Jiancheng and Lanyu listened as Akaseki told them what had happened in Kumogakure.
They had known for some time that Akaseki had yet to return, so they had vaguely suspected something about Kumogakure's "Eight-Tails Night" eight days earlier. However, Sarutobi had never officially informed the Uchiha Clan, saying only that Akaseki was carrying out an important village mission. Until now, they had not known the details. "So it really was Orochimaru..." Jiancheng nodded after hearing him out.
Jiancheng had also only guessed that Orochimaru was the "mastermind."
He knew that Akaseki had been "on an important classified mission for over two months," that "the Eight-Tails had then gone berserk in Kumogakure," and that "Orochimaru, who was extremely skilled in sealing techniques, had previously accompanied Akaseki on his mission to the Land of Iron." Those facts had led him to that conclusion.
Now it had been confirmed...
Then Jiancheng remarked, "Kumogakure suffered that badly?"
Seeing his reaction, Akaseki thought the clan head might have friends in Kumogakure...
"They had it coming!"
"Exactly! Hahaha!"
Akaseki: ...
All right. Judging by the clan head and Clan Elder's gloating, Akaseki had clearly been overthinking it.
"Ahem. Akaseki, you took considerable risks yourself. Get some proper rest today, and starting tomorrow... train hard!" Seeing that Akaseki was still there, Jiancheng reined in his gloating and gave him a solemn reminder.
"Hm? Yes, sir." Akaseki was a little puzzled. First he was being told to rest, so why had that suddenly turned into a warning not to slack off?
Still, Akaseki did not dwell on it. He had intended to train hard anyway...
"You've been in Kumogakure lately, so you haven't heard, have you? Not only has your Wind Pressure Technique been widely taught, but... over the past month, Tsunade also successfully invented a new medical