Passing the Buck with Strength!

"This old man really knew how to pick his timing."

Being dragged out of bed early in the morning would put anyone in a bad mood. Fortunately, Hikaru did not have much of a temper after waking up. He merely thought the Third Hokage was damn good at timing things. Setting aside how the old man had acted first and asked later by shoving Hikaru into a corner, he had also done it within Hikaru's allotted time. Hikaru had nothing to say and could only get up and head to the Hokage Office Building.

As for what could make the Third Hokage so anxious to summon him to the conference room, he would find out once he got there. Hikaru could not be bothered to ask.

Munching on a flatbread, Hikaru strolled into the Hokage Office Building. The entire conference room was steeped in an eerie silence. The higher-ups all wore troubled expressions, their heads lowered as they said nothing. It seemed they really had run into something difficult.

The only person who still had the appetite to leisurely eat while strolling in was Hikaru himself. How could anyone else have the stomach for breakfast at a time like this?

It probably was not something on the battlefield. Otherwise, they would not merely be frowning—they would be panicking like their hair was on fire!

Hikaru had roughly guessed as much at first glance.

Still eating, Hikaru walked straight over and sat beside the Third Hokage without saying a word, quietly finishing his food. In the otherwise silent conference room, the sound of him chewing seemed especially strange.

Quite a few higher-ups looked up at Hikaru, somewhat speechless, but they could only pretend they had not seen anything.

There was no rule against eating breakfast. Just because they had no appetite