Late night.
The Fourth Kazekage soon left.
However,
Hiruzen remained seated in the meeting room, his brow furrowed tightly.
Holding his pipe in hand, smoke swirled above his head.
He had already instructed the Anbu to summon his several capable old subordinates.
After all, the theft of the Scroll of Seals was no small matter, and with the various Shinobi Villages now gathered in Konoha, the situation was incredibly complex.
Only by discussing it with them could a more proper solution be found.
...
A moment later.
Three familiar figures appeared in the meeting room.
They were the Clan Heads of Konoha's three Ino-Shika-Cho Clans - Nara Shikaku, Yamanaka Inoichi, and Akimichi Choza.
The moment they entered, their faces were already filled with gravity, without any doubt or confusion.
Clearly, on the way here, they had already learned the basic situation from the Anbu.
"Hokage-sama."
"...Hmm."
Hiruzen responded in a low voice, narrowing his eyes looking at them, and said solemnly:
"You should all have a good idea why I called you here this time."
As his words faded, the three nodded solemnly in unison; of course they knew.
According to the Anbu's description,
While Hiruzen was meeting with the Sunagakure's Kazekage, a mysterious person invaded the Hokage's residence, stole the Scroll of Seals, and then vanished...
So clearly, Hiruzen calling them over in the dead of night was naturally to deal with this matter.
Thinking this,
Inoichi spoke solemnly:
"Hokage-sama, now that the Scroll of Seals has been stolen, we must quickly identify the thief."
"Since he is still in Konoha, we have a chance to retrieve it."
"Otherwise, once they leave Konoha, it could very well... lead to a disaster with unknown consequences!"
"...Hmm."
Hiruzen nodded gloomily and said in a low voice:
"I am certainly aware of that."
"However, with the Chunin Exams imminent, the situation in the village is far too complex. Shinobi from various countries are gathered here, and even I don't know where to start, so... let's hear your thoughts."
As soon as these words were spoken, the three began to ponder carefully.
However, not long after, Choza seemed to think of something, looked at Hiruzen, and said:
"Hokage-sama, this is simple!"
"Since they haven't left Konoha yet, we can openly propose a full inspection!"
"Using Inoichi's 'Mind Reading Technique', we can directly examine each person's thoughts and find out who did it, right?"
"..."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was stunned.
'Uh, this method, it sounded... indeed quite simple...'
However,
At this moment, Shikaku beside him suddenly shook his head and said solemnly:
"Choza, that method is impossible."
"Although Inoichi's Mind Reading Technique can indeed directly read a person's memories, it can also see much more content."
"Therefore, Shinobi from other villages would never absolutely agree to such an inspection."
"In fact, they might very well think that Konoha wants to use this opportunity to steal their village's intelligence."
"...Uh, this."
After hearing Shikaku's words, Choza finally understood he had overthought it.
Indeed,
Who would willingly let someone read their mind...
Hiruzen also shook his head and said:
"Shikaku is right."
"Mind Reading is certainly not an option."
"Not only would it make other villages wary of us, it could also alert the enemy."
"..."
"..."
The meeting room suddenly fell into an odd silence.
After a long while,
Shikaku frowned and carefully spoke:
"Hokage-sama,"
"Actually, I have a somewhat uncertain speculation-"
"Although this theft of the Scroll of Seals coincidentally occurred during the gap when the Fourth Kazekage came to meet with you,"
"I don't believe it was the work of Sunagakure's Shinobi."
"...Hmm? How so?"
Hiruzen immediately frowned and asked. Inoichi and Choza beside him also looked over confusedly.
Shikaku remained solemn and said gravely:
"Hokage-sama, you might have overlooked that this Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, has never been a simple-minded person."
"If Sunagakure really intended to steal the Scroll of Seals, why would they have the Kazekage personally act as the decoy?"
"Wouldn't this diversionary tactic be too obvious and conspicuous?"
"What puzzles me even more is,"
"How did the people of Sunagakure know the storage location of the Scroll of Seals...?"
"Logically, we have never disclosed intelligence of this level to outsiders, have we?"
"Therefore, I am more inclined to believe-"
"That this theft of the Scroll of Seals was perpetrated by someone... 'familiar with Konoha'!"
