Konoha: The thirty-year-old Uchiha lacks motivation.

Chapter 524 Daily Persecution of Little Tuantuan

Inside the Hokage's office,

Holding his nose, Hiruzen Sarutobi opened the window. As a gentle breeze blew in, the terrifying stench brought by Danzo was somewhat diluted.

Otherwise, if some uninformed people smelled it, they might think that this newly appointed Hokage was playing some kind of inappropriate game in the office.

"Hey Danzo, have you messed with someone lately?"

After Danzo's explanation, Hiruzen Sarutobi reluctantly believed that the reason the other party smelled so foul was because he had been ambushed.

At the same time, he was also very puzzled. Although Danzo had a large butt, which was suspected of taking up public space, he was a decent person and did not seem like the type to make enemies.

"Hmph! Perhaps he's implicated by his family."

Looking at his friend who was deliberately distancing himself, Danzo, his face ashen, recalled the recent rumors circulating in Konoha and roughly guessed the answer.

It seems that the Shimura clan's actions in the mission hall have indeed aroused public outrage. This time it was just rotten eggs, but what about next time?

What if he throws poop at him?

You can't exactly use it to make egg tarts, can you?

Although the windows were open for ventilation, a faint stench still lingered in the air. Sarutobi Hijiri frowned, took a brand-new pipe from the drawer, hesitated for a moment, and then put it in his mouth.

This was a gift from his father upon his taking office, which he said was an essential item for a mature man.

chap——

He awkwardly lit his pipe, and as wisps of smoke rose, the strong smell of tobacco filled Hiruzen Sarutobi's nostrils, somewhat mitigating the lingering stench. His complexion improved slightly, and his brows relaxed, but they quickly furrowed again.

"Ahem. In this matter, your Shimura clan has indeed gone a bit too far."

He coughed lightly a few times, irritated by the smell of tobacco, and gently shook his head. How could he, as the Hokage, not know about the newly issued, unfair regulations from the Mission Hall?

However, because the Shimura clan only focused on profiting from D-rank missions and did not actually threaten the interests of the major ninja clans, the situation was not escalated.

After all, it was only a D-rank mission. The C-rank and B-rank missions, which were the core resources, were not divided up. The wealthy ninja clans would not offend the newly powerful Shimura clan for such a small amount of profit. At most, they would just grumble, but they did not make any substantial protests.

The impact on the Shimura clan is negligible, even less damaging than the rotten egg Danzo ate this morning.

"They're just some D-rank missions. You know how much effort Shimura put into the election."

Danzo plopped down on the office sofa, his face showing displeasure, and said...

To help Hiruzen Sarutobi raise the funds to buy the Hokage title, the Shimura clan even sold their breeding pigs, which they had raised for many years—the very foundation of their Shimura pig farm.

Even now, the pig farm hasn't recovered, and the pork head meat he used to crave has dwindled from unlimited consumption to just one a day, not even enough to fill a tooth gap.

"That's good enough, don't make things too difficult for me."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression tightened. Despite his immense helplessness, he could no longer utter a word of rebuke. As the Hokage whom the Shinobi Alliance had poured all its efforts into supporting, he indeed bore too many responsibilities that were beyond the comprehension of outsiders.

"Don't worry, we know what we're doing."

Danzo didn't really take Hiruzen Sarutobi's words to heart. In the eyes of a ninja of his caliber, a D-rank mission was nothing.

I have no idea what those troublemakers are thinking. They're making a huge fuss over a mere few tens of thousands of taels of silver. It's not like they weren't given their share of tasks. There must be someone behind this stirring things up.

Danzo carefully considered who would benefit most from this matter and ultimately came to a surprising conclusion.

It must have been Uchiha Inui!

It must be because they were forced to hand over the management of the mission hall. Some resentful Uchiha clan members, in order to take revenge, secretly made a big fuss about the crowdsourcing of D-rank missions, trying to incite public outrage and tarnish the glorious image of the Shimura clan.

No, what glorious image do you, a pig farmer, have?

The two chatted for a while longer, and the other attendees gradually arrived. As soon as Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu opened the door, their bright smiles froze on their faces.

"Hiruzen, is the office toilet clogged?"

Mitokado Homura pushed up his glasses, his face turning pale, and asked,

"If this happens again, don't call me to meetings."

Koharu, covering her nose, frowned, her beautiful eyes filled with disgust.

"It's Danzo!"

To avoid his friend misunderstanding, Hiruzen Sarutobi swiftly betrayed his childhood friend.

"Monkey, you...you'll regret this!"

