What... was this?
Still almost dazed, Chiba stepped into the Hokage's Office. Yet his gaze did not fall on the smiling Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, who had risen to greet him. Instead, it landed on the desk beside Minato Namikaze—or rather, beside the Hokage's desk. It was a desk roughly one-third smaller than the Hokage's, with a chair behind it.
Yes, at this very moment, a second desk had appeared in the Hokage's Office.
This was something he had never seen, whether in this life or in the original work from his previous life. There had never been a second desk in the Hokage's Office.
To be honest, even Chiba could not quite process it right now.
"Oh, this? There are quite a lot of village affairs, and many matters need to be handled quickly. Under the old way the Hokage and assistant worked together, a great deal of time would be wasted. If the assistant and Hokage work at the same time like this, it can effectively speed things up."
At this point, Minato Namikaze had noticed Chiba's surprise and explained unhurriedly.
To save time?
Really?
However, upon hearing that, Chiba was skeptical. Konoha had gone through the First Shinobi World War and the Second Shinobi World War. It was not as though the circumstances during those wars had been any better than they were now, or as though the Hokage had had fewer matters to deal with. So why had they not set up a second desk during the First or Second Shinobi World War, allowing the Hokage and assistant to work together more efficiently?
Even if the First Hokage had not thought of it, would the Second and Third Hokage not have? Clearly, there was a great deal of hidden meaning behind this.
Besides, he was only