The Collapse of Faith! This Is Hidden Leaf!

The Hokage Office was thick with smoke.

Hiruzen Sarutobi puffed on his pipe.

A thick stack of ledgers lay on the desk.

These were what Hatake Sakumo had uncovered over three days.

They clearly recorded the Logistics Department's flow of funds over the past half month.

The pensions for fallen ninja had been skimmed away layer by layer.

Of the three hundred thousand ryo in pension money, only thirty thousand reached the families.

Of the remaining two hundred and seventy thousand, some had been siphoned off under the label of "wartime material procurement," while some had flowed into the pockets of small clans attached to the higher-ups.

Part of it had even gone directly into the pockets of collateral branches of the Sarutobi clan.

Sakumo stood before the desk.

He was not wearing his ANBU uniform, but his back remained perfectly straight.

"Lord Hokage, the evidence in these ledgers is conclusive."

"The director of the Logistics Department and the stewards of those clans have all confessed."

"They joined forces to embezzle the pensions of more than a hundred fallen ninja."

Sakumo's voice was heavy.

It suppressed barely contained fury.

Hiruzen picked up the top ledger and flipped through two pages.

Then he slowly closed it again.

He sighed.

"Sakumo."

"You know the situation at the front as well as anyone."

"Orochimaru is facing off against Hidden Cloud in the Land of Rivers. The number of Explosive Tags and Military Ration Pills consumed every day is astronomical."

"Minato at Kannabi Bridge likewise needs massive supplies."

"The village's finances have truly run dry."

Sakumo interrupted Hiruzen.

"Because the finances have run dry, they can steal the survival money of widows and orphans?"

"Those Genin died protecting supply convoys!"

"They gave their lives to the village."

"And the village still wants to smash