Inside the Hokage's Office, the two broken halves of a pipe stood out starkly on the floor.
The White Fox Anbu knelt before the desk, fragments of his mask scattered across the floor and his forehead pressed against the floorboards.
After hearing White Fox's report, Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly flung up his hand.
Crash!
The blue-and-white porcelain teacup on the desk smashed against the wall, sending shards and warm water flying everywhere.
"You couldn't even withstand a single move from him?"
Hiruzen's voice trembled, his face turning livid.
"That was chakra released outside his body! He didn't even make any hand seals!"
White Fox lay prostrate on the floor, fear in his voice.
"Lord Hokage, that wasn't a normal shinobi's chakra reserve."
"We couldn't even stay on our feet in front of him."
Hiruzen collapsed back into his chair, his chest heaving.
Before he could recover, hurried footsteps sounded outside the door.
The Finance Department director rushed in clutching a ledger, without even stopping to knock.
"Lord Hokage, we have a serious problem!"
"The Daimyo's Internal Affairs Ministry has issued a formal notice. All 3.5 billion ryō of this year's defense funding has been frozen!"
"Minister Asano made it clear that not a single ryō will be disbursed until the investigation into Danzo's treason is complete!"
Sweat covered the finance director's face, and his legs shook uncontrollably.
"We have less than five million ryō in liquid funds left on the books."
"We can't pay the routine mission allowances due to the clans' shinobi today!"
No sooner had he finished than a jumble of footsteps echoed down the corridor.
With a bang, the office door was shoved open.
Shikaku Nara led the way, with a stern-faced Hyuga Hiashi following behind him.
Behind them came Choza Akimichi, Inoichi Yamanaka, and the leaders of