Could it be me?!
Mitokado Homura instinctively looked toward Hiruzen Sarutobi, hoping he would step forward and say something.
But his good friend, his old friend, merely kept his head down and smoked, as though he had noticed none of the commotion.
In an instant, Mitokado Homura's heart turned ice-cold.
An advisor's power came entirely from the Hokage.
Without the Hokage's support, a so-called high-level advisor was nothing.
Everyone else in the conference room silently watched this unfold.
Shisui Uchiha, who had just escorted Dodai away, quietly returned.
Uchiha Minamoto's reckoning continued.
"And as far as I know, when Kumogakure proposed peace talks the second time, you were once again their strongest supporter."
Uchiha Minamoto stared straight at Mitokado Homura's utterly bedraggled old face, then raised his middle finger.
"Kumogakure betrayed its alliance three times.
"The first time, Lord Tobirama Senju died in battle.
"The second time, our senior Hizashi Hyuga went to his death in his brother's place.
"The third time, the bodies of countless comrades on the border had yet to grow cold.
"Even so, you still supported a fourth round of peace talks with Kumogakure.
"Tell me, what exactly made a high-level advisor like you step into the same pit over and over again? And enjoy doing it?"
The first time could be said to have had nothing to do with Mitokado Homura.
He, too, had gone to the Land of Lightning to attend the alliance conference then.
But what about the times after that?
Hyuga Hiashi's gaze was as sharp as a blade.
A belated sense of horror also appeared on the other jonin's faces.
Indeed...
Once could be called being deceived.
Twice could be called weakness.
But three times? What else could explain that?
Stupidity? Corruption? Or both stupid and corrupt?
"I... I was only