Dispute Emerges

Bai Ye walked behind Hatake Sakumo as the two of them emerged from the direction of the Hokage Building.

They had been summoned by the Third Hokage today because all the war merits had been fully sorted out after cross-verification by Konoha's Intelligence Division. The Third Hokage said he intended to reward those who had distinguished themselves in the war. However, as one of the people with the greatest contributions in this war, Hatake Sakumo had ultimately been asked to remain behind by the Hokage, while Bai Ye had gone with him to wait in the Hokage's office.

"The Hokage-sama's expression was a little off today," Bai Ye said after they had walked for a while.

Sakumo did not break stride.

Bai Ye replayed the scene he had witnessed in the Hokage's office.

When the Third Hokage saw Sakumo enter, he stood up, came out from behind his desk, and personally led Sakumo to a chair.

"Sakumo." The Third Hokage gripped his shoulder. His voice was quiet, but his tone carried the weight that existed only between people who had fought side by side on the battlefield. "You've worked hard. It's good that you came back alive."

Sakumo dipped his head slightly. The Third Hokage turned and picked up a scroll from the desk. The scroll's end bore the Third Hokage's personal seal. He pushed it over and opened it in front of Bai Ye. Inside was a postwar merit assessment, with Hatake Sakumo's name listed in the highest tier, followed by a long series of specific achievements.

The Third Hokage's fingers swept rapidly across those entries as he recited the importance of that operation and Sakumo's crucial role in it. "If you hadn't destroyed Hidden Rain Village's weapons depot, Konoha would have lost no telling how many people in the battles that followed."

He spoke quickly and crisply, as though reading a prepared report. But Bai Ye noticed that, when he reached a certain entry, the Third Hokage lifted his gaze from the scroll and looked past Sakumo's shoulder toward the doorway.

There was no one at the door. Bai Ye had not thought much of it at the time, but now, on the walk back, he replayed that image in his mind and suddenly realized something. The Third Hokage had been looking at the corridor behind and to the side of the doorway. At the end of that corridor was the side entrance of the Hokage Building's wing. Everyone knew that when Shimura Danzō, the Hokage's advisor, entered or left the building, he never used the main entrance.

After withdrawing his gaze, the Third Hokage lightly tapped the scroll with a finger. The gesture was brief and faint. Bai Ye guessed it had been an unconscious movement, made while sensing whether Danzō was still lurking in the shadows of the corridor.

When the Third Hokage spoke again, his voice was lower than before.

"After the war, there aren't many people in the village left who can fight. Talent like yours cannot be wasted."

Bai Ye noticed that as the Third Hokage said this, his left hand discreetly turned over another document on the desk. Its cover had no title, only a symbol Bai Ye did not recognize—a spiral insignia, though it differed subtly from the Hokage's ANBU.

"The village needs you." When the Third Hokage said those words, his tone was sincere and urgent, without the slightest trace of performance. That was when Bai Ye turned his head and glanced deeper down the corridor in the direction of the door.

Bai Ye could even imagine it now. At the far end of the corridor, in the shadows by the side-wing entrance, Danzō stood at the boundary where the light streaming through the windows was cut off by the corridor pillars. Half his face was bathed in sunlight, half submerged in darkness. He had been standing there motionless from the moment the Third Hokage spoke his first words. But the Third Hokage could not possibly have been unaware that Danzō was there. Yet he had not ordered the door shut, had not lowered his voice, and had not given Sakumo any hint. The Third Hokage had chosen to finish those words beneath Danzō's gaze. That was a declaration. He was telling Danzō that the White Fang of the Leaf's loyalty would belong only to the Hokage.

After leaving the Hokage Building, Sakumo did not head home immediately.

He led Bai Ye through Konoha's streets for quite some time. The postwar air was filled with the earthy smell after rain and a faint scent of burning. There were not many pedestrians, but the taverns were packed. They stopped on a small bridge. The river was shallow enough to reveal the pebbles at its bottom and several fish swimming through the water.

Bai Ye stood beside Sakumo and waited.

"Did you see those people who passed through the Hokage Building's corridor just now?"

Bai Ye immediately recalled it. When they had entered the Hokage Building, several figures in lavish robes had indeed hurried past at the other end of the corridor. He had not paid them any mind then; many people came and went in the Hokage Building.

"People from the daimyō." Sakumo's tone was calm. "Envoys of the Land of Fire's daimyō. Postwar reparations negotiations are handled jointly by the daimyō and the Hokage. The daimyō controls the purse strings, while the Hokage controls the blades. What reparations plan is chosen, how much is paid, and what is used to pay it—the daimyō has the final say."

He paused.

"Since the First Hokage's time, that understanding has been the foundation of the Land of Fire."

Bai Ye watched the wind ripple the river's surface and turned those words over in his mind twice. Ninja villages were not completely independent by nature. Konoha possessed the Land of Fire's finest military strength, but its financial lifeline was held in the daimyō's hands. An explosive tag, a kunai, repairs for a training ground, compensation for a ninja's death—all of it ultimately had to pass through the daimyō's budget approval. With Konoha's military strength so severely depleted after the war, the daimyō's purse strings would not loosen. On the contrary, they would be drawn even tighter to control the scale of postwar reparations.

"Then the village..." Bai Ye considered his wording. "What happens if it runs out of money?"

Sakumo did not answer directly. He reached out and touched the stone lion on the bridge railing. The lion held a stone ball in its mouth, one that had been worn smooth by rain and windblown sand.

"So what you saw in the Hokage's office just now was not merely the Third Hokage praising me." Sakumo's voice was soft. "The Third Hokage needs me on his side, because the daimyō needs a declaration that Konoha still has fighting strength. But Danzō does not want that declaration to come from the Third Hokage. He wants the daimyō to know that Konoha has another blade in the shadows."

Sakumo turned to look at Bai Ye. His silver-white hair gleamed painfully bright in the afternoon sunlight. A meaningful curve hung at the corner of his mouth, like a smile, yet not entirely one.

Bai Ye remained silent for a long time. The river flowed soundlessly beneath the bridge, and the pebbles at its bottom rolled faintly in the current, producing a whisper of friction so soft and fine it was nearly inaudible.

"Let's go. Kakashi has been home alone for too long."

Bai Ye nodded and followed Sakumo down from the bridge. After taking several steps, Bai Ye turned back and glanced toward the Hokage Building. Its outline was somewhat blurred in the afternoon haze. Its windows reflected glaring white light, hiding the people inside.