Today was New Year's Day, the first day of the year, and the weather was beautiful.

  On such a great day, Fugaku stayed home preparing his draft speech, his brush h over the paper.

  To let their leader work in peace, the Uchiha gathered to create a quiet enviro, ensuring no one would disturb him and affect his performance.

  As a result, the area surrounding his residence acked with members, their watchful eyes sing for any potential disturbance.

  Fugaku was deeply touched by their heartfelt dedication. So, he locked himself in his study and didn't e out.

  Even when Mikoto wa him tea, she had to knock first. And it would still take a while for him to open the door.

  When she knocked again, seeing her husband looking so immersed, she couldn't hold back. Men and their pride—some things never ge.

  "You actually leave the door open. Masashi won't show up at a time like this."

  "This has nothing to do with Masashi. I'm thinkier this way," Fugaku stubbornly defended himself, blog her view of the desk with his body so she couldn't see what was going on. "By the way, where is Masashi?"

  "He went out on some errands."

  "Ridiculous! At su important time, how could he go out alone for fun?" Fugaku preteo be stern, relief flickering briefly across his features. "Wheurns to the vilge, let me know immediately. I'll give him a proper scolding."

  "Got it," Mikoto rolled her eyes at her husband. As if anyone believes that aymore. All this just because your handwriting isn't good, and you're too proud to admit it.

  "ht." she suddenly remembered something and almost fot.

  She pulled out an envelope.

  "Here, Masashi asked me to give this to you before he left."

  "In such a rush… He's still too immature and needs more posure." Fugaku accepted the envelope with satisfa, in a much better mood.

  This settled it—Masashi wasn't in the vilge, so he could leave the door open.

  The closed room did get a bit stuffy.

  "You'd better air this pce out; every time I knock, the smell bothers my nose." Mikoto pined before turning to leave.

  Watg his wife's figure in her yukata, Fugaku blushed. Perhaps some traditions are worth maintaining.

  Tonight, he might just have to "celebrate" the Neroperly.

  His eldest son's ret performance had been very pleasing, and he decided to reward him by letting him spend the evening at Shisui's pd not e home.

  A leader had to pn ahead, after all.

  As the family's situation improved, his quality of life and is also became more refined.

  With pns for the eveni, he returo his study, tidied up the drafts on his desk, stored them in his colle box, wiped the desk , and opehe envelope to read the letter.

  The paper was crisp.

  As he read, his expression grew serious, the blush fading from his cheeks.

  "So, it's e to this…" After finishing the letter, he pced it on the desk and began drafting his speech again. Some matters 't wait, even for New Year's.

  ---

  Meanwhile, Masashi had already entered a vilge in the Land of Fire.

  This vilge, located in the heart of the Land of Fire, was uhe direct trol of the daimyō's gover and was one of the highest-tier vilges in the region.

  The Land of Fire's temperate monsoon climate, with its distinct seasons and lush vegetation, created ideal ditions friculture. As a result, its vilges had the rgest poputions and urbay in the world.

  During the early Warring States Period, vilges were small and primarily sisted of castles where nobles resided. Over time, as territories expanded and poputions grew, vilges flourished.

  By the te Warring States Period, urban development had progressed from "a vilge of no more than 300 feet and 3,000 households" to "a vilge of a thousa with tens of thousands of households."

  The popution of the rgest vilge in this regio a record for urban popution in the world. This prosperity fueled the growth of handicrafts and erce, thanks to its tral location and ability to facilitate trade among nations.

  The vilge Masashi entered was ohe capital of a nation during the Warring States Period. At that time, it had been quered by the Uchiha .

  Currently, the Land of Fire boasted around a thousand vilges with administrative offices. Even the smallest of these had poputions of several thousand households. Among them, 150 vilges had poputions exceeding 10,000, and this vilge was one of the rgest, with a popution of 100,000 households. Assuming five people per household, the total popution would be around 500,000.

  The headquarters of the Banking and Trade Association was located here.

  The representative of the Uchiha this association was Masashi, though he rarely visited, leaving the work to a proxy.

  The proxy was also a member of the Uchiha but wasn't a ninja.

  The Uchiha had many such members; for example, Masashi's uncle and his spouse weren't ninjas and were deeply ied in business.

  As soon as he ehe vilge, the association members were informed. By the time he reached the associatiorance, a group was already waiting to greet him.

  "Ah, Masashi-sama, we've been looking forward to your arrival!"

