Konoha's Card Table

The first notice of mission quota adjustments after the war was delivered to the liaison offices of the major clans on a sweltering afternoon. The Third Hokage neither convened a meeting nor gave any advance notice. He simply had the ANBU stuff the new quota sheets into the mailboxes at each clan's liaison office.

Bai Ye saw the notice at the Hatake family's dinner table. Sakumo had brought back a mimeographed copy from the mission administration office, the ink still wet enough to stain Bai Ye's hand. The quota for A-rank missions had dropped by nearly thirty percent from before the war, B-rank missions had risen by ten percent, and C-rank missions and below had more than doubled. It was not that Konoha had received fewer missions. The Third Hokage was deliberately restructuring their allocation, assigning more low-risk, low-reward missions to clan ninja while steering high-reward, high-risk missions toward individual ninja outside the direct clan system in the form of freelance commissions.

Bai Ye stared at the paper for a long time.

"They're unhappy," Sakumo said.

"Who?"

"Everyone." Sakumo finished the rice in his bowl and set his chopsticks on its rim. The movement was light, yet the rim gave a crisp clink. "The clans are unhappy because A-rank mission fees are one of their most important sources of income. The Third Hokage has taken that share away, which is like scooping food out of their bowls. The freelance ninja are unhappy because they think the Third Hokage is using them to balance the clans' power."

"What about you?"

Sakumo did not answer. He carried the dishes into the kitchen, and the sound of running water drowned out everything else inside. Bai Ye waited at the table for a while. When Sakumo came out, he did not sit down. Standing at the living room entrance, he glanced at Kakashi, who was swinging a kunai in the yard.

"Me? I'm not part of this allocation system." Sakumo's voice was low. "The Third Hokage's missions for me won't appear on that sheet."

Bai Ye's gaze fell on the quota sheet as he sank into thought.

Clans provided military strength to the village as a collective, and receiving collective rewards in return was only natural. Yet the Third Hokage's first move after the war was to peel away part of those collective rewards and redistribute them to individuals through freelance commissions. He was encouraging individuals to rise above their clans. He was creating room for people like Sakumo. But why?

In the third-floor corridor of the Hokage Building, Uchiha Masaki's footsteps echoed through the empty hall.

The Third Hokage sat behind his desk, an unlit pipe in hand and a smile at the corner of his mouth, as though an old acquaintance had merely dropped by for a visit.

"Masaki."

"Forgive the intrusion, Third Hokage."

Uchiha Masaki entered and took the chair opposite him. A desk separated the two, piled with several reports that had just been delivered.

The Third Hokage spoke first. "You saw the quota sheet?"

"I did."

They were silent for several breaths. Both knew what the other was thinking; it was only a matter of who would lose patience first.

"The Uchiha Clan suffered considerable casualties during the war." Uchiha Masaki spoke slowly, his tone heavy. "Many people in the clan have been asking when the postwar reconstruction subsidies and pensions will arrive. Lord Hokage, I understand that the village's finances are strained, but the women who lost their husbands and the children who lost their fathers cannot wait much longer."

The Third Hokage picked up his pipe, rubbed a small flame between his fingertips, and lit it before taking two puffs.

"The pensions are already being processed. The Daimyo's budget has not yet been approved, so I need more time. Go back and tell the clan that Konoha will not forget those who shed blood for the village."

Uchiha Masaki nodded as he looked into the Third Hokage's eyes. He knew exactly how far the pension process had progressed, and he also knew why the Daimyo's budget had not yet been approved. Postwar reparations negotiations were deadlocked. The Daimyo needed Konoha's blade, but he did not want to pay more for it. Masaki had not come today to force the Third Hokage for money, but to express an attitude.

"Lord Hokage."

"The Uchiha Clan will forever remain within the village's order."

The Third Hokage's brow lifted. He had not expected Uchiha Masaki to say that.

The postwar landscape had yet to settle. Every clan was watching, probing, and bargaining. Yet the Uchiha Clan had chosen to stand with him first. That utterly defied his ingrained impression of the Uchiha Clan.

The silence in the office lasted for a moment.

"The Uchiha Clan's loyalty has been witnessed by every Hokage throughout the generations. Postwar reconstruction requires everyone's effort. The Hokage will uphold the village's order."

They reached an understanding with those words.

As Uchiha Masaki rose, he added something seemingly unrelated. "That boy Fugaku performed well during the war, and the clan is very pleased with him. I plan to have him try things out with a young woman from the clan. Once the date is set, I'll have someone send you an invitation."

The Third Hokage nodded. Uchiha Masaki gave a slight bow, turned, and left.

The footsteps in the corridor gradually faded. The Third Hokage leaned back in his chair and looked out the window, his fingers tapping an arrhythmic beat against the desk as he considered Uchiha Masaki's purpose today. Still, if the Uchiha Clan behaved itself, it would indeed benefit the village's stability. But was that possible?

The Third Hokage picked up the quota sheet on his desk, studied it for a long while, then set it down again. The Hokage held so many bowls in his hands, and every bowl had to be balanced. But balance did not mean equal portions. It meant pouring precisely enough into each bowl so that no one would smash it. Too much would make them burst; too little would leave them starving.

Who received more and who received less—that was real power.

Meanwhile, in an office at the other end of the Hokage Building, Koharu Utatane sat at her desk with a report from the Hyuga Clan spread before her.

The cover bore the Hyuga Clan crest. Inside was a several-page list: every battle in which the Hyuga Clan had participated during the war, the names of every Hyuga ninja killed or wounded, and evaluations of every battlefield reconnaissance contribution. It was exhaustive in the extreme. Attached at the end was a proposal worded with utmost caution—"We hope that postwar mission assignments will fully take into account each clan's actual contributions during the war."

Homura Mitokado sat opposite her. When he turned to the final page, his pupils contracted slightly behind his glasses.

"The Hyuga don't reach far, but their reach is steady." Homura Mitokado set the report on the desk.

Koharu Utatane adjusted her glasses. "Their contributions during the war were indeed considerable. In a hellhole like the Land of Rain, the Byakugan was more valuable than any bloodline limit. The Hyuga do not ask for much, but they want every last bit entered into the ledger."

Both fell silent. The Hyuga Clan never fought for a place at the center of village power, but they never relinquished an inch of what belonged to them. Ino-Shika-Cho could hold all sorts of positions on the Hokage's chessboard because they were technocratic clans that never tried to challenge the Hokage's authority. The Hyuga were different. They were Konoha's largest bloodline-limit clan. Their very existence was a form of power.

At the Yamanaka Clan liaison office, Shikaku Nara leaned back in his chair with the quota sheet laid out before him. Torifu Akimichi sat across from him eating potato chips, while Inoichi Yamanaka slowly traced some pattern on the table with one finger.

"The Hyuga's report has been submitted," Inoichi Yamanaka said. "Uchiha Masaki went to the Hokage Building this afternoon."

Shikaku Nara did not respond. In his mind, he laid out the chessboard once more. The Hyuga were naming their price. The Uchiha were choosing a side. Ino-Shika-Cho would not choose a side; they could not, and should not. Their value did not lie on the surface of the political game, but in the places where the Hokage needed someone to get things done.

"The Third Hokage's intentions are already clear." Shikaku's voice was quiet. "What he wants is balance—balance between individuals and clans. While he fills one person's belly, he won't let any clan go hungry."

The three exchanged glances. Ino-Shika-Cho did not fight because they lacked the ability to do so. They did not fight because the return was too low. The Hokage needed them to fill out the village's structure, and the three clans had always advanced and retreated together. So they needed only maintain a neutral stance to obtain the benefits they deserved.