Chapter 158 — A Village Divided

"One shinobi dies, and no one has to ask for compensation."

The words hung in the air.

They sounded different when Toyama said them so casually. Everyone who heard them felt something shift, and slowly, their eyes turned toward Satoshi.

Satoshi stood completely frozen. His sword was still in his hand, but his grip had loosened.

One of his companions suddenly realised what Toyama's words could mean.

"Satoshi... It's a trap!"

He hurried toward him.

"Don't attack that bastard! They're trying to kill you!"

Another shinobi quickly stepped in front of Satoshi, blocking his path.

The others looked toward Jiraiya.

His face was still dark with anger.

But now, they were looking at him differently.

The respect in their eyes slowly turned into hesitation.

Then suspicion.

The civilians noticed it too. Their expressions changed as whispers began spreading through the crowd.

Jiraiya felt every suspicious gaze falling on him.

His anger toward Toyama had suddenly become fear.

That brat...

Those few words had planted a seed of doubt in everyone's mind.

"No, no! You're all getting this wrong!" Jiraiya said hurriedly. "That's not what happened!"

He needed to clear up the misunderstanding before it grew any further.

But before he could explain, one of the shinobi stepped forward.

"Jiraiya-sama..."

His voice was no longer angry.

It was filled with disappointment.

Jiraiya looked at him.

"I have always respected you."

The shinobi took a shaky breath.

"You were one of us. A civilian shinobi who achieved such a high position in this village without belonging to one of the great clans."

His eyes remained fixed on Jiraiya.

"You were a role model for every civilian shinobi and Genin. You gave us hope that we could achieve something great even without a clan name behind us."

His voice slowly began to crack.

"You were a pillar for shinobi like us... people who had no powerful clan to back them."

He swallowed hard.

"We thought you would understand us."

He paused.

"But we were wrong."

Jiraiya's expression stiffened.

"Power and greed corrupted you too."

The words struck Jiraiya harder than he expected.

Around him, the crowd had become quiet. The people who had been shouting moments ago were now looking at him with the same disappointment and suspicion.

Jiraiya felt their gazes pressing down on him.

He opened his mouth.

Nothing came out.

He wanted to explain.

He wanted to tell them that they were wrong.

But despite having all the strength in his body, he couldn't find the words.

It felt as if an unseen force was stopping him from speaking.

The shinobi stepped closer.

"We only asked the village for what was rightfully ours."

His voice became louder.

"And for asking for it, you set a trap to kill Satoshi?"

He pointed directly at Jiraiya.

"Today, you want to kill him so no one will question the village about the compensation anymore?"

His finger shifted toward Soko and the other Sarutobi shinobi.

"So you colluded with these clan shinobi and higher-ups?"

Soko's expression darkened.

The man's eyes became red as tears began forming.

"They all have their clans to support them."

"But what about us?"

His voice shook.

"What about the families of the shinobi who sacrificed themselves for this village?"

He clenched his fists.

"Are our lives only meant for sacrifice?"

Nobody answered.

His voice grew louder.

"We fight for this village. We risk our lives. We lose our brothers. And when we ask for what the village promised us, we're treated like we're the ones causing trouble!"

He pointed toward the Sarutobi shinobi.

"Are we supposed to bleed and die for this village while these bloodsuckers live comfortably because they were born into the right clan?"

His voice broke.

Tears rolled down his face.

"Is that all our lives are worth?"

The words fell heavily over the street.

No one spoke.

The civilians were silent.

The civilian shinobi were silent.

Even the Konoha Guard Force remained quiet.

The Sarutobi and Mitokado shinobi standing nearby also had nothing to say.

Satoshi slowly lowered his sword.

His anger had faded, replaced by confusion and pain as he looked toward Jiraiya.

Jiraiya stood motionless.

His eyes moved across the street.

A few minutes ago, everyone had been demanding justice from him.

Now, they were questioning him.

He looked at Soko.

Then at Satoshi.

Then at the crowd.

For the first time, Jiraiya felt the weight of what was happening inside Konoha.

The village itself was beginning to tear apart.

The entire street became silent.

No shouting.

No accusations.

Nothing.

Only the distant chirping of insects and the occasional call of a bird could be heard.

"Absurd! Who are you calling blood—"

One of the Sarutobi shinobi started to snap back, but a Guard Force shinobi immediately grabbed his shoulder and shook his head.

"Don't."

The elder standing beside him also gave the young shinobi a warning look.

Whatever they said now would only make things worse.

The crowd was already suspicious of them. Another argument would only make their accusations look true.

The young Sarutobi clenched his teeth but remained silent.

Jiraiya stood there without saying a word.

Inside, he felt something break.