Danzo jumped up from the sofa, pointing angrily at Hiruzen Sarutobi's nose.

creak-

Just as the two were on the verge of exchanging barbs, the door was pushed open again, and a warm, honest voice rang out. Akimichi Torifu strode in, smiling broadly as he held up his breakfast, looking at his friends who had arrived before him.

"Everyone's here pretty early! Have you eaten? I brought some of Lao Ba's Secret Recipe Mini Burgers from the new shop at the village entrance."

The next second, his smile, like the others before him, froze on his large face. He wrinkled his nose and took a few more deep breaths.

Watching Akimichi Torifu perform at his peak, the others present all fell silent.

After recognizing the familiar scent, Akimichi Torifu blinked and said hesitantly,

"Is this secret-recipe mini burger really that popular? You guys actually lined up to buy it, and it's even the limited-edition 'Awesome' flavor."

"No!!!"

"What's wrong with everyone? They all seem so listless."

After a period of ventilation, the pungent smell in the office had completely dissipated. Uchiha Kagami, arriving late, looked at his friends with their varied expressions and scratched his curly hair in confusion.

"Mirror, you've come at just the right time."

Having endured the stench for so long, Hiruzen Sarutobi uttered a nonsensical sentence with a complicated expression, leaving Kagami Uchiha completely bewildered.

"I'm not late, am I?"

I glanced at the clock on the wall; there was still some time before the meeting.

"No, Mirror, would you like a mini hamburger?"

Akimichi Torifu, his face pale, held up the untouched mini-hamburger in his hand and asked, "I have absolutely no appetite right now."

"Thank you, I ate on the way."

Politely declining the seemingly bizarrely delicious food, Uchiha Kagami sat down at the branch secretary's workstation and began preparing materials for today's meeting.

When the meeting time arrived, the group of people, their faces grave, sat down at the prepared conference table, a hint of tension in their expressions.

Apart from Hiruzen Sarutobi and Kagami Uchiha, the others had just been appointed as powerful advisors and elders a few days ago, rising to become high-ranking figures in Konoha, second only to the two of them and above thousands of others. They had finally made it through the tough times.

Of course, this is also closely related to how much their family contributed to the election campaign.

"I hereby declare the first high-level meeting of Konoha open."

Hiruzen Sarutobi, sitting in the main seat, exchanged glances with Kagami Uchiha beside him. He spoke first, and the faces of the others below all showed a hint of anticipation.

Just as the elders of the clan said, the future of Konoha belongs to them.

This meeting not only formally established the political structure of Konoha, led by the Hokage and with the cooperation of advisors and elders, but also...

This also signaled the gradual withdrawal of the Senju and Uchiha clans, the two founding elder clans of Konoha, from the political stage of Konoha.

"Mirror, you're not angry about what happened in the mission hall, are you?"

"How could that be? Fortune changes, and we Uchiha can't keep hogging important departments forever."

"Hehe, I'll treat you to a drink after get off work~"

The first high-level meeting ended quickly, not as serious as some had imagined. In a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere, everyone's responsibilities were clearly defined.

Among them, Mitomon En is in charge of the Konoha Sealing Team and is responsible for maintaining the village's barrier.

Koharu Utatane serves as the head of the Konoha Medical Department, responsible for the management of the medical system.

Akimichi Torifu was assigned to the logistics support department. As a radical militant, he had many complaints about the department he was in charge of.

"Hiruzen, couldn't you let me be in charge of border defense?"

Although he enjoys good food, he doesn't want to waste his time surrounded by supplies every day. He wants to go to the battlefield and fight on the border where there are frequent skirmishes.

"Sorry, Feng, you're being too radical."

Hiruzen Sarutobi knew Akimichi Torifu's personality all too well. If he were sent to the border, he'd probably be at war with other countries within days.

If the enemy provokes him even slightly, he dares to activate his super-expansion and crush them.

"snort!"

Upon hearing this, Akimichi Torifu, with a regretful expression, snorted in dissatisfaction and said nothing more.

"Monkey, what about me? What about me?"

Seeing that the others had been given considerable power, Danzo, his eyes shining with envy, anxiously urged them on.

"You? We're prepared to let you have your way."

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Uchiha Kagami, seated at the head of the table, exchanged a glance. Kagami then produced a plan and handed it to Danzo, whose face was filled with anticipation.

"What is this? Huh?"

Danzo took the plan with a puzzled look, and his expectant expression immediately froze on his face. His pupils shrank and his eyes were filled with disbelief.

Shimura clan land,

"Is this the authority that kid Hiruzen Sarutobi gave you?"

