Konoha Notes

Chapter 125 Warning
As time went on, delegations from Amegakure and Takigakure arrived in Konoha one after another.

When the people from Amegakure arrived, Shuji happened to pass by the reception area. His gaze swept over the unfamiliar faces of those wearing Amegakure headbands and mostly looking reserved. He didn't find anyone noteworthy, so he stopped paying attention.

The Cloud Village team arrived ten days before the start of the exam, led by Jonin Tsuchida.

Among the genin, Shuuji only had a vague impression of a boy named Nozomi, with light yellow hair and keen senses—who seemed to be a capable assistant to the future Fourth Raikage.

It seems that Kumogakure also had a probing mindset regarding this first joint exam with Konoha, and did not send out all its elite forces, only sending Hijiri as a figurehead.

The Sand Village, which arrived first, had an unremarkable lineup of genin, as if they were just there to make a brief appearance.

Although I was mentally prepared for the days of dealing with Chiyo, the constant tension still brought a bit of fatigue.

During a brief respite from a negotiation, Shuji decided to temporarily set aside his busy affairs and wander around the village to clear his head.

Before he knew it, he was nearing the Uchiha clan's territory. Remembering that he hadn't seen Itachi for a while, he turned and walked in naturally.

Perhaps because he had come so many times, or perhaps because Fugaku had indeed given him some instructions, the Uchiha clan members did not give him much scrutiny when he appeared. Most of them just glanced at him briefly and then paid no more attention.

The atmosphere within the clan's territory seemed slightly more relaxed than before, but the deep-seated reserve and sense of boundaries still remained.

Before Shuji went to Sunagakure, the village had already been arranging for the Uchiha to enter the Anbu, and that arrangement had been finalized.

The idea of ​​Uchiha members joining the Anbu was initiated by the village before his mission to Sunagakure, and it now seems to have been initially implemented. According to Tsunade, the resulting vacancies in the police force will be filled after the Chunin Exams.

Not far into the Uchiha clan's territory, Shuji spotted two familiar figures at a street corner.

Itachi Uchiha and Izumi Uchiha were walking out of a house.

Izumi bowed and softly bid farewell to the person inside the door, while Itachi stood quietly to the side. Only after she finished speaking did they turn around together.

"Itachi," Shuuji greeted, then nodded to the girl beside him, "Hello, Izumi."

Having been Itachi's captain for so long and having visited the Uchiha clan's territory several times, he had also seen Uchiha Izumi.

When Izumi saw Shuji, a hint of surprise flashed across her face, but she quickly broke into a bright smile: "Ah, it's Shuji-senpai."

"Senior, what brings you here?" Itachi asked.

"I had some free time, so I came to see you." Shuuji's gaze swept over the two of them, finally landing on the door that had just closed. "Looks like you two were busy?"

Izumi smiled a little embarrassedly and explained, "We just came to visit Aunt Misa. She hasn't been feeling well these past few days, so we came to bring her some things."

Itachi nodded slightly, confirming Izumi's words, and then turned to her and said, "Izumi, let's stop here for today."

"Alright." Izumi knew the two might have something to say. "Then, Itachi-kun, Shuji-senpai, I'll head back now!" She waved to them and turned to leave with light steps.

Shuji didn't start walking until Izumi's figure disappeared at the end of the street. Itachi quietly followed half a step behind him.

"How are the preparations going?" Xiu asked casually.

"The Chunin Exams are no problem, senpai," Itachi replied, then added, explaining the situation, "Izumi came to visit Aunt Misa; her husband is a member of the police force's logistics unit. I came along to help find out more."

Using natural interpersonal interactions like those of Quan as cover for conducting indirect investigations is indeed more discreet and less likely to arouse suspicion than deliberate probing.

Xiu Si understood and asked, "How are you feeling?"

Itachi was silent for a moment, as if he was organizing his thoughts. When he spoke again, there was a hint of emotion in his voice that was hard to detect: "I never noticed before that not all people in the clan are immersed in the clan's narrative. There are many people who are more concerned with their actual lives."

"Whether the job is stable, whether the pay for the task can support the family, and the future development opportunities for their children in the village... these seem to be the topics they talk about more often."

“They seemed no different from the rest of the village.”

The boy raised his head and looked at the azure sky above the streets of the clan's territory, cut apart by the eaves, and said softly, "Senior, I seem to be... also a rather narrow-minded and arrogant person."

Shuji didn't answer, but simply reached out and gently patted the top of his head.

“Senior Anko came by a few days ago.” Itachi suddenly changed the subject, his tone regaining some of his usual calmness. “She said that during your mission to Kusagakure this time, it seems that… you did something extraordinary.”

"Hmm? She came here too?" Xiu Si raised an eyebrow slightly.

