[Night.]
[Konoha, Hokage Rock.]
[A figure stood atop the Third Hokage's face on the Hokage Rock.]
[A cold wind brushed against his face.]
[Blowing the youth's long golden hair.]
[Overlooking all of Konoha, Naruto felt a slightly different sensation in his heart.]
[Below, everything was in chaos.]
[Konoha's alarms blared.]
[Countless Ninjas were mobilized.]
[After stabilizing their own clans, the various clan heads immediately sent people to assemble.]
[After giving their orders, the clan heads rushed to the roof of the Hokage Building to gather.]
[Hiruzen Sarutobi stood on the roof of the Hokage Building, his aged face incredibly gloomy.]
[Having just finished the previous day's work and planning to take a small rest, he was startled awake by the sound of an explosion coming from the Root Organization.]
[Enemy attack!]
[The Konoha Ninjas, almost all of whom knew what had been happening lately, had expressions more unsightly than the last.]
[Retaliation has come.]
[The impact of the Land of Waves incident.]
[Konoha's greed was too unsightly; one of the Four Great Shinobi Villages finally couldn't stand it anymore.]
[It wasn't surprising that they would have such a thought immediately.]
[After all, many such rumors had appeared both inside and outside the village recently.]
[Initially, most Konoha Ninjas didn't take it seriously.]
[This is Konoha!]
[The great village of the Will of Fire!]
[How could it possibly do such things?!]
[Besides, getting rid of Gato was for the good of the people!]
[Konoha being targeted wasn't a first or even a second occurrence.]
[This time was just a different flavor; in the end, they would find it was the same old story.]
[With the Strongest Hokage in Konoha, there was no need to worry; as long as Lord Third Hokage was still around, no one would dare bully them.]
[To their surprise, the Konoha High Council had actually issued a unanimous order for Ninjas abroad to return to the village.]
[Oppressive! Incredibly oppressive!]
[The hearts of most Ninjas sank.]
[This time it was an explosion at the Root Organization, rumored to be the darkness of konoha.]
[If the enemy has this kind of strength, then... what about next time?]
[This was a warning... otherwise, the exploding tags wouldn't have been thrown there.]
[Panic! Total panic!]
[Everyone had different thoughts.]
[Many people thought back to the previous exposure of the Root Organization.]
[Combined with recent events... a sense of foreboding rose in the hearts of the Konoha Ninjas.]
[Could it be... the Land of Waves incident... was also Konoha?!]
[Rumors from the outside said the darkness of konoha killed Gato and swallowed most of his assets.]
[The Four Great Shinobi Villages didn't get much, leading to an unfair distribution.]
[Similarly, many details were embellished; even the suddenly appearing information about Gato spread through Konoha as if it had wings.]
[Is war coming again?]
[Of course, there were many versions.]
[But the mainstream view was that Gato's business in the Land of Waves was inextricably linked to the darkness of konoha.]
[Many intelligence organizations had come forward to speak out.]
[Yet Konoha remained peaceful, as if no one knew.]
[In Konoha, however, the rumor was a different version.]
[The former Hokage Assistant, Danzo Shimura, ignored the rules, meddled in the politics of other nations, and committed murder out of greed...]
[However, Danzo Shimura's faction insisted that they hadn't touched Gato at all.]
[The assets had also vanished into thin air.]
[In short, it was all because of Danzo Shimura; after causing trouble again, he hid in his underground shelter.]
[Both Danzo Shimura and Hiruzen Sarutobi were fuming over this.]
[Both sides insisted it was the other's fault.]
Senju Tobirama: "This move was played well."
Senju Tobirama: "The only pity is that it was exposed too early."
Senju Tobirama: "It would have been better to add a few more chips."
Orochimaru: "That's not entirely correct."
Orochimaru: "Black-framed Naruto-kun is merely returning the favor."
Orochimaru: "He's even being kind enough to remind Teacher Sarutobi once again."
Orochimaru: "After the last incident, almost none of these fools understood his intentions."
Orochimaru: "If people can't teach people, fine, but if even events can't teach them, then such a Konoha... Heh~"
Surprisingly, not one of the F4 came out to retort.
[Without any surprise.]
[By the latter half of the night, it was confirmed to be another false alarm.]
[Hiruzen Sarutobi waved tiredly, dismissing the grim-faced clan heads.]
[He then instructed the Anbu Ninja and the Konoha Military Police Force to stay on high alert.]
[After handling all the aftermath.]
[Hiruzen Sarutobi seemed to have aged several years.]
[He was truly, truly exhausted.]
[He really wanted to rest for a while.]
[But the scrolls and documents he had just barely cleared today...]
[...after one night, they hadn't decreased but had instead increased, and there were even more than before.]
[One might have thought Konoha was embroiled in war again.]
[And this night was destined to be sleepless.]
[With the people in a state of panic, Hiruzen Sarutobi was exhausted, yet he could only force himself to continue working; after all, he didn't trust anyone else.]
[And the newly added scrolls and documents were all urgent.]
[This resulted in Hiruzen Sarutobi pulling another all-nighter.]
[His murky old eyes were bloodshot.]
[His temper grew irritable, and his reactions became more sluggish.]
[Naruto stood on the Hokage Rock all night.]
[No one noticed him.]
[Only after Konoha Village quieted down in the latter half of the night did he leap down.]
[He glanced at the brightly lit Hokage Building, where people were working overtime through the night again.]
[The corners of Naruto's mouth curled slightly.]
[This little gift is just an appetizer; it's not over yet.]
[Then, the moment he landed, Naruto vanished from the spot.]
[Buzz—]
[He came softly, and he left softly.]
[Without making a sound.]
[No one expected that someone had been watching from the Hokage Rock all night.]
[After Naruto left the Hokage Rock, the night, which should have been a beautiful full moon, was obscured by dark clouds.]
[Busy at work, Hiruzen Sarutobi could no longer maintain his image and grew irritable.]
[Shouts and curses from Hiruzen Sarutobi could be heard from time to time within the Hokage Building.]
[He didn't notice at all that his precious live-streaming tool—the crystal ball—was gone.]
[On the other side.]
[At the entrance to the Root Organization's underground base.]
[Danzo Shimura walked out, leaning on his cane, his face cold.]
[Behind him, countless Root Organization Ninja were cleaning up the mess.]
["Who was it?"]
["Kumogakure or Sunagakure?"]
[Crack—]
[Danzo's hand gripped his cane tightly.]
[His old face turned.]
[His gaze shifted toward the brightly lit Hokage Building.]
[He narrowed his eyes slightly.]
["Could it be... Hiruzen?"]
[It wasn't surprising he would think so.]
[After all, there had been several similar situations before.]
["Could Hiruzen have found out?"]
[Danzo frowned, pacing back and forth.]
[The Root Organization had been bombed before, suffering heavy losses.]
[Then, just a few days later, the Anbu side was also bombed.]
[But...]
[If one were to compare the losses...]
[...the Anbu's losses were almost equivalent to zero.]