Morning light filtered in as Konoha welcomed a brand-new day.
The children of the Ninja Academy walked along the streets in twos and threes. Some yawned, some excitedly chatted about amusing things from the night before, while others quietly munched on breakfast rice balls.
Yet as they made their way to school, they found the village unusually strange today. The streets, normally bustling with people, were now more than half empty, while a dense crowd had gathered before the notice board in the distance.
A few particularly curious students tried to squeeze into the crowd, but the adults' backs blocked them completely. All they could hear were waves of angry shouting.
"Damn it! What happened?" One student stood on tiptoe to look, but he still could not see anything.
"Forget it. If we waste any more time, Iruka-sensei will make us stand as punishment again." His companion tugged at his sleeve.
Sure enough, an unsettling tension filled the air, as if the entire village were shrouded beneath some invisible pressure. Several upperclassmen exchanged glances and silently quickened their pace. At a time like this, it was best not to get involved in adult matters.
Shikamaru, his hands in his pockets, strolled along at the very back. Yet his sharp gaze had already taken in every oddity on the street. He had been forced to take leave yesterday. Though he had been extremely unwilling, it had not been Shikaku Nara's request, but the request of several other elders.
"Just as I thought..."
Just as Shikamaru expected, Naruto Uzumaki, Uchiha Hui, and Sasuke had not come to school today. Combined with the villagers' unusually furious mood this morning and Shikaku Nara's failure to return home all night, every clue pointed to the most likely answer—the upper ranks of Konoha had run into