expressionless. "Good. But they need to work faster. The ANBU I formed should be more efficient than this."
Then he added, "For the good of the village."
His eyes held no other emotion. I could only look down, careful not to seem disrespectful.
_For the good of the village, huh?_
He left. I stood up from my kneeling position. Kneeling is nothing for a ninja, but ANBU are supposed to kneel and obey only before the Hokage. Those were the old rules.
These were new rules.
Rules that apply to me too. The ANBU commander.
"As an ANBU commander, you sure aren't very alert."
A hand landed on my shoulder as a voice whispered in my ear.
I've been trained to control my emotions, to never lose my bearings. But this time unfortunately, I felt fear like never before in my life.
My heart went cold. Every instinct screamed at me to move, but my body refused to obey. I wanted to swallow the dry lump in my throat, but I couldn't even manage that.
No, this is abnormal. I finally managed to gather my thoughts. No matter the situation, I was trained not to freeze like this. Which meant she must have used some abnormal means to affect me.
But… why didn't I feel any chakra acting on me?
"Easy there. If I wanted you dead, you'd be long gone." The voice spoke again, and this time I recognized who it belonged to.
And that recognition made my fear spike even higher because I knew, deep down, I didn't stand a chance against her. Who in all of Konoha could last one minute in front of Azula?
She took her hand off my shoulder and walked around to stand in front of me, finally letting me see her.
She clicked her tongue. "You know, for an ANBU commander, you're very bad at hiding your fear. Your heartbeat is loud enough to wake the dead. Danzō really needs to update his training manuals."
I forced myself to breathe. "Azula-sama… what do you want?"
"Straight to the point, good." She folded her arms. "I want to know everything about Danzō's little smear operation. The smear campaign, the agents, the safe houses, the backup plans and you know, everything."
She said it like she was asking for the weather report.
I swallowed, finally managed to. "That's… classified. Even if you kill me—"
"Kill you?" She laughed. It was a light, almost pretty sound. It made my skin crawl. "Why would I kill you when I can just… borrow your eyes?"
She immediately activated her Sharingan.
I looked away instantly, but it was already too late. I felt her chakra brush against my mind like a feather, then like a hammer.
"No," I whispered, no matter how I like her, there are village secrets that only the Hokage should now.
"Yes," she said. Then she blinked, and the Sharingan was gone. "Just kidding. I didn't do anything."
I stared at her, panting.
"…What?"
"I said I'm kidding." She smirked. "I don't need to genjutsu you, Atsuchi. You're already scared enough to tell me everything without me lifting a finger. Right?"
She was right because my hands were trembling.
"Let me make this simple," she continued. "Danzō is playing a game he can't win. He thinks he can smear my name outside the village while hiding behind the ANBU. But I already know everything."
She reached into her sleeve and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She tossed it at my feet.
I picked it up and unfolded it.
It was a complete list with names, locations and mission details. Danzō's entire network, mapped out like a child's drawing.
"How…" It shouldn't be possible.
"I have my ways." She smiled again. "Now, you have two choices. Option one: you keep following Danzō's orders, and I unfortunately have to use a secret Jutsu on you."
She held up two fingers.
"Option two: you start working for me, same pay, better benefits, you get to keep breathing while truly working for the village instead of selfish people who just want powers."
For the village, huh? It seems I have been hearing this cursed sentence more and more.
(END OF THE CHAPTER)
And so, we got the ANBU commander in the back, and yes it's not yet Sakumo due to obvious reasons