At that moment—
Inside the Hokage Office in the Hokage Tower, Sarutobi Hiruzen sat behind his desk, staring at the rugged man in front of him, a faint headache forming.
To be fair, this was the first time the Third Raikage had voluntarily come to see him since arriving in Konoha. Every previous attempt Sarutobi had made to visit the Raikage had been rejected.
Originally, Sarutobi thought the Raikage had finally come to his senses—perhaps ready to seriously discuss the matter of war and the issue of the Two-Tails. If that was the case, Sarutobi was even planning to use the opportunity to squeeze some benefits from the situation.
In fact, if the Raikage brought up the matter directly, it would give Sarutobi the perfect justification to pressure Uzumaki Mito into action.
From a moral standpoint, wasn't Mito always saying she was willing to sacrifice for the village?
Then handing over the Two-Tails shouldn't be a problem, right?
Unfortunately—
Sarutobi's hopes were shattered the moment the Raikage stepped into his office and stated his purpose.
Earlier that very evening—
Members of the delegation from the Hidden Cloud Village had gone missing. The Raikage wasn't here to negotiate—he was here to demand answers.
"I need an explanation," the Raikage said flatly, tossing the words out as he calmly sat down on the sofa beside the desk, closed his eyes, and began to rest.
His whole demeanor said, If you don't give me an answer today, don't even think about ending your day.
There was nothing Sarutobi could do. Whether he got off work or not didn't matter—what did matter was that he was genuinely concerned something might've happened to the negotiation team.
In this critical moment, calming the Raikage down was the top priority. Sarutobi had no way of knowing what kind of drastic measures the Raikage might take if his people had indeed disappeared in Konoha.
So the moment he received the news, he immediately dispatched the Anbu to investigate. The second they found anything, they were to report back without delay.
"There's no need to worry, Raikage. As the Hokage, I give you my word that nothing will happen to your people."
Lighting up his tobacco pipe, Sarutobi spoke reassuringly.
"I hope you're right," the Raikage replied with a nod. His calm and unhurried demeanor made Sarutobi frown a bit.
That old fox definitely knows something, Sarutobi thought. There was no mistaking it—something was wrong here.
But what?
Knock knock knock!
Suddenly, there was a knock at the office door.
Before Sarutobi could respond, the door swung open, and a young man strode confidently inside.
"Senju Yukika."
Sarutobi's brows furrowed. Ever since this kid had publicly attacked both of his advisors in front of him, they both knew there was no longer any pretense left between them.
Yukika knew Sarutobi had been manipulating mission assignments, and Sarutobi knew Yukika would never sit still and stay quiet.
If it weren't for the Raikage being right there, Sarutobi might've immediately scolded Yukika for barging in and taught him a lesson about proper conduct in the Hokage's presence.
For example—You don't enter the Hokage's office without permission after knocking, unless you're invited in.
But with the Raikage watching, if Sarutobi—as the Hokage—couldn't even show a little patience and composure, getting into a spat with a kid would only make him look ridiculous.
"Yukika, I'm currently in the middle of a discussion with the Raikage. If you have anything to report, please wait until we're done."
Sarutobi spoke with his usual gentle, practiced smile.
"I'm afraid I cannot wait that long," Yukika said, bowing respectfully, but his tone was firm and righteous.
"I'm here to ask the Hokage for justice!"
Justice?
Justice for what?
And more importantly—
Who do you think you are?
Sarutobi was stunned.
He and Yukika both knew exactly where they stood with one another. When had this kid ever lowered his head and asked Sarutobi for anything?
But Yukika didn't give Sarutobi a chance to collect his thoughts—
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