Konoha's Response

Konoha Village was peaceful and tranquil in the afternoon.

The smoke of war had yet to disperse, but reconstruction had already begun.

Every Konoha resident knew that the war had severely drained the village's strength.

Even so, their passion for life had restored some vitality to the village.

Yūhi Shinku entered the village gates without slowing down.

The news of the budget cuts weighed on his chest like a stone.

The image of that young daimyo, those calm eyes, lingered in his mind.

He raced all the way to the Hokage Building.

Hokage's Office.

Smoke filled the room.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, sat behind his desk, puffing on his pipe one breath at a time, his brow deeply furrowed.

Before him were mountains of postwar reports and compensation lists.

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, the two Council Elders, sat on either side with grim expressions.

In the shadowed corner of the office, Shimura Danzō leaned on his cane without saying a word.

The atmosphere was heavy.

"Still no news?" Mitokado Homura spoke first. He had always been impatient.

"By my reckoning, Shinku should be back soon." Hiruzen Sarutobi set down the scroll in his hand and rubbed his brow.

He was not worried that the request for additional funding would be rejected.

The daimyo throughout the generations had never refused Konoha over such matters.

Konoha was the shield of the Land of Fire, and the cost of maintaining that shield was a necessary expense.

Sending Yūhi Shinku this time had been both to submit the war report and to test the new daimyo's attitude.

A sixteen-year-old boy who had risen to power through bloody conflict possessed a temperament and methods that were certainly far from ordinary.

But he was young in the end.

As long as Konoha presented itself as a meritorious contributor and soothed him a little, there should not have been any major problems.

Knock, knock.

Someone knocked on the door.

"Come in."

The door was pushed open, and a travel-worn Yūhi Shinku entered. His face was exhausted, and his expression complicated.

"Lord Hokage, esteemed advisors."

"You're back. Thanks for the effort."

Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled warmly. "How did it go? What did the daimyo say?"

Everyone's gaze fell on Yūhi Shinku.

Yūhi Shinku stood straight, but did not answer immediately.

His Adam's apple kept bobbing as though he were trying to organize his words.

He raised his head, met everyone's eyes, and spoke with difficulty.

"Lord Hokage, Daimyo Manor rejected the request for additional funding."

The office fell silent in an instant.

Although those present had anticipated this outcome, their faces still darkened upon hearing it directly.

Mitokado Homura's voice was full of confusion. "Rejected? Why was it rejected? So many people died in the village. Could the daimyo not see that?"

Utatane Koharu coldly added, "What is the daimyo trying to do? He just took that position, and he already wants to make an example of Konoha?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi said nothing. He merely took a draw from his pipe, his face half-hidden behind the smoke.

This matter was likely not so simple.

In the shadows, a fierce glint flashed through Danzō's single eye.

"Shinku, tell us every detail of the meeting without leaving out a single word." Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice remained calm.

"Yes."

Yūhi Shinku steadied himself and recounted the meeting exactly as it had happened.

From Chiba Ran defining the war report as a report on duties, to that heart-piercing question: "Could a ninja's life be more precious than a civilian's?"

Then there was the seemingly considerate Genius Training Special Fund offered at the end.

Once he finished, the entire office became unbearably oppressive.

Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu were utterly shocked.

Those words had been watertight.

The other side had seized the moral high ground and turned Konoha's contributions into duties it was obligated to fulfill.

They had twisted Konoha's demand for compensation into competing with the people for profit.

What ruthlessly seasoned tactics!

Could a sixteen-year-old boy truly have said such things?

"There's more..."

Yūhi Shinku's voice was hoarse. "Before I left, I heard that Daimyo Manor was carrying out fiscal reforms..."

"The daimyo has ordered that the village's annual budget will be reduced starting next quarter."

"What?!"

This time, even Hiruzen Sarutobi could not remain seated.

He abruptly looked up, a sharp light bursting from his eyes.

Not only would they not grant additional funding, they were even cutting the existing budget?

"How much is being cut?"

Danzō's voice rang out from the shadows, icy and piercing.

"Tw... twenty percent."

That number made everyone's heads buzz.

Twenty percent!

That was no small sum.

