Hatake Sakumo was awakened by a knock at the door.
Perhaps it was because he had killed Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō the night before, putting him in an exceptionally good mood. He had slept wonderfully.
He emerged from his bedroom with a yawn and muttered, "Who's knocking this early?"
An unusual visitor.
By rights, the "useless White Fang" who had been ostracized by the entire village for two months should have had no visitors at all.
So why had someone come knocking so early today?
Hatake Sakumo was also a little puzzled. Where was Kakashi? Was the kid sleeping so soundly that he couldn't even answer the door?
He walked into the living room and immediately spotted a note held down on the table.
Hatake Sakumo picked it up and read it. Kakashi had left it; the kid had gone out on a mission and wasn't home.
Hatake Sakumo shook his head.
He had told the kid yesterday to stop taking those minor Chunin missions all the time and spend more time playing with kids his own age. Why had he gone out again?
But then he reconsidered. Ah, he had probably accepted the mission yesterday and couldn't get out of it today. Oh well, let him be.
Hatake Sakumo thought no more of it. He stepped forward and pulled the front door open.
Two masked ANBU stood outside.
The air fell silent.
Hatake Sakumo: "..."
The two ANBU: "..."
The scene was awkward for a moment. As for the bullying, everyone knew what was what.
When the two had knocked, they had been thinking:
It would be best if Kakashi Hatake answered the door. Having his son pass along the message would be the simplest option.
But instead...
The three stared at one another, none of them speaking first.
After a while, Sakumo was the first to recover.
He leaned against the doorframe without so much as raising his eyes. "What do you want with me?"
The two ANBU exchanged a glance through their masks.
One of them cleared his throat and spoke with the utmost respect. "Um... Lord Sakumo. An emergency meeting is being held, and the advisers sent us to ask you to attend."
Sakumo was secretly pleased. It looked like Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu's "operation" had gone smoothly. Otherwise, why would two ANBU have come to invite him when his home usually had no visitors?
Hatake Sakumo pretended to know nothing about it.
"Is it about last night's earthquake? I can't help with that. Besides, I've been retired for two months."
The ANBU could see that he was about to refuse and was momentarily at a loss for words.
The other ANBU spoke up. "No, it's not... It's not about the earthquake."
He hesitated, seemingly troubled and unable to say outright that the Third and Adviser Danzo had been killed. He could only speak vaguely.
"...Well, it's a very urgent matter. The advisers, the heads of all the clans, and the senior jonin are already there."
Hatake Sakumo pondered for a while before nodding. "...All right. Give me a moment."
With that, he closed the door.
First, he would wash up.
Hatake Sakumo took his time washing his face and brushing his teeth. Only after dawdling for quite a while did he open the door and leave with the two ANBU.
They crossed the village and arrived at the meeting room in the Hokage's building.
When he entered, he found it packed with people.
Hatake Sakumo swept his gaze over their faces.
The seat at the head of the table, the Hokage's seat, was empty. Advisers Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu sat on either side of it.
The heads of the major clans and the senior jonin filled the seats along both sides of the conference table.
The original owner knew these people well, but the transmigrator Hatake Sakumo was not very familiar with them.
They had never appeared in the anime.
Even so, he knew who they all were from the original owner's memories.
For example, the man seated near the front was Hyūga Hajime, head of the Hyuga Clan.
He was the current head of the Hyuga Main Family.
Hyuga Hiashi, the Hyuga Clan head in the anime and Hinata's father, was currently Hyūga Hajime's son.
Clearly, the familiar faces from the anime, the heads of the major clans such as Uchiha Fugaku, Hyuga Hiashi, and Shikaku Nara, were all still very young.
They were only in their early twenties and still quite green, and they had yet to take over as clan heads.
As Hatake Sakumo sized everyone up, they were sizing him up too.
Quite a few people looked away evasively, only to steal glances at him.
After all, Hatake Sakumo's "reputation" had been the talk of the village for the past two months.
He had abandoned a mission to save his companions, causing it to fail, and Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō had used the opportunity to suppress and bully him.
But to be honest, the clan heads present all understood that this was only a minor issue in itself.
