Hidden Leaf Village, Hokage Office.
Uchiha Ling was reviewing documents: the detailed terms of reparations from the four major ninja villages, postwar border patrol arrangements, and the procedure for the upcoming official inauguration ceremony of the Fourth Hokage.
The office was quiet, filled only with the soft scratch of pen against paper and Hatake Sakumo's nearly imperceptible breathing as he stood by.
Just then, someone knocked on the office door.
"Come in," Uchiha Ling said without looking up.
An Anbu flashed inside and dropped to one knee. "Acting Hokage, an envoy sent by the Feudal Lord's residence in the Land of Fire has arrived at the village gates and demands an immediate audience."
Uchiha Ling's pen paused slightly, and an almost imperceptible curve touched his lips.
They had finally come. He had long expected that Konoha's enormous gains from the war would draw the Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire's covetous eyes.
He simply hadn't expected them to move faster than he had anticipated.
"Admit him," he said blandly.
A moment later, the office door was pushed open again. A middle-aged man dressed in splendid court robes and wearing a black lacquered cap entered with an attendant, walking with the measured, square gait of an official.
His chin was slightly raised, and his eyes carried the appraising look of an aristocrat examining a "tool." His gaze swept over the office's plain furnishings before finally settling on Uchiha Ling, seated behind the desk.
"I am Tachibana Yusuke, Deputy Director of the Ceremonial Bureau under the Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire." He gave a slight bow, though the gesture was perfunctory, and his tone held an aloof superiority. "By His Lordship's command, I have come to deliver an edict."
Uchiha Ling still did not look up, as though the