In the brightly lit Hokage's Office, Hashirama looked up from his paperwork at the sound of footsteps. Rubbing his aching wrist, he smiled at the three who had entered and asked, "How did the mission go?"
"All the wheat in the farm's fields has been harvested by Son Goku."
Rikusei untied the scroll and placed it beside the stack of documents. Receiving Mao's frantic signals, he replied with an indifferent expression.
"Harvesting is complete, so we can arrange for storage and processing."
Hashirama found the scroll recording their action plan and drew a circle in the blank space beneath the text. He then pulled another scroll from the drawer, one detailing the subsequent arrangements for processing and storage.
Creak.
The sound of a chair sliding back made Rikusei swallow the words at his lips. He looked in confusion at the man in the Hokage's robe as he rose to his feet.
Hashirama's moving shadow stretched beneath the lamplight all the way to the window. He tilted his head up, staring at the map of the Shinobi World hanging on the wooden wall, where the borders of every nation had been altered beyond recognition.
"Don't stand so far away."
He removed the straw hat from his head and tucked it at his waist as he spoke to the members of his squad.
After three years together, Naori and Mao had grown used to Hashirama's carefree nature. They crowded around Rikusei and walked over to his side.
"Konoha's territory has changed so much compared to when I first arrived," Mao said sincerely as she stared at Konoha, which now occupied half the Land of Fire. "The name 'village' doesn't seem quite fitting anymore."
"That makes sense." Hashirama gazed at the names marked across the map and said softly, "Konoha Hidden Village, Land