"Homura was clever, at least. Resigning now let him save some face," Fugaku said.
"Hmph. Homura did it mainly for the Daimyo's benefit. As for the villagers, the Hokage only needed to spread a few statements in Homura's favor.
Before long, even if Homura didn't get his old position back, the Hokage would put him to work again."
Fugaku nodded, but he felt little concern. Of Konoha's four Senior Officials, Homura might have been the most astute,
but he was also the weakest. In the Shinobi World, strength often decided things in the end. Without it, even a brilliant mind could only get you so far.
As Fugaku saw it, Homura was the easiest to deal with. Now that he was no longer an Advisor, Fugaku could practically ignore him.
"The war's over for now. What are your plans?"
Fugaku considered it. "I'll decide once Konoha is back to normal. Every department is badly short-staffed, so I'll help out with the Security Force for the next few days.
I can also train the clan members who graduated recently."
"That sounds good. With you teaching them, the youngsters in the clan are bound to improve quickly. They'll be thrilled."
Uchiha Tenjo spoke with a faint smile.
The next morning, Konoha's Jonin gathered in a conference room at the Hokage Building. Several members of the Assassination Squad sat around Fugaku.
At ten o'clock, the Hokage and three Advisors entered the room one after another.
The Third Hokage looked across the room. So few Jonin remained. The difference from a few years ago was staggering.
At its peak, Konoha had more than thirteen thousand Ninja. Now it had only three thousand, even counting those who had graduated early from the Ninja Academy.
Once, a Jonin Meeting could be held by gathering the leaders