Early the next morning, Hokage Office.
Tejima Shinichi knocked, waited for permission, then stepped inside.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was bent over paperwork; hearing the noise he looked up, automatically offering his gentle smile, yet when his gaze met Tejima Shinichi's he froze for a heartbeat.
"Shinichi, you seem in unusually high spirits today?" Hiruzen set down his brush and asked with open curiosity.
His student normally kept his emotions close; such visible ease was rare.
Tejima Shinichi halted at the desk, a faint curve still on his lips, and admitted, "Sensei notices everything—there is good news at home."
He paused, then added with feeling, "Soon I'll be an older brother."
He paused again, reflective.
"Soon I'll be an older brother."
"Oh?" Hiruzen blinked, then beamed. "Haha, Kazuto and Chie must be over the moon!"
He studied the youth with interest. "So, big-brother-to-be, would you rather have a little brother or a little sister?"
Tejima Shinichi answered without hesitation, "A little sister, of course."
Hiruzen chuckled at the firm reply.
'Who'd want some dumb, stinky little brother? Isn't a soft, sweet little sister cuter?' Shinichi added silently.
The thought flashed and vanished.
Almost at once his face regained its calm; he looked steadily at Hiruzen.
"Sensei, amid the joy, I have something vital to report!"
Sensing the shift, Hiruzen's smile faded; he spoke gravely, "Speak."
…Moments later the air inside the Hokage Office had turned heavy.
Hiruzen stood by the window, brows locked, the embers in his pipe flaring and dimming.
Suddenly he turned to the Anbu at his side and ordered, "Relay this at once: summon the two Advisory Elders and the heads of the Hyuga, Nara, Akimichi, Yamanaka, Inuzuka, and Aburame clans—immediately to Conference Room One."
The command sped out.
Soon several animal-masked Anbu burst from the Hokage Building, scattering toward every corner of the Village.
Each recipient, on hearing the summons, lost all composure; without delay they abandoned whatever they were doing and converged on the Hokage Building.
In short order more than a dozen of Konoha's power-brokers filled Conference Room One.
Elders Utatane Koharu and Homura Mitokado sat at the front; behind them stood clan heads Hyuga Hiashi, Nara Shikaku, Akimichi Choza, Yamanaka Inoichi, Aburame Shibi and others.
Every gaze fixed on Hiruzen at the head of the table—and on Tejima Shinichi beside him.
'As expected…'
The clan heads' expressions were complex: a mere Genin seated at their council.
'The rumor is confirmed… the Third is grooming him as the next Kage.'
Unlike them, the two Elders focused on the meeting's topic.
Utatane Koharu broke the silence, asking, "Hiruzen, what has happened that we're all summoned so urgently? Trouble on the border—or moves by a neighbor?"
The question tightened every heart.
With the Chunin Exams underway, any border clash or foreign army would shatter the Land of Fire's prestige.
Hiruzen shook his head, his voice low. "Not the border—but…"
The denial did not relax them; it strung their nerves tighter.
"…we face a crisis possibly more dangerous than any border war."
He ended the suspense: "According to intelligence Shinichi gathered last night, our S-rank rogue Orochimaru, his spy Yakushi Kabuto, and Sunagakure's Baki met in secret. They plan, during the final match of next month's Chunin Exams—"
"—to launch a joint assault on Konoha, code-named the 'Konoha Crush Plan'!"
"What?!"
"Orochimaru?! Suna?!"
"Konoha Crush Plan?!"
Even these seasoned leaders blanched; exclamations shattered the hush.
In the uproar, Nara Shikaku, Konoha's strategist, composed himself first. Looking to Tejima Shinichi, he asked the crucial question, "Shinichi, no offense—but with stakes this high, can you vouch your source is absolutely solid? Could it be disinformation, or were you spotted and misled?"
His query voiced everyone's fear; the room fell silent for his answer.
Meeting their scrutiny, Tejima Shinichi spoke evenly, "Shikaku's caution is reasonable."
He paused, certain. "Yet the source is reliable—because with Kabuto and Baki's strength, discovering me was impossible."
Such confidence only sharpened their belief: if a shinobi who can match a Tailed Beast chooses to hide, a lone spy and one Suna Jonin would never notice.
He continued, "Suna, hit by the Wind Daimyo's budget cuts, was desperate; Orochimaru bribed them, aiming for the exam finals when the daimyo and nobles are watching. They'll tear the treaty, strike Konoha from within, sow chaos, and divide the spoils after."
"Their debate now centers on whether my presence raises the risk, so Suna demands a bigger share from Orochimaru."
Hearing this, Shikaku and Inoichi—versed in foreign intelligence—nodded; their own agents had confirmed Suna's recent severe funding woes, matching the motive perfectly.
"If that's so…" Shikaku leaned back, his last doubt gone, his face grave. "Then every clue—timing, motive—aligns. The intel is genuine."
With that, he gave Tejima Shinichi's report his official endorsement.