The hall had not fully recovered from the earlier clash.
The air still carried heat.
Homura folded his hands together.
"As the Grand Elder mentioned," he began steadily, "supplies at the Mist border were delayed. Reinforcements were not dispatched."
He paused.
"The majority of our forces are required at the Cloud border."
The name alone carried weight.
Several jonin straightened.
No one denied the pressure from the Cloud.
Homura looked toward Grand Elder Setsuna.
"It is regrettable," he added.
An Uchiha jonin stepped forward.
"Reinforcement can be understood," he said firmly. "But why were supplies not sent?"
A murmur ran faintly through the hall.
That question could not be avoided.
Homura exhaled once.
"We attempted to assign delivery missions."
Silence.
"However… not many shinobi were willing to take them."
His eyes shifted slightly.
"At the same time, Uchiha participation in village missions declined."
A few clan heads glanced at each other.
High-risk missions.
Low acceptance.
The mission hall had been strained.
Grand Elder Setsuna did not blink.
"Elder Homura," he said calmly, "are you implying that shinobi already fighting at the border should carry their own supplies?"
His voice carried no anger.
That made it heavier.
Homura shook his head.
"That is not what I said."
He straightened slightly.
"Completion rates for missions above B-rank have dropped sharply in the past month."
The hall grew quiet again.
"Pending contracts increased. Manpower was stretched thin."
He paused deliberately.
"The delay at the Mist border was a consequence of that."
The silence that followed was uncomfortable.
Because everyone understood.
If the Uchiha had continued accepting missions—
Perhaps the strain would have been lighter.
Homura looked directly at Setsuna.
"Many of these issues began from a point I believe the Uchiha are aware of."
The room stilled.
"But now it is affecting the core of the village."
His tone hardened slightly.
"For this reason, misunderstandings must be cleared. We must stand together."
The words were reasonable.
The pressure beneath them was not.
The clan heads slowly turned their attention toward the Uchiha side.
They all knew what "that point" referred to.
The day the Uchiha stepped away from the shinobi's duties.
The day they turned toward commerce and started calling themselves the merchant clan.
Before the silence could grow any longer—
Toyoma spoke.
"Elder Homura."
His voice was calm.
"It is wrong to shift this burden entirely onto the Uchiha."
He did not raise his tone.
He did not move aggressively.
"The fracture began when the White Fang's S-rank mission was leaked to civilians."
The words fell hard.
A few jonin stiffened visibly.
"If the village cannot maintain secrecy over its highest-class missions," Toyoma continued evenly, "then how do you expect clans to feel secure?"
His eyes moved across the hall.
"Trust was lost that day."
He paused.
"Whether you admit it or not."
No one answered.
The jonin present remained silent.
And that silence—
It was louder than any rebuttal.
The hall did not erupt this time.
It simply grew heavier.
Because this accusation—
Was not childish.
It was remembered.
And no one in the room could deny that it had happened.
Tsunade looked at the faces of the higher-ups.
They had no answer.
That angered her more than Toyoma's words.
The White Fang's death…
It had not only shaken the village.
It had shaken her.
Senior White Fang had been an inspiration.
A shinobi who gave everything.
And in return—
He was branded a sinner.
The memory still felt bitter.
She looked toward the clan heads.
From Nara… to Hyuga… to the smaller clans.
The same expression.
Disappointment.
Quiet, restrained disappointment.
This time, Sensei… you made a mistake, she thought. And now the entire village is paying for it.
She stepped forward.
"The White Fang incident was deeply disheartening," Tsunade said, her voice steady but firm.
"Let me make this clear."
Her gaze swept across the hall.
"As long as I stand in Konoha, no such incident will happen again."
The hall grew still.
"This is my promise to every clan and every shinobi present here."
The words were not loud.
But they carried weight.
Not just as an elder.
But as the granddaughter of the First Hokage.
Several shinobi visibly relaxed.
Jiraiya stood immediately.
"I make the same promise," he said firmly.
