After several days of rapid travel, the familiar silhouette of Konoha Village finally appeared on the horizon.
The high walls and the gate carved with the Konoha symbol finally brought a sense of warmth and relief to the group.
"You all head back and rest first; I'm going straight to the Hokage Building," Shinku Yuhi instructed.
With that, he vanished before the others could even react.
Hokage Office.
Knock, knock, knock!
A series of urgent knocks rang out.
"Come in," Hiruzen Sarutobi said without looking up from the mountain of documents he was processing.
"Hokage-sama, Kumogakure has raided the border of the Land of Wind! Did you receive the intelligence I sent?"
"Yes." Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the disheveled Shinku Yuhi, put down his pen, and nodded. "Tell me more about the details."
Shinku Yuhi spoke rapidly, his voice raspy and urgent. "The leader is an extremely burly Ninja enveloped in Lightning Release Chakra, with unfathomable strength."
"The Ninjas in the squad are also very strong, and their offensive was so swift that the Land of Wind's border defenses collapsed almost instantly."
As he spoke, he handed a scroll to Hiruzen Sarutobi. "This is the detailed report!"
"Lightning Release Chakra?" Hiruzen Sarutobi took the scroll with a serious expression and gestured for Shinku Yuhi to sit. "It seems it's the Fourth Raikage A from the Land of Lightning!"
"Fourth Raikage A!" Shinku Yuhi's face was filled with uncertainty. "So it's the future Raikage; no wonder his strength is so formidable."
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded. "Kumogakure has been making frequent moves in recent months. I thought they had designs on us, but I didn't expect them to travel so far to launch a sneak attack on Sunagakure."
"Weren't there rumors before that the Kazekage had gone missing?" Shinku Yuhi suddenly mentioned.
"It's not a rumor; his disappearance has been confirmed." Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression was grave. "That Lightning Brute saw that Sunagakure is currently leaderless and plans to tear a piece off them."
"However..." He changed the subject. "Speaking of which, why did you take a detour and come out from the north of the Land of Wind?"
"I was just about to tell you about that..." Shinku Yuhi recounted everything to Hiruzen Sarutobi in detail, from the mission payments and escorting to the series of incidents during their later investigation.
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded repeatedly as he listened.
"What?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly stood up.
Even when he heard that Kumogakure had started a war, he hadn't been as shocked as he was at this moment.
He looked at Shinku Yuhi, his face full of shock. "Nearly fifty Ninjas? Wiped out in one go? Are you sure the intelligence is correct?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi asked three questions in a row.
Wiping out fifty Low-to-mid-level ninjas wasn't difficult for him.
In his youth, he had done things even crazier than this on the Battlefield.
The Village's Elite ninjas, Jonin like Minato Namikaze and Shirakumo Hayama, weren't afraid of fighting many-on-one at all.
But those were the Village's top-tier combatants.
This kid is just a Ninja Academy Student; how could he be so outrageous?
This completely overturned his impression of Aokawa.
Shinku Yuhi nodded solemnly. "The other three of us just stood by; we didn't help at all."
Hiruzen Sarutobi was even more dumbfounded upon hearing this. "Did he use that Kekkei Genkai he awakened?"
"Yes, that Kekkei Genkai also has a Ninjutsu that can fire many Chakra Arrows." Shinku Yuhi's face showed a look of reminiscence as he said in a low voice:
"We lured the pursuers into a canyon and used the terrain to force them all together.
"Finally, we used Aokawa's Ninjutsu to wipe out all the pursuers."
Hiruzen Sarutobi blankly picked up his pipe, took a puff to calm down, and slowly sat back down.
He suddenly chuckled. "Gathering them together... this kid is quite clever."
"Yes," Shinku Yuhi agreed. "Throughout the journey, Aokawa's performance has been excellent. He's meticulous, calm under pressure, and both bold and careful."
"I understand. Thank you for your hard work! You may go now."
"Yes," Shinku Yuhi replied, but he showed no sign of leaving.
"What is it? Is there something else?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked, puzzled.
"Hokage-sama..." Shinku Yuhi's tone was somewhat hesitant.
"The squad isn't at full strength. Aokawa joined us temporarily this time, and the three children cooperated very well. Could we... assign Aokawa to our squad?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled and teased, "What? Weren't you quite reluctant when he was assigned to your squad before? Are you no longer afraid he'll run off with your daughter?"
"I... I was just..." Shinku Yuhi's face instantly turned bright red, and he stammered for a long time without being able to utter a complete sentence.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stopped teasing him and smiled. "I haven't decided on Aokawa's training method yet. I'll give you an answer once I've considered it."
"Yes," Shinku Yuhi said as he was about to leave, then suddenly remembered something. "Hokage-sama, Aokawa also developed a very fast Footwork technique and highly concentrated Chakra Arrows during the trip."
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded. "Understood."
Those things could be looked into later; the immediate priority was to consider policies regarding the Lands of Wind and Lightning.
Seeing that Hiruzen Sarutobi had no further questions, Shinku Yuhi turned and left.
Hiruzen Sarutobi watched the door close gently, his fingers tapping incessantly on the desk.
After a moment, he suddenly spoke:
"Someone, summon the three Elders, Nara Shikaku, and all other High-ranking officials. We're having a meeting immediately!"
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