Besides, the Third Hokage and his people had gathered so many Anbu and Root members so quickly. Didn't that make it obvious they had known something had happened in the Land of Whirlpools all along?
What was the point of coming over now and pretending to ask?
Jiri felt she had given these people far too much credit.
Uzumaki Mito wasn't a ** either. How could she fail to see through this little charade?
Jiri's laugh, in particular, had grated on her ears.
"Don't you know perfectly well? Why come asking me now? Who are you playing dumb for? Am I a joke to you?"
Uzumaki Mito's eyes blazed as she stared hard at the Third Hokage and his people.
"Lady Mito, you've misunderstood!"
The Third Hokage was filled with regret now, too.
They had handled this badly!
Still, he forced himself to explain. "You're talking about the Land of Whirlpools, aren't you? We only just received word ourselves!"
"We're assembling our forces. We were going to send someone to notify you."
"Who knew you would already be on the move!"
After that, he glanced at Uchiha Chisato. "I never expected the Uchiha's intelligence network to be better than the village's."
"Hah!"
Uchiha Chisato sneered. "Don't flatter us. We couldn't possibly live up to that!"
"We learned about it so quickly only because we've kept people watching the major ninja villages and the Land of Whirlpools all along!"
"You and Lady Mito both knew over a month ago that something was happening in the Land of Whirlpools!"
"Lady Mito repeatedly asked the village for help back then. She wanted the village to take this seriously and inform her as soon as any news came in."
"Unfortunately, certain people never took it seriously at all!"
"And now you're stopping us from