Eight in the morning, Hokage Building.
Tsunade sat upright in the Hokage's seat, with Hikari and Shizune standing behind her like her two trusted lieutenants. Before her stood the department heads led by Nara Shikaku, along with the clan heads.
If we're having a meeting, why does this woman Tsunade have to bring me along? Is it appropriate for a mere Chunin like me to attend this kind of meeting?
Ignoring Hikari's thoughts, Tsunade gathered her own and said, "Regarding the division of powers, I gave it some thought yesterday. There are too many messy documents. If they all end up on my desk, matters could easily be delayed, which would be detrimental to the Hidden Leaf Village's development. Today, I'd like to further refine the distribution of authority. What do you all think?"
The department heads and clan heads standing across from Tsunade lowered their heads, repeatedly analyzing her words.
Nara Shikaku was the first to speak. "Lady Tsunade, the Hokage is the master of the Hidden Leaf Village. You—"
"That's not right!" Tsunade cut him off. "The Hokage is not the master of the Hidden Leaf Village. The Hokage is merely someone acknowledged by the village's ninja. Whether it's me or the previous Hokage, we are all simply part of the Hidden Leaf Village."
The words sounded good enough. The Hokage held the greatest authority, and now that Tsunade wanted to delegate power, naturally no one would object.
"Since no one objects, I'll begin. Intelligence Department, Inoichi and Ibiki."
"Present!" Yamanaka Inoichi and Morino Ibiki stepped forward.
"The two of you have always handled the Intelligence Department well, so I won't interfere in that area. Let me simply clarify its primary responsibilities: preliminary investigations for missions and the interrogation of spies. From today onward, unless it concerns S-rank