"-?!"
When Shikaku said this, everyone present was inwardly shocked.
'Wait...'
'Someone familiar with Konoha?!'
'Could it be... that a spy or a traitor has appeared in Konoha...?!'
Thinking this,
The several people couldn't help but feel horrified.
Shikaku's expression remained unchanged as he continued to analyze carefully:
"This person's identity is currently unknown, of course, but we can already be completely sure-"
"He deliberately targeted the gap between your meeting with the Kazekage to act."
"In other words, it was premeditated."
"Of course,"
"We cannot completely rule out the suspicion of Sunagakure and the Kazekage."
"It's also possible that Sunagakure collaborated with this person in some way."
Shikaku analyzed the situation methodically.
Everyone was immediately impressed.
'Tsk tsk, truly worthy of Konoha's genius strategist!'
'In such a short time, with so little information, he could analyze the situation so thoroughly...'
Hiruzen couldn't help but nod in agreement.
And at this moment,
Inoichi looked at Shikaku and said:
"So, Shikaku..."
"Do you have any good ideas regarding the investigation of this thief?"
"..."
As his words faded, Shikaku lowered his gaze slightly, carefully pondering, his mind racing.
A moment later, he raised his head, looked at the several people before him, and said solemnly:
"Hokage-sama,"
"Since we have confirmed the existence of a spy,"
"This time, we can start by investigating those Shinobi in the village whose identities are not very clear."
"The less information a person has, the more likely they are to be the spy."
"For example, the few from Kusagakure and Otogakure... and the few from Amegakure."
"-?"
As soon as these words were spoken, Hiruzen's eyes flickered slightly.
Then, he frowned and said:
"Indeed."
"Among the villages participating this time, only the Shinobi from Kusagakure, Otogakure, and Amegakure are completely unknown to us."
"Hmm... in that case, I'll leave this matter to you personally."
"Find that person as quickly as possible, without affecting the Chunin Exams... how about that?"
Having said this,
Hiruzen looked sharply at Shikaku.
That look, tinged with expectation, quite gave the feeling of "entrusting an important task to an old subordinate".
Seeing this,
Shikaku felt helpless inside.
'Ah...'
'This Hokage-sama really does have a knack for dumping work on others, as always...'
'If it succeeds, the credit is his.'
'If it fails, the blame is someone else's.'
'Truly the greatest blame-shifter in Konoha...'
...
Meanwhile, on the other side.
The moonlight was hidden by dark clouds, shrouding Konoha in darkness.
A nimble black figure silently slipped into the residence of the Amegakure's team.
It was Kabuto!
He had somehow obtained a black robe, which just happen to cover the Scroll of Seals on him and his face.
A smile of "the plan is working" was on his face.
This kind of theft work was second nature to him, an old spy.
He naturally hadn't chosen to rendezvous with Orochimaru, disguised as the Kazekage. That would directly expose his identity, let alone affect the subsequent plan.
However, before coming here, Orochimaru had already stored all the previously collected forbidden techniques with him.
Added to the Konoha's Scroll of Seals now in his hands, the number of forbidden techniques absolutely exceeded fifteen!
Therefore, he chose to hand them over directly to Kyo.
"..."
Kabuto tiptoed quietly to the front of Kyo's living quarters, about to speak.
Suddenly, the door before him opened directly.
Shink.
As if a gentle breeze had passed.
And Kyo inside the room was sitting beside a low table.
A lamp flickered faintly; he seemed to be reading a book in his hands.
At this moment,
He slightly raised his head, looked over, and said with a light smile:
"It seems you succeeded?"
Seeing this, Kabuto's mind stirred, and a smile immediately appeared on his lips as he lowered his voice, saying:
"Kyo-sama,"
"The fifteen forbidden techniques... are all collected!"
As his words faded,
He removed his hood, then directly took out the massive Konoha's Scroll of Seals from beneath his black robe and placed it on the ground.
Then, without pausing, he rapidly formed hand seals and slapped the ground.
Puff!
With a puff of white smoke,
Ten additional forbidden technique scrolls of various appearances instantly appeared on the ground, all arranged neatly!