Inside Konoha.
It was early morning, and the villagers had already begun their daily bustle. When they saw a large contingent of ninja returning, they grew anxious. The war had only recently ended.
Only when the Military Police Force stepped in and explained that this was merely a large-scale exercise
did the villagers breathe a sigh of relief.
The Uchiha in the Military Police Force might have been arrogant, but they had never deceived the villagers. Supposedly, they considered it beneath them.
Jiraiya, who had led the contingent, soon returned to the Hokage Building and reported the intelligence to the Third. The Third immediately convened a small meeting. Aside from several advisers and Jiraiya, one of the Sannin, the heads of the major ninja clans also attended.
A battle like that had erupted right on Konoha's doorstep. They could not ignore it even if they wanted to.
By the end of the meeting, two unidentified individuals had been added to the top-secret files. Both had been assigned an S-Rank threat level.
Meanwhile, after returning to the village, Oto Uchiha quietly sought out Zou Hyuga.
They met at an izakaya in the village.
"Zou, you were one of the people fighting last night, weren't you?"
Zou Hyuga looked at Oto Uchiha and nodded openly. He did not want to hide it from her, even though knowing about it was not necessarily good for her.
"It was a brutal fight..." Zou Hyuga let out a weary sigh.
Just as Zou Hyuga was about to describe the details of the previous night, Oto raised a hand to stop him.
Zou Hyuga looked at her in confusion. "What...?"
Oto Uchiha moved her hand away from his mouth and asked with concern, "You weren't hurt last night, were you?"
Zou Hyuga instinctively took half a