He had thought that bringing more clan shinobi into the Guard Force and increasing its numbers would be enough to stop the small fights breaking out across the village.

Instead, on the very first day, everything had gone completely wrong.

And it was far worse than he had expected.

His eyes slowly drifted toward the person responsible for all of this.

Toyama.

The Uchiha boy was already walking away with Suki and Raizen.

He didn't even look back.

He walked as casually as if nothing that had happened had anything to do with him.

Jiraiya's eyes narrowed.

That boy...

Only now did he understand.

Toyama hadn't needed to attack anyone.

He had simply said a few words at exactly the right moment.

And those words had thrown the entire village into chaos.

He set this whole thing up in his favour.

The realisation settled heavily in Jiraiya's mind.

Slowly, the crowd began to disappear.

The civilians left first.

Then the village shinobi began moving away, too.

Satoshi was taken away by his companions, but before leaving, several of them looked back at Jiraiya.

There was disappointment in their eyes.

And something close to disgust.

Those looks stayed with Jiraiya even after they were gone.

A short distance away, several figures had been watching everything.

Unlike the people in the street, their faces showed a different kind of concern.

Tsunade turned toward Hiruzen.

"Old man..."

"..."

Her voice became heavy.

"The village is on the brink of collapse."

She looked toward the street below.

"If we don't do something now, I don't even know what Konoha will become."

"..."

Hiruzen remained silent.

"..."

Homura finally spoke.

"We can't choose between the villagers and the clans right now."

His voice was low.

"If we openly side with one of them, we'll lose the trust of the other."

Koharu nodded.

It wasn't that they didn't want to pay the compensation.

They did.

But the money they had received from the Daimyo simply wasn't enough.

Not even close.

The war had cost Konoha far more than they had expected.

Buildings needed to be rebuilt.

Supplies had to be replaced.

Hospitals needed funding.

And the families of the fallen shinobi still needed to be compensated.

Tsunade and Orochimaru had already done everything they could with the noble houses, taking on favours and helping them in order to obtain more funds.

The amount they had managed to gather sounded huge when spoken aloud.

But compared to the losses Konoha had suffered during the war, it barely made a dent.

Hiruzen finally spoke.

"Use our clan funds."

Koharu and Homura both looked at him.

Hiruzen's expression remained calm.

"Double the compensation."

The words stunned them.

Even Tsunade looked surprised.

"What nonsense are you saying, Hiruzen?"

Koharu was the first to object.

"You want to use our clan's money to compensate the villagers?"

She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

Homura also frowned.

"That's not a decision we can make on our own."

Hiruzen looked at him.

"..."

Homura continued.

"We may hold high positions in the village, but clan funds are not ours to spend."

"The clan elders and Jonin have to approve decisions like this."

Koharu's expression became serious.

"If we ask them to give up the clan funds, many of them will object."

Homura nodded.

"And if they reject it, the backlash won't be small."

He looked toward Hiruzen.

"We could solve one problem..."

He paused.

"...and create another inside our own clans."

Homura's words landed like cold water.

But Hiruzen barely reacted.

"Do it."

Two words.

He turned and walked away without saying anything more.

Homura and Koharu looked at each other.

Neither spoke.

The difficult expressions on their faces said enough.

Tsunade watched them for a moment before quietly leaving as well.

Elsewhere in Konoha, inside a narrow and poorly lit alley, a masked man stood with Satoshi and the other shinobi.

"You boys did a good job today."

The masked man took out several bills and handed them to Satoshi.

"This is your payment."

He didn't wait for a response.

He simply turned around and disappeared into the darkness.

The group remained silent for a few moments.

Then one of the smaller shinobi looked toward Satoshi.

"Satoshi..."

His voice carried a hint of doubt.

"Are we really doing the right thing?"

Satoshi looked at him.

"Then what do you want us to do?"

The young shinobi didn't answer.

Satoshi looked down at the money in his hand before speaking again.

"Do you want your grandparents to starve?"

The shinobi lowered his head.

Satoshi turned and began walking.

In his mind, there was nothing wrong with what they had done.

He wasn't fighting against the village.

He was fighting for himself.

For his family.

And for all the civilian shinobi who had spent their lives serving Konoha without having a powerful clan standing behind them.

For years, people like them had been told to sacrifice for the village.

But when their families needed help, where was that village?

Where was their justice?

If someone was willing to help them fight for what they deserved—and was even willing to pay them for it—then Satoshi saw no reason to refuse.

Maybe someone was using their anger.

Maybe someone was pushing them toward something bigger.

But Satoshi didn't care.

As long as their fight brought change, he believed it was worth it.

He tightened his grip around the money and continued walking into the darkness.

Behind him, the other shinobi followed.

****************************************************************************

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