Sarutobi... Was Going to Step Down Anyway

The Hokage's office was thick with the acrid smell of tobacco, while sunlight filtered through the blinds and cast mottled shadows across the desk.

Sarutobi Hiruzen pushed the crystal ashtray toward the corner of the desk, revealing the financial report pinned beneath it.

The paper's edges had curled and yellowed, its ink bleeding into patches of blue stains that looked uncannily like dried blood on a battlefield.

Sarutobi Hiruzen walked to the window, smoke from his pipe curling through the morning light.

His gaze suddenly froze... More than a dozen villagers dressed in mourning clothes had gathered on the stone steps before the Hokage Building. They held portraits of fallen shinobi in their hands, silent as statues.

"They're here again..." The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, knitted his brows tightly together.

A few days earlier, tens of thousands of villagers had besieged the Hokage Building, and the enraged families had nearly stormed the Hokage's office.

That disturbance had left seventeen Anbu seriously injured, an embarrassment Konoha's upper ranks still refused to mention.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice echoed through the spacious office. "Someone! Notify Advisor Utatane, Advisor Mitokado, and Elder Shimura immediately. Tell them to come to a meeting!"

Less than fifteen minutes later, Konoha's four highest authorities had gathered around the round table.

Sunlight streamed through the blinds, casting strips of shadow across their faces.

"How serious is it?" Utatane Koharu demanded the moment she sat down. She had deliberately worn her formal advisor's robe today, but it could not conceal the exhaustion around her eyes.

Shimura Danzō + Mitokado Homura + Utatane Koharu

The number of families gathered downstairs had already risen to more than ninety. The white funeral banners in their hands swayed gently in the morning breeze like an ominous expanse of snow.

Sarutobi Hiruzen blew out a ring of smoke. "It's the compensation issue for the Sunagakure battlefield. The numbers are still increasing."

The office fell into a brief silence. Crows cawed outside the window, as though heralding some ill omen.

Utatane Koharu ran her nail over the number on the final line of the list. "At the Sunagakure battlefield, Konoha lost a total of 3,823 shinobi, with 598 severely wounded. The death and injury compensation comes to a total of 17.68 billion ryō."

Sarutobi Hiruzen's fingers unconsciously rubbed the edge of his pipe. Then he suddenly asked, "How much remains in the treasury?"

Mitokado Homura's open ledger was densely packed with red figures.

He pushed up his glasses. "There are currently 3.14 billion ryō in the treasury."

Utatane Koharu lightly tapped her fingertips against the tabletop, producing dull knocks. "17.68 billion... We can't even come up with a fraction of that."

A cold smile curled her lips as she gave Sarutobi Hiruzen a meaningful glance.

Bang!

Shimura Danzō's cane suddenly struck the marble floor, the sound especially piercing within the sealed office.

The bandages over his right eye looked particularly sinister in the shadows. "Given the current situation, there's a good chance Uchiha Fugaku will become the Fourth Hokage. We can cause him some trouble."

After thinking for a moment, Utatane Koharu said, "Then give them 3 billion ryō to shut up the families of the dead and wounded. As for the rest, we'll say it will be paid in installments. Sarutobi... is going to step down anyway... Let the Fourth Hokage worry about the remaining money."

Shimura Danzō's voice was like a venomous snake flicking its tongue, his tone deliberately drawn out. "That's a good method. We'll say it will be fully paid within two years. If Uchiha Fugaku fails to accomplish it... we'll join forces with those families to impeach him... and force him to step down."

Sarutobi Hiruzen turned his pipe halfway between his teeth, and the smoke he exhaled obscured his expression.

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"Then... we'll do it that way."

Weariness colored his voice, but there was also a hint of release.

When Uchiha Sanpo led more than a thousand shinobi withdrawn from Nansha City into Konoha's main street, he spotted the dark mass of people before the Hokage Building from afar.

"Strange..."

The chaos he had expected had not appeared. Thousands of family members of shinobi killed at the Sunagakure battlefield stood in orderly lines, each holding a numbered tag.

His sharp eyes swept across both sides of the main street, and he found two Anbu stationed every ten meters. The number of shinobi maintaining order was three times what it had been last time.

The corners of Uchiha Sanpo's lips lifted slightly, a cold glint flashing through his black eyes. "Sarutobi Hiruzen, that old man has learned to be smarter."

He raised a hand to signal the group behind him to stop, then walked forward alone.

As he rounded the final corner, the sight atop the platform made his pupils contract slightly.

The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, wore his familiar Hokage Robe as he bowed to the crowd.

Beside him, Mitokado Homura held a scroll, his voice carried throughout the square by an amplification jutsu. "The first payment of 3 billion ryō in death and injury compensation will now be issued. The remaining compensation will be distributed within two years..."

Uchiha Sanpo clenched his fists inside his sleeves, his nails digging deeply into his palms.

He sneered, his voice low enough for only himself to hear. "Installment payments? What a fine scheme. The war is over, and Sarutobi Hiruzen will step down soon. The Konoha Elder Council will probably be replaced as well. They're planning to drain Konoha's finances first and leave a complete mess for Clan Head Fugaku."

His gaze swept over every window of the Hokage Building like that of a hawk.

Suddenly, a figure flashed past a fourth-floor window... That figure with bandages over his right eye was one he would recognize even if it turned to ash.

Shimura Danzō... Earlier, Sarutobi Hiruzen had pinned the blame for students graduating early on Shimura Danzō, then had him imprisoned.

His voice trembled with restrained fury. "I didn't expect that after only a few days, that old bastard Danzo would be released."

On the distant platform, Sarutobi Hiruzen was handing compensation to an elderly woman who had lost her son.

The old woman's trembling hands and the grief Sarutobi Hiruzen wore on his face formed a deeply ironic picture.

Uchiha Sanpo knew that beneath this surface harmony lay an even filthier political struggle.

He turned and walked toward the waiting group. To deal with Sarutobi Hiruzen, I first need to find a way to kill Shimura Danzō and his Root. For now, I can only turn in the mission, then return to the clan grounds and discuss it with Uchiha Yashiro.

Inside the mission handover hall, Uchiha Sanpo stood at the front of the line.

Sarutobi Inoue spoke stiffly, his Adam's apple bobbing unnaturally. "The records for the Nansha City garrison mission have been verified... Wages can only be issued after the Daimyo allocates the funds... Please return home and wait for notification."

An uproar immediately erupted in the hall.

Uchiha Tekka slammed his palm against the counter. "This isn't right... The Daimyo has never delayed wages... Otherwise, why would there still be shinobi willing to risk their lives on the front lines...?"

Uchiha Sanpo raised a hand to stop his clansmen's commotion. "Tekka, there's no need to argue. Finish verifying the mission and return to the clan as soon as possible!"

His voice was calm, yet filled with killing intent.

Seeing the look in his older brother's eyes, Uchiha Tekka immediately understood. "Looks like Brother Sanpo wants to kill someone. I wonder which unlucky bastard it will be..."