Koharu and Homura stormed into the Hokage's office the moment they heard the news.
People were already whispering that Xin had been forced into retirement due to conflicts with the Elder Council.
Listen to this nonsense.
Sure, they'd been keeping Xin in check, making sure he didn't rise too high and threaten their authority, but they hadn't pushed him into retirement!
"I was merely following your suggestions," the Third Hokage replied flatly.
You came up with these ideas. I just went along with them.
Now that things had blown up, they had the nerve to ask him what was going on?
"Uh..."
Koharu and Homura had no idea what the Hokage had said to Xin. They assumed that the pushback from Xin had caused this mess because of their efforts to limit his rise.
"That Xin is ungrateful! Everything we did was for the good of the village,"
Koharu grumbled. Then, turning to Hiruzen, she asked, "Why haven't you done anything to control the situation? Look at what people are saying-they're accusing us of forcing him to retire, even dragging the Uchiha into it."
"Phew..."
The Third Hokage sighed deeply, his old face weary. "How am I supposed to control this? Everyone in the Hokage building heard Xin yelling at me. How can I control the rumors?"
"If I were to try and suppress it now, it would only confirm that we really did force Xin into retirement."
Are you two losing it? he thought. Trying to control the narrative now would be like shooting ourselves in the foot.
"I'll personally address the issue," He continued. "We're preparing an official statement. Once it's released, the villagers will understand. They'll see that we were acting in the best interests of the village and not trying to push Xin out."
Koharu and Homura looked more at ease after hearing that.
If the Hokage himself made a statement and an official announcement was posted, it would clear things up.
And with the Hokage's personal guarantee, people would see it was all a misunderstanding. "Xin has been harboring some resentment ever since we made him a jōnin instructor. You two should lay low for a while."
"Oh, and where is Danzō?"
Given the chaos, the Third Hokage was surprised that Danzō hadn't reacted yet. Had he somehow not noticed that he was getting dragged into this too?
"Knock knock!"
There was a knock on the door.
The Hokage cleared his throat. "Come in."
"Lord Hokage," A Person come.
We'll discuss this later. The Hokage gave Koharu and Homura a look.
"Has the design for the new weapon been finalized? When will production start?" He asked.
"The molds for the weapon have been made, but..." The Blacksmith hesitated, glancing nervously at Homura, clearly unsure of how to proceed.