"Checks and balances?"
The smile vanished completely from Advisor Tsuchida's face.
"Uchiha Sasuke, those words sound extremely dangerous."
"Are you threatening the governments of the Five Great Nations?"
"I'm only stating a fact."
Sasuke's expression remained completely unchanged.
"You fear our power."
"Yet at the same time, you need that power to protect you."
"That contradiction already exists."
"Enough!"
Tsuchida suddenly slammed both hands against the table and rose to his feet.
The samurai behind him immediately drew their blades halfway from their sheaths.
"Uchiha Sasuke!"
"It seems the rebellious nature of the Uchiha clan truly does still flow through your veins!"
The air—
Froze.
Naruto's gaze instantly turned dangerous.
Kurama's chakra began surging within his body.
Kakashi's hand also quietly drifted toward the kunai at his waist.
"Rebellious nature?"
The corner of Sasuke's mouth curved into an icy smile.
"Interesting choice of words."
"Then tell me…"
"Does saving the world count as rebellion too?"
"You saved the world."
"That is true."
Tsuchida slowly sat back down.
But his tone became even harder.
"That does not mean you are above the law."
"The greater the power one possesses, the greater the responsibility."
"And the greater the restrictions that should accompany it."
"Restrictions?"
Naruto sneered.
"When Kai was trying to destroy the world, where were you people hiding?"
"When the Ten-Tails was about to devour everything, what were you doing?"
"And now that we've come back alive…"
"You suddenly jump out and decide it's time to put collars on us?"
"We were maintaining order!"
"We were protecting civilians!"
Tsuchida immediately shot back.
"You only saw the fighting on the front lines!"
"You have no idea how many people behind the battlefield were supporting you!"
"Supporting us?"
A trace of mockery flashed through Sasuke's Rinnegan.
"You mean the kind of 'support' where you calculated the cost of the war while we were risking our lives?"
The atmosphere grew increasingly tense.
Just then—
The office door opened.
Sakura entered.
Behind her were Shikamaru, Temari, and several Konoha jōnin.
"What happened?"
"The celebration outside suddenly stopped, and everyone's saying—"
Sakura stopped halfway through her sentence.
Her instincts immediately picked up on the explosive atmosphere inside the room.
"Oh."
"You came at a good time."
Advisor Tsuchida once again put on that formal, practiced smile.
"Lord Haruno Sakura."
"Lord Nara Shikamaru."
"You are also heroes of this war."
"This Framework will require your understanding and cooperation as well."
Shikamaru glanced at the document on the table.
His brows immediately knotted together.
"What the hell is this?"
"A new postwar order."
Tsuchida answered simply.
"To prevent a similar catastrophe from happening again, we need to exercise necessary…"
"Management."
"Over shinobi power."
"Management?"
Disbelief filled Temari's voice.
"You mean you want to raise shinobi like livestock?"
"Please mind your wording, Lady Temari."
Tsuchida's tone remained calm.
"This is for everyone's safety."
"After all…"
"No one wishes to see another Uchiha Madara, do they?"
That sentence—
Finally ignited Sasuke's anger completely.
"Enough."
His voice was low.
Cold enough to sound like wind blowing from the depths of hell.
"You keep bringing up my clan."
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
"That the Uchiha are born traitors?"
"That we're born deserving surveillance?"
"That isn't what I meant—"
"Shut up!"
Sasuke turned sharply.
The tomoe within his Rinnegan spun wildly.
"You maggots sitting in positions of power…"
"What right do you have to judge the Uchiha?"
The temperature inside the room seemed to plummet.
The samurai now had their hands fully wrapped around their sword hilts.
Yet—
Their bodies were trembling.
It was not merely fear.
It was an instinctive warning written into life itself.
The man standing before them—
Possessed enough power to erase every single one of them without effort.
"Sasuke."
Kakashi spoke quietly.
"Calm down."
"Calm down?"
Sasuke turned toward Kakashi.
There was an anger in his eyes that bordered on despair.
"Sensei…"
"Do you think we should accept this humiliation too?"
Kakashi fell silent.
He understood Sasuke's anger.
And—
He also understood Tsuchida's fear.
As Hokage—
He had to consider the safety of the entire village.
But as a shinobi—
He could never accept this kind of trampling upon the dignity of shinobi either.
"I understand how everyone feels."
Tsuchida seized the opening.
"But please understand."
"This is not humiliation."
"It is a necessary compromise."
"You may continue accepting missions."
"You may continue protecting the world."
"You would simply be operating under a more…"
"Regulated framework."
"Regulated?"
Mockery entered Naruto's voice.
"You mean before we save somebody…"
"We have to apply for permission from your committee first?"
"If the situation involves the use of large-scale ninjutsu, then yes, authorization would indeed—"
"To hell with your authorization!"
Naruto finally exploded.
"I need your permission to save someone?!"
Golden chakra erupted from his body.
The entire room trembled faintly under the pressure.
For the first time—
Advisor Tsuchida's expression changed.
He finally realized something.
The people standing before him were not ordinary shinobi who could simply be ordered around.
These were beings who truly possessed enough power—
To destroy heaven and earth.
"Everyone…"
"Please calm down."
For the first time, tension crept into Tsuchida's voice.
"We can negotiate."
"We can revise the terms—"
"There's nothing to negotiate."
Sasuke's voice was ice-cold.
"What you want…"
"Is to turn us into your tools."
"But unfortunately for you…"
"We are not tools."
He walked to the table.
Then—
Before everyone's eyes—
He picked up the draft Framework.
Rip!
He tore it in half.
Rip!
Again.
And again.
Until the document had become nothing but scraps.
"This…"
"Is my answer to your 'new order.'"
Tsuchida's face turned ashen.
"Uchiha Sasuke!"
"Do you even understand what you're doing?!"
"You are challenging the order of the entire world!"
"The order of the world?"
Sasuke laughed mockingly.
"Since when did parasites like you represent the world?"
"We represent ordinary people!"
Tsuchida shouted emotionally.
"The civilians who possess no power to protect themselves!"
"You people possess strength far beyond normal humans!"
"Why should you be allowed to remain unrestricted?"
"What gives you the right to casually decide whether others live or die?!"
The atmosphere tightened once again.
Because this time—
His words struck a question no shinobi could completely avoid.
Where exactly was the boundary—
Between power and responsibility?
"You're right."
To everyone's surprise—
Naruto suddenly spoke.
"We do possess power ordinary people don't have."
A faint spark of hope appeared in Tsuchida's eyes.
"But…"
Naruto's tone changed.
"That doesn't mean you get to treat us like slaves."
He walked directly in front of Tsuchida.
His blue eyes burned with unwavering determination.
"Do you know why we protect this world?"
"It isn't because we're obligated to."
"It isn't because someone told us it's our responsibility."
"It's because…"
"We love this world."
"We love the people living in it."
"Every single one."
"Even annoying guys like you."
Naruto's expression slowly hardened.
"But if you take that love…"
"And turn it into chains."
"If you use it to threaten us…"
His voice became dangerous.
"Then we'd rather not have that kind of love at all."
Tsuchida's face changed completely.
He understood the meaning hidden beneath Naruto's words.
"You…"
"You're planning to rebel?"
His voice trembled slightly.
"Rebel?"
Naruto smiled.
"We saved this world."
"And now you're the ones trying to put collars around our necks."
"So tell me…"
"Who exactly is rebelling?"
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