The Daimyo Palace was located at the lower left of Konoha's Kage Rock, just two streets away from Konoha Hospital in the center of the village.
Enclosed by a three-meter-high wall, only a section of the palace-style structure within could be seen rising above it from outside. It stood three stories tall, only slightly shorter overall than the Hokage Building. Pavilions, ponds, carved beams, and painted rafters filled the grounds in extravagant splendor.
Previously, Hyuga Yu could only cast an envious glance toward it during work hours. He had never truly set foot inside.
All he could see were wealthy merchants and tycoons coming and going, alongside impeccably dressed landowners and nobles. But now—
"Heavenly Ninja-sama!"
"Heavenly Ninja-sama!"
"Heavenly Ninja-sama, please come in. The lords are waiting for you."
The formerly arrogant, pot-bellied merchants lined up at the entrance to the Daimyo Palace, bowing and scraping as they bent ninety degrees before Hyuga Yu. They fawned over him, yet did not even have the standing to speak with him.
The landowners and nobles, great and small, who had once looked down on everyone else and considered themselves superior, had undergone a complete reversal in attitude. They were more clingy than women in the throes of love, each one practically wishing to lie at Hyuga Yu's feet and polish his shoes.
Hyuga Yu maintained an expressionless face, calmly and impartially ignoring everyone present. He passed through the crowd of people bowing obsequiously and trying to strike up a conversation, entered through the towering gates under a servant's guidance, stepped into the main hall, and soon arrived at the conference room.
On one side of the long table sat Konoha's senior leadership, six people in total. Aside from the four standing members of the Hokage Elder Advisory Council—Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzō, Utatane