When authority mistakes indulgence for weakness, blood becomes the answer.
"Al–Alaric Sarutobi?!"
"What are you trying to do?!"
As Alaric stepped right up to her, Koharu Utatane visibly flinched.
Moments ago, she'd still been shrill and self-righteous. Now, her tone shifted instinctively, fear leaking through every syllable.
Alaric's gaze locked onto her.
Cold.
Indifferent.
Predatory.
A chill crawled up Koharu's spine, from her heels to the crown of her head.
Beside her, Homura Mitokado hurriedly tugged at her sleeve, desperately signaling her to stop talking.
But Koharu was already in too deep.
After stammering out a few forced rebukes and realizing Alaric hadn't reacted at all, she steadied herself, mistaking silence for restraint.
She turned sharply toward the two men seated behind the desk.
"Hiruzen! Danzo?!"
"You're just going to sit there?!"
"Look at your precious grandson!"
"He doesn't respect us elders at all—"
She didn't get to finish.
Smack.
The sound cracked like thunder inside the office.
"Crack—!"
The force of the slap was so violent that Koharu's head spun a full circle—three times—while her body remained frozen in place.
Bones snapped audibly.
With a sickening twist, her head came to rest facing Homura, eyes wide open, pupils locked onto him in eternal disbelief.
Her body collapsed a heartbeat later.
Dead.
The room went deathly silent.
Homura stood frozen, his mind blank, staring at the corpse beside him.
Alaric shook his hand lightly, as if brushing off dust.
"Enough yapping. You're loud as hell."
"I thought you dragged me here for something important."
"Out of courtesy, I call you an 'advisor.'"
"If I stop being polite, I bury you."
"Did you really think you were something special?"
Homura's legs gave out.
He collapsed onto the floor with a dull thud, his earlier arrogance completely gone.
"Yes—yes—Young Master Alaric is absolutely right!"
"It was all her! Koharu was jealous of the Sarutobi and Shimura clans!"
"She deserved it! Truly deserved it!"
"I'm sorry—so sorry to trouble you into acting personally!"
He bowed again and again, his voice trembling as he grovelled.
Alaric didn't even bother looking at him.
As for Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura—
They acted as if nothing had happened.
When Alaric struck, both of them had coincidentally turned to look out the window.
The office, apparently, had an excellent view.
Seeing this, Homura finally understood.
Koharu was dead.
And no one was going to hold Alaric accountable.
Whatever ambitions he'd harbored as an advisor evaporated instantly.
All that mattered now was surviving long enough to walk out of this building.
Power means nothing if you're dead.
Advisors only exist while they're alive.
As Koharu's lifeless body lay on the floor, a system notification chimed softly in Alaric's mind.
[Ding! Killed a Konoha advisor in front of the Hokage]
[Fusion Rate +5%]
Alaric frowned slightly.
"Only five percent?"
"Tch. What a waste."
Killing that old hag wasn't even worth as much as humiliating a couple of brats.
His gaze slowly shifted.
It settled on Homura.
One advisor was worth five percent.
Two would be ten.
That would push his fusion rate straight to fifty percent.
Alaric had a feeling—
At fifty percent, his power would undergo a qualitative leap.
And really…
If one was dead already, what difference did another make?
He was already here.
As Alaric's killing intent flickered, Homura felt it instantly.
Cold sweat poured down his back.
He'd seen it clearly—
That fleeting glance had been death.
Panic overwhelmed him.
He scrambled toward Hiruzen and Danzo, voice cracking.
"Hiruzen! Danzo!"
"My entire clan—everything we own—it's all yours!"
"I don't want the advisor position anymore!"
"I want nothing!"
"Please—please let Alaric spare my life!!"
Hiruzen and Danzo exchanged a glance.
Both of them hesitated.
After decades as advisors, the Mitokado clan's accumulated assets were nothing to scoff at.
They weren't comparable to the Sarutobi, but still far beyond most minor clans.
Before either of them could decide—
Alaric laughed softly.
A short, amused sound.
"Fool."
"If I kill you," he said lightly,
"Everything you own is still ours."
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