In the Hokage Office, Tsunade was working overtime.
The documents on her desk were piled as high as a mountain.
Shizune and Sakura were helping sort them beside her.
The lights in the village went out one by one. Only this window in the Hokage Building remained lit.
Tsunade suddenly stopped writing.
She couldn't say why, but her right eyelid twitched.
She rubbed her eye and went back to approving documents. It twitched again. She set down her pen, leaned back in her chair, and frowned at the ceiling.
"Shizune."
"Yes?"
"Do you feel like... something's off tonight?"
Shizune tilted her head and thought for a moment.
"No. It's pretty quiet."
Tsunade snorted. "Too quiet."
Before her words had faded, a flurry of footsteps sounded in the corridor.
Not one or two people. A whole group.
The footsteps were heavy and synchronized. Tsunade's frown deepened.
Shizune hunched her shoulders, clutching Little Pig.
"Lady Tsunade..."
"Don't say anything."
Someone knocked on the door.
Not the usual three measured taps, but a rapid, relentless pounding, as though something urgent had happened.
Tsunade took a deep breath.
"Come in."
The door swung open.
Uchiha Hozuki and Uchiha Arashi led the way, with three elite Uchiha behind them.
Behind those came two Jonin from the Hyuga Clan and several people dressed as Anbu. Apparently, they had run into them on the way and volunteered to join after hearing they were going to capture the culprit behind the Nine-Tails attack.
The group flooded in, instantly packing the already cramped office to bursting.
Hozuki stood at the front and bowed, just about to explain why they had come.
"Get moving!"
Tsunade slammed a hand on the desk, her voice louder than the Raikage's fists.
"Go! All of you!"
The office fell silent.
Hozuki opened his mouth