"A one-sided... slaughter show?"
Ōnoki chewed over Yoru's murderous words and froze for a moment.
Then, his wrinkled old face instantly bloomed like a brilliant old chrysanthemum.
"Ha... Hahahaha—!"
His piercing laughter echoed wildly through the empty Tsuchikage's office.
It shook dust loose from the ceiling.
The old man laughed so hard he rocked back and forth, tears nearly spraying from his eyes. At his age, he almost lost his breath altogether.
"Cough, cough... Good kid! That's the spirit!"
Ōnoki held onto the desk and finally managed to catch his breath.
He pointed at Yoru, his finger trembling slightly with excitement and nearly poking Yoru in the nose.
"This old man likes that wild streak of yours—the kind that doesn't even put the heavens or the emperor in your eyes!"
"Hiruzen Sarutobi, that old fox, has a bellyful of dirty tricks."
Ōnoki plopped back into his executive chair and propped his feet on the desk, without a trace of a Tsuchikage's dignity left.
He looked just like a sleazy old man from the village entrance, getting ready to watch some excitement.
"Does he think Iwagakure is still full of those country bumpkins who only know how to play with mud? He wants to use the heads of our new generation to put glory on the faces of his precious little darlings?"
"He can keep dreaming!"
The old man spat a glob of phlegm onto the floor and cursed under his breath.
"He wants to put on a show for the daimyo and squeeze out more military funding? This old man won't let him have his way!"
Ōnoki slammed his hand against the desk. His cloudy old eyes gleamed with the exact same troublemaking light as Yoru's.
"Yoru! Go all out on this!"
"This old man is giving you the highest