When the Third returned to the village with the Fire Squad, stars already filled the sky overhead.
After traveling day and night, he abruptly discovered that the village gates had vanished. In their place stood rows of tents housing villagers displaced by the disaster.
I came back too late after all...
Sighing inwardly, the Third approached the Chunin on duty. After identifying himself as the Hokage, he asked, "Chunin, tell me everything that happened in the village..."
The Chunin on duty recognized the Third and instinctively took half a step back before recounting the day's events.
Upon hearing that the Akatsuki had been driven back, the Third finally felt a weight lift from his heart. Still, the Chunin's initial reaction puzzled him. Had his question sounded too harsh? Why had the man stepped back?
Putting that minor incident out of his mind, the Third walked on, considering how to oversee the village's reconstruction and how to join forces with the other shinobi villages to pursue further operations against the Akatsuki.
Soon, however, the Third noticed that the usually friendly villagers were all watching him with peculiar looks.
Their strange behavior made him feel as though he were in an enemy shinobi village, rather than the Konoha he had managed for decades.
Were the villagers under an enemy's genjutsu, or was I?
He shook his head, dismissing that absurd thought, and reassured himself that the recent pressure had merely made him imagine things. Once this period was over, he needed a proper rest-and to look for a new successor while he was at it.
Just then, Kakashi stepped forward beside him and said, "Lord Third, the villagers seem a little strange."
"Strange?" The Third frowned, then asked the others, "Do you think so too?"
The Fire Squad members all nodded. The