Have I grown old?
Meanwhile, in the temporary Hokage's Office, the Third Hokage withdrew his hand from the crystal ball atop the pile of documents on his desk and let out a soft sigh. He picked up the smoking pipe beside him and took a deep drag, his face revealing traces of melancholy and worry.
Just moments ago, he had used the Telescopic Ninjutsu to search for Chiba's whereabouts, but the crystal ball had shown no reaction at all, as if Chiba had vanished into thin air.
Or had something happened to Chiba?
After a puff of smoke, the hand holding the pipe began to tremble slightly. The Telescopic Ninjutsu locked onto and investigated a person through their Chakra. Only by knowing the characteristics of their Chakra could one track them.
Now that he could not track him, the situation was exceedingly troublesome.
Based on the nature of the Telescopic Ninjutsu, there were three possibilities if it failed to track someone. First, a Barrier might be blocking its investigation. Second, the target's Chakra might be so weak, below a certain normal threshold, that the Telescopic Ninjutsu could not detect it. Third, the target might already be dead, leaving no Chakra to track.
Of those three possibilities, none was something the Third Hokage wished to see.
Not even the first possibility—a Barrier that seemingly had little direct relation to Chiba himself.
After all, being inside a Barrier capable of blocking the Telescopic Ninjutsu meant being trapped. Chiba himself had not mastered any particularly powerful Barrier Jutsu, and being trapped was, in a sense, no different from death.
It was even more dangerous than death.
"Chiba... that child should be all right... He should be..."
Thinking of this, the Third Hokage could not help murmuring under his breath, a faint stiffness crossing