Inside the Hokage Office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stood there, gazing thoughtfully at the two maps laid out on the desk.
One was a large map of the entire Shinobi World, while the other was a map of the Land of Grass that also included part of the Land of Fire's border.
"Lord Hokage."
Feng Ye entered the Hokage Office.
Seeing Feng Ye come in, Hiruzen Sarutobi emerged from his thoughts, his furrowed brow easing slightly. "Looks like you returned safely. Are you here to report on the situation in the Land of Grass?"
Feng Ye said gravely, "I encountered a large number of Stone Shinobi in Shimotsuki Town in the Land of Grass. There were probably over a hundred of them. There were too many to investigate closely, and their objective is unknown for now."
"That is Iwagakure's advance force."
Hiruzen Sarutobi was not surprised in the least. Konoha's scouts stationed in the Land of Grass had sent back intelligence on that force long ago.
Looking at Feng Ye, Hiruzen Sarutobi said with some relief, "You did very well. You did not rashly attempt to gather intelligence on the Stone Shinobi. Many young shinobi suffer for lacking caution, and may even lose their lives..."
For geniuses like Feng Ye and Kakashi, what concerned people was not the growth of their strength, but their judgment of the situation and of their own abilities.
A massive shinobi force of more than a hundred people would include many sensory-type shinobi. Gathering intelligence without being noticed would be extremely difficult, while recklessly probing for information would only place oneself in danger.
Once surrounded by a shinobi force of that size, not only Feng Ye—even his disciples Orochimaru and Jiraiya would face enormous danger.
Feng Ye had also guessed that Hiruzen Sarutobi most likely already