There seemed to be no changes within the village.
As Sato Hide led him into the village, with voices ringing all around and bustling streets just a hundred meters away, Chiba could not help but fall into thought.
The village gates were now tightly shut, the guards strict enough that they had orders to attack without question. Clearly, something major had happened. Chiba had originally thought there would certainly be some changes within the village—an atmosphere of tension, perhaps—but he had not expected it to be so peaceful. It did not look as if some major incident had occurred, nor did it even look like a village caught up in war.
Although the Third Great Ninja War had not spread into the village itself, they were still at war. No one knew when an army might arrive at their gates. Chiba could still sense a tension within the village that differed from peacetime. While Konoha's civilians retained great faith in the Konoha ninja and were not overly panicked, remaining quite orderly, the frequent daily deployment of ninja and the greatly increased guards outside the village created an invisible pressure that inevitably bred unease.
Yet now, although the village gates were shut, the peaceful atmosphere within was as though it were peacetime. It did not even feel like a major incident had occurred.
Chiba could even read an expression of "contentment and happiness born from peace and stability" in every villager's eyes and faces. They looked nothing like people who had gone through anything.
That was rather strange. The village had issued such an order—attack anyone approaching the closed gates without question. Such an order was generally only possible when something threatened the village's safety.
Yet the villagers were being far too calm.
Had the Third Hokage concealed this matter? But