"Whoosh~"
In the dense forests of the Land of Fire, a group of seven people moved Body Flicker Technique among the thick branches, heading rapidly towards Konoha.
"Hey, Shin'un, we should be almost there, right?"
At the back of the group, Yūichi, leading his three teammates, eagerly asked Shin'un for advice.
At the front, Shin'un, who was in the middle of the group, raised an eyebrow upon hearing Yūichi's words and said:
"I said, can't you estimate the distance yourself?"
Upon hearing this, Yūichi chuckled and looked at Shin'un without saying anything more.
Seeing this, Shin'un sighed slightly, calculated in his mind for a moment, and then spoke:
"We're not far now. We just came across a Konoha outpost, the closest one to Konoha, so it should be about ten minutes away at most."
"Yeah..."
Upon hearing the time Shin'un mentioned, Yūichi's eyes lit up slightly. He then turned his head to look ahead, closed his eyes, and began to concentrate on his journey.
Afterwards, the group remained silent and, without any surprise, came upon the enormous green gate of Konoha.
"We've finally arrived..."
Stopping in his tracks, Shin'un stood atop the tree, looking at the open gates of Konoha. The tension he had felt from being in a foreign country for so long finally eased a little.
"Yes, it's been years since I've been back to the village, and I'm surprisingly starting to miss it."
Beside him, Orochimaru looked at the green gate of Konoha and couldn't help but sigh as well.
Looking at Orochimaru's appearance, Shin'un was somewhat surprised.
"I never expected Orochimaru to make that kind of expression..."
"Alright, stop sighing, let's go."
At the very front of the group, Tsunade jumped down from the tree and strode quickly toward the Konoha Gate.
Nodding, Shin'un and the others followed Tsunade towards Konoha.
Soon, the group of seven arrived at the Konoha Gate.
Perhaps because the effects of the war were gradually fading, besides Shin'un and his group, several other caravans of merchants heading to Konoha were queuing up to enter Konoha Gate.
After glancing at it a few times, Shin'un ignored it and turned to follow Orochimaru and the others into Konoha.
"Cough! Cough!"
A sudden coughing sound caught Shin'un's attention.
Shin'un turned his head and looked toward the source of the cough.
He was a middle-aged, thin driver from a merchant caravan. He was frowning and patting his chest lightly. His originally dark face was slightly flushed from coughing.
He seemed to feel a bit hot, and even though it was approaching winter, he would still occasionally pull his already open shirt even wider.
"Cough cough~"
"Cough! Drink!"
"..."
A few coughs broke out, prompting Shin'un to scan the entire caravan.
Besides the middle-aged coachman, Shin'un found six or seven other people in the caravan who also showed signs of coughing. Among them were elderly workers carrying goods, an obese merchant with two women on either side of him, and two children playing among the horses...
Seeing this, Shin'un shifted his gaze to the other caravans in Konoha Gate.
After scanning the other caravans for a moment and seeing that no one in the other caravans showed any signs of coughing, Shin'un looked at this caravan again.
This time, Shin'un looked directly at the carriage at the very front of the caravan. Judging from the flag fluttering on the top of that carriage, the caravan came from the Land of Hot Water, which is east of the Land of Fire.
" The Land of Hot Water?"
With his eyes slightly narrowed, Shin'un silently pondered.
"It's autumn/winter season now, is it the flu? Or...?"
"Hey! Shin'un, what are you daydreaming about!"
In the distance, Yūichi, who had already entered Konoha, waved and shouted to Shin'un:
"Hurry up, you're the only one left!"
"Oh, coming."
Upon hearing Yūichi's call, Shin'un gave the Land of Land of Hot Water caravan one last look before quickly walking into Konoha.
Upon approaching Yūichi, Shin'un inquired:
"What's wrong?"
Yūichi crossed his arms, looked up at the Chunin gatekeeper standing to the side, and said:
They said it was for registration.
Upon hearing this, Shin'un turned to look at the somewhat reserved young Chunin.
Seeing Shin'un looking at him, the young Konoha Chunin became even more reserved, handing the registration form to Shin'un with both hands and saying in a low voice:
"I apologize, Lord Hirakawa, but your group returned early after separating from the main group, and according to procedure, you need to register..."
Upon hearing this, Shin'un took the registration form from the Konoha Chunin and looked around, but couldn't find Orochimaru or the others.
"Why are you the only one here? Where are Orochimaru and the others?"
Upon hearing Shin'un's words, Yūichi and replied:
"I sent my three teammates straight home."
"The teacher said he would go straight home after seeing the Lord Hokage, so he didn't wait for us and went to the Hokage Building first."
"As for Senior Tsunade..."
At this point, Yūichi scratched his head, looking puzzled, and said:
"For some reason, her expression suddenly turned grim after returning to Konoha. After saying goodbye, she Body Flicker Technique to Konoha Hospital."
Upon hearing that Tsunade heading directly to Konoha Hospital, Shin'un nodded and then lowered his head to prepare for registration.
While registering the information, Shin'un glanced at the unfamiliar young Chunin in front of him.
After a moment's thought, Shin'un spoke:
"You look unfamiliar. Jonin is that Konoha Gate who was in charge of guarding the Watamura?"
"Oh, you mean Captain Watamura?"
Upon hearing Shin'un's words, the young Chunin and explained:
"One of Captain Watamura's Chunin has just been promoted to Chunin. I was only transferred to Captain Watamura's team two days ago, and it just so happens that it's my shift today. It's normal that you don't recognize me."
"As for Senior Watamura, he hasn't been feeling well these past few days, and he took leave today to go to Konoha Hospital."
Shin'un paused, his pen poised, and looked up at the young Chunin.
"W-what's wrong?" Seeing Shin'un suddenly staring at him expressionlessly, the young Chunin said somewhat nervously, "Did I say something wrong?"
"No, it's nothing."
Shin'un lowered his head and continued registering as if nothing had happened.
After quickly finishing the registration form and handing it back to the young Chunin, Shin'un pulled Yūichi aside and Body Flicker Technique disappeared from the spot.
" Shin'un, is there something wrong with that young Chunin?"
On the way, Yūichi Shin'un 'Chunin conversation with the young Chunin strange and asked him questions.
"It's nothing, that Chunin is perfectly normal."
Leaping between the rooftops of Konoha, Shin'un glanced at Yūichi and noticed his puzzled expression.
"Are you strange?"
"Of course! You're not a talkative person." Nodding, Yūichi said seriously, "Usually when I talk to you, you ignore me six out of ten times."
With a smile, Shin'un explained:
"It's nothing, I just want to know where the Konoha Gate of Watamura Jonin."
"Did they go to Konoha Hospital, just as I suspected?"
"Um?"
Hearing this, Yūichi was even more puzzled.
"Why are you asking about his whereabouts? Taking occasional leave is normal, and going to Konoha Hospital for medical treatment is also normal."
"You do not know..."
Shaking his head, Shin'un stopped talking to Yūichi and silently pondered.
"Taking leave is fine, going to Konoha Hospital for treatment is fine too."
"But the fact that these two things have come together at this time makes them somewhat noteworthy..."