Dozens of seconds later, the rustling sound of writing in the office finally stopped.
Akatsuki finally raised her head and looked at the person in front of her.
Her pale purple eyes reflected the figure of the female Anbu member who remained motionless, bowing with documents in hand.
Akatsuki's left index finger, clad in a leather glove, twitched slightly.
The documents held in the woman's hands were immediately carried to her by an invisible force.
As Akatsuki flipped through the stack of papers in her hand, she slowly sighed:
"Sure enough, there's nothing. It seems Li Fan was right. The Third was likely murdered and taken away by the killer."
Hearing Akatsuki's sigh...
The woman, still half-bowed, stiffened.
Her pupils involuntarily shrank, and her heart began to race.
Although the woman had a vague guess when she received the order this morning...
Like everyone else, she was unwilling to believe it.
Instead, she preferred to deceive herself.
She constantly hypnotized herself internally, thinking the Third Kazekage might have just acted out of character...
And unreasonably ran away to have fun without telling anyone.
But when she actually heard Akatsuki say this...
She truly began to understand.
The Third had really been murdered.
Akatsuki quickly finished flipping through the documents in her hand. She placed them aside and said softly:
"Karuman, go inform all Anbu squads searching for the Third Kazekage outside the village. Tell them to quickly drop their current search work and return to the village to stand by."
Hearing this, Karuman nodded mechanically.
She felt her usually flexible neck had become incredibly stiff.
The Third Kazekage had truly been mysteriously murdered.
What would be the fate of the village next?
Even just thinking about it, Karuman felt suffocated.
In the eyes of the Sand Village residents and lower-to-middle-ranking ninjas...
The Kazekage was the sky of the Sand Village.
And the Third, the strongest Kazekage, was the sky and sun that would never collapse in people's eyes.
This sky supported their spirits and sheltered them from all wind and rain.
This sun gave them the confidence to live in this poor Sand Village with its forever harsh environment.
Akatsuki watched Karuman's stiff steps.
She sighed silently but didn't plan to say anything.
Because the ninja world was just this cruel.
Accidents could happen at any time.
Akatsuki withdrew her gaze and was about to continue processing documents when she suddenly stopped her hand movements. She looked left and right in confusion.
Akatsuki looked around but found nothing unusual.
She shook her head in confusion. Suddenly, a strong emotion welled up in her heart, causing her to involuntarily voice it out:
"If Li Fan becomes the Fourth Kazekage and our direct superior, it seems like a very good thing."
Karuman, who was walking slowly toward the door, stopped abruptly upon hearing Akatsuki's sigh.
Karuman's mind quickly recalled the first sentence Vice Commander Akatsuki had said.
Connecting it with what she said now...
Karuman's not-so-dull brain quickly constructed the general situation.
Her desperate eyes emitted light once again.
Then Karuman's steps became brisk again, and she quickly walked out the door.
Although the sky of the Sand Village had collapsed...
It seemed that a new sky was rising again!
Akatsuki didn't notice Karuman's change. She was just startled by her own words. After thinking further, she laughed at herself:
"Although I haven't had much interaction with Li Fan, it would be a pity for such a bold and foresighted man to lose to that guy Aoki."
Speaking of this, Akatsuki slowly stood up and walked to the bookshelf next to her, seeming to search for something.
But soon her hand stopped again.
Akatsuki's beautiful face, hidden by the rabbit mask, showed hesitation. She shook her head:
"But I should remain neutral and wait for their fair spar. What the Sand Village needs now is the strongest. If I help Li Fan, wouldn't that..."
Before she finished speaking, Akatsuki suddenly jerked her head up.
Her eyes radiated fanaticism, and she began rummaging without hesitation.
Akatsuki muttered to herself while searching:
"I was really being foolish just now. Li Fan is the existence most suitable to lead the Sand Village. Only he is most suitable to be the Fourth Kazekage!"
"Yes, I decided on this idea after seeing his performance at the meeting earlier. Why was I being foolish just now? I'm really silly!"
Fortunately, there was no one else in this secret office right now, only Akatsuki.
Otherwise, if other Anbu members saw and heard their usually unhurried, gentle, and elegant Vice Commander acting like this...
They would definitely be shocked, even suspecting if they were under some genjutsu.
At this time, Li Fan had raised the average affection of those eight people to forty points.
He continued to exchange for fruits to raise the base affection.
More than ten seconds later, Akatsuki suddenly slapped her forehead and shouted:
"Really, my efficiency working alone is too slow. Why did I forget to summon shadow clones earlier?"
"If this causes Lord Li Fan to read the intelligence a few seconds late, that would be my sin!"
"If I commit such a sin, even if I serve Lord Li Fan for the rest of my life, I won't be able to atone for it!"
At this moment, Li Fan looked at the affection of the eight people in front of him, showing sixty-something.
He smiled with satisfaction and continued to increase the affection.
Another dozen seconds later, after Akatsuki summoned five shadow clones, she and the surrounding shadow clones clapped their hands violently in unison.
"Lord Li Fan is the savior of the Sand Village. Only he can be the Kazekage!"
"I won't recognize anyone else! Even if the Third Kazekage suddenly comes back, it's the same!"
"Only by following Lord Li Fan can the Sand Village be saved from the brink of destruction!"
Li Fan was just about to continue raising the affection of the eight people in front of him from eighty to one hundred.
Suddenly, he heard a thump-thump sound coming from outside the door.
This interrupted Li Fan's operation.
He pushed open the stone door with a curious face, looked at the ground, and pondered while walking up.
"Strange. I'm in the basement, and this sound is coming from above. Who is knocking so loudly?"
As Li Fan walked up, the sound became louder and louder.
When Li Fan moved the floor tiles and appeared in the room, the sound was already like beating a drum.
"I'm coming, don't knock so loud."
With Li Fan's words...
The knocking sound outside the door instantly changed from THUMP!! THUMP!! THUMP!! to thump... thump~ thump.
When Li Fan pushed open the door, he found that the person standing in front of him was not what he expected.
He thought the person knocking so loudly must be a taijutsu musclehead.
But unfortunately, there was only a woman standing as properly as the most excellent elementary school student in his previous life.
Although this woman wore a black trench coat and a rabbit mask...
Li Fan could still tell from under the loose trench coat that her figure must be excellent.
And from the only exposed bits of her fair neck and beautiful feet under her full body wrap, he could tell her skin must be very good.
After observing her figure, Li Fan began to think about why this Anbu beauty had come.
When he opened the door and saw her attire...
Li Fan immediately deduced from Rasa's memories that this was the Kazekage Guard, and a high-ranking one at that.
Before Li Fan could speak, that high-ranking Anbu member suddenly gave Li Fan a deep ninety-degree bow!
Seeing her deep bow, Li Fan's mouth opened slightly.
What was this situation?