Chapter 239: Rights and Responsibilities

 

A stack of documents landed in front of Tonbo.

"Konoha was attacked," Koharu said. "There is more work than the village can presently distribute. You will have to handle all of this."

Homura nodded. "If we were not so short-handed, there would be no need for an Acting Hokage."

Tonbo looked at Shikaku. The Nara wore the same troubled expression, which removed any hope that this was merely an elder's attempt to frighten him.

They began.

Postwar casualty estimates. Funds for repairing damaged houses. Reports of foreign forces moving near Fire Country's borders. Suspected spies within Konoha. Mission contracts endangered by the invasion. Requests from departments that had lost commanders or equipment.

Every problem, from a leaking roof to the possibility of another international war, reached the Hokage's desk.

No file arrived alone. Repairing one district required timber assigned to another. Moving a border squad left a mission route uncovered. Arresting a suspected spy could reveal that Konoha had discovered the channel, while leaving the person free risked another report reaching an enemy. The Hokage's authority consisted largely of choosing which danger the village could endure.

Troublesome.

Tonbo was no political genius. The moment Tsunade returned, he intended to surrender the office before anyone gave her another opportunity to refuse. Any plausible excuse would serve.

The files nevertheless gave him a broad view of the shinobi world. Orochimaru's Konoha Crush had been enough to disturb every border. Neighboring countries were quietly increasing troops. If Konoha showed weakness, another nation might invade before repairs were complete.

Concealing that weakness was Tonbo's first serious test.

His presence as Acting Hokage helped. Foreign intelligence knew the head of Konoha's Analysis Team had chased Itachi, survived, and just returned from an S-rank mission. Without Tonbo visibly controlling the village, rival governments might have become even bolder.

The Land of Water posed little immediate danger. Kirigakure was also weak and could not admit that it no longer had a Mizukage. Lightning and Earth were different. ANBU reports placed new concentrations of troops near both borders, and several smaller countries had begun adjusting their own forces around the uncertainty.

Kumogakure favored direct displays of force. Iwagakure could let supplies and patrol rotations reveal nothing until a full formation was ready. Neither village needed to cross the border immediately. Merely holding troops nearby forced Konoha to divert shinobi from reconstruction and missions.

Tonbo needed the spies' detailed reports before deciding what those movements meant. First he had to learn how to occupy the office at all.

He spent hours meeting ANBU commanders and department heads, learning handover procedures and the codes that separated one branch from another. Each department possessed its own authentication pattern as well as a general command code established under the current Hokage. That division prevented an infiltrator who stole one seal from forging every order in Konoha.

The lesson was tedious and essential.

Tonbo considered using Shadow Clones to divide the paperwork. With Koharu and Homura seated beside him, he decided against it. Hiruzen had never displayed that degree of extravagance with the office's authority. If Danzō heard that the temporary replacement delegated himself into a dozen copies, he would turn it into an accusation. If Tsunade heard it, she might decide Tonbo could manage the job indefinitely.

By night, he returned home and stretched until his back cracked.

Ayame met him at the door and began massaging the tension from his shoulders.

"How is the pressure now that you are Hokage?"

"Acting Hokage," Tonbo corrected. "The pressure is manageable. The documents are the true enemy. Once I learn the routine, it will improve."

The first day had been only an introduction. Tonbo handled simple matters directly. For international problems, he proposed a direction while Shikaku and the elders supplied the detailed political analysis. Their reluctance to hand a newcomer unrestricted authority was useful for once.

"Why has the village not made a public announcement?" Ayame asked. "Shouldn't everyone be told who the Hokage is?"

"The shinobi forces were informed. I am not the official Fifth, so a village ceremony would waste money during reconstruction. When Tsunade returns, they would have to repeat it."

More importantly, a grand appointment might give Tsunade an excuse to say Konoha already had a leader. Tonbo refused to let pageantry trap him in the office.

Tenyu and Maki came from their room.

"Dad, we need to ask you something."

They explained Konohamaru's grief, the conversation they staged at the training ground, and their uncertainty over whether it helped.

Tonbo thought for a moment.

"You did well. In a few days, tell him to meet you at the usual training ground. I will train all of you and give him an ideological lesson while we are there."

Ninjutsu alone had not broken Neji's obsession with fate. Konohamaru's despair was different, and Tonbo believed he could reach it.

His fingers touched the scroll at his waist. It contained cells he had taken from Hiruzen's grave. The theft had required only a brief detour, and the material gave him options the Sarutobi family did not know existed.

"That settles it," Ayame said. "Your father is tired. Go to bed."

The children still had questions. One look from their mother sent them back to their room.

Ayame turned to Tonbo. Her voice softened. "Brother..."

"I understand."

He lifted her into his arms and carried her toward their bedroom. The damaged house and the Hokage's paperwork could wait until morning.

Several days later, Tonbo worked through another stack.

"Konoha housing repair application—approved. Giant animal attacking a Fire Country fishing village—send Team Guy."

He opened the border drafts.

"Tell Lightning and Earth to withdraw the troops they suddenly moved forward. Otherwise, we fight. Tell Wind to declare its position immediately. Otherwise, we fight."

Koharu slammed a hand against the desk. "Do you understand the responsibilities of a Hokage?"

The domestic orders had been precise. Every international answer ended with war. The two elders wondered whether they had misjudged him completely.

"Of course," Tonbo said. "Shikaku agrees with the approach. Konoha is wounded. That is exactly why we must act decisively enough to make them hesitate."

Shikaku inclined his head. "The Acting Hokage is correct. Earth and Lightning do not yet possess reliable intelligence about our remaining strength. Neither will begin a war casually. Strong diplomatic language increases their uncertainty. The words are on paper; the immediate objective is deterrence."

The elders were not fools. Hiruzen's gentler habits had simply shaped their expectations for decades. Once Shikaku explained the bluff, they accepted the reasoning even if they disliked Tonbo's phrasing.

"From now on, the Barrier Team and ANBU monitor every outgoing official message," Tonbo ordered. "Nothing leaves without the special code I establish. A failure to use it will be treated as dereliction of duty."

The threat had to survive Konoha's own spies. If another village learned exactly how many shinobi were dead, injured, or deployed, no aggressive letter would frighten it.

Each department would receive only the portion of the new code it required. Tonbo's order also rotated couriers and compared official departure times with barrier records. He could not eliminate espionage in a day, but he could make every stolen report slower and less trustworthy.

Tonbo preferred to avoid a real war. Once fighting began, events would become impossible to contain. Naruto and Sasuke still needed the path ahead of them, and Urashiki remained absent. The Ōtsutsuki might appear at any moment.

For now, Tonbo would make every rival believe that testing Konoha meant immediate battle.