The next day.
The ninja academy resumed as usual.
Apart from Sasuke, who was on leave, neither the teachers nor most students seemed much different from the day before.
But things felt very different for Yoruha and the others.
Team Xiaoqiang had witnessed something they couldn't unsee—
and even if they hadn't all directly seen the bodies like Hinata had,
the atmosphere last night had left a heavy impression on each of them.
Dead silence.
Dark homes.
The still air that smelled faintly of blood.
That lingering, suffocating fear.
Even if you couldn't see it, you could feel it.
During recess, the group gathered together as usual.
Uzumaki Naruto and Sakura glanced at each other, hesitating.
Then, Naruto finally asked with a worried tone,
"Uh… do you guys think… Sasuke is okay?"
Both he and Sakura had barely slept the night before.
They'd gone home and lay awake with unease crawling under their skin.
But strangely—
as civilian-born children, the world around them seemed completely unchanged.
The Uchiha clan's tragedy had left no visible ripple in the village.
It was like nothing had happened.
"Last night, in the middle of the night," Ino said, lowering her voice,
"an ANBU ninja came to see my father. Said the Hokage had summoned him urgently.
But he didn't come home all night. He still hasn't."
She exchanged a glance with Yoruha,
worry clearly written all over her face.
Ino didn't particularly care about the Uchiha clan.
What mattered was her father.
As long as he was safe, she could breathe.
"Same with my dad," Hinata whispered.
"He left around the same time and hasn't returned yet."
"Mine too," Kiba muttered, biting his thumb.
Naruto scratched his head.
"Wait… Ino, Hinata, Kiba… are all of your dads missing too?"
"Ah… Shikamaru," Choji said slowly, "What do you think?"
Shikamaru let out a long sigh.
"Tch… seriously troublesome."
He folded his arms behind his head and leaned back lazily—
but his mind was sharp as ever.
The heads of multiple clans summoned at the same time, in the middle of the night,
with no return by morning?
Unless they were all off playing poker together…
something major had gone down.
And then there was the police station.
Shikamaru had taken a detour on his way to school, just to confirm a hunch.
The entire Uchiha Police HQ was closed up. Doors locked.
Not a soul inside.
That alone told him enough.
Everything pointed to one thing:
Something had happened to the Uchiha clan. Something big.
The eerie quietness in their compound,
the cold expressions from the elders,
the way even the village ANBU were being oddly quiet…
Shikamaru tapped his fingers on his desk.
If the Uchiha had actually defected,
then why leave behind Sasuke, the patriarch's own son?
And what about Uchiha Itachi?
What was that weird conversation last night?
"Feel the pain of this world…"
Troublesome.
Too many missing pieces.
Yoruha finally spoke.
"Curiosity killed the cat.
We're not cats, sure—but getting caught up in things like this isn't going to do us any good.
Let's not speculate too much.
Just try to eat, sleep, and wait.
Once our fathers are back, I'm sure we'll know what happened."
He gently pulled Hinata and Ino into a comforting hug.
They didn't speak,
but their small hands gripped the sides of his shirt tightly.
Yoruha sighed inwardly.
"The truth behind the Uchiha massacre will be buried… for now.
But it won't stay hidden forever.
It's too massive. Too many people.
The Third Hokage can't possibly suppress the whole thing."
"Yeah," Shikamaru nodded.
"I agree with Yoruha.
Our dads are all clan heads. If they're out handling something, it must be serious—
but it also means they're not in danger. So let's not panic."
The group slowly nodded.
Naruto and Sakura didn't speak again after that—
they simply drifted to the edge of the group, thoughtful.
After school, they didn't go to the training ground.
Ino and Hinata were too anxious about their families to focus on sparring.
Everyone understood, and decided to head home for the day.
When Ino and Yoruha arrived at her house,
Ino immediately spotted something that made her eyes light up:
Her father's clothes were hanging in the front entryway.
"Mom!" she called, dropping her backpack. "Is Dad back? Is he okay?"
Her mother came forward, taking both their school bags with a gentle smile.
"Yes, he's home. He and the others were out all night,
but he came back early this morning and went straight to bed.
He's still sleeping."
Ino exhaled, visibly relieved.
"Oh, thank goodness… as long as he's okay."
She hesitated.
"Did he say anything before he went to bed?"
Her mother's smile faltered slightly.
There was a beat of silence before she answered.
"…He said… the Uchiha clan has been… exterminated."