A ninja who abandoned a mission to save his companions should have gotten at most a verbal reprimand. Why did the whole village need to bully him?
But the problem was that the Hokage and Danzo had insisted on doing just that.
These clan heads would not go so far as to join in bullying and insulting someone who had once been Konoha's strongest.
After all, they all knew how terrifyingly powerful Hatake Sakumo was.
But none of them had stepped forward to stop it, either. They had all stood by and watched events unfold, pretending they knew nothing about it.
And among the villagers and ninja who had bullied and insulted him, there were naturally members of their respective clans.
So now that they saw Hatake Sakumo in person, each of them felt somewhat guilty and hardly dared look him in the eye.
Hatake Sakumo noticed their expressions but revealed none of his thoughts.
Just then, Mitokado Homura suddenly felt someone step on his foot.
He turned and shot Utatane Koharu a slightly resentful glare, knowing that his old friend was urging him to speak first.
He cleared his throat, trying to make his voice sound steadier.
"Sakumo, you're here. Please, sit down."
Hatake Sakumo responded respectfully. "Yes."
Then he chose an empty seat and sat down calmly.
Mitokado Homura waited until he was seated before speaking slowly.
"Sakumo... something serious happened in the village last night. Do you know about it?"
Hatake Sakumo knitted his brows and put on a solemn expression.
"Is it... last night's earthquake? But it didn't seem severe, and the buildings weren't damaged."
Mitokado Homura nodded, then shook his head.
"Yes and no... Alas, it's a long story."
He swallowed, as though the truth was too heavy to put into words.
"The Third, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Adviser Shimura Danzō... were attacked and killed last night."
When he finished, the already silent meeting room grew even more still.
At that moment, Hatake Sakumo brought the full force of his "best actor" performance to bear.
His eyes flew wide as if he had been struck by lightning, and only after a long while did he manage to force out a sentence.
"How is that possible!"
As though he had to chew the news up and swallow it bit by bit, he spoke in a slightly unsteady voice.
"With the Hokage's... strength and the village's defenses... how could something like this happen?"
His reaction was utterly convincing.
Looking at the shocked face of the "loyal subject" before him, Mitokado Homura nearly lost his composure.
But the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal was still inscribed on his tongue.
Mitokado Homura forcibly swallowed everything he wanted to say and played along, letting out a long sigh.
"...Yes, no one expected it. The Third Hokage himself, dying like that in his own residence, without anyone knowing why."
Hatake Sakumo gave him a thumbs-up in his mind.
Look at that. What a veteran actor.
Yet his own performance remained utterly convincing as he pressed on.
"Then... have you found out who the killer is? Who would dare do such a thing?"
Mitokado Homura shook his head.
"We're still investigating. It's precisely because the matter is so strange that Adviser Utatane and I have summoned everyone here to discuss a response. The village is leaderless and the people are in a panic. Our most urgent task is to choose the next Hokage as soon as possible and stabilize the situation."
When Mitokado Homura finished, some of the ninja present lowered their heads, while others looked at Hatake Sakumo.
One gaze burned more intensely than the rest.
It belonged to Orochimaru.
His snake-like eyes were fixed on Hatake Sakumo, watching to see his expression.
He suspected that Hatake Sakumo had something to do with the deaths of his teacher and Danzo, but he had no proof.
In terms of strength, Hatake Sakumo certainly had the ability. But the problem was that if he had really wanted to act, he had had plenty of opportunities two months ago, when he was being bullied and ostracized.
Judging by how Hatake Sakumo had always treated the village and its people, he hardly seemed like someone who would do such a thing.
That was why Orochimaru had been unable to reach a conclusion.
Everyone was remarkably united: they all remained silent.
Clearly, the arguments at the meeting had already ended before Hatake Sakumo arrived. Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu had gained the upper hand and spoken decisively, and now no one had a word to say.
Hatake Sakumo swept his gaze around the room.
The ninja with their heads lowered either didn't know how to face him or were jonin with little say in the matter.
The clan heads, meanwhile, all had complicated looks in their eyes.
As for Orochimaru...
It looked like this "legendary Sannin" wanted to compete for the position of Hokage too.
But he had been overruled and was now nursing his discontent.