Naruto: Six Paths of the Senju Family

"Hokage-sama!"

Hatake Sakumo, dressed in ANBU uniform, pushed open the door of the Hokage's office and saluted Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Sarutobi Hiruzen came out of his trance and waved his hand at Hatake Sakumo.

"Sakumo is here!"

"There are no outsiders here, so you don't need so many etiquettes!"

Hatake Sakumo remained unmoved, and after performing the courtesy respectfully, he slowly straightened up and nodded lightly to Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"yes!"

A trace of relief flashed in Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes, he nodded slightly to Hatake Sakumo and said:

"You! You are just too rigid."

"Sometimes I feel that you are more polite than people my age."

"You are Konoha's White Fang, you don't have to be so reserved in front of me."

Hatake Sakumo shook his head slightly, with a smile on his lips under the mask.

"The Sandaime is the Hokage of the village. As the captain of the ANBU under Hokage, I naturally have to maintain enough respect for Hokage!"

Sarutobi laughed, looking relieved.

"Okay! Of course I know your loyalty to Konoha. Otherwise, no one would invite you over!"

Hatake Sakumo nodded slightly, his face under the mask showing no emotion.

"Since you are already here, then go out with me."

"Take off your clothes and go with me to meet His Excellency the Daimyo."

Sarutobi Hiruzen gave instructions to Hatake Sakumo, picked up the Hokage hat on the table and put it on his head.

"yes!"

Hatake Sakumo quickly took off the mask and cloak on his head, revealing a resolute face under a head of silver hair.

Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded, took the pipe in his hand, and stepped out of the door of the Hokage's office first.

…

The Fire Nation's conference room in Konoha is located in the northwest of the village. Except for Sarutobi Hiruzen, who occasionally comes here to attend Fire Nation meetings, few people come there.

Sarutobi Hiruzen led Hatake Sakumo along the way, and soon arrived at the door of the Fire Nation conference room.

Two guards brought by the Fire Nation's daimyo were standing on the left and right outside the door.

Hatake Sakumo stepped forward and bowed to the guard conference room.

"Excuse me, please tell me that the Third Hokage has been invited to meet with the Daimyo!"

By coincidence, one of the guards was the ninja guarding the daimyo who had been in the conference room and witnessed everything.

Oki Hatake Sakumo nodded slightly and returned the salute. He glanced at Sarutobi Hiruzen with a look of pity in his eyes, stepped back sideways, and extended his hand towards the conference room.

"The Daimyo-sama has already told me that the Sandaime can just enter directly!"

"The daimyo and all your lords have been waiting for a long time!"

When Sarutobi Hiruzen saw the look in the guard's eyes, he suddenly felt a bad feeling in his heart. He stretched out his hand and pressed the hat, slightly hiding his expression, and stepped into the door of the conference room.

Hatake Sakumo followed closely behind, and the guard did not stop him. He just smiled politely at the famous Konoha White Fang.

Sakumo was a little confused and didn't understand why this guard's attitude towards Hokage-sama and himself were completely different.

Smiling back at the guard, Hatake Sakumo frowned slightly and followed Sarutobi Hiruzen in.

In the spacious and bright conference room, everyone in Konoha and officials from the Fire Country sat opposite each other at a huge long oval table.

The Daimyo of the Land of Fire sat at the head of the long table. There was a lone chair on the opposite side of the long table, which was obviously a seat prepared for Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Hearing the sound of Sarutobi Hiruzen and his two men entering the conference room, the dozen or so people present turned their heads and looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen with indifferent, calm, or sarcastic eyes.

Sarutobi Hiruzen saw clearly the identities of the people sitting on the long table, and felt a little more bad in his heart.

Looking at it in order, from right to left:

Uchiha Fugaku, the Hyuga brothers, a businessman wearing glasses, Sarutobi Hiruzen did not know. Next to him were Orochimaru, Tsunade, and...

Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly felt cold in his hands and feet when he saw the woman sitting next to Tsunade.

Although he seemed much younger, he still recognized the familiar red hair and noble temperament at a glance.

Uzumaki Mito!

The wife of the first Hokage, the former Jinchuuriki who had already died during the Nine-Tails transfer process!

