Outside the window, night lay over the Land of Fire, dark as ink.
Only a desk lamp burned in the office, casting Baishi and Shikaku Nara's shadows onto the wall behind them, stretching and distorting them.
Only after Chiriku and Tanaka left did the air in the room seem to circulate again.
Shikaku Nara looked at the audit document on the desk, which Tanaka had taken away and then returned. His throat bobbed, but his voice came out dry.
"Lord Hokage... what exactly...?"
He wanted to ask what that S-Rank urgent dispatch from the Capital of Fire had said to make Chiriku, one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, and Tanaka, the Daimyo Residence's veteran hard-line official, change their attitudes so completely in the space of a few words.
Baishi did not answer.
He turned away from the window and sat down again, his gaze returning to the map of the entire Land of Fire on his desk.
His finger tapped lightly on the map, at the same steady, unhurried rhythm as before.
"Shikaku."
"Yes."
"Have the Logistics Department and the Finance Department prepare tomorrow's reports."
Shikaku froze.
Reports? At a time like this, what reports did they still need to prepare?
As though he had read his thoughts, Baishi continued, "The exact times each department in the village is expected to cease operating after the funds are frozen, down to the hour. Also, an assessment of the possible emotional reactions among the ninja clans when their bonds cannot be redeemed. Divide them into three levels. I want detailed analyses."
Shikaku Nara was utterly confused.
The situation had clearly turned around, and the audit team had visibly backed down. Why were they still making these... worst-case preparations?
It made no sense.
"Lord Hokage, we..."
"Go do it," Baishi interrupted, his voice