As expected of the Third Hokage. He had noticed something as minor as a deep breath.
Hearing that, Chiba looked up, then answered, "Yes."
"Thud... thud... thud..."
Then came the sound of footsteps on wooden stairs.
Why did these stairs feel like they had such a long history?
As he climbed step by step, that thought rose in Chiba's mind.
"Creak... creak..."
Just as that thought crossed his mind, other sounds gradually mixed in with the thudding of his feet on the steps.
Uh...
These stairs really were old.
The corner of Chiba's mouth twitched slightly. The sense of age was not merely a feeling—it was real.
Come to think of it, compared to the Hyuga and Uchiha, the Sarutobi Clan was not only extremely low-key within the village, but even their clan grounds were understated.
As that realization settled in, Chiba recalled the Sarutobi Clan's buildings he had seen along the way. Compared with the Hyuga and Uchiha, put kindly, they possessed a sense of history. Put less kindly, they were old—very old. There were practically no new buildings to be seen, and the paint on every doorway pillar was chipped and mottled, as if the entire complex had received virtually no renovation since the day it was built.
This had genuinely taken Chiba by surprise. The Sarutobi Clan was one of the village's major clans. Being low-key outside was one thing; perhaps it was their way of doing things, keeping their heads down and focusing on their work rather than anything else.
But even the place where they lived looked this old. It was indeed the grounds of a major clan, and the complex was quite large, on the scale of the Hyuga and Uchiha within the village. Yet though it was not dilapidated, its aged appearance truly