"From this moment onward, we will ensure the utmost secrecy of all high-level missions."
He glanced toward the clan heads.
"You have our word."
A few clan heads nodded.
"If both Elder Tsunade and Elder Jiraiya say so… then we have no further concerns," one of them said quietly.
The tension eased slightly.
Homura observed the shift.
"Since this matter is clarified," he said calmly, "the village will prioritise sending supplies and reinforcement to the Mist border immediately."
His eyes moved toward the Uchiha side.
Grand Elder Setsuna did not smile.
"And what of the losses the Uchiha have already suffered?" he asked evenly.
"Will that simply be overlooked?"
The relief in the hall tightened again.
Koharu closed her eyes briefly.
When will they stop adding new conditions… she thought coldly.
The Third Hokage straightened.
"All sacrifices made during wartime will be recorded," he said firmly.
"Shinobi and their families will be compensated accordingly."
His gaze remained on the Uchiha.
That was the official stance.
Toyoma spoke before silence could settle.
"Third Hokage," he said calmly, "this time the Uchiha want a clear promise."
He stepped slightly forward.
"In the previous two wars, Uchiha contributions were not credited properly."
A murmur stirred faintly.
"Whether in recognition… or in reward."
His eyes locked onto Hiruzen.
"We do not care about fame."
His tone did not rise.
"But we demand that Uchiha shinobi and their families receive mission rewards according to proper standards."
He paused.
"In front of everyone here."
The request was not emotional.
It was formal.
And public.
As Toyoma finished speaking, he looked around.
The people around him were looking back at him.
Saying nothing.
The silence settled for a moment.
"Uchiha, don't you think you are making too much unnecessary trouble?" Tsunade asked, looking directly at Toyoma.
The words made him sound as if every problem in Konoha belonged to the Uchiha alone.
"There are many other important and necessary discussions regarding the ongoing war," Tsunade continued, glancing toward Elder Setsuna and Kazuto.
"You are listing hundreds of problems your clan is facing. These matters can be discussed later."
Other clan heads and jonin nodded in agreement.
To many present, the Uchiha were making too much noise.
Reasonable perhaps.
But poorly timed.
Elder Kazuto noticed the gazes from various clan heads and from Tsunade.
He felt slightly embarrassed and looked at Toyoma, silently asking him to stop.
We can ask for our reward after the war ends.
Why do you have to ask it now, Toyoma? He thought as he glanced between Toyoma and the Grand Elder.
Toyoma caught Elder Kazuto's embarrassed gaze.
He gave him a small, reassuring smile.
Then he looked back at Tsunade.
"Elder Tsunade, don't look at me like that," Toyoma said calmly.
"This may seem like a simple or common matter that can be handled after the war. But for the Uchiha, these things are important now."
His expression grew more serious.
"From rewards of previous war contributions to the salary of the Uchiha Guard Force — these small and common payments have slowly become a luxury for us."
A faint murmur spread.
"Because of the embarrassment of asking the village about them, our leaders and elders did not press the issue."
His gaze sharpened.
"But I will not let this continue."
Then he looked at the Hokage and the elders.
"It is like this," he continued.
"If a jonin completes a mission and submits it, the village pays him. That is standard."
He paused.
"But in the Uchiha's case, our missions were completed… yet the rewards did not come."
The Third Hokage's face tightened slightly.
"Now it feels as if we are beggars," Toyoma said, his voice lowering, "asking for our own mission completion reward from the village."
That made the Hokage and the elders visibly uncomfortable.
"I don't know if it made the Hokage and his group feel superior —
holding back the Uchiha's rightful rewards for their contributions and duties —
or if it simply became a habit."
His anger was rising now.
"But no more."
His eyes locked onto the Hokage.
"If you cannot even fulfil something this basic, then forget about expecting respect for the title you hold from the Uchiha."
His words came faster now.
"We spit on the titles that allow such disgusting and thieving behaviour."
For a second—
No one breathed.
The temperature in the hall seemed to drop.
