Guided by a staff member, Takahashi Yū skirted the bustling crowds and took a side staircase up to the arena's top-level box.
This was normally an exclusive viewing area for nobles during major exams or important events.
Ordinarily, nobles would be invited to watch a lively event involving all of Konoha, showcasing the village's vitality and attracting more mission commissions.
But with Danzo as the Fourth Hokage, inviting nobles was out of the question. Charging nobles only fifty percent extra to commission missions was already an act of great kindness on his part...
When he pushed open the door to the top-level viewing box, Danzo, Sakumo, and Fugaku, who had just received a replacement pair of three-tomoe eyes, were already there.
"You're here. Come sit!"
Danzo was as composed as ever, in stark contrast to the slightly nervous Fugaku beside him.
Takahashi Yū plopped down into a soft armchair and looked at the enormous arena below, suddenly feeling as though he were watching a ball game.
"What are we waiting for? Get the teams out there!"
Takahashi Yū narrowed his eyes and scanned the sea of spectators. Even Konoha's ten-thousand-seat arena seemed inadequate at this moment.
Every seat was already occupied, yet dense streams of people kept pouring in.
The supporters representing the Uchiha Academy wore red uniforms, clearly divided from the white-uniformed crowd representing the Eastern Front.
At the boundary between the east and west stands, the red and white sides were trading insults, and quite a few were getting physical.
Taking a closer look, Takahashi Yū spotted all the prominent heads of the major shinobi clans in the enormous arena, and every one of them was in the Eastern Front's camp.
Had Konoha's hostility toward the Uchiha not disappeared completely, but simply shifted here instead?
Takahashi Yū nudged