Chapter 65: The Meeting – Division of Authority
8:00 AM, Hokage Building
Tsunade sat upright in the Hokage's seat, with Hikari and Shizune flanking her like a pair of loyal guardians. In front of her stood several high-ranking department heads, led by Nara Shikaku, along with clan leaders.
[Sigh... Does Tsunade really have to drag me into these meetings? As a mere chunin, is it even appropriate for me to be here?]
Tsunade filtered out Kamizuki Hikari's internal grumbling. She collected her thoughts and began, "Regarding the decentralization of authority, I gave it some thought yesterday. There are just too many messy documents, and if everything ends up on my desk, it's bound to cause delays. That's not beneficial for Konoha's development. Today, I want to refine the division of authority. What do you all think?"
The assembled department heads and clan leaders remained silent, carefully dissecting her words.
It was Nara Shikaku who finally spoke up. "Tsunade-sama, the Hokage is the leader of Konoha, you—"
"That's not true!" Tsunade interrupted him sharply. "The Hokage isn't the ruler of Konoha. The Hokage is someone recognized by the shinobi of the village. Whether it's me or the previous Hokage, we are all just a part of Konoha."
It sounded nice, but the reality was that the Hokage held the greatest authority. Now that Tsunade was willingly delegating power, no one was about to refuse.
"Since there are no objections, let's proceed. First, the Intelligence Division—Yamanaka Inoichi and Morino Ibiki."
"Here!" The two men stepped forward.
"The Intelligence Division has always performed well under your leadership, so I won't interfere. From now on, your primary duties will involve pre-mission investigations and interrogations of spies. Unless the intelligence pertains to S-rank matters involving the other Great Nations or involves jounin-level threats, you will have full autonomy in decision-making."