“Yes. She said that since you had a mission, she came over herself… to check on my preparations for the Chunin Exams,” Itachi replied.

Didn't she tell you what happened?

"No. Senior Red Bean just smiled meaningfully and didn't tell me what exactly happened."

Shuji's lips curved into a very faint, almost imperceptible smile: "It's nothing, we just snatched someone from Kusagakure."

Itachi stopped in his tracks, looked up in astonishment, and his usually calm black eyes widened slightly: "Snatching someone?" "Yes." Shuji continued walking forward, as if talking about something trivial, "A woman."

Itachi: "...?"

He followed in silence, seemingly taking a moment to process the overly concise yet information-rich answer. The air fell silent for a moment, save for the soft echoes of their footsteps on the street.
-
"The unusual movements of Kusagakure and Konoha?"

As Kakuzu prepared to leave the Amegakure area, the news he reported reached Obito Uchiha's ears.

The fact that the attack on the Cloud Village delegation only caused such a small commotion was something that Obito Uchiha couldn't quite understand.

The war had already broken out, and all the ninja villages except Sunagakure had mobilized, yet it ended so hastily.

Unable to find a better opportunity to intervene immediately, he could only continue to lie low while investigating the locations of the Jinchūriki in various countries.

Originally, the commotion in the mere Kusagakure village wouldn't have attracted his attention at all. But the highly targeted cleanup operation that followed from Konoha's Roots made him sense something unusual.

"Speaking of which, that little place called Kusagakure seems to have some interesting things hidden inside," Zetsu's voice rang out from the side.

"Oh?" Obito Uchiha's voice came through the vortex mask, revealing no emotion.

"That's the Six Paths Ninja Tool called the Box of Bliss. The Sage of Six Paths once tried to use it to absorb all the despair in the world, leaving only hope," Black Zetsu said in a hoarse voice from the side of his body.

"Heh." Obito Uchiha chuckled, his Sharingan beneath the mask slowly rotating, filled with sarcasm at the statement.

Leave hope? Look at this hypocritical, painful, and hopeless world, it's laughable.

"And then?" he asked casually, treating it as a boring story.

“It failed. The overwhelming accumulation of despair gave birth to a monster called ‘Enlightenment’,” Zetsu said.

“Enlightenment? Monster?” Obito repeated in a low voice, his Sharingan beneath the mask slowly rotating.

It seems... much more interesting than watching the boring Chunin Exams.

His figure began to distort, slowly merging into the void.

"Since I'm bored anyway, I might as well go take a look."
-
Inside Konoha Village, in the Hokage's office.

The noise outside the window seemed to be blocked out by the heavy curtains, and the room was filled with the smell of tobacco and old paper.

Of all the ninja villages that received invitations and confirmed their participation, only the delegation from Kusagakure has yet to appear.

Danzo Shimura stood before the Hokage's desk once again.

"How's the investigation into the situation in Kusagakure coming along?" Hiruzen Sarutobi put down his pipe and got straight to the point.

Danzo's voice was low: "According to the latest intelligence from Root, Kusagakure has been unusually quiet recently."

"Their previous almost frantic large-scale capture of rogue and wandering ninjas has completely ceased. The entire village seems to have entered a state of internal reorganization or dormancy, and the control of external passages has become extremely strict."

"Currently, Kusagakure has basically stopped accepting any external commissions and has cut off most of its regular contact with the outside world."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's brows furrowed slowly, the wrinkles deepening like ravines.

This is not good news. If Kusagakure only noticed Konoha's provocation and chose to back down, the most reasonable course of action at this moment would be to send out the participating teams as usual and pretend that nothing had happened.

Konoha wouldn't deliberately investigate anything.

The current situation is less about restraint and more about preparing for something, especially the refusal to accept commissions, which clearly indicates that they are about to launch a big operation.

It happens to be this time...

"Regarding the Box of Bliss," Danzo continued, "based on various clues, its most likely hiding place points to Hozuki Castle, an overseas prison under the jurisdiction of Kusagakure."

"I have dispatched my most elite personnel, skilled in stealth and reconnaissance, to infiltrate and investigate, but so far there has been no breakthrough. The defenses and seals there are more stringent than anticipated."

After listening to Danzo's report, Hiruzen Sarutobi made a decision: "No matter what, we must not let our guard down and must prepare for the worst-case scenario."

"Pass down the order: effective immediately, raise the alert level in all border areas bordering the Land of Grass."

"Double the number of patrol teams, increase the frequency of reconnaissance, and activate all highest-level surveillance and sensor barriers!"

"Especially at this sensitive time when ninjas from all the villages are gathering in Konoha, we must ensure that any potential risks are completely kept out of the village."

"We must not allow any unexpected events to disrupt this Chunin Exam!"

(End of this chapter)