Shikaku Nara's Decision

Root's escalating demands and the restlessness of the Nara branch family.

Shikaku immediately picked up on these two crucial pieces of information in Senya's words.

Since Senya had already shown his sincerity, Shikaku decided to speak plainly and spare them the tedious formalities.

"I never expected the Nara branch family's movements to have become so obvious."

Branch families existed in every ninja clan. Usually, only the clan head's direct bloodline belonged to the main family, and only main-family ninjas received the finest, most concentrated resources and the best treatment.

However, branch-family members did have opportunities to join the main family. As long as they reached a certain level of strength or made sufficient contributions to the clan, they could earn that chance.

That system was far better than the absurd rules of the Hyuga clan.

But Danzo's actions this time had stirred dissatisfaction among many branch-family members. Some of the more extreme ones had even begun considering splitting off.

Without Senya's reminder, Shikaku probably would not even have known about this, much less taken the branch family's reaction so seriously.

Senya idly twirled his chopsticks. "That's normal. Look at the Hyuga next door—Brother Hiashi is already thinking of leading his people in rebellion."

He said it in an utterly flat tone, as though it were nothing remarkable.

Shikaku raised his teacup and took a sip, but before he could swallow—

He turned his head to the right, toward Choza.

"Pfft."

Tea, saliva, and tea leaves sprayed all over Choza.

"Shikaku! What are you doing?!"

Choza grabbed a napkin from the side and pressed it to his face, wiping away the tea and leaves.

Shikaku's eyes widened as he fiercely pinched his thigh with his right hand.

Hiss... It hurt. This wasn't a dream.

"Brother Senya, the Hiashi you mentioned is the head of the Hyuga clan, right?"

The chopsticks spinning between Senya's fingers stopped. He tossed them aside, and they landed in the chopstick holder, clattering against the other chopsticks inside.

"Who else? I don't think there's a second person named Hiashi in Konoha whom I know."

"Brother Shikaku, Konoha is like this chopstick holder. We're the chopsticks inside. Understand? If one is affected, all of us will be dragged into it."

"Danzo wanted to take Hinata away. Hiashi refused, so Danzo used the Third Hokage's written order to pressure him and took Hiashi's nephew, Neji Hyuga, to Root."

"I imagine your Ino-Shika-Cho isn't doing much better either."

Choza immediately began cursing Danzo through gritted teeth.

"I never thought the Hyuga would suffer such humiliation too. That old bastard Danzo has no shame! He took two children from the direct line of our Akimichi clan!"

"Our Yamanaka clan had two taken as well."

"The Nara clan too."

Only then did Senya realize that Danzo had thought his haul insufficient and had demanded people from Ino-Shika-Cho as well. The process had probably been the same: first directly demand Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino, then pretend to compromise before making an outrageous demand for two children from the branch families.

What a well-calculated scheme. Ino-Shika-Cho had always been loyal to the Hokage, after all. The moment he produced the Hokage's order, Danzo would probably feel cheated if he did not demand one extra child.

"So, brothers, do you think the current Third Hokage is still qualified to sit in the Hokage's seat?"

Shikaku immediately responded.

"We of Ino-Shika-Cho do not care who becomes Hokage. We support the Hokage only to protect our own clans."

"Our Ino-Shika-Cho secret techniques make it nearly impossible for us to become Hokage. We understand our clans' place, but Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo have touched the very foundation of the ninja clans this time."

"If he dares demand two children from us today, then tomorrow he will dare cut off our clans' inheritance."

The words kept pouring from Shikaku's mouth, his expression gradually turning vicious and fierce. The scar on his face made him look even more menacing.

Inoichi and Choza were the same. The three men, usually gentle and approachable, now wore identical expressions, each of them brimming with killing intent.

Yet that was only natural. They had graduated amid the flames of the Second Shinobi World War, led ninja forces in the Third Shinobi World War, and had even been able to hold back the Nine-Tails during the Nine-Tails Attack. Having endured so much bloodshed and warfare, how could they truly be as mild as they appeared?

When they became ninja and inherited the positions of clan heads, they had already prepared themselves to place their clans' interests above all else. After the Fourth Hokage died and Hiruzen returned to power, they had even offered their support.

Even if that meant letting down their friend Minato and failing to take proper care of Naruto, they had no choice. Between a friend's request and their families, they had to choose their families. They could not allow the hundreds or thousands of clan members behind them to suffer losses because of their personal feelings.

That was why, while the other children hated Naruto, Shikamaru and Choji had still been willing to skip class with the "Nine-Tails Fox," eat snacks with him, and play with him. Ino was a girl, so it was inconvenient for her to join them.

It was because they had deliberately guided their children not to believe the villagers' rumors that the children could accept Naruto and be willing to play with him. It was a small measure of compensation for Minato.

"Our Ino-Shika-Cho will stand with your Uchiha. The Third Hokage is old. He is no longer suited to remain Hokage. Will the Uchiha nominate a new Hokage?"

"Will it be you or Fugaku?"

Senya snorted with laughter.

"Forget it, Brother Shikaku. Don't joke around. The Fifth Hokage cannot possibly be an Uchiha."

"As for the candidate, I'll keep that secret for now. You'll find out when the time comes. Oh, right—the Police Force will reserve one director's position and six squad leader positions for your Ino-Shika-Cho. The same treatment as Brother Hiashi."

With that, Senya stood, opened the window, and swiftly left.

"Brothers, remember to pay the bill for me. I have to go handle documents at the Police Force."

The window panels, pushed open to either side, still swayed. Shikaku looked outside and watched Senya's figure flicker across the rooftops, growing smaller until it vanished.

Senya had actually promised them such benefits. They could use them to properly soothe the branch-family members.

As for the main families, each of the three Ino-Shika-Cho clans possessed its own exclusive businesses, more than enough to keep their main-family members occupied. The main-family ninjas likely would not have any interest in positions within the Police Force.

The three quickly came to a unified decision. Each of the Ino-Shika-Cho clans would receive two squad leader positions, while the final director's position would go to Shikaku's cousin, Nara Suzaku.

After all, only the Nara clan had the sharpest minds and a talent for handling such matters. If Choza and Inoichi were told to pick someone from their own clans, they would not be able to choose anyone suitable.