The sun was bright the day he left the hospital, dazzlingly so.
Shuo stood at the hospital entrance, squinting as he took out a candy, unwrapped it, and tossed it into his mouth.
Sweet.
"Are we going or not?" Sai asked beside him.
"Yes," Shuo said.
But he didn't move.
Sai looked at him. "Waiting for someone?"
Shuo didn't answer, his gaze settling on the street corner.
A dark figure flashed past, an Akatsuki cloak so faint it almost seemed imagined.
"They're here," he said softly.
"Who?"
"The Akatsuki."
Sai frowned. "Where?"
"Gone. A scout."
Shuo stepped forward, and Sai immediately followed.
People came and went along the street, no different from usual.
But within Shuo's perception, at least five pairs of eyes were fixed on them. Their chakra was suppressed to extremely low levels. They were all veterans.
He ignored them and walked all the way to the sweet shop.
He opened the door and the windows. The nine plates in the display window were still filled to the brim.
Sunlight fell on the orange candy wrappers, its warmth almost unreal.
Shuo put three candies onto the plate on the left, and Sai followed suit, adding three more.
The two stood before the display window, looking at that row of candies.
"There have been more strangers on the streets these past few days," Sai said.
"Yeah."
"Akatsuki?"
"Yeah."
"Here for you?"
Shuo thought for a moment. "Maybe. Or maybe they're here for the whole village."
He turned and headed out.
"Let's go."
"Where?"
"The Hokage Building."
The atmosphere inside the Hokage Building was frighteningly heavy.
Tsunade sat behind her desk, her expression grim. A thick stack of intelligence reports lay on the desk.
"The Akatsuki have made their move," she said. "Large-scale chakra activity in Amegakure."
Minato stood by