The Shimura father and son were talking in a secret room. Shimura Kenichi looked at the project plan in front of him, his aged brows furrowed, and his greasy face held a rather strange expression.

"That's true."

Danzo, whose expression was equally strange, nodded slightly. He couldn't understand why Hiruzen Sarutobi would entrust him with such an important matter. Was it out of trust?

"That's strange, this shouldn't be our turn to do this."

In Shimura Kenichi's view, Danzo was more suitable for the department that Akimichi Torifu was in charge of, where logistical support was a lucrative business, and it was much more profitable than their crowdsourcing work.

"Why not? Now that the Senju clan has gone bankrupt and disintegrated, and the Uchiha clan is dwindling in number, our Shimura clan is about to become the second largest clan after Sarutobi."

Danzo shook his head arrogantly, a slight smirk playing on his lips.

The situation in Konoha is now quite clear: the decline of its former founders is a foregone conclusion, and the Ninja Clan Alliance is a rising star.

"That makes some sense."

bang-

"Who's there!?"

Suddenly, the door to the secret room was violently pushed open, and the father and son, who were plotting, immediately jumped up alertly. Danzo pulled out a sharp kunai, while Shimura Kenichi held a greasy pork knuckle in his hand.

"It is I."

Shinji Shimura, his face showing displeasure, frowned slightly as he looked at the pork knuckle in Kenichi Shimura's hand.

Is this kid really my son?

"Oh, it's Uncle Jin! You startled me."

Relieved, Kenichi Shimura put away his midnight snack and looked at his uncle with a puzzled expression.

To this day, he still doesn't know that the uncle who helped him ascend to the position of clan leader is his biological father.

"Greetings, great-uncle."

Danzo quickly withdrew the kunai in his hand and respectfully bowed to the old man before him.

"Let me see what you actually got."

Shinji Shimura didn't waste any words and went straight to the point, asking for the plan in Danzo's hands. Although he had been behind the scenes for many years, his family was full of his spies, and every word and action of the Shimura father and son was under his surveillance.

"Grandfather, please take a look."

Without hesitation, Danzo presented the plan he had hidden behind his back with both hands. Shimura Shinji took it, glanced at the name on the cover, and his weathered face changed drastically.

"not good."

"Uncle Ejin, is there something wrong with this?"

Seeing his uncle's surprised and uncertain expression, Kenichi Shimura blinked in confusion, while Danzo beside him also looked questioning.

"This Hiruzen Sarutobi wants to put our Shimura clan in the spotlight."

Shinji Shimura took a deep breath, tossed the somewhat hot proposal to a bewildered Danzo, and explained earnestly,

"Isn't this great? With this, the Shimura clan can do whatever they want in the village. Whether it's the Uchiha Senju or that low-key Hyuga, they will all become our stepping stones."

"You idiot, do you think this thing is so easy to take?"

Looking at his arrogant adopted son, Shinji Shimura was so angry that his mustache stood on end.

Suppressing the urge to slap someone, he shook his head with a tense expression, his ashen eyes filled with solemnity.

Uchiha clan territory

"Uncle Gin, why did you entrust the department specifically responsible for selecting and training Tailed Beast Riders to Danzo?"

After returning home from get off work, Uchiha Kagami couldn't figure out something, so before it got dark, he went to find Uchiha Izuna. Uchiha Gin happened to be there too, so he asked the question that had been weighing on his mind for so long.

"In your mind, is Xiao Tuantuan really that unreliable?"

Uchiha Gin, who was peeling an orange, raised an eyebrow, his eyes gleaming with a mischievous smile as he retorted,

"That's not entirely true."

Upon hearing this, Jingzai scratched his head. He and Danzo were childhood friends, and their relationship wasn't bad; they even had some financial ties.

"But the Tailed Beast Card belongs to the clan leader."

His dilemma lies in the fact that the Tailed Beast Cards and Drivers are considered the clan leader's private property. Now that Madara Uchiha's fate is unknown, the village's arbitrary distribution of his "inheritance" might cause dissatisfaction among some clan members.

Uchiha Gin chuckled upon hearing this, peeled off a translucent segment of fruit, popped it into his mouth, and, confirming it was sweet and sour, discreetly tossed the rest of the fruit into the Shadow Realm behind him, where it was caught steadily by a snow-white, slender hand that had been waiting for a long time.

After completing his daily feeding routine, he tossed the orange peels into the trash can, a sinister smile spreading across his face.

"It's fine, that thing is useless at home anyway, might as well throw it out and let them fight like dogs."

(End of this chapter)