Chikage looked at Fugaku's face, brimming with excitement, and his heart kept sinking.
He pushed the document on the desk toward Fugaku, his tone flat.
"Uncle, take a look at this approval yourself."
"I added compensation for the ninja dogs' emotional distress, as well as Single Youth Dating Setback Compensation."
"These claims were obviously meant to stir up trouble, yet the Third Hokage signed without even looking?"
Fugaku froze, then lowered his head to read the clauses in the document.
Chikage continued, "With how stingy the higher-ups usually are, even if they agreed to pay, they'd argue with us for months."
"They'd cut the unreasonable items, then spread the payments out over eight or ten years."
"Now they've not only accepted everything, they've promised to transfer the money this afternoon."
"Does that seem normal to you?"
Fugaku opened his mouth to argue, only to find he had no good rebuttal.
Chikage leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers on the desk.
"Just yesterday, I forced Danzo to pay a fine of three hundred and fifty thousand ryo. Today, he agrees to give the Uchiha tens of millions?"
"If he were that generous, Root would've disbanded long ago."
Fugaku's expression changed. His excitement faded, replaced by unease.
"You mean they're deceiving us?"
"But this document has the Hokage's seal on it, and the money will arrive this afternoon."
"What do they stand to gain?"
Chikage looked at Fugaku. He already had the answer.
Had it finally come to this?
In the original story, the night of the massacre had been the ultimate outcome of the irreconcilable conflict between the higher-ups and the Uchiha.
Now he had backed the higher-ups into a corner with rules and regulations, and they clearly had no intention of playing by the rules anymore.
The money