As Fujika, Yakumo, and Hotaru burst into Sougen's office, our Assistant to the Hokage was in the middle of a private…well, all right, he wasn't up to anything shady. He was simply discussing whether to raise the village's security alert level with his assistant Kabuto Yakushi and Uchiha Ransan, the Deputy Head of the Security Department.
Even though the news of the Fifth Hokage's temporary blindness was tightly sealed, it's hard to keep a lid on such things. As the Hokage, the village's pillar, his absence was bound to cause issues if it persisted. Were it not for Akimichi Tafu's occasional sick leaves in recent years, the village would have been far less stable. Still, this isn't a situation that could just be brushed under the rug indefinitely.
Until a more final decision was reached, they needed to be wary of any troublemakers attempting to exploit the situation.
"Yakumo, Fujika, Hotaru…you all…" Sougen looked questioningly at the girls who had barged in.
Come to think of it, none of them even knocked—typical Fujika. Yakumo and Hotaru would never do such a thing.
"Big brother! Someone's following Yakumo!!" Fujika shouted excitedly before Sougen could say another word.
"What?" Sougen was taken aback.
"Huh?" Yakumo, too, was stunned by Fujika's sudden statement. Her eyes widened as she looked at the back of Fujika's head, mulling over whether to whack her impulsive friend.
"Yakumo, someone's following you?" Uchiha Ransan, seated on the sofa, raised an eyebrow. "Isn't Ironfire in charge of security around the Academy? Looks like he's not quite up to par with Inaho. Perhaps it's time for a personnel shake-up…"
Uchiha Ransan pondered, his mind already whirling with ideas for restructuring the Security Department. Sougen had given him complete control, aside from the title of Department Head.
"Daring to tail my student? Can't believe someone in Konoha has such nerve!…I'd like to see which joker's behind this."
Sougen chuckled, though his laughter sent a shiver down Kabuto's spine as he served tea to the girls. Something about the situation felt…off. His intuition told him there was more to it than met the eye.
And soon enough, his hunch proved to be accurate.
"Um, Sensei, wait, it's not what Fujika said…you're misunderstanding," Yakumo said hurriedly, pulling herself out of her contemplation over whether to smack Fujika.
"I'm not being followed. It's just that I've felt like I was being watched, first at the Academy and then shortly after leaving school. It was like someone was staring at me from a high vantage point…"
"Isn't that the same thing as being followed?" Uchiha Ransan, however, grew even more puzzled after Yakumo's explanation.
"I told you, it's not!"
The young girl was exasperated; why couldn't they understand?
"It might not even be Yakumo," Hotaru, who had been silent, spoke up. "Among us, Yakumo's senses are the sharpest. Even Ino and Hinata can't match her unless they activate their special techniques. If someone was indeed watching, it may not necessarily have been Yakumo they were targeting."
"Exactly!" Yakumo nodded eagerly, validating Hotaru's words.
"I felt it twice—once at the Academy and once in front of a bookstore. During those times, Fujika and Hotaru were with me, as were Hinata, Ino, and Sakura. Naruto and Sasuke were also nearby, and I couldn't pinpoint who exactly was the target."
"Also, it wasn't the ANBU assigned to Naruto. I sensed…how do I put it? Malice, yes, a malicious intent, but not killing intent."
—It might not even be Yakumo!
The matter seemed to grow more complicated.
Whoever had this level of skill—sneaking into the village undetected and watching Naruto and the others without alerting ANBU—well…if it were anyone else saying this, the credibility would be questionable. But Yakumo was different. She was no longer the fragile child confined to a hospital bed or a wheelchair.
With the refined energy provided by Samehada, she had overcome her former frailty and was beginning to fully realize her remarkable potential.
Her spiritual energy was so immense that it had stunned Sougen upon their first meeting.
Yakumo now…how strong she had become was hard to say. But Sougen placed great trust in her words.
"Could it be…someone aiming for the Nine-Tails? The Hidden Cloud? The Hidden Rock? Or maybe the Hidden Sand?" Uchiha Ransan guessed the most likely target based on Yakumo's observations. After all, there was precedent; the previous Nine-Tails jinchuriki had almost been kidnapped by the Hidden Cloud. So, another attempt wouldn't be surprising.
"Is it that idiot Naruto?"
"Is Naruto the target?"
The girls looked over at Sougen, who sat calm and collected behind his desk, seemingly unperturbed.
"Not necessarily."
Sougen shook his head.
After realigning his thoughts, two names surfaced in his mind—Uchiha Obito and Orochimaru. Very few people in the shinobi world could move in and out of Konoha as easily as those two.
However, he quickly dismissed Orochimaru, leaving Obito as the most likely culprit.
