ushernet Chapter 264 The Surprising Antlers
Chapter 264 The Surprising Antlers
His gaze fell on the far right, on the statue of Hiruzen Sarutobi, whose face still carried the youthful vigor and sharpness.
"That Hiruzen guy... he's probably drinking and eating barbecue on the ship coming back right now..."
Deer Antlers muttered to himself, his tone filled with envy, jealousy, and resentment, "Damn it, why didn't they let me go to the front lines to slack off! Even guarding the gate for Sakumo's farm would have been better than dealing with paperwork here!"
He got angrier the more he thought about it.
Why should I?!
That guy is all the rage outside, while I, his most trusted friend and strategist, am stuck here worrying about whether the float for the welcoming ceremony should have red or gold ribbons.
This is not fair!
When he gets back, I'll make him treat me to drinks for a month! No, a year!
Just as Nara Shikaku was mentally ranting about the Hokage, the office door opened again.
His good son walked in carrying the last pile of documents, his face bearing an expression of deep sorrow.
"Acting Hokage, this is the last one. Once this is done, today can be over."
As he looked at the newly appeared hill, Deer Antlers felt a wave of dizziness, as if he had heard a call from the Pure Land.
He suddenly slumped onto the table, burying his face in a sea of documents, and let out a desperate wail.
"This is so annoying... Why isn't Hiruzen back yet?!"
"Ahhhhh—"
……
After an unknown amount of time, when the Nara deer raised its head again, the sky outside the window had turned into a deep twilight.
The office lights were off, only moonlight streamed through the windows, casting a cool, silvery glow.
He finally...finished it.
The two towering mountains of documents on the table had been sorted and neatly stacked in the corner by him.
An unprecedented feeling of exhaustion enveloped him.
All he wanted to do now was go home, not think about anything else, and sleep until the main fleet docked.
However, just as he was about to get up and leave, a figure appeared in the center of the office without warning.
It's the dark area.
The man knelt on one knee, his entire body shrouded in darkness, with only the animal mask reflecting a stark white light in the moonlight.
Nara Shika's heart sank suddenly.
His brain, which had become sluggish from exhaustion, instantly regained its clarity.
Instead of being reported through normal channels, the Anbu (Anbu) appeared directly in the Hokage's office... This means that the level of this intelligence surpasses all existing systems in the village.
The ANBU ninja presented a very short scroll with both hands, sealed with red sealing wax and branded with an emergency secret order emblem he had never seen before.
This is... the highest-level encrypted message left by the Hokage before his personal expedition.
The laziness and fatigue on Deer Antlers' face vanished instantly. He stood up, walked step by step to the Dark Division, and took the scroll.
The reel was very light, yet it felt incredibly heavy to him.
He slowly tore open the seal and unrolled the scroll.
There were no lengthy battle reports or complicated instructions inside, just a single sheet of paper.
The paper begins with two large, bold characters written in thick ink, exuding an air of dominance and vicissitude that transcends all things in the world.
Madara Uchiha.
hum!
Nara Shikano felt as if his brain had been hit hard by a heavy hammer, and it went completely blank for a moment.
He stood frozen in place, his hand holding the scroll beginning to tremble slightly uncontrollably.
That name that only exists in legends, that man who co-founded Konoha with the First Hokage.
That spirit who should have died at the hands of the First Hokage in the Valley of the End.
The deer suddenly opened its eyes wide, all sleepiness gone.
His usually lazy eyes were now filled with horror and disbelief, and he was completely frozen in place as if he had been frozen in place.
Each stroke of these characters seemed to contain the power of a landslide and a tsunami, pressing down on the deer so hard it was almost impossible for it to breathe.
He suddenly opened his eyes wide, all sleepiness gone. His usually languid eyes were now filled with horror and disbelief, and he stood frozen in place as if under a spell.
The office was deathly silent, with only the moonlight flowing silently through it.
It took a full half minute for the antlers' brain to start working again, but every thought felt like struggling in a quagmire.
What's going on?
mischief?
No, impossible. He subconsciously checked the wax seal on the scroll. It was the highest level of encryption used by the Hokage, with intricate patterns and chakra markings. No one in the entire ninja world, except for Hiruzen Sarutobi himself, could imitate it.
This is the Hokage's secret order.
But...why?
Madara Uchiha... is he still alive?
In an instant, countless speculations flooded my mind.
Deer Antlers felt a chill run down his spine.
That's Uchiha Madara! A legend on par with the First Hokage, the God of Shinobi. Even after all these years, his strength is definitely among the Kage level.
He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.
wrong.
The crux of the matter is not whether Madara Uchiha is still alive, but rather Hiruzen's words.
As the acting Hokage, the worst thing to do in this situation is to lose your composure.
Kakashi paced back and forth in his office. His exceptionally intelligent brain was working frantically, trying to decipher Hiruzen's true intentions from those two simple words.
He trusts me, which is why he told me this huge secret.
Therefore, my responsibility is not to explore the secret itself, but to protect the village until he returns to reveal the answer.
Having figured this out, Nara Shika's tense body finally began to relax.
He let out a long, long breath, a breath filled with the exhaustion of surviving a disaster and the weariness of resignation.
"This is so troublesome..."
He muttered to himself and walked to the heaviest safe in the office.
This safe is directly connected to the mountainside of Hokage Rock and is used to store top-secret scrolls and forbidden techniques of S rank or higher.
After entering a series of incredibly complex passwords, and using the chakra key—a secret technique of the Nara clan—the heavy door of the safe slowly opened.
The deer carefully placed the scroll into the deepest part of the room and then closed the door.
After doing all this, he felt as if his last bit of strength had been drained away.
He didn't return to his desk. Instead, he dragged his weary feet to the huge floor-to-ceiling window, opened it, and let the cool night breeze caress his face.
The wind carried the sounds of bustling voices and faint laughter from the village.
He looked down.
The entire Hidden Leaf Village was transformed into a brightly lit ocean of joy.
Along the main thoroughfare, Hokage Avenue, every household hung red lanterns, creating a dazzling fiery dragon. People strolled along the street, their faces beaming with genuine joy and pride.
A small squad of security forces is walking past the street corner.
Leading the group was the vice-minister of the security forces, Uchiha Yatsuhoku.
He and his team, dressed in uniforms, meticulously patrolled every inch of the street. Their steady, powerful steps instilled a sense of security in the surrounding villagers.