Hiruzen slowly looked toward the ANBU kneeling before his desk.
The atmosphere inside the Hokage Office remained heavy after the earlier report.
"Night."
Hiruzen's tired voice finally broke the silence.
"Thank you for your hard work."
The old Hokage leaned back slightly in his chair.
"You should rest for a few days."
The ANBU immediately lowered his head.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama."
Without wasting another moment, the masked shinobi disappeared from the office.
The door quietly closed behind him.
Silence spread through the room once more.
For a few seconds—
Nobody spoke.
Then suddenly—
Koharu looked toward Hiruzen hurriedly.
"Hiruzen, think of something before those shinobi return to the village—"
But before she could finish—
Hiruzen calmly cut her off.
"Koharu."
His voice remained low.
"Fear will not change anything."
The dim light inside the office flickered slightly against his face.
"As for the supply delays..."
He slowly looked toward her.
"You already have proper justification prepared."
Koharu's expression stiffened slightly after hearing that.
Because both she and Homura immediately understood the meaning behind his words.
The supply issue could still be controlled politically.
But—
Shinnosuke's actions were another matter entirely.
Hiruzen fell silent for a moment after mentioning his son.
A faint exhaustion appeared across his aged face.
Meanwhile, Homura quietly clenched his hand beneath his sleeve.
Honestly—
Even now, he still could not fully understand what Shinnosuke had been thinking.
Accusing the Uchiha of colluding with the enemy—
inside a border camp controlled almost entirely by them—
was beyond reckless.
It was stupidity.
And not ordinary stupidity either.
It was the kind capable of damaging itself more than the enemy.
'Did he truly believe he could accuse them openly and escape the consequences...?'
Homura's expression darkened slightly.
'Or did that fool completely forget what kind of people those Uchiha are?'
Koharu also remained silent beside him.
But similar thoughts had already appeared inside her mind.
The current Uchiha are not the same clan as years ago.
Especially not after the war.
Especially not after Toyoma's rise.
The anger and resentment spreading at the border had already gone far beyond simple clan conflict now.
And that was exactly what frightened her the most.
Because once ordinary shinobi started questioning the village leadership openly—
Things could spiral out of control very quickly.
The office remained quiet.
Only the faint sound of wind outside the Hokage Tower could be heard now.
Meanwhile—
Hiruzen continued sitting silently behind his desk.
But deep inside—
The earlier report still continued replaying inside his mind again and again.
'Hypocrite father... coward son.'
The words refused to leave him.
"What Shinnosuke did cannot be ignored."
Hiruzen's voice remained low as he looked toward Koharu and Homura.
The earlier exhaustion in his eyes had not disappeared.
"He will receive punishment from the village."
Neither elder spoke immediately.
The old Hokage slowly continued,
"And regarding Might Duy..."
A brief pause followed.
"We will promote him to Special Jonin."
Hiruzen lowered his gaze slightly afterwards.
"Officially."
"So he can at least retire with the status and respect he deserves."
The room became quiet again after those words.
Koharu slowly nodded first.
Honestly—
This was probably the minimum they could do now.
"Public opinion is the most important matter right now."
Her voice carried visible tension.
"We cannot allow the situation to worsen after the border forces return."
Even now, she was already thinking about how difficult controlling the village atmosphere would become once the war officially ended.
The shinobi returning from the battlefield were already exhausted.
Angry.
Frustrated.
And after the events at the Mist border—
That resentment had only deepened further.
Meanwhile, Homura remained silent beside them.
But unlike Koharu—
His attention stayed fixed on Hiruzen.
There was visible hesitation in his expression.
As though he was struggling to decide whether he should say something or not.
Eventually—
He finally spoke.
"Hiruzen..."
His voice sounded unusually heavy.
"...things are no longer that simple."
The room quietly fell silent again.
Homura slowly exhaled.
"Someone will have to take responsibility for everything that happened."
His eyes darkened slightly afterwards.
"And during this war..."
He paused briefly.
"...the opinion many clans and shinobi hold toward us has already changed."
He did not finish the sentence.
He didn't need to.
Both Hiruzen and Koharu already understood what he truly meant.
The current dissatisfaction inside the village had already gone far beyond simple criticism.
Many no longer wanted the elders removed from only a few decisions.
They wanted them removed from power itself.
Years ago—
If pressure like this appeared, Hiruzen could still stabilise things through Jonin meetings and political influence.
But now—
The atmosphere inside the village had changed too much.
Especially after the war.
Especially after the growing resentment surrounding the leadership.
Even if they still possessed support from several clans and loyal jonin—
Remaining in positions of authority was becoming harder with each passing day.
And deep inside—
All three elders understood it clearly.
Before anyone could continue speaking—
The doors of the Hokage Office suddenly burst open.
Bang.
The sound echoed heavily through the room.
A one-eyed man calmly walked inside without even waiting for permission.
Neither greeting nor apology followed.
Danzo Shimura simply entered the office and sat down as though the tension inside the room did not concern him at all.
The atmosphere instantly grew colder.
Koharu's expression darkened immediately.
Even Homura frowned slightly.
Because Danzo's current appearance alone already carried political implications.
Officially—
Danzo had already been removed from power temporarily after the earlier incident.
But now—
If news spread that he was still casually entering the Hokage Office whenever he pleased, many clans would believe his punishment had been nothing more than empty words.
"Danzo."
Koharu's voice rose sharply.
"What is the meaning of this?"
But Danzo did not even look toward her.
That alone only made her angrier.
