Konoha.
Hokage Building.
Chiba sat behind his desk, flipping through a stack of reports.
Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting a dazzling golden outline around him.
Just then.
The office door was pushed open.
Jiraiya appeared in the office.
"What?"
"Finally willing to crawl out of your sake barrel?"
Chiba did not even look up, his voice carrying a hint of casual indifference.
He had sensed Jiraiya's Chakra long ago, so naturally, he did not think much of it.
"Chiba."
"I want to ask you, what exactly do you think peace is?"
Jiraiya walked up to the desk.
He stared seriously at that excessively young face.
Chiba's fingers stopped turning the reports.
He raised his eyes, his gaze sweeping over Jiraiya's exhausted face.
"What do I think?"
"The entire Ninja World can only have one voice, one will."
"No ninja village may maintain its own private army, and no Daimyo may claim land and crown himself king."
"Wherever I point, the Ninja World goes."
"That is the peace I want."
The next moment.
Chiba tossed the report onto the desk.
He leaned back in his chair and answered, enunciating every word.
Jiraiya's pupils suddenly contracted.
He had guessed that Chiba possessed immense ambition.
But hearing such outrageous words firsthand still struck him as absurd.
"You're insane!"
"This is outright dictatorship!"
"One person ruling the entire Ninja World, trampling everyone's fate beneath his feet—that is tyranny!"
"Without a foundation of mutual understanding, this peace forced into existence through violence will collapse at any moment!"
Chiba looked at Jiraiya.
His eyes were like those of someone watching a clown perform.
There was no anger, no rebuttal—only pure pity.
That lofty attitude stung Jiraiya's nerves.
"What kind of look is that?"
Jiraiya gritted his teeth.
The corner of Chiba's lips twitched.
"I'm