When two seats are emptied in blood, ambition fills the vacuum.
"Fool."
"If I kill you, everything you own is ours anyway."
The moment Alaric said those words, the room went dead silent.
Everyone froze.
Homura Mitokado stared blankly, his mind lagging several beats behind what he'd just heard.
"Ah… ah?"
Not only him.
Even Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura exchanged looks, momentarily stunned.
They genuinely hadn't thought of it that way.
They'd actually been weighing whether it was worth sparing Homura.
Turns out—
Age really had dulled their edge.
"Hah! Hahaha!"
"Good—very good!"
The two old men broke into laughter almost simultaneously, looking at Alaric with open approval.
This reaction shattered Homura's last shred of hope.
His face went ashen.
He tried to speak, to beg again—
But this time, Hiruzen and Danzo didn't even give him the chance.
Two ANBU appeared in an instant, sealing Homura's mouth.
At Hiruzen's calm gesture, the office was cleared with brutal efficiency.
The corpse.
The living prisoner.
Every trace of what had just happened.
Within minutes, the Hokage's office looked pristine again—
As if the two advisors had never existed at all.
With the matter resolved, Alaric had no interest in lingering.
Stacks of documents alone were enough to make his head hurt.
He casually nodded to Hiruzen and Danzo, then left the Hokage Tower with Izumi.
Watching his grandson's back disappear, the two elders exchanged weary looks.
"Everything about him is excellent," Hiruzen sighed.
"Except that personality."
Danzo snorted softly.
"That's the best part."
But there was no time to dwell.
Two advisors were gone.
And what mattered now were their families.
"Danzo," Hiruzen said calmly.
"I'll leave it to you."
"ANBU isn't suited for this."
Danzo nodded without hesitation.
"This is exactly what Root exists for."
That very night, Root moved.
Silent. Precise. Absolute.
Both advisor families were surrounded simultaneously.
Before dawn—
They ceased to exist.
Their resources.
Their secret techniques.
Their accumulated wealth.
All of it was absorbed directly into Hiruzen's and Danzo's hands, reinforcing the Sarutobi and Shimura clans even further.
The operation was swift and discreet.
But the disappearance of two major families could never stay hidden for long.
By the next day, the news had spread through Konoha's shinobi circles.
—
Within the Ino-Shika-Cho clans.
After reading the intelligence, Shikaku Nara let out a quiet sigh.
"Business as usual," he said flatly.
"Don't investigate. Don't ask."
"Everything stays the same."
Across from him, Choza Akimichi and Inoichi Yamanaka both nodded.
They understood perfectly.
As long as the Third Hokage remained in power, loyalty to the Hokage faction meant safety.
What was meant to be given would be given.
What wasn't—
You never reached for.
Other minor clans barely even heard the news.
And those who did—like the Aburame and Inuzuka—were firmly aligned with the Hokage anyway.
No one dared react.
—
The mood was very different within the Uchiha Clan.
Inside Naka Shrine, excitement ran high.
After reviewing the report, Fugaku Uchiha and the elders could barely contain themselves.
"You're saying… both advisor seats are vacant?"
"Fugaku, this is our chance!"
"With an advisor position, we finally gain a voice in the village!"
"Yes! It would drastically improve our situation!"
The elders pressed him eagerly, speaking as if the position were already theirs.
Even Fugaku felt the pull.
As Konoha's foremost clan, how could the Uchiha have no advisor representation?
"I understand," Fugaku said after a moment.
"Tomorrow, I'll formally raise the matter with the Third Hokage."
"I'll also have Izumi put in a good word with Alaric."
His gaze sharpened as it swept over the elders.
"Until then, I don't want to hear a single reckless word from this clan."
"This concerns the future of the Uchiha."
The elders immediately agreed.
No one dared treat this lightly.
—
The Hyuga Clan reached a similar conclusion.
Upon hearing the news, both main-branch and branch-family elders gathered.
Compared to the Uchiha, the Hyuga were in a far more stable position.
But stability didn't mean favor.
Especially not with their internal system.
The Cage Bird Seal.
A structure that technically belonged to the clan—but existed entirely outside the Hokage's control.
Main-branch members stayed safely behind the scenes.
Branch members carried out missions under clan orders, not the Hokage's.
From the village's perspective, the Hyuga appeared obedient—
Yet their power remained fully consolidated within the clan.
"How should we handle this?" someone asked.
"Do we compete for the advisor seat?"
All eyes turned to Hiashi Hyuga.
After a long discussion, the conclusion was unanimous.
They would intervene.
If the Hyuga didn't compete, someone else would.
And most likely—
The Uchiha.
Both were dōjutsu clans.
Why should the Hyuga stand beneath them?
"This seat," Hiashi said calmly,
"We will contest it."
The decision made, he rose.
"Tomorrow, I'll speak with the Third Hokage myself."
As night settled over Konoha, one truth became clear—
Two deaths had reshaped the village.
And the real struggle was only just beginning.
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