Kawaki Aoba nodded and continued inspecting the defenses.
Sunagakure's attack was only the beginning. More danger was sure to follow.
But he was not afraid. He was not fighting alone. Might Guy, Haruno Sakura, Yuhi Shinku, and countless Konoha Ninja would stand with him to protect Konoha and the people they cared about.
Just then, Nara Shikamaru arrived at the east gate. He spotted Kawaki Aoba, walked over, and patted him on the shoulder. "Aoba, thanks for the effort.
You did well in that fight."
"Shikamaru, you're here."
Kawaki Aoba smiled. "We owe you for finding the puppet controller. Otherwise, we wouldn't have dealt with those puppets so quickly."
"It was nothing. I just did what I was supposed to do."
Nara Shikamaru scratched his head, looking resigned. "Still, I'd rather not go through that again. What a pain.
Oh, Shinku asked me to tell you that Lord Hokage has heard about Sunagakure's attack on Konoha. He wants us at the Hokage Office immediately to discuss our defenses and what we do next."
"Got it."
Kawaki Aoba nodded. "I'm almost done with the inspection here. Let's go to the Hokage Office now."
"Okay."
Nara Shikamaru nodded, and they headed toward the Hokage Office together.
On the way, Kawaki Aoba asked, "Shikamaru, why do you think Sunagakure attacked Konoha out of nowhere? What are they after?"
Nara Shikamaru thought for a moment. "I don't know.
But my guess is they want resources, or they're taking revenge on Konoha.
Sunagakure lost to Konoha in the last great ninja war. They've held a grudge ever since, and they might have seen a chance to strike back."
"Revenge?"
Kawaki Aoba frowned. "If that's true, Sunagakure won't stop here. We need to be ready for whatever they do next."
"Right."
Nara Shikamaru nodded. "But we