"Giving them money—isn't that a compromise? Isn't that a form of bowing down and surrendering? Hiruzen, if we pay this money just once, the backbone of our Konoha will never be able to straighten up again."
Arthur's words echoed repeatedly in Sarutobi Hiruzen's mind. He felt somewhat lost, beginning to reflect on whether he had been wrong all along.
Had his political stance over the past few decades been too weak? Did the village need a hardline faction to take over rather than coexistence between the two factions...?
Chapter 34