Ōnoki led his men into the warship.
But what they found inside came as a surprise: everyone aboard the warship was a child.
Those children, however, had already died in the battle.
As Ōnoki looked at the dead children, his seasoned instincts immediately picked up the scent of a conspiracy.
A ninja hurried over to report.
"Lord Ōnoki, the examination results are in. We detected a special energy inside these children that is steadily dissipating.
A preliminary examination also revealed clear signs that their bodies had been modified."
"Understood. Gather the children's bodies and find somewhere to bury them."
Just after he finished giving instructions on how to handle the dead children, Gaara approached with a phone.
"Senior Ōnoki, the President wants to speak with you."
"Understood."
Ōnoki took the phone from Gaara.
"Mr. President, it's me, Ōnoki."
Watching the person on the screen change from the slick-haired Gaara to the bulbous-nosed Ōnoki, Tetsuya asked,
"How are things looking, Ōnoki? Have you found anything?"
"We have indeed uncovered some problems. I had my men search the entire wreck, but to our surprise, this enormous warship was operated entirely by a group of children.
What's more, those children showed clear signs of having been modified.
Mr. President, I believe there must be some unknown conspiracy behind this."
After hearing Ōnoki's report, Tetsuya was all but certain.
These warships were probably the work of that fellow named Haido from the movie.
As for where he had found so many children?
The shinobi world had only been unified for two years. Before that, people going missing had been all too common.
"All right, I understand. Step up your vigilance. I'll visit the Land of Wind later."
"Yes, Mr. President. We've already issued orders to stay on alert."
"Then that's all for now."
Tetsuya