It clearly did not count as much of a problem.
And if they waited a little longer before investigating, it would already be too late.
It seemed the plan had reached a flawless stage.
Yet none of them noticed that, outside the main gate, a little girl was quietly watching everything happening in the courtyard through a crack.
At that moment, she watched with remarkable calm.
One hand covered her mouth, as though she feared making even the slightest sound.
Though her gaze remained calm,
the confusion, pain, and tears on the verge of falling from her eyes were plain to see.
But in the end, she did not cry. She forcibly held it back, and that was no easy thing.
Her name was Akane Higurashi. She lived here as well and was also a member of this family.
A few days ago, Konoha had suffered an attack from the Sky Ninja, and at the time, she had been studying at the Ninja Academy.
Because the Ninja Academy was protected by many ninja, they had remained quite safe.
For the following days, they had continued living at the Ninja Academy.
It sounded rather unbelievable, but in truth, no ninja found it particularly difficult to accept.
Then today came, and after confirming that the Sky Ninja would not launch another attack,
they were finally released from the layers of protection.
She had rushed all the way here, wanting to let her family know she was safe.
But as she neared her home, she saw several black shadows vault over the courtyard wall and enter her family's yard.
She immediately realized something was wrong.
She quietly sneaked over, wanting to see what had happened.
What she saw next left her utterly shocked. Ranmaru, who usually looked shorter than her and seemed as