Naruto put away the appointment letter and asked, "In that case, Granny Tsunade, does that mean I can inherit what my old man left behind?"
"Like the inheritance and the assets and property under his name, and so on."
Tsunade thought for a moment and said, "Regarding the property left by your father, I have already had someone retrieve the asset registration list from the sealed files. It is being inventoried and settled according to the legal order of inheritance, not a single ryo that should be returned to you will be missing."
"The Third Hokage sealed these assets back then to protect you before you came of age, so that you wouldn't be targeted by people with ulterior motives. Now that you have sufficient self-preservation ability, there is no need for the village to keep these for you anymore."
"Thank you, Granny Tsunade."
Naruto did not ask specifically how much inheritance there was, nor was he in a hurry to go and inventory the inheritance left by Minato.
Tsunade nodded. "Naruto, get ready."
Then her gaze turned to Shikamaru and Karin. "Shikamaru, Karin, you two go back first. After the meeting is over, I will arrange your tasks and official appointments together."
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
Shikamaru put his hands back into his pockets and cast a thoughtful look at Naruto before leaving.
What exactly was Naruto's background that would make the Hokage personally announce it publicly at her very first meeting after taking office?
Shikamaru remembered his father's hesitant tone whenever he occasionally mentioned Naruto in the past, and the Third Hokage's subtle protective attitude toward Naruto when he was alive.
He quickly pieced these fragments together in his mind, then decided to stop thinking about it. He would find out after the meeting anyway.
Karin stood in place, feeling a bit anxious. Ever since she came to Konoha, she had been staying with Naruto. Now, suddenly being asked to leave, even if only temporarily, she still instinctively felt a wave of anxiety.
Seeing Karin's expression, Naruto comforted her, "It's alright, Karin. Go take a look at your new house first."
"Haven't you always wanted a room of your own? The house Granny Tsunade arranged for you is definitely bigger than my apartment."
"If there's any problem, just channel Chakra into the Kunai I gave you, and I'll rush over in an instant."
Karin took a deep breath and nodded, then walked out of the Hokage Office with Shikamaru.
As they walked out, Shikamaru glanced sideways at Karin and said in a lazy tone, "Naruto really cares about you. Back in the Ninja Academy, except for Sakura, he never treated any other girl like this."
Karin didn't catch the gossipy undertone in his words and said very seriously, "Naruto is the person who treats me the best."
Shikamaru was choked up by Karin's direct answer. He pulled his hand out of his pocket to scratch the back of his head and decided not to pursue the topic further.
After the two of them left, only Tsunade, Shizune, and Naruto remained in the Hokage Office.
Tsunade had maintained a dignified image of the Hokage in front of Shikamaru and Karin just now, but as soon as the door closed, her posture slumped.
The veins on her forehead throbbed visibly, and her expression shifted from dignified to irritable.
"That old fossil! It's my first day taking office as the Hokage, and he won't even let me have some peace!"
Shizune said, "Tsunade-sama, please calm down. Regarding Elder Danzo, you could actually drag it out a bit. There was no need to clash with him on the very first day."
Naruto looked at Tsunade's furious state and frowned slightly.
He walked over to sit in the chair opposite Tsunade's desk, and asked, "Granny Tsunade, what happened?"
Tsunade took a deep breath to force herself to calm down, then gritted her teeth and explained the whole story.
As it turned out, on Tsunade's first day taking office as the Hokage, before she could even take off her Hokage robe from the inauguration ceremony, Danzo had paid her a visit with two of his trusted Root subordinates.
On the surface, he politely congratulated Tsunade on becoming the Fifth Hokage, but then he shifted the topic to complain, saying that his Root had suffered a devastating blow during the recent Konoha Crush Plan, with a large number of elites killed and their base destroyed.
Now, they were severely short-handed and urgently needed to transfer a batch of new recruits from Konoha's registered ninjas to replenish the Root.
On the spot, he handed over a list with over twenty names, several of whom were rookie Genin who had only recently graduated from the Ninja Academy.
Tsunade refused right then and there. She had just become the Hokage and hadn't even familiarized herself with all the departments in the Hokage Building yet, and Danzo was already trying to poach people while her footing was still unstable. This was clearly testing her bottom line, and also showing her the special status of the Root within Konoha's power structure.
After being rejected by her, Danzo didn't flare up on the spot either. He only said meaningfully, "Since Hokage-sama finds it inconvenient for the time being, I will formally put forward this proposal at the upcoming meeting. I hope Hokage-sama will consider it carefully then."
Having said that, Danzo leaned on his cane and left without looking back.
"This is the first lesson he's teaching me. Proposing the expansion of the Root in front of all the Clan Heads and Jonin during the meeting..."
"If I refuse him there, it would be equivalent to publicly disrespecting an Elder."
"But if I agree, it would be equivalent to telling everyone that I, the new Hokage, can't stand up to Danzo at all."
"No matter what I choose, he can weaken my authority at the meeting."
"That old fossil has played political games his entire life. He knows very well when using a knife is more effective than using pretty words."