Chakra pressure flared sharply from the Hokage's side of the table.
Several jonin instinctively straightened.
Even the clan heads stiffened.
"Uchiha brat!" Tsunade snapped, stepping forward.
At first, while listening to the complaint, she had felt a little ashamed of her teacher and the council.
But now Toyoma's words had crossed into open disrespect.
She had to stop it.
Toyoma inhaled slowly.
"I apologise for my wording," he said, though his expression did not soften.
"But Elder Tsunade, and clan heads present here, just think about what I said."
"These are common duties of a village leader. If they cannot even complete something this basic, how should we feel?"
His jaw tightened.
"When I think about it, my anger increases."
He looked directly at the clan heads and jonin.
"If this had happened to your clan, you would react the same way."
He paused.
"But because it happened to the Uchiha… you choose to ignore it."
Tsunade heard Toyoma's words and turned toward the Uchiha elders.
Both Grand Elder Setsuna and Elder Kazuto were looking at Toyoma with calm, understanding gazes.
She exhaled slowly.
So they agree with him…
"Sigh… what Toyoma is saying is blunt,"
Elder Kazuto finally spoke, stepping forward, "but it is true."
That changed the weight of the room.
From Toyoma, it sounded rebellious.
From Kazuto, it sounded painful.
"As absurd or petty as it may sound coming from the Uchiha," Kazuto continued, looking toward the clan heads, "these things were happening."
His voice was steady.
But there was embarrassment in it.
Several clan heads looked at him more seriously now.
"In the previous meeting, you all heard about our many years of payment delay for the guard force. Even though we chose to ignore it."
His voice did not rise.
"If Toyoma had not mentioned it today… Perhaps we would have continued ignoring things like these."
He paused.
"All clans receive basic allowances from the village as a matter of course," Kazuto said quietly.
"Many of those… the Uchiha did not."
He looked at the Third Hokage directly.
And this time—
The silence was different.
The Hokage felt it.
The gazes on him were no longer respectful.
They were uncertain.
Questioning.
For a moment, Hiruzen felt very old.
He closed his eyes briefly.
Then exhaled.
"Sigh… Uchiha elder," he said slowly, "for these acts of negligence, I am sorry."
The apology stunned several people.
"I deeply regret them."
He straightened.
"And I understand that your clan does not fully trust me."
He looked toward the jonin and clan heads.
"So let me make something clear to everyone present here."
The room grew completely silent.
"During my tenure as Hokage," Hiruzen continued, "I have made many mistakes."
His voice was steady.
"I regret them."
Tsunade stiffened.
Jiraiya frowned.
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed slightly.
"But after this war concludes," Hiruzen said, his tone firm now, "I will not delay for much."
He paused.
"I will call for an election for the next Hokage."
The words struck like a physical blow.
"And I will step down."
For a second—
The hall forgot how to breathe.
Tsunade stared at him.
"Sensei—"
Jiraiya looked equally shocked.
Even Orochimaru's usual composure flickered.
When they were summoned back, they assumed there was tension in the village.
But this was worse—
The foundation of Konoha itself was cracking.
Leadership during wartime was being cornered by its own people.
Authorities were being questioned.
'Just what have you done, Sensei…'
Tsunade thought as she looked at him.
Her fingers curled slightly at her sides.
For years, she had defended him in her heart and believed that whatever he did… was for balance.
But standing there now—
Watching him apologise.
For the first time—
She wondered if the Hokage seat was wrong for him.
Orochimaru, however, did not look at Hiruzen for long.
His gaze shifted slowly toward Toyoma.
'I never thought someone could turn you into the common enemy of the village, Sensei.'
His eyes lingered on the Uchiha youth.
'How can a young boy push a Hokage into publicly surrendering authority?'
The earlier insult no longer mattered to him.
There was no recklessness in this boy's actions and wording.
"So this is how it happens… a few carefully chosen words, and even a Hokage becomes the village's enemy." Orochimaru thought
And that—
It was far more dangerous.
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