Ninja compensation, treatment for the wounded, development of new ninja tools, maintenance of the village's defense system... which of those could function without money?

Once the cuts took effect, the village's already strained finances would make normal operations difficult!

Mitokado Homura cried out, "He's insane! He's trying to destroy Konoha! He's undermining the foundations of the Land of Fire!"

Danzō stepped out of the shadows, his cane striking the floor with urgent, heavy thuds. "A twenty percent cut?! What gives him the right?! How dare he?!"

"What does he take ninja for? Tools that can be measured in money?"

"We bled and sacrificed for the Land of Fire, and this is the humiliation we receive?"

"Hiruzen, we can't endure this any longer!"

"That brat is declaring war on us! He must be taught a lesson!"

Utatane Koharu also sharply agreed. "That's right! He must be made to rescind the order!"

"Once the budget is cut, unrest within the village is inevitable, and our deterrence against the other ninja villages will also decline drastically."

"Don't forget, Kumogakure is still watching us like a tiger!"

The office erupted with indignation.

Hiruzen Sarutobi shouted sharply, "Calm down, all of you!"

After the initial shock, Hiruzen Sarutobi forced himself to calm down.

He sat back down and picked up his pipe, yet did not light it for a long time.

The young daimyo Yūhi Shinku had described filled his mind.

Calm. Majestic.

His emotions never showed on his face.

He spoke the most heart-piercing words in the gentlest tone.

First, he struck with a stick, then tossed them a useless piece of candy and made them feel grateful to him.

Hiruzen knew that routine all too well.

But it should not have appeared in a sixteen-year-old boy!

Those methods...

That scheming...

That depth...

He was clearly an old monster who had immersed himself in political maneuvering for decades!

He recalled the past.

Back when he had sought to secure his position as Hokage, he too had sought support from Daimyo Manor.

He knew full well that a daimyo's power did not lie only in nominal rule.

The economy was the deadliest weapon.

After all, everyone needed to eat. Ninja were no exception.

But he had never imagined that the new daimyo would refuse so decisively.

The other side had not bargained with Konoha at all.

He had simply issued a notice.

Every one of them had misjudged the new daimyo.

A terrifying memory suddenly flashed through Hiruzen Sarutobi's mind.

Just last month, he had received this daimyo's letter asking for aid.

At the time, the struggle for the daimyo's position had been in full swing.

And he had refused!

At the thought, cold sweat rose from his back.

"Hiruzen! What are you still hesitating for?!"

Danzō stepped closer, his voice sinister. "Send the Anbu to give this daimyo a warning! Let him learn what it means to rule together!"

"Foolish!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed his hand on the desk and shouted.

Danzō halted.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at him, his gaze sharp as a blade. "A warning? How would you warn him?"

"Send someone to assassinate him? Then what? Make every noble and civilian in the Land of Fire see Konoha as traitors? Let the other four great nations laugh at us and use the chance to declare war?"

"Without Daimyo Manor's support, could the village still withstand a war?"

The string of questions left Danzō speechless.

That was right.

The other side was the legitimate daimyo.

He had used national financial hardship and shared adversity as the reason for cutting the budget.

What right did Konoha have to object?

Were Konoha's ninja not citizens of the Land of Fire too?

The moral high ground and legitimacy were entirely in the other side's hands.

Konoha possessed tremendous power, yet its hands and feet were bound.

"Then... then what do we do? Are we just letting this go?" Mitokado Homura asked unwillingly.

Hiruzen Sarutobi fell silent.

He walked to the window and looked at the village below, then at the distant stone faces that symbolized the Will of the Hokage.

A long time passed.

He exhaled a turbid breath.

"No."

"We cannot let this go."

He turned around, having regained the composure of a Shinobi Hero.

"I will resolve this matter personally."

Danzō drove his cane heavily into the floor and demanded, "How?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi picked up an invitation and said, "Do not publicize this matter for now. During the coronation ceremony, I will speak with the daimyo."

"That's too long. Root should pay him a visit instead!"

"Danzō, I warn you. Keep your Root under control. Do not act rashly!"

"Hmph, Hiruzen. You will regret this!"

"Danzō, I am the Hokage!"

"Hmph!"

Bang!

The main doors slammed shut!