It had only just grown dark, and Uchiha Itachi still had not waited for Uchiha Shisui to arrive. Much less had the two of them reached the point of summoning giant mechs and beating each other up.
After dinner and a brief rest, the Third Hokage returned to his office. On one hand, Konoha still had a mountain of messy paperwork waiting for him. On the other, given Konoha's current situation, he needed to remain on duty for long hours.
Besides, he would not be able to sleep even if he went home. He might as well stay and work. Just look at that work ethic—something all working people ought to learn from. Still, it was not the long hours of overtime that mattered. The grief in his heart and his mental exhaustion were the main reasons the Third Hokage looked so listless. For the entire day, the ember glowing in the pipe between his lips had never gone out.
The Third Hokage had originally thought today would be another ordinary day spent amid a tense atmosphere. But the instant he walked into his office, he realized that something was wrong.
Whether one liked it or not, while the governing abilities of those who became Hokage might vary, their combat awareness as top-tier ninja was certainly not lacking. When the Third Hokage stepped into the familiar surroundings of his office, where nothing seemed to have changed, he immediately sensed something out of place and became appropriately vigilant.
Unfortunately, no matter what, a little time was needed between noticing something unusual and taking the correct countermeasure. If someone had tried to assassinate the Third Hokage directly, things would have been fine, because he would have counterattacked at once. His strength was right there in the open, after all. Whoever came, he