The Hokage's Office.
The atmosphere was even more oppressive than the dark sky outside.
Baishi sat in the Hokage's chair, his fingers absently rubbing the minutes of the coordination meeting Shikaku Nara had just submitted. The minutes were objective, but the deadlock between departments, each defending its own interests, practically bled through the page.
Two others were in the office.
Tsunade stood by the window with her arms folded, looking out over Konoha. Her profile was tense.
Fugaku Uchiha sat on the guest sofa, back straight, hands on his knees, gaze fixed ahead. He looked as rigid as a statue.
More than three meters of empty space separated them. The line between them could not have been clearer.
Baishi did not speak first. He simply pushed the minutes to the center of the desk, where both could see them.
"Shikaku told me what happened," Baishi said calmly, giving nothing away. "A technical issue with an equipment purchase turned into a cross-department coordination meeting, and you still reached a deadlock. That rarely happened in the old Konoha."
Fugaku's eyelids twitched almost imperceptibly, but he said nothing.
Tsunade turned and gave Baishi a cold look. "This isn't a technical issue. Lives are at stake. That equipment is nothing but scrap metal."
"Lady Tsunade." Fugaku finally spoke, his steady voice carrying a trace of steel. "The Fire Phoenix trading company's equipment passed every stage of the Joint Procurement Office's bidding process. Qualifications, pricing, evaluation—there were no violations. The contract has been signed, and payment has been made. If we overturn it all over a technical dispute, who will trust Lord Hokage's new policies in the future? What would become of the village's commitment to its contracts?"
He was clever. Rather than get bogged down in technical details, he elevated the matter to procedural