Fugaku pushed the door open and walked in.
Seeing the smile still on Gentō's face, he could tell Gentō was in a good mood today. He hurried forward and said:
"Clan Head, our people have nearly finished those two hundred missions from last time. But now... a lot of our ninja are sitting idle, with no missions to take."
"I went to the Lord Third to ask for more, but he flatly refused."
Gentō frowned slightly and sat up straight.
"Refused?"
He understood what was going on.
Old Hiruzen looked kindly enough, but he was definitely undermining the Uchiha again behind the scenes.
After all, ever since Gentō had taken over as Clan Head, the Uchiha Clan had visibly begun to thrive.
The clan's ninja had grown stronger, and their mission completion rate was high. Hiruzen had seen it all, and he certainly wasn't happy about it.
The problem was that the clan's Mission Hall had only just gotten started. Its reputation hadn't spread yet, so it couldn't get any outside commissions.
If the Hokage's Office refused to provide missions, the Mission Hall would struggle to get off the ground.
He glanced out the window. It was already getting dark.
"We can't let this go on."
Gentō considered it for a moment.
"First thing tomorrow, I'll take you to the Hokage's Office myself and ask the Lord Third what's going on."
Fugaku nodded, responding with a grave expression.
Early the next morning, Gentō took Fugaku to the Hokage's office building.
The Lord Third, Hiruzen Sarutobi, sat behind his desk, a pipe between his lips as he leafed through an intelligence report.
Hearing them enter, he looked up and exhaled a cloud of smoke, a kindly smile on his face.
"Ah, Gentō. What brings you here so early?"
Gentō wasted no