The monks of the Fire Temple seemed utterly terrified, shouting at Uchiha Shunichi all at once, but none of them got to the point.
"Alright, shut up! You, speak..." Uchiha Shunichi stopped their noisy clamor and casually pointed at a young Fire Temple monk, telling him to speak alone.
That young monk had been speaking with great fervor just now, as though he wanted to vent all his pent-up emotions, but now that Uchiha Shunichi had singled him out, he became hesitant and tongue-tied.
Uchiha Shunichi was not in a hurry. It was perfectly normal for ordinary people to lose control somewhat when they were nervous. Though this was a world of ninjas, not everyone was a ninja.
After waiting several minutes, Uchiha Shunichi finally learned the truth from the young monk.
Two days ago, the Fire Temple had come under attack. The abbot, Chiriku, faced the enemy alone. When he was about to be defeated, he held the enemy back and allowed the monks to scatter and flee.
They were one such group, planning to head to Konoha for help. But they had suddenly been pursued by Rock Ninja along the way. Quite a few monks who knew Ninjutsu had died while covering their retreat, leaving only these few extremely weak monks.
Had Uchiha Shunichi not arrived in time, they likely would have died at the hands of those Rock Ninja as well.
After hearing the young monk's account, Uchiha Shunichi was puzzled. Why was Iwagakure tangled up with Akatsuki? Could it be that the two had truly begun cooperating?
This was not the first time something that deviated from the original story had happened, so Uchiha Shunichi was already used to it. As for the war the monk had mentioned... that was complete nonsense.
Even if a war