"Our dear Hokage truly finds it lonely at the top." Shin laughed.
"He's done a good job with the 'don't use those you suspect' principle, anyone he doesn't fully trust, he absolutely won't promote. For example, he clearly knows your strength, but he insists on sidelining you, just refusing to use you. But when it comes to the principle of 'trust the people you do use,' he falls way short. He's always worrying about whether those under his command might harbor other thoughts. So even while he promotes you, he still constantly tests your loyalty. On one hand, he's worried his subordinates won't work hard. On the other hand, he fears they'll work too hard and outshine him as Hokage."
"Uh..." Sakumo thought for a moment and realized, that really does sound about right.
"But you're not the only one he's wary of now, he's also turning against Tsunade." Shin said as he sipped his sake. "Her proposed reforms, you've probably heard about them, even though you've been idle at home, haven't you?"
"I heard about them from Nao," Sakumo replied. "Right now, the doctors at Konoha Hospital and the people in the medical division are all talking about it! If these reforms are implemented, they'd be a huge benefit to Konoha. Tsunade's plan to train medical ninja is very practical. And if every team had a medical ninja, the survival rate of ninjas would definitely increase significantly."
"Heh." Shin let out a cold laugh. "Too bad those reform proposals won't be approved."
"Why not?" Sakumo asked in shock. "Aren't they clearly good for Konoha?"
"Exactly. Anyone with a brain can see that her proposals have nothing but benefits." Shin laughed. "But those proposals would greatly raise her prestige."
"That's the reason?" Sakumo asked in disbelief. "Just to stop her from gaining prestige, they'd harm the village's interests and lower ninja survival rates?"
"What do you think?" Shin smirked. "Soon, Hiruzen will call a meeting to discuss this. And at that meeting, the proposal will be publicly rejected."
"How can he do that?" Sakumo said angrily. "Isn't he afraid of public outrage?"
"What's it got to do with him?" Shin sneered. "He won't be the one to speak out against it. He'll even pretend to support it. Someone else will take the fall."
"Koharu?" Sakumo narrowed his eyes and asked.
For the past half year, ever since Tsunade entered the Pharmaceuticals Department, her conflict with Koharu had become completely public. Under Tsunade's aggressive reform push, Koharu had suffered loss after loss and held a deep grudge.
But she was still the head and had backing. If anyone were to stand up and oppose Tsunade, it would most likely be her.
"You're not as dense as I thought." Shin teased.
"You never say anything nice." Sakumo said with mock annoyance.
"Haha, alright, I'll stop teasing you." Shin reined himself in slightly and said, "Now, what do you think of our Hokage?"
Sakumo looked at Shin, whose eyes were covered in bandages and who couldn't see, and asked, "Are you planning something again?"
"You know me, I've always intended to support Tsunade's rise to power. I've been focused on my research over the past half year, so I haven't had time. But now that Hiruzen is making a move, I won't be holding back either. I'll make sure he steps down soon, so I can quietly return to my research."
"What?" Sakumo jumped up, thinking he misheard. "Just because he won't approve her reforms, you're going to make him step down early?"
"Pretty much. Mainly because Tsunade can't bear to see Konoha in decline. And also for the dream Minato had since he was a kid. Let's just say I'm indulging them."
Right now, Shin's main focus was his research. As long as this group didn't interfere with that, he had no interest in dealing with them. Taking a bit of time during research breaks to help Tsunade, it was just a way to pass the time. But if their actions began to interfere with his research progress, then Shin would have to start "researching" them instead. Coincidentally, Orochimaru had been complaining recently about a lack of new test subjects.
"Wasn't your talk about Konoha weakening a bit exaggerated?" Sakumo frowned. "Konoha's development seems pretty good right now."
"Good?" Shin looked like he'd misheard. "What's good about it? The foundation Konoha stands on now was built by the First and Second Hokage. Hiruzen is just a caretaker. It's only because Konoha had such a deep foundation that things haven't gone downhill, yet. But what if this continues for another ten, twenty years? Do you even know what Konoha's current financial state is?"
"How would I possibly know that?" Sakumo muttered.
"Hiruzen has been using 'village development' as an excuse, requesting increasing funds from the Daimyō's office for the past three years."
"Thanks to the new medicines Tsunade and I developed, the Pharmaceuticals Department now does business across the entire shinobi world, and profits have grown enormously. But despite increasing revenue and almost no change in expenditures, Konoha's net income has shrunk year after year. It's on the verge of running a deficit. Do you know what that means?"
Sakumo's jaw dropped in shock as he stared at Shin.
A chill surged up his spine and slammed into the crown of his head.
"It's gotten that bad? Are you serious?" After a long pause, he asked.
"As serious as it gets."
How could it not be? Orochimaru had investigated the matter himself just to secure more funding for his research. Shin had absolute faith in Orochimaru's capabilities.
"This is hard to believe..." Though he was mostly convinced, Sakumo still found the whole situation incredibly disturbing.
"If you still don't believe it, haven't you already been to check on the Sarutobi clan, the Utatane clan, the Shimura clan, and the Mitokado clan? These four clans clearly don't have any real industries, yet they've all been engaged in expansion and construction, growing their clan territories. They're investing more and more in nurturing ninja, and the number of ninja clans keeps increasing, only these ninja haven't been officially registered. The facts are right in front of you. Why are you still so naive?"
Sakumo began to breathe rapidly, trying hard to calm himself down. But the more he thought about it, the more furious he became. His loyalty to Konoha was absolute. He wanted nothing more than to see the village thrive. So how could he possibly tolerate this?
"Did you have to say all this on the day of my wedding?" Sakumo suddenly snapped, realizing something.
"I didn't want to either!" Shin said helplessly. "But today's the only day I'm free. And if I tell you today, it'll stick with you the most, you'll remember my words from today again and again. Of course, I had another reason for coming to you today."
"And what's that?"
"I was afraid you'd die," Shin said bluntly. "We're comrades, after all. I came to save your life."
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200 = +1 bonus chapter
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50+ Advance chapters!
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