As for whether Naruto was the target…it probably was. The Nine-Tails would be a crucial element. But then again, it could be someone else. Could it be Fujika, Yakumo, or even Hotaru? Using his sister or students to threaten him seemed unlikely…but who knows?
After all, the nature of the method matters less than whether it achieves its purpose.
Uchiha Obito had long since lost his sanity; if he deemed it necessary, he would drag the entire world into hell. In fact, wasn't that the very goal of the Eye of the Moon plan?
"Alright, Yakumo, Fujika, Hotaru. I understand. Leave this to me, and head home for now," Sougen said, dismissing the matter without further discussion.
"Aw, come on, Big Brother, you haven't even…"
"Yes, Sensei."
"Then, Sensei, we'll be off!" Yakumo and Hotaru took Fujika by the arms and ushered her out, gently closing the door behind them.
"Sougen, about this situation…" Uchiha Ransan looked over. "What did you mean by 'not necessarily'?"
"Just a baseless hunch. But yes…we should increase the village's alert level. Not openly, but we need to bolster covert security, especially around the Academy. I'm counting on you, Ransan."
"That's doable, but as you know, my people are skilled in direct combat, not so much in shadowing. This seems better suited for the ANBU; the results might not be great without them," Ransan replied honestly.
"Now isn't the time to involve the ANBU."
Sougen tapped his fingers on his desk. ANBU was the Hokage's most important card. Akimichi Tafu was willing to delegate many responsibilities to Sougen, but he held tightly onto the ANBU.
"Will this be effective?" Kabuto asked, raising an eyebrow.
Sougen and Ransan merely glanced at him with understanding smiles. Why? Because Kabuto was Sougen's confidant. His talent was unquestionable, a strategic mind comparable to the Nara clan's best, plus top-notch medical skills and combat ability. With Nonou Yakushi's support, Sougen had no concerns about Kabuto's loyalty.
Thus, trusted subordinates as capable as Kabuto Yakushi were quite rare, which is why he had risen so quickly to such a high position, becoming a close confidant of Sougen.
"It's probably not very useful, honestly. With Konoha's current defensive strength, we can handle most minor threats, but when it comes to top-tier shinobi... truthfully, even the highest level of vigilance might not be enough," Sougen said casually.
"So all this is just for show?" Kabuto asked.
"Half and half, I'd say. It's hard to predict how long Lord Hokage can hold out, and there are always greedy people in the world. But you're not wrong; this is partly just for show. Although Yakumo's senses are sharp, it's hard to say if she'd be able to detect a top shinobi observing from the shadows…"
Kabuto furrowed his brow, sinking into thought. "Then, could it be that the enemy is deliberately leaking their presence? But if that's the case, why? To mislead us from their real target? To spread out our defensive forces in the village? Or do they have another goal entirely...?"
After thinking it over for several seconds, he sighed, saying reluctantly, "It's too difficult, Lord Sougen. The information we have is too limited to draw any conclusions, and even if we did make a guess, we wouldn't know for sure what the enemy's intentions were. We don't even know who they are… for now, it seems we have no choice but to wait."
"No problem. If you're interested, Kabuto, I'll leave this to you—investigate and see if you can find anything useful," Sougen replied, unconcerned. Some threats couldn't be fully guarded against. If someone skilled in time-space jutsu intended to attack, Sougen himself wasn't worried, but not everyone he cared about would be able to defend against such an attack.
This was why he had refrained from taking action against the Hidden Rain Village over the years.
He believed that if he acted, it would have to be decisive and final.
"Though the Rinnegan… that's really tough to get," he thought to himself, sighing. The Rinnegan was even more elusive than he had imagined. He had caught a glimpse of its incredible power but still couldn't reach it. No wonder they said, "The mountain may look close, but it's a deadly distance to run." This "sacred mountain" truly was difficult to conquer!
Still,
He hadn't wasted the past five years; even though he hadn't obtained the Rinnegan, that didn't mean he was stuck at a bottleneck.
"I understand. I'll try to see if I can uncover anything," Kabuto agreed, intrigued.
He was never one to sit idle. That restlessness was what led him to join the police force in the first place. Though protecting his adoptive mother had been his biggest wish, people change—and once old wishes are fulfilled, it's only natural for new ones to take their place.
"Anyway, keep alert and watch the village closely. Since someone's set their sights on Naruto and the others, it wouldn't be surprising if trouble comes knocking soon," Sougen said, turning to look at the setting sun outside the window. His instincts told him that trouble might already be stirring in the darkness.
And perhaps it was about time.
There had been peace for nearly five years, but given the current circumstances, some movement was understandable. After all, the future had already changed. Yes, the future was no longer set in stone. No one said the "story" had to wait until Naruto and his classmates graduated to truly begin.
Everything—
Everything had already changed.
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