The Extreme Pressure of the Closed-Door Meeting and the Elder Faction's Amputation to Survive

Inside the Hokage's Office, the atmosphere was more stifling than a sealed scroll.

There was no clerk, no guard—only three cups of tea that had already gone completely cold.

Baishi, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu sat separately. Ever since Advisor Koharu had taken her seat, the silence in the room had lasted for ten minutes.

In the end, Utatane Koharu was the first to speak.

She gently set down the teacup in her hand. The bottom touched the tabletop with a faint clink.

"Hokage-sama, regarding the case involving the Oceanic Trading Company, isn't the investigation team's movement a little too big?"

Her voice was as stern and questioning as ever. "The situation inside and outside the village is complicated right now. Stability is the overriding priority. If we continue investigating like this, it will implicate too many people and leave everyone on edge. It will do nothing to help Konoha's stability and unity."

Her words were harsh, directly pinning the label of "destabilizing" on him.

Seated in the head seat, Baishi's Fox Mask patterns looked inscrutable beneath the lamplight. He did not refute her directly. Instead, he nodded.

"Advisor Koharu is right. Stability is the overall priority. I completely agree with that."

His tone was calm, revealing nothing of his emotions.

"However, if certain abscesses aren't squeezed out in time, they'll only fester and grow until they become a chronic disease threatening the entire body. By then, it will be too late to talk about stability."

He lifted his teacup but did not drink. He merely rubbed his fingertips against the warmth—or rather, the lingering coolness—of the cup.

"You two advisors have both lived through several Shinobi World wars. You should understand this principle better than I do."

Mitokado Homura kept his head lowered from beginning to end, as if