Meanwhile, in the Yamanaka Clan, Ino's father, Inoichi Yamanaka, stood in the middle of the crowd and deliberately coughed twice. Only after drawing everyone's attention did he say, "Please remain calm. We have already sent ninja to investigate the cause of this incident, and I believe there will be results soon. However, to prevent any further accidents during this time, I ask that everyone remain where they are and refrain from moving around. This is not because we suspect anyone. I believe everyone hopes to uncover the cause as soon as possible."
Though that was true, the half-threatening tone still made quite a few people frown. However, the situation was not in their favor, so most chose to cooperate. As for the rest, they offered no opinion.
Within the crowd, Omoi scanned the contestants around him as though searching for something. In the end, his gaze settled on Kurotsuchi from Iwagakure.
With everyone on high alert, Omoi's completely undisguised actions stood out rather conspicuously.
Noticing Omoi's gaze, Akatsuchi casually used his enormous body to block Kurotsuchi from view, then gave Omoi an "honest" smile with his large face.
Yet Omoi did not back down in the face of the warning. Instead, he took several steps forward, looking as though he had something to say.
Seeing this, Kurotsuchi patted Akatsuchi's arm to signal that she would be careful, then stepped out from behind him and looked at Omoi before asking, "What do you want with me?"
Omoi nodded slightly. "I don't know whether you saw what happened earlier, but that Konoha contestant—the red-haired medical ninja—seems to have discovered something serious. Her mental state isn't very good right now, though. Since I'm a man, it would be inconvenient for me to ask, so I'd like to ask Miss Kurotsuchi to help question