"Broooos!"
"Don't just stand there, broooos! The results are in from the Hokage Building!"
The folks at the hospital instantly perked up.
"Who won?"
"Advisor Shimura—no, he should be called Deputy Shimura now!"
"Huh?!"
The moment those words dropped, the whole room exploded in shock.
By my Will of Fire…
This old-man knife-fight of a political showdown—Danzo that old bastard actually won?!
Quite a few jōnin who'd attended the meeting were wearing weird expressions, obviously sitting on a whole stomachful of inside info.
That only made the hospital crowd—who didn't even have the qualifications to attend—itchier than ever.
They hurriedly grabbed a few jōnin who weren't from the major clans.
"Hey, bros, don't go! How about this—I'll set up a few tables. We'll drink, and we'll talk business!"
Kampo brought out the one method that never failed.
In Konoha, nobody was willing to refuse the temptation of "a few tables."
Nobody!
Sure enough, the instant they heard "a few tables," those jōnin's eyes practically turned green.
With Konoha's current economic depression, even jōnin were strapped if they wanted to eat something decent.
"You said it! Let's go, let's go—right now!"
The scene was still the same old mess.
Plenty of people were digging for details.
And only then did they find out.
"What? Deputy Shimura actually dared to shoulder that 3.5 billion himself?!"
"Damn… is the Shimura clan really that loaded?"
"Tch! You guys forgot, didn't you? Kangetsu-san has been here the whole time!"
That one line snapped everyone awake, and they all got it at once.
Then the resentment came bubbling right back up.
The god of wealth belongs to everyone!
So what, you old geezers shut the door and eat alone?
Today's whole "old-man showdown" was circles within circles, traps inside traps.
And honestly, it had nothing to do with the people down below.
Why?
Because the profit distribution was still trapped inside the higher-ups' tiny little clique!
They pass it around inside that clique all day long, and it never makes it down to the bottom.
Back when everyone was poor, at least it felt fair.
Now it's we're poor and you're rich.
How's anyone supposed to swallow that?
People don't fear scarcity—they fear unfairness.
Old men, do you seriously think the few of you can represent all of Konoha?
The more they talked, the less stable the mood became.
A lot of eyes started hiding things.
Even when a jōnin said, "Deputy Shimura and the Third Hokage are carrying that 3.5 billion crater together," it still didn't explain the part where they ate alone.
Because, really—
If you'd slice off a share for us, we could carry the crater too.
"Less talking. Don't get heavy."
At the Hyuga compound, Hiashi Hyuga smiled as he sipped tea.
This was something his son-in-law had specially brought back for him from the Land of Fire.
He said it was the youngest tea tips from Mingquan Mountain.
Hiashi lifted the cup and took a light sniff.
Mmm~!
Fragrant.
The Elder Branch Member stared in envy at the cup beside him.
Clan Head, give this old man a couple sips too…
He'd never tasted it, but he'd seen it before.
Back at the mansions of the top nobles in the Land of Fire.
"Konoha's political landscape probably won't be the same from here on out," Hiashi said with a sigh, then quietly slid his teacup closer to himself.
Not letting the Elder Branch Member sniff it.
Your drool's practically about to drip into my cup—have some decency, will you?
"It shouldn't be that different, right?" the Second Branch Member said, sniffing hard twice as well.
So stinky.
It was the Elder Branch Member's foot smell.
"No. Just watch," Hiashi said.
Hiashi had a political brain.
Way better than a certain Uchiha Clan Head.
In canon, that guy had basically turned the Hyuga into political wallpaper—
and even so, he still managed to keep the Hyuga name intact.
He even dragged his feet long enough to avoid putting the Caged Bird Seal on his two daughters.
That kind of leverage wasn't something every person in power could pull off.
So Hiashi dared to conclude:
"From now on… Konoha's politics will be completely different."
Why did he say that?
At the Uchiha compound…
Itachi Uchiha asked Uchiha Yashiro a question. (Remove promotional banner text.)
Yashiro was the strategist for him and Shisui.
As for Fugaku, his old man—forget it.
A total blockhead.
This whole "two old men stabbing each other politically" situation, and that blockhead still wanted to stick his hand in.
After this incident, Itachi finally understood.
His choice to hollow out his old man's authority was correct.
And his choice to beat up his old man every day was also correct!
Uh…
Shisui took a tactical sip of tea.
He refused to comment on Itachi-san's "filial son who beats his dad daily" behavior.
Itachi-san was going to corrupt the kids at this rate.
Just look at Sasuke Uchiha—Sasuke the idiot!
This brat actually copied his big brother and started going "hmph hmph hah hah" while punching and kicking Fugaku.
Way too damn filial…
Shisui was genuinely worried about this family's mental health.
Thankfully, Mikoto was still safe.
She'd wisely moved into Hayashi's residence early on.
Uchiha Yashiro watched his nose, watched his heart.
He pretended not to hear anything else, focusing only on the political shifts.
"You two Clan Heads, politics has changed.
Before, the Third Hokage held all the power.
Now Konoha's been split in two."
Before, even though the advisors held him back, the Third was still the single dominant force.
But now?
"That Deputy Shimura is probably going to keep grabbing for more power…"
Just like Itachi-san and Shisui.
At this rate, Deputy Shimura might start punching and kicking the Third Hokage too, then sidelining him completely.
Of course.
The Third wasn't helpless meat, not like Clan Head Fugaku the blockhead.
Interesting.
Itachi saw a certain kind of opportunity in it.
Stir it up.
It's better if it gets chaotic.
If you lot make a mess, then the Uchiha won't be treated like inmates—watched to death every second.
"And what did that one say?" Shisui reminded him.
Itachi-san, we eat because of who, don't forget that.
"That one said, 'Take it day by day.'"
Understood.
Let the old men fight their old-men fight. We build our own strength.
The timing isn't right yet. It's not time for us to push.
At the Nara compound—the Ino–Shika–Cho trio…
Shikaku Nara shook his head helplessly.
Third, you've lost your mind…
You actually let Danzo that old bastard climb up.
So what if you called Asuma back—what would that do?
Could we really kill him?
At most we'd suffer a little.
But you couldn't even endure that—hesitating and indecisive—so you lost ground in this showdown.
Sure enough.
In the Third's eyes, only "his own people" counted.
"So… do we count as 'his own people'?" Inoichi Yamanaka said pointedly.
"Heh. The kind of 'his own people' that get kicked out of the room?" Choza Akimichi said with a fake smile.
He'd heard it from the higher-ups more than once.
"The Ino–Shika–Cho aren't qualified to sit at the table."
Fine. You're noble. You're qualified.
Let's see how you play without Ino–Shika–Cho…
(End of Chapter)
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