Sincere and Genuine

Still no news?

In the Defense Force commander's office, Watanabe Kenshin looked over all the intelligence gathered that day, his brow tightly furrowed as a trace of anxiety rose in his heart.

A full month had passed. Twelve days had gone by since his deputy commander had suggested sending out a search team every day, yet neither the search units nor the Anbu members borrowed from the Hokage had found any trace of the enemy or anything suspicious.

Every day—every day for the past month—the pressure on his shoulders had grown heavier.

After all, he knew how important this Annihilation Plan was to the village. If it failed, not only would the village be invaded, causing irreparable consequences, but the situation at the front could collapse as well. Konoha would suffer total defeat—a complete and utter defeat. Konoha itself might even be wiped from existence.

"Lady Yukina, could I trouble you to deliver this scroll to Dun, who's in charge of today's shift change?"

Taking a small breath, Watanabe Kenshin forcibly suppressed his agitation, pulled out a scroll, and looked to his left.

At that moment, a slightly smaller desk stood to the left of his own, positioned at a perfect ninety-degree angle to it. Aside from being a little smaller than his desk, though, it was piled even higher with documents, practically burying the deputy commander behind them.

"Mm."

Upon hearing Watanabe Kenshin, a pretty, refined young girl emerged from behind the thick stacks of documents. As she moved, her smooth black hair swept through the air in a beautiful arc.

After answering, the girl promptly took the scroll. At the same time, she handed three scrolls to Watanabe Kenshin and said, "Commander, these contain all of today's intelligence, personnel transfer records, and the compiled actual arrival records for