  A rotund mahusiastically stepped frasping Masashi's hand with teary eyes. The others behind him shifted, each trying to position themselves for the best view.

  What? Masashi was youhan him? Irrelevant! To him, Masashi ractically his father!

  After w with Masashi, he realized his previous business ventures were trash. Every small piece of advice had turo gold in his hands.

  Unfortunately, Masashi refused to adopt him as a godson, leaving the mabroken. All he wanted was to stay close to Masashi and learn from him.

  "You're too kind, Konoe," Masashi said with a smile. "New Year, new beginnings—I'm sure this year will bring you great prosperity and no worries."

  "All thanks to you," Konoe beamed, his eyes nearly squeezed shut by his chubby cheeks. "It's all because of yuidance. Please, tio teach us!"

  "Oh, you're making me blush," Masashi said, shaking his head modestly. His eyes caught the subtle movements of other representatives edging closer. "Any success is thanks to your own skills. I just offered a few suggestions—it's your hard work that made it all possible."

  Seeing Konoe monopolize the spotlight with his siderable bulk, the other bank representatives grew impatient and began crowding in, sh Masashi with pliments.

  "Masashi-sama, your iment strategy st quarter was brilliant!"

  "Ihe returns exceeded all expectations!"

  Masashi's proxy stood alone on the sidelines, watg the crowd swarm Masashi and sighing in admiration.

  In terms of popurity, even an elder of the Uchiha couldn't outshine Masashi here.

  But staying around forever wasn't practical. The proxy cpped his hands, drawing everyone's attention.

  "Masashi-sama has traveled a long way and must be tired. Let's not block the entrahe ba upstairs is ready, so let's tihere!"

  "Right, right! Konoe, you hog, look at what you've done!"

  "Exactly, you talk too much."

  Seizing the opportunity, the group pushed Konoe aside and ushered Masashi upstairs for the feast. As they moved, Masashi smiled.

  ---

  While the seriousness of Fugaku's writings was debatable, Tazuna's oroach to crafting dots was thhly ear.

  This level of earness made his smen worry whether he might keel over before the ele results were even annouhe veins on his temples had been throbbing visibly as he wrote.

  On this particur day, the Sarutobi jonin gathered for a meeting. The old hall, with its wood-paneled walls adorned with past leaders' portraits, seemed to weigh down on them with the burden of history.

  Ba the day, when Hiruzen was the head of the , the Sarutobi jonin also assembled like this, heeding the call of this shinobi leader to tribute to both the d the vilge. The same hall had witnessed tless decisions that shaped their future.

  Hiruzen's Will of Fire had inspired many, and the Sarutobi was ner to making sacrifices for the vilge.

  Of course, as the of the Hokage, the Sarutobi had iably developed some less-than-savory habits, but at least the jonin as a group were self-aware.

  If they were a bit overfident during Minato's early tehey had sine back down to earth.

  Now that Hiruzen was retired and no longer involved in affairs uhe survival of the was at stake, this meeting was chaired by a Sarutobi elder, with the jonin in attendance.

  Haru cleared his throat. "We gather today as we have feions. Before us lies a matter of great importance." He lifted the dot from the table, adjusting his gsses. "Our head has prepared a speech for the uping cil meeting. Let us review it together."

  He passed the dot to Sato on his right. The jonin's eyes widened as he sed the first paragraph. His hands trembled slightly as he ha to Kenji beside him.

  One by ohe paper made its rounds. Each face grew paler tha. Some shook their heads in disbelief, others let out gasps. When Mako, a seasoned jonin, received it, his pipe nearly fell from his sck jaw.

  By the time the draft pleted its circle back to Haru, the room had fallen into silence. Without exception, everyone had been struck speechless by its tents.

  They began to genuinely fear for his health.

  "Is this... a decration of war?" someone whispered, his face pale.

  "More like a suicide note," Mako muttered, shaking his head.

  "Tazuna, I think you should resider your theme," Haru said solemnly. "You'll get yourself killed."

  "This matter must be addressed." Tazuna clearly would not allow his masterpiece to be doubted. "Where in my speech is there an issue?"

  "Everywhere," Haru replied bluntly. Seeing how stubborn the leader was, the elder grew frustrated. "The vilge has never forced s to surreheir ueiques. How could you e up with such a terrible idea?"

  "Exactly, Tazuna! If we force others today, won't they force us tomorrow?" another elder chimed in. "You spent several days writing this? Do you not care about being Hokage Advisor? Do you not care whether the Sarutobi still stand in the vilge?"

