"Maybe he just wanted to check whether we'd really sealed off the village."
Naruto shrugged, taking it in stride. "Things are such a mess right now, everyone's suspicious of everyone else. It's only natural for him to be cautious."
Minato pondered for a moment. "Perhaps he realized we posed no threat and only wanted to avoid fighting, so he felt reassured enough to leave."
"That's probably it."
Naruto stretched, about to head home and resume his boring shut-in life.
Suddenly, an eerie flash of light streaked across the night sky, vanishing in an instant.
Naruto jerked his head up, his eyes full of confusion. "Dad, did you just see something flash past?"
"Probably a shooting star." Minato paid it little mind.
But Naruto frowned, his unease growing stronger. That thing hadn't looked like a shooting star.
Night fell, shrouding the deathly silent Konoha in darkness.
While Naruto tossed and turned, unable to sleep, the atmosphere in an underground base not far from Konoha was equally tense.
Orochimaru said sinisterly, "According to the latest intelligence, that Lord Mizukage ran around like a madman today, visiting Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure in a single day and threatening all three Kage."
"A show of force?"
Madara sat in a stone chair, an amused smile curling his lips. "The brat disappeared for months, then made such a spectacle of himself the moment he resurfaced. Looks like he's developed some incredible forbidden technique again."
Obito snorted, his tone gloomy. "He even forcibly summoned away the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. He must have some trump card up his sleeve."
"What? Scared?" Madara glanced sideways at him.
"Scared? Don't make me laugh! As I am now, I fear no one!"
A cold glint flashed through Obito's eyes as he looked at Sasuke in the corner. "But