Meanwhile, elsewhere, in the underground chamber of the Konoha Intelligence Office.
"Third Hokage, sir."
Gently setting down the document in his hand, the intelligence ninja caught sight of a figure emerging from the hidden door. He hurried out of the document area and stepped forward, bowing at a forty-five-degree angle as he respectfully greeted him.
"You've worked hard."
The figure slowly emerging beneath the ample lighting of the underground chamber nodded lightly and spoke.
"Third Hokage, sir, why have you come here? We were about to deliver the intelligence to the Hokage's Office. We're sorry to have troubled you with making the trip yourself."
Hearing this, the intelligence ninja's face showed a trace of shame.
From his words, it was clear that the intelligence ninja felt he had gathered the intelligence too slowly, to the point that the Third Hokage could no longer wait and had come to inspect it personally.
This was his dereliction of duty.
"No, please do not mind it. I was simply a little too impatient."
The Third Hokage naturally noticed the intelligence ninja's self-reproach and hurriedly replied.
"Yes!"
The intelligence ninja promptly answered.
However, the shame on his face did not fade much. He still appeared deeply self-reproachful.
The Third Hokage took a light drag from his pipe, a flicker of a sigh passing through his eyes, but ultimately said nothing more.
Soon, his attention was drawn to the object placed in the center of the underground chamber.
"Is this what was excavated?"
Almost instantly, surprise flashed through his eyes, and his expression turned grave.
At that moment, to the intelligence ninja's left and directly before him, there stood something like a morgue table. Upon it lay a humanoid, wooden mummified object—something that could have been either a corpse or a carving.
"Yes! This is