The news of the Daimyo's assassination spread rapidly across the entire Land of Fire, and along with it, the name Shimura Danzo swept through the nation like a tempest.
Inside the Hokage's office, Sakura Haruno sat in her executive chair, gazing intently at the contents of a document held in her hands.
Even though the official Hokage inauguration ceremony was still three days away, no one dared to utter a word of dissent about Sakura occupying this seat, given that she had already been officially appointed as Hokage by the previous Daimyo.
The afternoon sunlight poured through the windows of the Hokage's office, draping over Sakura. This sight caused the man sitting on the sofa opposite her to involuntarily lower his teacup, lifting his head to steal another glance.
"Lord Hokage, now that the culprit has been executed, shouldn't the Daimyo return to the capital?"
The man was the most loyal subordinate of the previous Daimyo—a highly capable individual who was also a member of the nobility.
"Lord Minamoto no Yota was assassinated and killed by Shimura Danzo. Have you learned absolutely nothing from that incident?"
Calmly setting down the document—which was a joint petition from nobles across the lands requesting the current Daimyo, Minamoto no Takezo, to return and take charge of the situation—the young Hokage shifted her gaze to the man before her.
"May I ask, Lord Hokage, what exactly do you mean by that?"
The man's attitude was exceptionally humble; there was not a single trace of the typical noble arrogance in his tone.
It was true that the nobility ruled over the shinobi.
But that depended entirely on which nobility and which shinobi.
The Hokage of Konohagakure was the leader of all shinobi, whereas he... was nothing more than a mere vassal to the Daimyo's house.
Only the Daimyo held the authority to issue commands to the Hokage.
"To prevent any future rebellious traitors from harboring reckless ambitions and moving against the Daimyo, Lord Takezo has already decided to relocate the capital to Konohagakure."
"Within Konohagakure, no one will be able to pose a threat to the Daimyo's safety."
The Hokage's calm tone made the corners of the man's eyes twitch.
"But within the capital of the Land of Fire, there are still the Twelve Guardian Shinobi who can escort and protect the Daimyo," the man stated in a heavy voice.
Vaguely, he felt as if the political weather of the world was about to change.
"The Twelve Guardian Shinobi?"
"How many Jonin do they actually have?"
The Hokage's question left the man utterly speechless. At this moment, he desperately wanted to claim that all members of the Twelve Guardians were Jonin.
However, meeting the gaze of this particular Hokage, he could only choke those words right back down.
"Relocating the capital to Konohagakure... is this truly the Daimyo's decree?" The man pressed on heavily, the unease in his heart swelling drastically.
"Yes," the Hokage provided a definitive answer.
Not only that, but she wasn't finished speaking.
"The Daimyo is still young. To prevent him from acting on impulse, all future imperial decrees will be conveyed on his behalf by Konohagakure."
"Even if you all have urgent matters to report, they can be delivered here first."
The Hokage's words caused the man's heart to sink straight to the bottom of an abyss.
Here?
Where is 'here'?
This is the office of Konohagakure's Hokage!
The entire Daimyo Mansion had been completely destroyed, leaving only Minamoto no Takezo alive.
Right now, Minamoto no Takezo was the sole representative of legitimacy. Whoever controlled Takezo controlled the entire Land of Fire.
It wasn't that such things had never happened before in the shinobi world. However, no matter what changes occurred in the past—even when a Daimyo was on the verge of being overthrown—all it took was a single sentence:
The rebellion is massive; issue a decree for the shinobi to protect the sovereign.
With that, everything would instantly vanish like smoke.
No matter how grand the rebellion, it would collapse in a flash before the absolute power of the shinobi.
And the person standing before him was the Hokage among Hokage, the shinobi among shinobi.
With the man's knowledge and life experience, aside from Hashirama Senju who had founded Konohagakure, he truly couldn't think of a single Hokage who could match the young Hokage before his eyes.
Yet... if this Hokage were truly like the legendary Hashirama Senju, that would be wonderful.
Unfortunately, she was not.
Furthermore, this young Hokage seemed to harbor an ambition that she shouldn't possess.
"I request an audience with the Lord Daimyo."
At this very moment, the man's mind was in utter chaos. He could only bend his straight spine toward the Hokage in front of him, speaking in a low, heavy voice.
"Someone come."
"Escort Lord Himura to the Daimyo's residence."
Instantly, an ANBU operative materialized beside the man, extending a hand to signal for him to follow.
"If that is the case, Lord Hokage, I shall take my leave now."
The man bowed to the Hokage once more, turned around, and departed.