  Tazuna sed the room. Though the elders were visibly displeased, the rest of the members, while silent, were clearly not on board either.

  He felt disheartened.

  "Times ge, but our principles remain," an elder offered quietly.

  "Principles won't save us from irrelevaazuna shot back.

  The elders were just spouting nonsense. Of course, he knew his draft would offend people. But why would a man in his fifties, pushing sixty, go out of his way to make enemies?

  Did these people even uand the 's situation? Did they truly believe the Third Hokage could live forever?

  Tazuna was no fool.

  He had always been unapologetically double-faced, but today he realized that perhaps his long-standing duplicity had led people to truly see him as such.

  "We no longer have anyone in our parable to Sasuke-sama or Hiruzen-sama. You all uand what that means, don't you?"

  The sudden seriousness in his tone caught the Sarutobi members off guard.

  The elders, however, began to mull over his words. He's n, Elder Haru thought, but his method...

  After a moment's thought, they realized Tazuna's iion.

  "Tazuna, you're too aggressive," the first elder's tone softened. "This approach carries too much risk."

  "We're beyond s of risk now. Shikaku's promotion speaks volumes." Tazuna's voice greer as he addressed his . His hand swept across the room, gesturing at the artifacts of their past glory. "If we had even a bit more fight in us, the position of the jonin ander wouldn't have fallen to him…"

  "The Four s ag as one—Shikaku is a good choice."

  "There's no such thing as the Four s, Haru." Tazuna sighed. "If we rely solely on the legacy of our aors, the fate of the Shimura today will be ours tomorrow."

  The room fell silent.

  Wasn't the Shimura strong in its prime? Very strong!

  Wasn't the Sarutobi strong in its prime? Of course, but ner than the Shimura .

  Back then, with Sasuke leading the , even the likes of Hashirama and Madara respected him. Excluding those two monsters, Sasuke was among the stro shinobi of his era.

  After joining Konoha, both the Sarutobi and Shimura s experienced a goldehe Sarutobi produced Hiruzen, and the Shimura produced Danzō.

  Especially Hiruzen—he was the brightest star of his geion, eclipsing even the Senju and Uchiha of his time.

  Decades ter, the Sarutobi cked successors, and the Shimura had been reduced to little more than a name.

  The thought of the Sarutobi ding up like the Shimura sent chills down everyone's spines.

  "Tazuna…" One elder tried to dissuade him again.

  "Don't try to stop me." Tazuna waved them off, fixing his gaze on the . We're already oh to irrelevance.

  "In the first round, you'll all vote for Shikaku. No discussion. We must show solidarity immediately!"

  "Tazuna-sama!" The group was stunned. "Please calm down!"

  That's when everyone realized—this head was truly reckless!

  "Calm? I'm already calm!" Tazuna scowled, his face reddening. "You're calm too, but are the others calm?"

  Rubbing his temples, he finally blurted out the thought weighing on his mind.

  "The night of the ails attack—didn't some fool climb the Hokage Rod order Masashi to step down?"

  The group exged awkward ghe memory of that night still brought shame to many present.

  Indeed, such a persoed, but wasn't that just youthful ignorance?

  "Young people…" A jonin ughed nervously, avoiding Tazuna's pierg gaze. "They grow out of it with time."

  "I'm afraid he'll get killed before he matures." Tazuna sneered. "At the time, the Fourth Hokage had already been in office for a while. Yet there's still this nonsense?"

  "But isn't it unnecessary for you to personally provoke Masashi?" the jonin pleaded. "The younger geion is immature, but we educate them."

  "It's too te…" Tazuna shook his head. "Sihat night, the Uchiha have been unstoppable. If we tialling, it's only a matter of time before they return to the Hokage Office. 't you see the Fourth Hokage's dissatisfa with the ?"

  "But the Fourth is Jiraiya-sama's disciple."

  "Is this a new joke? What does the Fourth being Jiraiya-sama's disciple have to do with the Sarutobi?" Tazuna shot the jonin a withering look. "Apparently, you're not calm—you're brainless."

  Tazuna's verbal jabs were infamous—not vulgar, but devastatingly cutting. Just as he was about to sh out, an elder quickly intervened.

  "Tazuna, your aight backfire."

  "If they do, it means the is beyond saving." Tazuna recimed his speech draft from the elder. "If that's the case, I might as well die now."

  He felt a surge of emotions, p out like a fountain—his indignation demao be expressed.

  How dare they question what o be done? 't they see we're running out of time?