"Dammit! Hiruzen!" Mitokado Homura smashed the sandalwood coffee table before him with a vicious slap, sending splinters flying everywhere. His bloodshot eyes locked onto the Third Hokage, his voice hoarse like sandpaper scraping together. "Did you not hear what I said?! I understand that you're wary of Uchiha Chuan's methods, but lifting the surveillance is enough! Letting her leave the village? She's the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki! If anything goes wrong, could the losses possibly compare to B—Sakumo's hundred thousand Explosive Tags? The entirety of Konoha could be destroyed in an instant!"
The Third Hokage slowly exhaled a ring of smoke, which curled before his wrinkled face. His gaze was firm as iron. "Homura, Koharu, I have already promised Uchiha Chuan." He paused, his voice low yet resolute. "And besides... this is the freedom Kushina deserves."
"Ridiculous!" Utatane Koharu screamed hysterically, her voice sharp enough to hurt their eardrums. "Even if we are wary of Uchiha Chuan, all we need to do is stop suppressing the Uchiha! Why should we risk endangering the village by making such an enormous concession to Kushina? This harms the village, and even Uchiha Chuan must acknowledge that!"
Mitokado Homura tore off his glasses, his eyes behind the lenses filled with gloom. "That's right. Everything we do is for Konoha. Let alone with Uchiha Chuan absent, even if he were here, we should not be afraid!"
The Third Hokage did not answer immediately. He slowly rose to his feet, walked to the window, and asked the empty office in a deep voice, "Uchiha Chuan, are you still here?"
A deathly silence followed.
Utatane Koharu sneered. "See? He isn't here at all! Hiruzen, what exactly are you afraid of? You can say it now, can't you?"
The Third Hokage turned around. Sunlight streamed in from behind him, stretching