It seemed word of my survival had already spread here through the ninja community.
That made sense.
Since the Third Hokage had vomited blood in grief because of me, it was only right that the first thing I did upon returning was inform him of my situation.
Stepping through the gates of the Sarutobi Clan compound, Chiba followed the direction Biwako Sarutobi had indicated while surveying the clan grounds around him.
A thought naturally crossed his mind. Biwako Sarutobi's reaction just now had clearly shown that she knew he had survived. If even Biwako Sarutobi knew, there was no way the Third Hokage did not.
Moreover, judging by Biwako Sarutobi's manner, it was as though she had expected him to come looking for the Third Hokage. She must have learned of his survival yesterday.
Perhaps...
Though the Third Hokage appeared to have retired, he had not completely withdrawn from Konoha's political system. Since he had learned of my news right away, the Fourth Hokage and the Third Hokage must still share quite a bit of intelligence.
And during the Nine-Tails' Rampage in the original story, the Third Hokage also seemed to have been handling limited administrative affairs, or perhaps reviewing some documents. Clearly, before the Nine-Tails' Rampage, he had still been dealing with certain matters.
Could it be that during the Fourth Hokage's tenure, Konoha had operated under a dual-Hokage system? With the Fourth Hokage taking the lead and the Third Hokage assisting him... sharing the Hokage's burden. Naturally, the Fourth Hokage would still make the decisions, with real power remaining in his hands, while the Third would offer advice and make up for the Fourth Hokage's inevitable lack of experience due to his youth? Hmm...
Though that sounded somewhat far-fetched, it was undoubtedly the arrangement best suited to Konoha's