After sitting in silence all night, Sarutobi Hiruzen finally sent people to gather everyone.
A council meeting. He had "smelled" bloodshed on the horizon.
There was no denying that the "Shinobi Hero," restored to his youth, truly had drive and resolve.
He did not even use Ninja Hawks to summon them.
Instead, he sent his personal Anbu to "invite" them one by one.
"Lord Hokage requests your presence."
Every Jonin and member of the High Command who received the invitation immediately grew serious and hurried to the Hokage's office building.
"Holy shit?! What happened?!"
"No idea. Looks urgent, though."
"Whatever, let's go inside first."
Without something urgent, the Third Hokage would never have rushed like this—having Anbu personally come to invite them was no small gesture.
If they had not been told everyone was coming,
they would have fucking thought they were in trouble.
After all, who the hell had Anbu show up at their door first thing in the morning?
Scared the shit out of them.
The wooden windows of Konoha's council hall stood half open.
The eight o'clock sunlight filtered through the window lattice, casting mottled patches of light and shadow across the floor, yet it could not dispel the oppressive atmosphere inside.
On the arena defense map spread across the table, densely packed red dots marked the seats of the various nations' Kage and Daimyo.
"What's that?!"
Patrol routes traced in blue crisscrossed and intertwined like a net stretched over a blade.
On another map of Konoha, the security perimeter, patrol schedules, and defense arrangements were clearly marked.
"Holy fuck?! An arena patrol map and Konoha's defense map!"
"Fuck, I'm blind. Didn't see a thing."
"Me neither. I didn't see anything either."
"Holy shit?! Are we even allowed to see something this classified?!"
"What is Lord Third