A huge sense of absurdity appeared in Sarutobi Hiruzen's heart, and even the rope tree sitting under the daimyo ignored it.

"Mito-sama?"

"Didn't you already..."

Uzumaki Mito nodded expressionlessly, his eyes fell on Hatake Sakumo, and he showed a slightly apologetic smile to the junior who once took care of Tsunade.

"Yeah! It's Sakumo!"

"I didn't expect Hiruzen to bring you here. I didn't prepare a seat for you in advance. It's really rude!"

Hatake Sakumo naturally knew the identity of Uzumaki Mito, and upon hearing this, he quickly gave a junior salute.

"Mito-senpai is serious!"

"Junior, just stand!"

Mito nodded slightly, looking away from Sakumo and falling on the Fire Country Daimyo.

"Now that everyone is here, let's start!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen watched Uzumaki Mito behave like a master, and his heart slowly sank.

He slowly walked to the other end of the long table and sat down facing the daimyo.

The Fire Country Daimyo communicated with the noble officials with their eyes and nodded to each other.

The daimyo cleared his throat and said to Sarutobi Hiruzen:

"Sandaime!"

"I invite you here this time to ask for your opinion on the future allocation of funds from the Country of Fire to Konoha Village!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was deep in thought, was stunned. He did not expect that the topic of this meeting would be the issue of military expenditure.

Sarutobi Hiruzen breathed an inexplicable sigh of relief, stretched out his hand to raise the pipe to his mouth, but suddenly remembered that something was wrong about the situation, and hurriedly put the pipe back into his cuffs.

Frowning slightly, Sarutobi Hiruzen made a puzzled expression on his face and asked the Fire Country Daimyo:

"Your Excellency Daimyo, don't we already have an established plan for Konoha Village's military expenditure issue?"

"Is there anything else that can't be changed?"

The Daimyo of the Land of Fire waved his small fan in a leisurely manner, sighed softly and said:

"well!"

"To be honest, there is a pest among the top brass of the Fire Country."

"I have embezzled most of the military funds that should have been used to subsidize the Leaf Village. I am truly ashamed of myself!"

"Although the pest has been found, due to his identity, the military expenses lost to corruption will never be recovered!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked startled and looked at the Daimyo nervously.

"Then the military expenditure of Konoha Village next year..."

The Fire Country daimyo shook his head and said regretfully:

“Not just next year!”

"After my discussion with a group of nobles, we have decided to halve the military expenditures allocated to the Leaf Village starting from this year."

"Until you make up for the past losses, then slowly return to the original amount!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression suddenly changed.

"No!"

"Your Excellency Daimyo, the village is an important foundation of the country's military strength, and the ninjas are the top priority in guarding the Land of Fire. Military expenditures must not be reduced!"

"Otherwise, the ninjas will not be able to enjoy the subsidies they deserve, which may have a huge impact on the Fire Country!"

The daimyo's expression also changed, he snorted and threw the stack of information over with his hand.

"snort!"

"I think half of the military expenditure is enough to provide the allowance for the ninjas of Konoha Village!"

"It's just that you can get less oil and water out of it!"

"Am I right?"

"Chief Sarutobi!"

The last four words, the name of the Fire Country almost gritted his teeth and squeezed them out word by word.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was startled. Regardless of the daimyo's strange aura, he reached out and picked up the stack of information and swept it away. His expression suddenly changed.

Lines of information about his misappropriation of military funds were completely recorded in familiar handwriting, tearing apart the disguise on Sarutobi Hiruzen's body bloody.

Sarutobi Hiruzen trembled his beard, his eyes fixed on Orochimaru.

"Orochimaru!"

"You actually used the power I gave you to investigate me?"

"Is all this part of your plan?"

"You have been plotting against me since four years ago. You are indeed my good disciple!"

A trace of disdain flashed in Orochimaru's eyes.

"The moment you acquiesced to Danzo's attack on the rope tree, you were no longer my teacher!"

"Naoki is my disciple and Tsunade's biological brother. Why are you so cruel?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen was stunned and looked at the rope tree sitting under the daimyo's hand, with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

"It turns out that all this is because of you!"