Konoha
Late Night – Hokage Office
The Hokage's office was silent.
A single lamp burned on the desk, casting long shadows across the room.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat alone.
The scroll Shishu had brought still lay open before him.
The numbers written across the parchment refused to leave his mind.
Medicine profits.
Merchant contracts.
Security fees.
His fingers tapped slowly against the desk.
Almost every shop in Konoha.
Paying the Uchiha.
He exhaled slowly.
For years, the village had controlled the Uchiha through a simple means.
Money.
Missions.
Resources.
But now—
That dependence was disappearing.
The Uchiha were earning more from medicine and merchants than the village had ever paid them.
And the Guard Force…
The Hokage's eyes twitched as he thought about that.
They were also collecting money from the village itself.
A soft knock sounded at the door.
"Hokage-sama."
A voice came from outside.
Hiruzen didn't look up.
"Come in."
The door opened.
A masked ANBU stepped inside and knelt.
"The elders have arrived."
Hiruzen closed the scroll slowly.
His expression returned to calm.
"Good," he said quietly.
"Let them in."
The door opened quietly.
Three figures entered the office.
Homura Mitokado.
Koharu Utatane.
Shimura Danzo.
Behind them, two ANBU closed the doors and disappeared into the shadows.
Hiruzen remained seated behind his desk.
The scroll still lay open in front of him.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Homura's eyes moved across the room before settling on the parchment in Hiruzen's hand.
"You called us late tonight, Hiruzen," he said calmly.
"I assume the matter is serious."
Hiruzen exhaled slowly.
"It concerns the Uchiha."
The room grew still.
Koharu and Homura exchanged glances.
Danzo's expression did not change.
"What about them?" Homura asked.
Hiruzen pushed the scroll across the desk.
"These are recent transaction records of some of their sales."
Homura picked it up first.
His brows slowly knit together as his eyes moved across the numbers.
Koharu leaned closer to read.
"This much?" she murmured.
'Then just how much profit they are making,' she thought inside
Danzo stepped forward and took the scroll from them.
His gaze sharpened.
Medicine sales.
Merchant contracts.
Distribution routes across the capital.
The silence in the room deepened.
"The Uchiha have built quite an impressive business. Interesting, isn't it?" Danzo said, finally, matter-of-factly.
His voice was calm as he smiled and looked at the others mockingly.
Now you guys finally regret it, he thought inside.
Hiruzen and Koharu looked at Danzo's mocking face with annoyance.
Hiruzen spoke quietly.
"It is not only their product sales that make them money."
He paused.
"The Guard Force is also collecting security fees from shops."
Koharu frowned as she heard about the security fee.
Wait, wasn't that stopped? she thought, remembering the security fee they had believed would damage the Uchiha's reputation.
After so much trouble caused by the Uchiha in the past months, they thought they would stop it to clear their image.
"That system was supposed to be temporary, right?" Homura asked.
Hiruzen nodded slowly.
"So did I."
Homura looked up.
"Then why has no complaint reached the Hokage's office?"
Hiruzen did not answer immediately.
Because he already knew the answer.
Fear.
Or acceptance.
Danzo rolled the scroll closed.
"And what of the medical camps in the capital?" he asked.
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed slightly.
Danzo was supposed to be under house arrest.
How was he still receiving information from the capital?
"You already know?" he asked as he looked at Danzo with a questioning gaze.
"Of course."
Danzo's voice remained even, and he didn't look at Hiruzen.
"Things that can affect the village, I would definitely have to investigate them."
"They are gaining public support in the capital."
The room fell silent again.
Homura spoke carefully.
"The Uchiha helping civilians is not necessarily a bad thing. It will increase the image of shinobi in the Daimyo's and the public's eyes."
Danzo's gaze shifted toward him.
"It is not."
His eyes turned toward Hiruzen.
"But when a clan begins building influence outside the authority of the village…"
"Tell me how much time they need to revolt against the village fully."
He let the sentence hang unfinished.
Koharu understood immediately.
"You believe they are trying to rebel?"
Danzo did not answer directly.
Instead, he placed the scroll back on the desk.
No one in the room spoke for several seconds.
Hiruzen leaned back in his chair.
The unease in the room had become impossible to ignore.
The Uchiha problem was no longer about resentment.
Or past grievances.
It was about power.
The Uchiha had become difficult for the village to understand.
What exactly did they want?
For the Hokage position, they had shown their disdain, even to the point where they themselves would not support a Uchiha Hokage candidate.
While increasing their influence in the capital with noble ministers and the Daimyo.
At one point, it looked like they wanted to become Hokage through Daimyo support… but if not, then? Homura was thinking, but did not confirm it.
"Hiruzen, you should give a notice to them saying the security fee is not allowed by Konoha and they have no right to collect it using the Guard Force," Koharu said.
"At least we can stop this source of income."
Hiruzen heard this and looked at Homura with a slightly complicated gaze.
"I can do that, but then they will ask for their dues. How would I answer that? And if I forcibly stopped it without complaints, then there is a chance this matter will become big."
He said this while thinking about what could happen if he did it.
Koharu and Homura heard this and looked at Hiruzen.
The matter was much more complicated now, and they knew they were fully on the Uchiha hit list; any mistake and the Uchiha would drag their names through the mud.
"Just when will this Uchiha trouble end?" Koharu punched the table in frustration as she thought.
As they were discussing, Danzo was looking at them quietly with a calm gaze.
Then—
"hee hehehehee"
He started chuckling in a low voice.
