Retaliation

"Sarutobi! Why did you interrupt me during the meeting?!" Danzo strode into the Hokage's office behind him, roaring in irritation.

"You were too hasty, Danzo." The Third Hokage, wearing a conical hat, remained calm. "The Uchiha are an important fighting force for the village. You're pushing them too hard."

Hearing that, Danzo, who had sucked in a breath in anger at Sarutobi, slammed his hand down on the table and roared furiously, "Most of them are discussing rebellion within their clan! And you still say I'm pushing them too hard?!"

"That's only a portion of them!" the Third Hokage replied with a frown.

"Most of them are exactly like that!" Danzo snorted coldly.

"Ah." The Third Hokage sighed, adjusting the hat on his head. "Think of Kagami. How much effort did he put into allowing the Uchiha and the village to coexist peacefully? Where does that leave him with what you're doing now?"

At the mention of Kagami, Danzo's expression softened slightly. However, he soon snorted and headed for the door. "You're too soft-hearted, Sarutobi!"

The Third Hokage calmly watched the door slam shut, sighed, then raised his pipe and took a deep drag.

After leaving the Hokage Building, Danzo glanced back, his eyelids lowered. "Mercy is your greatest weakness! Only I can lead Konoha to its pinnacle! Only me!!!"

Konoha Sake House.

Inside a private room, the heads of this generation's Ino–Shika–Cho clans were drinking together.

"Shikaku, what do you think about what happened today?"

Yamanaka Inoichi picked up the sake flask on the table, poured himself a cup, took a sip, and asked.

"Nothing will happen for the time being. Danzo's desire to isolate the Uchiha within Konoha isn't exactly a secret, but with the Third Hokage keeping him in check, nothing will happen for now."

Shikaku considered the question for a moment before answering.

"Well! Compared to those great clans, we're pretty safe anyway."

Chōza, seated opposite Shikaku, picked up a cup of sake and drained it.

"That's true. I was overthinking it."

Shikaku laughed, looked out at the winter scenery beyond the window, and likewise emptied his freshly filled cup in one gulp.

Since its founding, Konoha had passed through four Hokage: Hashirama Senju, the God of Shinobi who founded Konoha; Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage and master of forbidden technique development; the Third Hokage, known as the Professor of Ninjutsu; and the Fourth Hokage, the Yellow Flash.

Each Hokage had governed differently, but one thing had never changed: the elevation of civilian shinobi.

From the founding of the Ninja Academy to the emergence of countless talented civilian shinobi on the front lines of war.

The civilian shinobi who survived the battlefield had also become Konoha's backbone. It was no longer like the Warring States Period, when civilian shinobi could only serve as cannon fodder.

Though Konoha had its share of flaws, the fact that there had never been bad rumors about the Hokage among Konoha's lower ranks showed that the entire civilian shinobi class still held the village leadership in high regard.

Of course, raising the status of civilian shinobi naturally meant taking away some of the great clans' interests. Therefore, every Hokage openly or covertly suppressed the great clans to some extent. At the very least, they could not be allowed to completely monopolize Konoha's upper ranks and leave lower-ranking shinobi without a path upward.

However, none of that mattered much to the Ino–Shika–Cho clans. Whether it was hostility from civilian shinobi or suppression from Konoha's leadership, medium-sized clans like theirs were not among the targets. Or rather, compared to great clans like the Hyuga Clan and Uchiha, they had it far better.

"Come to think of it, what happened yesterday was really dangerous!" Chōza remarked with lingering fear after taking a drink.

"Yeah. I heard Shikamaru talk about it after he got home. Being able to make a friend like that was quite fortunate for him."

Shikaku withdrew his gaze from the view outside and sighed.

"That damned brat!" Inoichi snorted resentfully.

Shikaku took a sip of sake, looked at the displeased Inoichi, and teased, "Come to think of it, didn't he give little Ino a life-sized Violet Goldwood statue for her birthday?"

"Tsk, tsk! That was worth over a million ryo! It would take you two years to earn that much, Inoichi!"

"Why not just accept such a fine son-in-law? His character was clear enough from what happened yesterday. If my Shikamaru weren't a boy, I'd have taken him in as my son-in-law."

"If you want him, then go take him! If it weren't for that little brat, Ino wouldn't be so worn out!" The moment Inoichi thought of how his daughter had looked when she returned home yesterday, anger surged in his heart.

"Inoichi, don't worry too much. They're just children. She'll get over it after a while."

Seeing Inoichi filled with rage, Chōza could not help but comfort him.

"Hmph! I hope so. Who knows what sort of love potion that brat fed Ino? She clings to him every day."

Inoichi gritted his teeth, poured himself a cup of clear sake from the flask, and downed it in one gulp.

"That kid named Samu Kokaze seems quite decent. I looked into him after returning home last night. His woodcarving skills have earned him some standing among the upper ranks of the Land of Fire, and his character was proven by what happened yesterday. Don't tell me you're one of those daughter-obsessed fathers, Inoichi?"

After taking a sip of clear sake, Shikaku looked at Inoichi teasingly.

"Pfft..."

Inoichi, who had been drinking, sprayed sake everywhere at those words. His face red, he pointed at Shikaku and coughed incessantly.

Startled by Inoichi's reaction, Shikaku hurriedly changed the subject. "I was only joking. Back to business—have you found out who sent the shinobi who broke in last night?"

Inoichi shot Shikaku a vicious glare. Hearing the question, he lost all interest in idle chatter and said steadily, "According to the intelligence I have, they were sent by Sato Liandu, the true power behind the Sato Clan, a noble family of the Land of Fire."

"The information came from the current head of the Sato Clan, so it's highly credible."

With a grim expression, Yamanaka Inoichi appeared quite intimidating. Due to the Yamanaka Clan's secret techniques, each generation's clan head generally held an important position in Konoha's intelligence department. Secret information unknown to others was no secret to Yamanaka Inoichi.

"Another boring case of clan infighting?"

Chōza spoke with clear disinterest, a cold glint flashing through his eyes as he drained his cup.

Shikaku sneered. His hand tightened around the sake cup as he said, "Their clan can fight among themselves all they want, but they shouldn't have dragged Konoha into it. And they definitely shouldn't have involved Shikamaru and the others!"

"They need to be taught a lesson!"

Chōza, who had always been a good-natured man, now wore a cold expression as he spoke through gritted teeth.

Do not be fooled by how they had seemed unconcerned about the attack on their children during the meeting. Each of them had been suppressing a blaze of fury, waiting only to confirm their target before unleashing it on their enemy.

"We can't directly send people to strike them for now. It would be difficult to explain to the Hokage. At least, not yet."

Inoichi fell silent briefly before speaking.

"Then we'll obstruct their family's business first. In any case, we can't let the Sato Clan have an easy time!"

A vicious glint flashed through Shikaku's eyes as he spoke bitterly.

"Then that's settled for now. Once the time is right, I'll notify you."

Inoichi stood, nodded, and walked outside.