Land of Fire capital, Daimyo's Mansion, reception hall.
The luxurious reception hall was filled with curling incense smoke.
More than a dozen richly dressed men sat on either side. They were the true masters of this country—the noble lords who controlled over seventy percent of its land.
At the head seat, Senju Tokuma leisurely sampled a newly arrived tribute tea.
He had been one of the chief culprits behind Nawaki's assassination attempt, as well as the most important intermediary between the Daimyo's Mansion of the Land of Fire and Konoha.
As a Senju branch family that had long since left the shinobi system, the Tokuma Clan had operated in the capital for decades and had long regarded themselves as a ruling class above shinobi.
In his view, shinobi were merely highly paid tools, used to handle the dirty work that respectable people like them disdained to do themselves. Just like the samurai of old, they were nothing more than retainers.
Even if shinobi far surpassed samurai, and their various ninjutsu had all sorts of strange uses, they were ultimately just more powerful samurai who were also more prone to rebellion—
What kind of trouble could a bunch of shinobi possibly cause?
Perhaps attending Sawada Hiroki's Hokage inauguration ceremony in the Land of Fire last time had confirmed for Tokuma that Hiroki neither knew nor remembered him. As a result, Tokuma had grown increasingly bold and unrestrained lately.
"Have you heard? That newly appointed brat Hokage in Konoha seems to be making a move," one noble said casually as he set down his teacup.
"Oh? That Hiroki—or whatever his name was—the one who only got the Fourth's seat through luck and a sneak attack? Was his surname Uzumaki or something?" Another noble chuckled. "What can a child who hasn't even grown