At that moment, Uchiha Yato's deep, magnetic voice reached everyone's ears like a thunderclap splitting the sky.
The other members of the sealing squad, who had been focused on their work, were startled by the sudden words. They all looked up and turned their gazes toward the sealing squad leader standing at the front.
At the same time, the sealing squad leader sensed the shift in the atmosphere. He slowly turned his head and followed everyone's line of sight.
There stood the highly respected Third Hokage—Hiruzen Sarutobi—holding a delicate, gourd-shaped bottle in one hand. His mouth was slightly open as he put something into it.
Looking closer, the bottle contained round little pills!
That was right. After the harrowing battle, Konoha's usually imposing and unflappable leader had immediately begun regulating his chaotic chakra.
Yet who could have expected the Seven-Tails' sudden burst of power to crash against Hiruzen Sarutobi's mental defenses like a surging flood?
In an instant, his chest tightened, as though an invisible hand had gripped his heart. He could not help but suck in a sharp breath.
At that critical moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly recalled the bottle of Quick-Acting Heart-Saving Pills that Uchiha Yato had given him earlier.
Without hesitation, he pulled the tiny bottle from his robes, opened it, quickly poured out a pill, and placed it in his mouth.
But fate seemed to enjoy making fools of people. Just as he was about to swallow the pill, he realized that everyone around him had somehow fixed their gazes on him.
For that moment, time seemed to freeze. Hiruzen Sarutobi's weathered face instantly flushed red, and his expression became incredibly complicated—embarrassment and discomfort mixed with a trace of barely suppressed irritation.
Faced with the curious stares of so many subordinates, the Third Hokage, who was known