Hiruzen, who heard this, looked at Danzo with an angry gaze, as did the other two.
"Danzo, is it a laughing matter to you?"
Koharu shouted at Danzo's attitude.
Danzo, who heard this, did not control himself and laughed a little louder.
"Hahaha, no, I was—haha—I was just remembering when—ha ha—when I told you to take the Uchiha more seriously and watch their every move, you stopped me."
"And even disbanded my Root."
Then he looked at them and said with a smile on his face,
"Tell me now… do you guys regret it?" he asked, looking at them.
Koharu and Hiruzen looked at Danzo with stern expressions.
"If you have a solution, then tell us. If not, then just be quiet, Danzo," Koharu said, anger showing clearly on her face.
"And stop with that mocking tone—one Tsunade is already enough for us!" she added with a huff, remembering how Tsunade often gave indirect and mocking answers whenever she was asked about something.
When Homura heard Tsunade's name, he glanced at Hiruzen and Koharu with a look that suggested he had just realised something.
Koharu and Hiruzen exchanged glances with him.
"We can let Tsunade and Jiraiya investigate the village regarding the security fee collection," Homura proposed.
"Knowing Tsunade, once she learns about it, she will definitely ask the Uchiha for an explanation."
He fully understood Tsunade's attitude.
Once she learned about matters like the security fee collection, she would undoubtedly take action against the Uchiha.
Hiruzen and Koharu, who heard this, also had their eyes brighten slightly as they smiled.
"Yes, it can work like that. And now that the Sannin are newly appointed elders and respected by the clans, whatever they say will be taken into consideration by everyone," Koharu said with a faint smile.
"So what? Even if this security fee matter is stopped, there are still many ways for the Uchiha to generate wealth," Danzo said mockingly.
Hearing Danzo's remark immediately dampened their hopes.
"You have a better method? Please tell us," Koharu said as she looked at him.
Danzo replied, "Hmph. It's simple. Just allow me to reestablish Root, and I will bring all the methods and products of the Uchiha under the village."
"And stop them from doing business outside the village," Danzo added with a proud expression.
Here he goes again, Homura and Koharu thought in unison.
For them, Danzo was always like this.
"Danzo, do you ever think before you speak? How can you ask for something that no one will ever agree to?" Koharu said in frustration.
Homura also looked at Danzo.
"It is not that we disagree with you," he said slowly, "but you also know just how difficult such a thing would be."
Hiruzen looked at them as they continued arguing.
"Enough. For now, we need to watch the Uchiha's moves carefully. I do not want matters like the security fee to be ignored again, especially when they affect the village," he said to them firmly.
They heard his words and nodded. Danzo, however, said nothing.
He only looked at Hiruzen silently.
"The Uchiha have already sent reinforcements and supplies to the front. Right now, they will not create major trouble inside the village," Hiruzen continued.
"For the moment, we should focus on understanding their situation and finding a way to end this war quickly."
Hiruzen said this as he took a slow puff of smoke from his pipe.
Knock. Knock.
Hiruzen looked toward the door.
"Come in."
"Hokage-sama, a report from the Cloud border," a shinobi said as he stepped inside and presented a scroll.
Hiruzen took the scroll and began reading it.
After finishing the report, a wide smile appeared on his face.
Koharu and Homura noticed the change in his expression.
"What happened, Hiruzen?" Homura asked with a doubtful look.
Hiruzen handed them the report.
Minato Namikaze had defeated the A–B combination attack single-handedly and forced them to retreat.
"This kid has done something remarkable,"
Hiruzen said with clear satisfaction.
While Konoha debated politics… events at the border were already unfolding.
Near the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Mist
"Huff… huff…"
"Let us wait here for some time, Toyoma,"
Raizen said as he looked at Toyoma and the rest of his squad.
Toyoma glanced at everyone.
They were clearly tired from the long, nonstop travel.
"Okay, Uncle," Toyoma said as he opened a small golden portal and pulled out a water bottle.
He handed it to the others.
They drank one by one while glancing curiously at Toyoma.
"Just how much time will it take us to reach the meeting point, Uncle?" Suki asked Raizen.
"Well… it is not very far now," Raizen replied as he scanned the surrounding forest carefully.
"Let's build a small camp here and rest for a few hours. After that, we can continue our journey," Raizen said.
Travelling nonstop at night during wartime was dangerous.
Toyoma suddenly looked behind them.
He felt something.
Then he smiled faintly.
"Before that… we should entertain some guests, Uncle," he said.
Raizen and the others immediately turned toward Toyoma.
In the darkness between the trees, a figure slowly appeared.
"Enemy. Formation!" Raizen ordered quickly.
His squad immediately moved into position.
The figures hidden in the shadows began stepping forward.
More and more of them emerged from the darkness.
There were at least twice as many enemy shinobi as there were in their group.
Suki and the others felt their tension rise when they saw the numbers.
The attackers wore identical masks.
Toyoma studied them quietly for a moment.
Then he laughed softly.
"So… Danzo's dogs have finally arrived."
The masked shinobi did not respond.
Toyoma slowly raised his hand.
Golden ripples suddenly appeared in the air behind him.
One.
Two.
Three.
Until ten glowing portals opened at once.
Inside them—
Rows of kunai.
Swords.
And blades pointed directly at the masked attackers.
Toyoma's smile widened slightly.
"Let's see if you can survive this."
The portals flashed.
And the storm of weapons erupted toward the Root shinobi.
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