Hiruzen Sarutobi Bows His Head!

Konoha.

Inside the meeting room.

Sarutobi Hiruzen remained silent for a full ten minutes.

During those ten minutes.

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura felt as though they were being fried in a pan of oil.

"Fine."

"I'm willing to hand over seventy percent of the Sarutobi Clan's assets."

At last.

Sarutobi Hiruzen let out a sigh.

It was a long sigh, as though it had drained every last bit of vitality from his body.

The moment he said that.

Utatane Koharu suffered a heavy blow and went limp in her chair.

Mitokado Homura looked ashen, his glasses even slipping down to the tip of his nose.

It was over.

It was all over.

Once Sarutobi Hiruzen gave in.

They no longer had even their last shred of dignity.

"Ninety percent!"

But Chiba was not satisfied.

Though he had never dealt with such matters before.

He knew full well that the Four Great Clans had embezzled far too many resources.

Just seventy percent of their assets was nowhere near enough repayment!

"At most, eighty percent."

"And you must agree to one condition of mine."

Sarutobi Hiruzen took a deep breath.

He stared fixedly at Chiba, his expression becoming incomparably resolute.

If Chiba refused.

Then even if he had to lead his clan to its death, he would not let Chiba have his way.

Daring to negotiate?

A dangerous curve rose at the corner of Chiba's mouth.

He could have slapped these three old things to death, then wiped out their clans.

That way.

He could still have obtained the resources of the Four Great Clans.

But he had not done so.

Not because he was softhearted.

But because Sarutobi Hiruzen had an identity he could not shake off.

Tsunade's teacher.

Chiba had considered this issue on his way back to Konoha.

That woman Tsunade might curse Sarutobi Hiruzen with her mouth, but she still cherished their old bond in her heart.

If he really chopped Sarutobi Hiruzen into pieces and fed him to dogs.

Tsunade would definitely hold it against him.

Chiba did not want to create a rift with Tsunade over an old piece of trash.

Therefore.

As long as Sarutobi Hiruzen knew his place.

Chiba could spare his worthless life.

He could serve as a lucky ornament and cough up all the embezzled money along the way. That would at least make him useful.

"Speak."

Sarutobi Hiruzen's chest heaved violently a few times.

He placed his hands on the table and interlaced his fingers.

"After you become Hokage, you cannot target the Sarutobi Clan."

"You cannot deliberately send our clansmen on missions certain to kill them."

"You cannot deprive the Sarutobi Clan of its basic rights in the village."

"The Sarutobi Clan's ninja must receive the same treatment as other ninja."

"..."

That was Sarutobi Hiruzen's bottom line.

That was what he wanted to exchange the wealth he had accumulated over most of his life for.

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura were stunned.

First, they were shocked.

Then.

A bone-chilling cold surged from the soles of their feet straight to the tops of their heads.

They understood.

They understood what Sarutobi Hiruzen meant!

Over the past several decades.

Their four clans had gone too far in order to consolidate their positions.

They had long since bound their clans completely to Konoha.

Whether it was their economy, ninjutsu reserves, or ninja personnel structure, everything was within Konoha's framework.

If they wanted to flee now?

Where could they go?

To another ninja village?

Would Kumogakure spare them, living repositories of intelligence that they were?

Would Ōnoki of Iwagakure kindly take them in?

They would likely be devoured by the major ninja villages the moment they crossed the Land of Fire's border, with even their corpses taken away for research.

They had nowhere to retreat.

Their only option was to remain in Konoha.

But if they stayed in Konoha.

Chiba was heaven.

Chiba was god.

If Chiba wanted to deal with them, he would not even need to do it himself.

He only needed to tamper with mission assignments.

For example, he could assign those S-Rank missions with extremely high difficulty ratings and terrifying death rates specifically to the ninja of these clans.

Within three years.

The four clans would be dead to the last man.

That was the Hokage's authority.

A legal and justified means of killing.

That was how they had once dealt with those disobedient thorns in their side.

Hatake Sakumo, for example.

Now, that butcher's blade hung over their own necks.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was not negotiating.

He was spending money to buy their lives!

He was using the enormous wealth they had embezzled to buy these clans a way to survive.

Once Utatane Koharu understood that.

She stopped making a fuss.