Watching the man leave, a profound look flashed within Sakura's emerald eyes.
The nobility had been able to stand at the apex of the shinobi world for a thousand years; they weren't all useless fools.
Among them, there were quite a few individuals like this Himura just now.
However, the times should have changed long ago.
Sitting in a high position without the corresponding power to match it—that in itself was a sin.
Presently, there was no one else left in the Hokage's office besides Sakura.
A chilling breeze blew in through the open window, rustling the Hokage's hair.
Gazing out at Konohagakure, which had remained virtually unchanged for decades, Sakura stood up and stretched.
Take it slow. None of this can be rushed.
Reseating herself, she casually drew a document from the pile.
It was an enrollment record from the Ninja Academy. Looking at the number of admissions recorded on it, Sakura couldn't help but curl her lips into a smirk.
Prompted by a sudden whim, Sakura broke her own rule and opened the document, even though it was the kind of paperwork that usually only required a simple stamp of approval to pass review.
On the entrance exams listed inside, even if a few students had failed certain subjects, almost the entire student body had passed the final section: the Will of Fire.
The Hokage, the Academy students, the Ninja Academy...
"That Tobirama Senju truly was a deeply calculating old fox."
At this very moment, Sakura couldn't help but praise Lord Tobirama, who was currently working under her.
She didn't know much about how things were before Tobirama Senju's time, and she was too lazy to investigate.
But after Tobirama Senju, the shinobi of Konohagakure only knew the Hokage, while remaining completely oblivious to the Daimyo.
Even a Hokage like Minato Namikaze, who was born directly out of the policies of the Ninja Academy, was no exception.
From this, it was clear that Tobirama Senju had laid the groundwork for the current state of affairs long ago.
As expected of the wicked old Senju ghost.
"Speaking ill of others behind their backs isn't a very good habit."
A single sentence muttered to herself had actually managed to bait out this Hokage, who was still diligently shining and burning for Konohagakure even after death.
"What? You dare to do it, but you don't dare to admit it?"
Looking at Tobirama Senju, who had appeared out of nowhere at some unknown point, Sakura teased with a smile.
"What are you talking about?"
"I don't quite understand what you mean."
Sakura had long since grown accustomed to Tobirama Senju playing dumb, and she was too lazy to bicker with him over this matter.
"So?"
"Is everything settled on Danzo's end?"
It had been four days since Danzo was captured. During this time, it was publicly announced to the outside world that he was locked away in the death row dungeons under strict watch. However, Tobirama Senju had been extremely interested in how Danzo had managed to make the Sharingan and Wood Release coexist within a single human body.
After Tobirama dropped a slight hint about his intentions, Sakura had approved the paperwork, leaving him to do as he pleased with his direct disciple.
"I must admit, the person who implanted the Sharingan and my elder brother's cells into Danzo is a genius."
Tobirama Senju first praised Orochimaru without hesitation for being able to fuse those two things together, but then he sighed and continued:
"Unfortunately, that fellow held something back. He merely forcefully attached those two powers onto Danzo's body."
"Rather than saying he implanted the Sharingan and my elder brother's cells into Danzo, it would be more accurate to say that Danzo was simply his test subject."
Hearing this, Sakura lost interest, stamped the document in her hand, and tossed it to the side.
"So, what you're saying is that you didn't obtain a single piece of valuable information, right?"
Tobirama Senju's expression couldn't help but turn a bit awkward upon hearing her words.
This pink-haired girl really didn't leave him any dignity.
"If you couldn't get any information, then forget it. I don't need it anyway."
Continuing to flip through the stack of documents that had already been processed by her subordinates, Sakura spoke in an unhurried manner.
"You don't care?"
Even though Tobirama Senju had anticipated this, his heart still itched with curiosity.
His elder brother's Wood Release, and the Uchiha's Sharingan.
With Tobirama Senju's experience and knowledge, those were the two strongest powers in the shinobi world.
Even the Tailed Beasts had to obediently squat down and act like pets in front of those two forces.
Why on earth was this pink-haired girl completely uninterested?
"Why should I care?"
"What belongs to others will ultimately always belong to others."
"Besides, even if it is the Sharingan or Wood Release, so what?"
With casual indifference, she treated the power that Danzo had spent his entire life pursuing as if it were absolutely nothing.
"You might not care, but the Hokage needs to care."
Tobirama Senju corrected Sakura's flawed mindset.
"Uh, alright. Then, my Second Hokage, what exactly did you discover after researching for so long?"
"That way, I can make the appropriate countermeasures."
Tobirama fell silent.
This pink-haired girl was really asking for a beating.