"You—"
Before she could continue—
Danzo finally spoke.
"I received new intelligence from the Hidden Rain Village."
His calm voice immediately filled the room.
Then slowly—
He took out a scroll from inside his robe and tossed it toward Hiruzen's desk.
The Hokage quietly caught it.
For a moment—
The office became silent once more.
Only the faint sound of the paper unfolding could be heard.
Hiruzen slowly began reading the contents of the scroll.
And gradually—
His expression started becoming more serious.
The earlier exhaustion inside his eyes disappeared completely.
Even Koharu and Homura noticed the subtle change immediately.
Meanwhile—
Danzo quietly observed Hiruzen from across the room.
And slowly—
The corner of his lips curved upward into a faint smile.
While the Hokage and the elders remained focused on the intelligence report from the Hidden Rain Village—
far away at the border base—
Fugaku Uchiha was struggling to suppress his anger.
The atmosphere inside the command tent felt unusually tense.
Several Uchiha stood silently nearby while reports regarding the earlier incident continued piling across the table.
And the more Fugaku learned about what had happened during his absence—
The darker his expression became.
Especially after hearing how the clan had publicly humiliated the Third Hokage's son in front of the entire camp.
Fugaku slowly closed his eyes for a moment.
'These people are becoming outrageous day by day...'
A faint irritation appeared inside him.
'Do they no longer think about the consequences at all?'
He understood the clan's anger.
Honestly—
After everything that happened during the war, even he could no longer completely suppress his own dissatisfaction toward the village leadership.
But publicly cornering Shinnosuke like that—
especially in front of ordinary shinobi—
had pushed things into dangerous territory.
Fugaku finally opened his eyes again before looking toward Shisui standing nearby.
"How did Uzuku allow something like this to happen?"
His voice remained calm—
But the frustration hidden beneath it was obvious.
"Didn't Jiraiya-sama try to stop them?"
Shisui lowered his head slightly after hearing the question.
His expression carried visible helplessness.
"Clan Head..."
He hesitated briefly.
"...everything happened too quickly."
"The moment Shinnosuke accused them openly, the entire atmosphere inside the camp exploded, and the prior resentment turned into anger."
Even now, remembering that scene still left him uneasy.
"Jiraiya-sama tried to calm things down..."
Shisui's voice lowered slightly.
"But by then, nobody was willing to listen anymore."
A tired sigh escaped Fugaku afterwards.
For a few seconds—
Only the sound of the wind outside the tent could be heard.
Eventually—
Fugaku spoke again.
"...Forget it."
His voice sounded unusually weary now.
"I already gave up on becoming a Hokage candidate long ago."
The words caused several nearby Uchiha to lower their eyes silently.
Fugaku slowly looked toward the scattered reports across the table.
"And now..."
A faint bitterness appeared across his face.
"...even the clan itself no longer wants a Uchiha Hokage."
Shisui quietly clenched his fists after hearing that.
Because deep down—
He knew Fugaku was right.
The current atmosphere inside the clan had already changed too much.
The earlier desire for recognition from the village was slowly being replaced by resentment instead.
Fugaku leaned back slightly afterwards.
"But regardless of that..."
His eyes darkened slightly.
"...this incident will still make our relationship with Konoha even more difficult."
The tension inside the tent quietly deepened.
Shisui lowered his head further.
Honestly—
Even he no longer fully understood where the clan was heading anymore.
"I don't understand why everyone has become this extreme lately..."
His voice carried visible confusion.
"It's like they no longer care what position the clan will hold inside Konoha afterwards."
No one answered him immediately.
Then slowly—
Shisui spoke again.
"...Sometimes..."
He paused briefly.
"...I fear that one day the entire village may turn against us."
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Author Note
Hello everyone, hear_tteeth here.
This chapter was focused more on the political and emotional consequences after the events at the Mist border.
Until now, many characters were still trying to hold things together through authority, reputation, and old influence.
But after the war, the atmosphere inside Konoha has slowly started changing.
The dissatisfaction among ordinary shinobi, clan members, and even parts of the leadership itself is beginning to surface more openly now.
I also wanted to show that this situation is no longer affecting only the Uchiha.
Even people like Hiruzen, Homura, Koharu, Fugaku, and Shisui are starting to realise that the relationship between the village and the clan is changing in a dangerous direction.
Especially Fugaku.
In many ways, he now feels trapped between political reality and the emotions of his own clan.
At this point in the story, I feel like I've already explored many political perspectives from canon Naruto:
village leadership, clan resentment, ordinary shinobi dissatisfaction, smaller nation survival, military dependency, post-war instability, public opinion inside Konoha
But I also feel there are probably still many interesting political angles left unexplored.
So if you, readers, feel any political perspectives, systems, or ideas from the Naruto world could still be explored further in the story, feel free to mention them in the comments.
I would genuinely like to hear your thoughts and ideas.
And honestly, from this point onward, even I can already feel the story slowly changing direction.
Earlier, this story was mostly about:
clan conflict war recognition survival inside Konoha
But now it feels like the conflict is slowly evolving into something much larger involving:
political legitimacy, distrust, military influence, nations' ideology and the future structure of power itself
So I'd also love to hear where you all currently think the story is heading after these recent chapters.
Thank you all again for reading and supporting the story.
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If anyone wants to join P@treon, they're welcome to.
Right now, P@treon chapters are available up to (Chapter 124: A Choice to Fight).
P@treon - Hear_tteeth [18 +]
Thank you for the support and patience.