Mitokado Homura no longer spoke of Konoha's greater good either.

The two of them were like deflated balloons, drenched in cold sweat and not daring to look Chiba in the eye.

"That's it?"

"Fine."

A trace of mockery flashed through Chiba's eyes.

He had thought Sarutobi Hiruzen would make some excessive demand.

So he was only begging for a way to live.

How pathetic.

Having lost the Hokage's halo and stripped off that hypocritical outer layer.

This old man, praised as a Ninja Hero, was merely an old man struggling desperately for his clan's survival.

Still.

He had underestimated Chiba.

Chiba had never intended to wipe them out in the first place.

As long as he became Hokage and held absolute power.

Wouldn't it be up to a single word from him how he handled these clans?

Keeping them around would make them perfect living targets to warn the other clans with ulterior motives.

Chiba rose to his feet.

A terrifying pressure belonging to the Late Super Kage Level instantly swept through the entire meeting room.

The air seemed to freeze at that moment.

The teacups on the table gave off a faint tremble.

"I'll have Shikaku Nara audit the accounts."

"Eighty percent of each of the Four Great Clans' assets will be confiscated."

"Within one month."

"I want to see everything."

"Short me even one coin."

"And I'll kill ten members of your clans."

"Short me one hundred ryo, and I'll wipe out your entire clan."

"Do you understand?"

Chiba rose to his feet.

The terrifying pressure of the Late Super Kage Level instantly swept through the entire meeting room.

The air seemed to freeze at that moment.

The teacups on the table gave off a faint tremble.

"Understood."

Sarutobi Hiruzen closed his eyes and nodded heavily.

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura nodded repeatedly, with none of a consultant's bearing left in them.

Chiba could not be bothered to look at these disgusting old things any longer.

He turned and strode toward the meeting room door.

"Bang."

The doors were pushed open, then slammed shut again.

Chiba's footsteps gradually faded down the corridor.

Only then did the three people in the meeting room seem to come back to life, gasping for air in great heaving breaths.

"Hiruzen..."

"Are we... really going to hand all that over?"

Utatane Koharu stared blankly at the ceiling.

She still held onto a sliver of hope.

Perhaps they could hide some of it?

Perhaps they could falsify the accounts?

Sarutobi Hiruzen opened his eyes, his gaze filled with exhaustion and dejection.

He turned to look at his old comrade who had worked alongside him for decades.

"Koharu."

"Don't you understand yet?"

"That wasn't a discussion. It was an order."

"He's having Shikaku Nara audit the accounts."

"With Shikaku Nara's mind, do you think we can hide falsified accounts from him?"

"Shikaku Nara used to play dumb because we held the power."

"Now."

"That power is in that monster's hands."

"Shikaku Nara will investigate us thoroughly, then use it to claim credit with his new master!"

"..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice was hoarse.

He could no longer think of any way to break the deadlock.

Obeying honestly was their only chance of survival.

Utatane Koharu shuddered.

She remembered Shikaku Nara's eyes—seemingly lazy, yet sharp to the extreme.

Trying to deceive that man was indeed impossible.

"Hiruzen."

"Do you really believe him?"

"What if he takes the goods and turns on us?"

"What if he secretly orders someone to wipe us out?"

Mitokado Homura lowered his voice.

He had been part of the Konoha High Command for decades and had seen every kind of scheme and intrigue.

And promises had never truly been binding.

Danzo had gone back on his word more than once.

They had condoned it more than once as well.

Why should Chiba keep his promise?

"Homura."

"You underestimate him too much."

"And you overestimate us."

"He isn't trash like Danzo, who only knows how to arrange assassinations."

"His manner is even more overbearing than Hashirama Senju's."

"More arrogant than Uchiha Madara's!"

"That arrogance—the kind that treated all rules as nothing—was carved into his bones."

"A man like that simply disdained lying."

"Since he promised not to target us, he would not stab us in the back."

"Because in his eyes..."

"We were not even worthy of making him draw his blade."

At Mitokado Homura's question,

Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly laughed.

His laughter echoed through the conference room, sounding incomparably bleak.

This was the cruelest truth.

Not because of mercy.

But because of disdain.

Would an elephant care whether an ant harbored resentment?

It would simply crush it underfoot.