After breakfast, someone still had to handle the village's affairs.
Uchiha En formed a hand seal.
Poof!
White smoke dispersed, and a Shadow Clone appeared in the middle of the office.
The clone had barely taken shape when he spotted the empty lunchbox on the desk. His eyelid twitched, and the complaint came straight out:
"Me again?"
"The original runs off to Amegakure to slack off on a business trip, while I'm stuck in Konoha serving time behind a mountain of paperwork."
"It was my turn last month, and now it's my turn again. Keep this up and I'm filing a labor complaint! Which of us is the real Hokage?"
Uchiha En could not be bothered to listen to another word.
Space glimmered, and he vanished on the spot.
Facing the empty office, the Shadow Clone swallowed the rest of his complaints and sighed silently at the ceiling.
"...Fine. Whatever the boss says goes. Not a shred of human rights for me."
A stone house on the west side of Amegakure.
Uchiha En appeared out of thin air.
Inside, the Shadow Clone left on watch sat cross-legged on the couch. The moment he saw the original return, he dissolved into a stream of light that sank into Uchiha En's brow.
Their memories synced.
During the day he had been away, Amegakure had remained quiet. Nothing had happened.
Uchiha En sat down on the couch, intending to rest for a while.
Knock, knock.
Someone was at the door.
He opened it to find Konan standing outside.
Her blue hair was faintly damp from the mist. Her voice was as calm as ever.
"The leader wants to see you."
The top-floor hall of Amegakure Tower.
Uchiha En pushed open the heavy iron doors and swept his gaze around the room.