Orochimaru's expression turned ugly as he stared fixedly at Gisei Shiraishi.
Gisei just gave him a mocking smile.
"Orochimaru, right now you are at most a middleman between me and the Third Hokage. Being just a messenger isn't worthy of my repayment."
"What else do you want?"
Gisei rubbed his chin, putting on a thoughtful expression. He still wanted to confirm whether it was the Third or Danzo really pulling Orochimaru's strings.
"I need the sealing jutsu and barrier jutsu from the Scroll of Seals. Of course, if you can get your hands on other forbidden jutsu, I won't complain."
Orochimaru sneered. "I'll return those same words to you. Don't be too greedy."
"I don't feel I'm being greedy. after all, our backgrounds are different. Whether it's ninjutsu, secret techniques, or forbidden jutsu, I have never lacked them. You probably can't understand that. Anyway, you'd better bring me something that actually catches my eye, otherwise..."
There was no need to finish the sentence; Orochimaru understood exactly what Gisei meant.
His face twisted even more. Gisei's condescending attitude was incredibly annoying. Until now, the highest level of ninjutsu Orochimaru had access to was A-rank. Yet here was this kid, casually demanding forbidden jutsu and acting picky about it. How could he endure this?
With a cold snort, Orochimaru turned and walked away.
Gisei watched his retreating back with a meaningful smile.
If Orochimaru really brought something back, it would definitely be from Danzo. The Third wouldn't do something so foolish just for profit.
Gisei put on his clan robes and dressed himself carefully in front of the mirror.
Today was the Administrative Department's routine meeting, and also his first public appearance there. Although he never cared much about his image, he couldn't afford to look sloppy on such an occasion.
Anna Takemoto came to his house early in the morning. After Shuichi Takemoto died, she had become the clan head. As for Masamasa Takemoto, he had long been made a figurehead by Shuichi. Regarding his daughter's rise to power, Masamasa didn't show any unusual emotion. No one knew what he was really thinking.
It was also Anna's first time attending an Administrative Department meeting, so they went together.
The meeting started at nine o'clock. They arrived at the conference room at eight-thirty. They thought they were early, but to their surprise, the room was already full.
Gisei wanted to find a random empty seat in the back, but Anna pulled him forward. Finally, he sat down on the first chair on the left, and Anna sat in the row below him.
Gisei sighed internally. Almost all the clan heads on his side of the room were from his faction, while the opposite side, naturally, was filled with clans supporting the Third.
He looked across the aisle. A man with a pineapple hairstyle came into view.
The head of the Nara clan? He looks familiar.
Gisei frowned in thought, but the man opposite gave him a kindly smile. He could only smile back. Then he remembered—he had saved this man's wife in the hospital. Tsunade had mentioned something about "Uncle Shikaku" back then; this must be him.
Sitting below Nara was an old man with a head full of white hair. The fan symbol on his clothes proved his identity as an Uchiha.
The old man was also sizing him up. Gisei didn't have much goodwill toward the Uchiha, so he lost interest after a single glance.
At nine o'clock sharp, the four high-level officials of Konoha arrived together.
As soon as they walked into the conference room, their gazes fell on Gisei almost simultaneously.
Ever since Gisei broke away from the Third's control, they had been wary of this young man who wasn't even eighteen yet. When he was obedient, the village was peaceful, and their orders went unimpeded.
But now...
The Third glanced at the clan heads sitting behind Gisei, a complex look appearing on his face.
After a brief opening remark, the meeting officially began.
These routine meetings were actually quite boring. Most of it was trivial matters—which department needed funding, which department lacked manpower—none of which had anything to do with Gisei.
It wasn't until the Third brought up the mission quotas for each clan that Gisei perked up.
He didn't care much about the missions themselves, nor did he intend to actually do them. He was just hoping these quotas could help alleviate his debt crisis.
Soon, the quotas were distributed, and almost all the clan heads frowned.
Gisei opened the scroll in front of him. He already had a rough idea of the Butterfly Users' quota, but seeing the numbers on the scroll—which had almost doubled—he didn't say anything. He just tucked the scroll into his chest pocket.
"Lord Hokage, why is the mission quota so small this time?"
Someone raised a question. The Third looked expressionlessly at Gisei, coughed twice, and then began to speak.
"The reconstruction of the Butterfly Users is a good thing for Konoha, so the village decided to increase their clan's mission quota as a form of assistance to them."
As soon as the Third finished speaking, gaze after gaze fell on Gisei in unison.
Gisei's expression didn't change. He stood up, said "Thank you" to the Third, and sat down again.
Seeing his reaction, all the clan heads on the right side frowned. They started making eye contact with each other, and finally, all gazes gathered on Shikaku Nara.
Shikaku revealed a bitter smile, glanced at Gisei, and kept his mouth tightly shut.
Seeing that no one else spoke, the Third said a few more pointless words, and the meeting ended.
Outside the conference room, Shikaku Nara was waiting for him.
Gisei told Anna to go back first, then walked with Shikaku to a secluded corner to chat.
"I've always wanted to find a chance to thank you properly. Today counts as repaying your favor."
Gisei thought about the strange atmosphere in the conference room just now, hesitated for a moment, and nodded.
"I was working in the hospital at the time. Curing diseases and saving people was my responsibility. It's not really a favor that needs repaying. Clan Head Nara is overthinking it."
Shikaku sized up the young man in front of him. He couldn't see a trace of the youthful vigor a teenager should have; instead, Gisei was incredibly steady.
"Perhaps I really am overthinking. I heard about some of your internal clan policies. Can you tell me why you did that?"
"I just did it because I wanted to. There's no special reason."
"Doing so has brought about some very bad influences. It has already affected the balance of Konoha."
"Are you saying I want to provoke conflict within the village?"
"Isn't that the case?"
"Is a peace that requires 'balance' to maintain really peace? Everyone knows clearly where the problem lies."
Shikaku sighed. "Can it really not be resolved peacefully?"
"Some people already want to 'resolve' the person who caused the problem. It's meaningless for you to talk to me about this."
Gisei turned to leave. After taking two steps, he looked back.
"The Ninja World War should be starting soon. Clan Head Nara would be better off caring about that. After all, the lives of your clan members are very important."
Shikaku stared at his retreating figure for a long time, unable to come back to his senses. Finally, he just sighed heavily.
With his intelligence, he could naturally guess that war was coming. But the fact that Gisei could also see it meant that the Third and Danzo's schemes were practically open secrets.
He didn't know what kind of changes this war would bring to Konoha, but he knew one thing for sure: this war would bring absolutely no benefit to the village.