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Chapter 13: Konoha in Turmoil, Alert Level Raised!
At the border of the Land of Fire, in a secluded grove beside a river.
Konan sat alone on the bank, staring blankly at the flowing water, lost in thought.
She didn't even notice Oborotsuki approaching.
"What's on your mind, Konan-senpai?"
The sudden voice in her ear startled her. She snapped back to reality, turned, and saw it was him. Her expression became strangely conflicted for a moment.
The odd look vanished quickly. She shook her head and returned to her usual calm. "Nothing… really."
"You took so long to come back. I thought something happened to you…"
"More enemy reinforcements arrived—several squads. It was a bit of trouble to deal with."
"But I cleaned them up completely. No traces left. Don't worry, Konan-senpai."
Oborotsuki spoke casually while watching her face with subtle interest.
From her earlier dazed, distracted state, he had already guessed why she was sitting here in a trance.
After the Pregnancy Card took effect, ordinary people wouldn't feel immediate changes in their body.
But Konan wasn't ordinary. Her strength was exceptional.
She might have already sensed something unusual inside her.
Judging by her expression, she wasn't entirely certain yet.
After all… it was far too fantastical.
Oborotsuki didn't expose it. He simply continued observing quietly.
In a few months, when it became undeniable, she would be even more shocked.
Then, when the time was right, he could tell her he would take care of her forever—and she would be his without resistance.
"Since the enemies are dealt with, we should head back and report…"
Konan, unaware of his inner thoughts, pushed aside her swirling confusion and regained her usual composure.
…
Meanwhile, in Konoha, the village finally discovered Yūhi Kurenai's disappearance.
At this moment, the Hokage's office was in an uproar.
"There is still no concrete evidence that the Uchiha clan was behind Red's disappearance."
"But rest assured, Shinku—I will have this thoroughly investigated. You'll get a satisfactory answer soon."
Hiruzen Sarutobi felt his head throbbing.
Yet he maintained maximum calm, speaking steadily to Yūhi Shinku.
The man before him was one of Konoha's rare elite jōnin, a genjutsu master of great strength. Now his daughter had vanished inside the village. As Hokage, Hiruzen had to give his subordinates an explanation.
"Lord Hokage, if there is anything I can do, Shinku is willing to go through fire and water—to lead the charge!"
Yūhi Shinku struggled to contain his rage.
He tried to appear calm.
But his words made it clear: he was already pointing the finger at the Uchiha.
Hiruzen nodded.
Inside, he sighed deeply.
He never imagined that Minato's succession to Fourth Hokage would be accompanied by so much chaos.
First, a mysterious powerhouse attacked Kakashi and spied on Kushina Uzumaki.
The culprit appeared to be from the Uchiha clan.
The matter remained unresolved, leaving the higher-ups on high alert and scrambling to deploy ANBU for intensive investigation.
Then, almost immediately after, Yūhi Kurenai vanished without a trace.
The string of incidents felt somehow connected.
It meant an unseen enemy was threatening Konoha—naturally weighing heavily on everyone's minds.
But if anyone in the room was more frustrated and furious than Hiruzen, it was undoubtedly Danzō Shimura.
"How do you plan to handle the Uchiha clan?"
Danzō's face was taut, voice icy as he asked.
This time he had intercepted the letter from the Fire Daimyō's office to Hiruzen, deploying Root operatives ahead of time—confident he could capture the killer of the Daimyō's aides.
He intended to use the incident to attack Minato's reputation right before he became Fourth Hokage.
Everything was to pave his own path to the Hokage seat.
Yet somehow the operation failed catastrophically. Not only did he lose twelve carefully trained Root elites, he still didn't even know who the enemy was.
Worse still: with Kurenai's disappearance now spreading panic through the village, public sentiment had swung even harder toward Minato.
Villagers, along with powerful figures like Shinku and other clan heads, were now clamoring for Minato to take the Hokage mantle quickly to protect Konoha.
In effect, Danzō had unintentionally helped Minato.
Utterly depressed, he could only vent his anger toward the Uchiha.
"This matter hasn't been fully investigated. We cannot act rashly."
"Danzō—until we have solid evidence, you will not make any moves!"
Hiruzen gave Danzō a deep, warning look.
Then he turned to Minato. "If it truly was the Uchiha clan behind this, neither I nor Minato will turn a blind eye!"
"Danzō-sama, the Uchiha are a major clan. Mishandling this could easily lead to unnecessary bloodshed."
"We must proceed with utmost caution."
Minato stepped forward, aligning completely with Hiruzen.
One was the Third Hokage, the other the soon-to-be Fourth, and Minato was personally involved in the earlier incident.
Hearing this, Danzō could only fall silent—though a dark, vicious glint flashed in his eyes.
"Effective immediately, Konoha Village is raised to maximum alert level!"
"No more incidents like this will be tolerated! Minato—I will personally assign five ANBU squads to protect Kushina!"
Hiruzen raised his voice, issuing the order to the ANBU squad leaders present.
The words were, of course, also meant for Danzō and the others to hear.
…
On a cliff overlooking Konoha from the rear mountains.
A swirling space portal appeared. Uchiha Obito stared down at the village below, eyes burning.
"The village's alert level suddenly jumped…"
"More visible and hidden sentries everywhere—even some of the Hokage's direct ANBU have been reassigned to guard the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki…"
"What the hell happened?"
Obito was deeply puzzled.
This time he had come personally not only to probe Konoha's defenses, but also for another reason.
Sending Konan with Oborotsuki on the mission had been a test of her loyalty.
That woman had been getting far too close to the kid lately. He needed to prevent any accidents.
Fortunately, Konan hadn't disappointed him.
She hadn't revealed his true plans to Oborotsuki and had carried out the secret reconnaissance of Konoha exactly as ordered.
"But it seems their operation got exposed…"
Obito gave the village one last cold, piercing look before vanishing.
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