The First Meeting

Hokage Building, Mitokado Homura appeared once again.

Immediately after, he also saw Utatane Koharu.

The two exchanged a glance, both seeing surprise in each other's eyes.

They hadn't expected to be summoned to this council meeting. Given Sarutobi Hiruzen's attitude last time, they had assumed he would either expel them from the Council of Elders or drastically strip them of their power.

As Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen naturally didn't lack talent. The reason Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu had been able to hold their positions for so long, aside from their natural alignment with the Hokage faction, was largely due to their years of shared history.

But judging by how miserably Danzo had died, it was clear that Sarutobi Hiruzen no longer had any patience for them, these old relics.

Mitokado Homura and his companion exchanged another look, not daring to linger, and walked straight inside.

This was the room typically used for jonin meetings; it was quite spacious, easily seating a hundred people.

When the two entered, the room was sparsely populated, but everyone present was undeniably part of the Konoha elite.

Hyuga Hiashi, Uchiha Fugaku, and Nara Shikaku.

It seemed the heads of the major clans in Konoha had basically gathered here, all looking at Mitokado Homura and his companion with varying expressions.

Some were indifferent, some offered a polite smile, and others gave a slight nod of greeting.

Seeing this, a sense of foreboding immediately took hold in the hearts of Mitokado Homura and his companion.

Before long, the protagonist of the meeting, Sarutobi Hiruzen, pushed the door open and walked in, heading straight for the main seat.

Sarutobi Hiruzen swept his gaze across the room, carrying the imposing aura he had displayed when he beat Danzo to death a few days prior, causing everyone present to avoid direct eye contact.

They all spoke respectfully, "Lord Third!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't waste time, getting straight to the point.

"A few days ago, the rogue ninja Danzo attempted to assassinate me..."

"He wanted to seize the position of Hokage..."

"I killed him on the spot."

"This made me realize that Konoha needs to make some changes now..."

"To improve the cohesion and core competitiveness of Konoha."

Sarutobi Hiruzen had labeled Danzo a rogue ninja outright, clearly showing he had no intention of giving him any face, which made everyone present feel a chill in their hearts.

"First, Danzo is dead."

"The position of Hokage Assistant is vacant, and it will now be filled by Nara Shikaku."

Nara Shikaku remained composed, looking very steady; he did not lose his composure despite being promoted to a position second only to the Hokage.

"Thank you for your trust, Lord Third!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen was naturally very confident in Nara Shikaku; not only was he a loyalist with deep roots, but his abilities were also top-tier.

In the past, the high intelligence of the Nara clan was only utilized during wartime because the Third Hokage had been suspicious, believing that employing clever people like the Nara clan would lead to a dilution of his own power.

But the current Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't suffer from such pettiness; it was a massive waste not to use talent when it was available.

Moreover, Sarutobi Hiruzen wouldn't distribute all power to one person.

"From now on, the Council of Elders will be expanded to five members."

Sarutobi Hiruzen laid out his reform plan.

"They will be responsible for categorizing, organizing, and providing recommendations on the administrative affairs of Konoha village on a daily basis."

"The members of the Council of Elders will be those of you present here..."

"With the Hokage Assistant serving as the Head Elder to oversee the processing of administrative affairs."

Sarutobi Hiruzen wasn't playing any tricks; he was simply optimizing the existing Council of Elders, effectively establishing a small cabinet.

In the Ninja World, every ninja village basically had a council of elders to assist the Kage in their work.

Generally speaking, given the ninja culture of this world, the Kage of each village was like an emperor or a feudal lord, if not more so.

After all, even emperors sometimes had to be kept in check, but a Kage was a super-leader who combined military power, political authority, and nuclear-level strategic deterrence, essentially acting as a dictator within the village.

As for the relationship between the elders and the Kage, it mostly depended on whether the Kage chose to give them face.

Like Chiyo of Sunagakure, an elder with immense personal strength and a reputation that surpassed the village leader, she could naturally go toe-to-toe with the Kage. However, in the vast majority of villages, there was no room for elders to exert influence.

The reason the elders in Konoha had been so arrogant was basically because the Third Hokage had spoiled them.

Therefore, now that the Third Hokage was showing a hardline stance, everyone else had no choice but to comply.

Following this, Sarutobi Hiruzen explained in detail how the processing and advising on administrative affairs would be conducted.

That's right, Sarutobi Hiruzen wanted to be lazy, but he couldn't do nothing at all, so he imitated the systems of his past life, ensuring these elders only had the power to advise. Aside from minor details, they basically had no decision-making power.

However, Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't actually have much interest in handling these administrative tasks. In this world where supernatural power reigned supreme, as long as one's personal strength could crush everything else, everything else was just a minor detail.

So, in all likelihood, Sarutobi Hiruzen would eventually delegate this power or pass the position to someone else once he had settled the Ninja World.

"Finally..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen brought up the last matter.

"Recently, the Cloud Ninja on the border of the Land of Fire have been restless."

"They likely want to take advantage of Konoha's current weakness to loot a burning house."

The people present all straightened their expressions upon hearing this; clearly, this was the main event.

As for the reform of the Elder Council, Sarutobi Hiruzen mainly wanted to slack off, as he had no desire to handle administrative affairs every day or see the two old fogies, Mitokado Homura and his peer, hovering before him.

If it were the original Third Hokage, he would inevitably seek peace or show weakness.

But the current Sarutobi Hiruzen was not willing to suffer in silence, and what the Cloud Ninja represented was clearly a massive amount of profit and Spacetime Source Points.

Not only could he obtain a substantial amount of Space-Time Source Energy, but he could also make Konoha, which had fallen into a decline, once again intimidate the Ninja World, paving the way for his future path.

The high-ranking officials of Konoha present clearly realized this point.

"They think Konoha, and they think I, Sarutobi Hiruzen, am a soft persimmon..."

"Then let them understand."

Sarutobi Hiruzen exuded unprecedented confidence and prestige, his words looking down upon the entire Ninja World.

"Who is the number one ninja village in the Ninja World!"

"If they want to fight, then we will fight until we achieve total victory!"

"We will fight until they don't want to fight anymore!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice was cold and majestic. For a moment, those present felt as if they were not looking at the mild-mannered Third Hokage, but at the ruthless Second Hokage.

"Shikaku..."

"How many standing ninjas are currently in the village who can immediately head to the battlefield?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen asked.

"Less than 3,000."

As a strategist during the Third Ninja War, Nara Shikaku was naturally very clear about Konoha's military strength.

Originally, Konoha's standing ninja army should have exceeded 5,000, but after the Third Ninja War and the Nine-Tails Incident, casualties had clearly reached nearly half.

"Then pull out 1,000 to form an army."

"The Cloud Ninja will inevitably station troops at the border to intimidate us..."

"I want to launch a preemptive strike against them!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen then looked at everyone present; clearly, there was no such thing as a free lunch.

There had been no precedent for allowing heads of major clans to participate in politics before, but now that Sarutobi Hiruzen had opened that door, it was to ensure these guys would contribute their efforts in the upcoming war against the Cloud Ninja.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's meaningful gaze swept across them, and he continued, "The Sarutobi Clan can mobilize 300 ninjas."