Taking Office as Head of the Martial Monk Hall!

Ebisu and Genma hurried along the road.

They encountered no danger on the way.

Before nightfall, they arrived safely at Konoha.

The two stopped outside Konoha's gates.

They exchanged a glance, both their eyes carrying a trace of doubt and gravity.

"Let's see what Guy wrote in the letter," Ebisu said quietly.

The two walked to a secluded corner, and Ebisu carefully took out the secret letter Guy had written.

After opening it and reading only a few lines,

their expressions changed drastically!

"That attack was aimed at us? How is that possible?!"

Ebisu blurted out, then quickly covered his mouth.

Genma's expression turned solemn.

"Nothing is impossible! If Guy wrote that, he must have discovered something we overlooked!"

He lowered his voice.

"We need to be more careful lately."

"And we need to tell Uncle Dai about this too, so he can stay on guard and go out less often!"

"Alright!"

Ebisu nodded heavily.

His hands swiftly formed seals, and a small fireball incinerated the letter completely, leaving no trace behind.

Then, the two seemed to think of something.

In unspoken agreement, they glanced toward the dark depths of the dense forest behind them.

It was silent there, with only the rustling of leaves in the night wind.

They looked at each other, then solemnly nodded toward that dark forest.

After that, they turned and quickly entered Konoha through its gates.

Not long after their figures disappeared beyond Konoha's gates,

deep within the forest, on the trunk of a large tree,

a figure almost completely blended into the surroundings slowly emerged.

"They noticed me?"

The figure muttered softly, sounding somewhat puzzled.

"No, those two probably guessed I would follow them."

Moonlight filtered through gaps in the branches and leaves, illuminating the gleaming bald head and gray martial monk robes.