Shinji had noticed Naruto's disappearance, too.
But seeing how calm the village was, with no sign of the higher-ups doing anything, he knew it had to be the village's doing and wasn't worried.
Besides, Jiraiya had returned to the village ahead of schedule, so Shinji suspected Naruto's disappearance might have something to do with him.
After all, in the original timeline, Jiraiya had personally put Naruto through special training.
After sending the increasingly excited Shion off to train, Shinji unobtrusively observed the students doing their morning exercises on the training ground.
To avoid standing out too much, Karin had started doing morning exercises too.
She and Haku practiced together in an inconspicuous corner. From a distance, their movements looked natural, and she hardly seemed like someone who had lost her sight.
Neji was training his Gentle Fist against a wooden dummy as methodically as ever, his expression faintly troubled.
Yakumo seemed much cheerier. She practiced with Sakura and Ino, chatting and laughing with them.
After letting his gaze rest briefly on Yakumo, Shinji soon looked away.
He wasn't sure if Tsunade had stopped suspecting something, or if something else had captured her attention.
Either way, she was clearly paying less attention to Yakumo.
Since Shinji was always going to the Medical Team, he heard the news right away: starting today, Yakumo no longer had to go there for daily checkups.
That meant Shinji could try performing a cell transplant on Yakumo to cure her congenital frailty.
But before implanting White Zetsu Cells in her, he needed to transplant into her a dōjutsu Kekkei Genkai that could balance them. Otherwise, if the White Zetsu Cells ran wild, Yakumo's frail body would probably give out on the spot.
To balance the Yang Release Chakra in the White Zetsu Cells, she would need