Ten in the morning, Hokage Office.
Three leather sofas surrounded a coffee table, with four old men seated around it.
Those attending the high-level meeting were Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, Hokage Assistant Shimura Danzō, and two advisors—Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura.
Koharu and Homura not only managed Konoha's vast administrative system, but also handled communication between the village and the Daimyo's Mansion. They were elders recognized by the Daimyo of the Land of Fire himself.
These four powerful old men had all once been students of Tobirama Senju.
After the Second's death, the four had jointly managed Konoha for nearly forty years. They had lived through two Ninja World Wars and weathered all kinds of storms.
It was fair to say that the leadership of Konoha's four-man high command had been crucial to the village's present-day prosperity.
This was made perfectly clear in the Ninja Academy textbooks.
At that moment,
Koharu and Homura each held an intelligence report. After reading them, both looked grave.
"I never imagined the Uchiha had three Mangekyō Sharingan without making a sound. They've been hiding their strength well," Koharu remarked, her eyes narrowing.
"Looks like the Uchiha have been patiently holding back and making concessions these past few years just to lower our guard. Now they've finally shown their fangs," Homura said, pushing up his glasses.
As students of Tobirama Senju, the two had learned about the Mangekyō Sharingan from their teacher, so they knew exactly what it meant.
Fortunately,
judging by the intelligence they had so far, Fugaku, Shisui, and Dan were all formidable, each stronger than the last, but they were still nowhere near Madara Uchiha in his prime.
For one thing,
Madara's Susanoo had stood more than a hundred meters tall. With a single strike, it could level a mountain and cut