A month passed.
The village remained peaceful, though considerably more ninja had begun coming to the training grounds.
To counter the powerful missing-nin of the Akatsuki, the ANBU conducted numerous specialized drills, including tactics for fighting in deserts and rainforests.
With so many ninja training together, even secret exercises could not escape the villagers' notice.
But out of concern for public morale, the leadership chose to conceal the predicament they faced rather than disclose it.
As one of Konoha's jonin, Zou Hyuga naturally took part in the exercises.
During the drills, he gained a real glimpse of the village's reserves of strength. With time, his former classmates had gradually matured. Perhaps after experiencing a war, they could truly become its main fighting force.
After the exercises ended, Zou Hyuga, Oto Uchiha, and several other ANBU members were summoned by the Third.
Zou Hyuga was not surprised in the slightest. He merely wondered to himself whether it was because Shukaku was about to revive.
And that was indeed the case. After they arrived at the Anbu Base, the Third Hokage declared a state of emergency before all the ANBU ninja. No ANBU personnel were permitted to leave, and everyone was to remain ready for combat.
At this announcement, the ANBU ninja exchanged glances before turning their attention back to the Third Hokage.
Although most of them had never faced the Akatsuki's threat directly, the gravity displayed by the leadership was already no less than during the Third Shinobi World War.
Faced with the impending war, they condemned the fighting, yet secretly felt a little pleased as well.
Only in a large-scale war could they earn enough merit to improve their standing within the village.
However noble the Will of Fire might be, it could not change the fact that Konohagakure was