On the rooftop of the Hokage Building.
The Third Hokage stood with his hands clasped behind his back, silently gazing at the village before him.
The setting sun on the western horizon had completely disappeared. One dazzling light after another lit up across the village beneath the night sky, their multicolored glow bathing it in prosperity.
Everything seemed perfectly ordinary, as though this were just another normal night.
"Ah..."
After letting out a soft sigh, the Third Hokage shifted his gaze toward a distant corner of the village.
That was the Uchiha Clan's compound. From afar, it too was brilliantly lit, with no visible sign of anything amiss.
But for the Third Hokage, who had lived through three great ninja wars, he could vaguely sense the discord between the Uchiha Compound and the rest of the village by instinct alone.
Whoosh...
With a rush of wind, an Anbu-clad ninja landed beside the Third Hokage and reported, "Lord Third Hokage, the Tsuchikage and Kazekage have reached the rendezvous point, but the Raikage's party and the Mizukage's party have not arrived as agreed!"
The Third Hokage's face darkened. "What!?"
According to the plan, the Four Kage should have turned around and headed back to Konoha at noon. They should have reached the secret rendezvous point around five or six in the afternoon. Yet night had already fallen, and the Raikage's and Mizukage's parties had failed to arrive on time. Something had clearly gone wrong.
The Anbu said, "We have already dispatched people to search for them, but the Four Kage planned their own routes, and we were not informed of them. For now, we have found no trace of the Raikage's or Mizukage's parties."
"Could it be the Akatsuki?"
The Third Hokage's heart tightened as a troubling possibility surfaced in his mind.