The conflict between the Sarutobi Cabinet and the Yamada Faction had actually been foreshadowed extensively throughout the story.
First—and most crucially—we must not conflate the interests of Konoha, the interests of Konoha's ninja, and the interests of Konoha's great clans.
In fact, policies that benefited civilians did not necessarily benefit ninja. Likewise, systems favorable to lower-ranking ninja were not necessarily aligned with the demands of the major ninja clans. Looking back at Yamada Soji's rise, most of the Yamada Faction's talent pool came from branch families neglected by their clans, or from rising talents whose worldview had yet to fully mature due to their age and lack of experience.
Moreover, the earlier chapters had repeatedly emphasized that the talent selection channels of the Residency Training Center and Konoha Hospital were almost entirely directed at grassroots ninja!
As long as the pie continued to grow larger, the contradictions created by these new policy reforms were not especially apparent. But as foreshadowed in Chapters 228, 236, 370, 390, and others, under the premise of an ever-worsening external environment, the Yamada Faction's approach of opening up new markets had its limits.
Once the market became saturated and entered a phase of cutthroat competition, the conflict between the Yamada Faction and the traditional ninja clans was destined to erupt in concentrated fashion within a short period of time. If not for this concern, clans like the Akimichi Clan and the Yamanaka Clan—ninja clans with close ties to the Hokage himself—would not have wavered back and forth when choosing sides. Only after the new combat group centered on the Mother Nest Fleet took shape did they completely throw their support behind Director Yamada.
Once this point was understood, it was not difficult to see why Soji and Hiruzen gradually developed disagreements as time passed. In