The night had just gotten more interesting when I finally told Hiruzen that Itachi believed the ninja sneaking around the village was actually Madara Uchiha.

Okay, I knew that wasn't true, but it was Hiruzen's best chance to get more ninjas to be on the lookout and neutralize the threat.

"Are you sure about what you're saying?"

That's what the Hokage asked me, his gaze serious, and I was sure he was extremely tense because of what I had said.

"I trust Itachi, and he certainly has his reasons for believing this. Besides, I saw the ninja with my own eyes."

Hiruzen looked thoughtful.

"That's impossible... the First Hokage took it upon himself to kill him," he said.

'If it weren't for Izanagi, he would have succeeded...' I thought.

"Even if it wasn't him, there's someone with the Sharingan infiltrating the village and searching everything. The ability he showed was dangerous... he could appear and disappear without a trace," I said, pointing to my eyes, pretending to use the Sharingan.

"You are promising, Senju Riku," Hiruzen said with a smile.

"So that's your name?... Interesting," an unfamiliar voice echoed from the terrace.

A chill ran down my spine instantly, and Hiruzen turned quickly, preparing his hands to use a jutsu if necessary.

A figure was sitting on the railing on the other side of the terrace. The man was dressed in black clothes covered by a cloak of the same color, blending into the night.

He wore tactical gloves on his hands, and his face was hidden by an orange mask that showed only one of his eyes, the Sharingan.

'What is he doing here...?'

Obito raised his hands in surrender.

"We don't need to fight, Hiruzen, I just came here to talk a little," he said.

"What do you want here? Reveal who you really are, you phony," Hiruzen replied.

"The boy already told you who I am. Didn't your age allow you to hear? I am Madara Uchiha," Obito said, standing up.

'Bullshit,' I thought, but I remained silent.

"It doesn't matter if you tell the truth or not. Whoever you are, you won't leave here without being arrested," Hiruzen said, preparing to make hand seals.

"I've left several times, and I'll leave a few more. What I want with this conversation is to announce something..." Obito said, pausing for effect.

Hiruzen and I studied Uchiha's movements, prepared to respond in kind in any upcoming fight.

"Konoha will soon meet its end. The Kyuubi's attack was just the beginning. I declare war on this deplorable village," he concluded.

Before we could do anything, he used Kamui to disappear once again.

A few seconds later, Fugaku, Itachi, Kakashi, Asuma, and some ANBU climbed the stairs. If Obito had stayed there for a few more seconds, things would have gotten complicated.

'What does he think he's doing?!' I thought, glancing at Hiruzen.

"What happened here? Konoha Intelligence detected a strange chakra up here," Asuma said.

"And there was..." I said, and looked at Itachi, who immediately understood what had happened.

"A ninja has just declared war on Konoha and claimed responsibility for the destruction caused by the Kyuubi. He calls himself Madara Uchiha," Hiruzen said.

Everyone was stunned by the Hokage's words, except Itachi and me.

Fugaku clenched his fists, but trusted Hiruzen's words. The others just stared at each other and commented on what had just happened.

"Let's prepare an emergency meeting, Fugaku," Hiruzen said.

Fugaku nodded and turned away, going to do what the Hokage had just asked him to do.

"Father—"

"Call the jounin, Asuma. They need to know," Hiruzen interrupted Asuma, who just nodded and followed the order.

While Hiruzen talked to the ninjas, I went over to Itachi, who seemed more worried than ever.

"He heard me talking to the Hokage and showed up. Damn it." I said.

"Maybe he was following us this whole time, wanting to know what we were going to do," Itachi replied.

"What should we do now?" I asked.

"I'll listen to everything the Hokage has to say and pass the information on to you, Riku," Itachi said.

I nodded, tense with Obito's move, as I hadn't expected him to do something like that at this moment.

I walked back towards the Hokage.

"Hokage-sama, is there anything else I can do?" I asked, a little uncomfortable with the situation.

"Not at the moment, Riku. Thank you for alerting me, despite the outcome of our conversation. Go rest and continue training for the chunin exam. We'll handle this situation, don't worry," Hiruzen replied.

"All right," I replied.

I passed by the ninjas and left.

'Damn... things have become even more unpredictable...'

*

The walk home was extremely tense. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being followed the whole way. But if I was, nothing happened to me, which was a relief, even if only for now.

I lay down on my bed and began to reflect.

'Obito seemed interested in finding out my name. Could it have something to do with my mokuton, or does he just consider me a thorn in his side for revealing his plans? Either way... how does Hiruzen expect me to relax after all this?')

"Aargghhh... what a tiring situation!" I shouted indignantly.

'Can't you give me a single clue, system?'

An awkward silence hung in the air.

"Okay, I get it..." I put the pillow over my face, trying to hide from the feeling of urgency that coursed through my body.

Time passed as a whirlwind of thoughts kept swirling in my mind while I tried to figure out some way to stop this new threat.

Was this a move by the entire Akatsuki, or was Obito plotting alone?

Either way, I knew I couldn't solve this problem on my own. Despite being much stronger, I still wouldn't be a match for a Mangekyou user, or any ninja on the same level as him.

The best thing to do was to trust in the strength of Konoha and let them handle this imminent problem in the best way possible, while I focused on passing the chunin exam and getting stronger in the process.

With these thoughts in mind, I finally managed to fall asleep.

The night was not very pleasant. Every little noise the trees made, every crack in my house, and every sound from the nocturnal animals woke me up, wondering if it could be Obito sneaking up on me to do something.

And then the day dawned. I woke up to the first sound of birds singing outside and couldn't get back to sleep, so I did my whole morning routine and got ready to go to the training ground early, so I could train until my sensei arrived.

*

When I arrived at the training ground, I ran into Renji, who apparently had the same idea as me. He was distracted, striking a training dummy with his ninjatō.

So I approached him.

"Hey Renji, I didn't expect to see you here today," I said.

He was distracted when he heard me speak and ended up using too much force on his last attack.

The training dummy's head rolled across the floor.

"R-Riku... ahem... hey, how are you?" he cleared his throat.

I found his behavior strange at first, but I let it go.

"I'm fine, thanks. And you?" I asked.

"Um... I'm fine, I didn't expect to see you here either. Sensei called me to train today," he replied.

"Really?"

"Hi, everyone!! Riku, wow, you're so much stronger, have you been working out?!" Sora said, interrupting our conversation and coming over to us.

"Sora, you too?" I said.

"Wow, what's with that reaction? I expected a little more excitement when you saw me, come on..." she said, making a pouty face.

'What are you planning, Sensei...?' I thought, as I gave Sora a half-hearted smile.

....

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