Meanwhile, in the office of the Hokage Building.
Hiruzen sat behind a large desk piled high with documents, holding a brush and making annotations on a scroll.
An Anbu wearing a cat mask appeared silently in front of the desk and presented a scroll with both hands.
"Hokage-sama, this is the itinerary record for the Jinchuriki today. In the morning, he went to the Ninja district and stopped in front of four ninja tool shops without entering."
"In the afternoon, he was in his apartment, and in the evening, he discussed Ninjutsu theory with his Shadow Clo—"
Before the cat-masked Anbu could finish, Hiruzen raised his hand and waved it, signaling him not to continue reading.
"Good work. Put the scroll down."
Upon hearing this, the cat-masked Anbu placed the scroll on a designated rack at the edge of the desk, and then vanished.
Hiruzen turned his head and waved his finger lightly over the desk. The crystal ball on the desk displayed a real-time image of Naruto's apartment.
At this moment, Naruto was fast asleep under his quilt, occasionally turning over and smacking his lips. His breathing was steady, his sleeping posture completely unguarded—exactly what a twelve-year-old boy who had been exhausted would look like.
"So he went to the Ninja district..."
Hiruzen took the pipe out of his mouth and tapped it against the edge of the ashtray. A faint smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.
"The Chunin Exams are almost here, Naruto must be feeling the pressure."
"Knowing to check out the equipment at the Ninja tool shops before the exam... Compared to that impetuous brat from before, he really has gained a bit more of the mindset of someone about to go to the battlefield."
Hiruzen turned off the image in the crystal ball, and reached out to pick up the scroll.
Just as his fingers were about to touch the scroll, the office door was knocked.
"Come in."
Hiruzen set the scroll aside for the moment.
The wooden door was pushed open, and three figures filed in from the corridor outside.
Walking at the very front was a female ninja with a short ponytail, wearing a beige trench coat: Mitarashi Anko, the proctor for the second stage of the exam.
Following behind her was a pale man with dark circles under his eyes, who coughed every few steps. It was Gekko Hayate, the proctor for the third stage preliminary exams.
Walking at the end was a burly, scarred man. This face was famous in Konoha and even the entire Ninja World. It was Morino Ibiki, the proctor for the first stage of the exam and the ace of Konoha's Torture and Interrogation Force.
The three of them walked to the front of the desk, stood in a row, and bowed slightly in unison.
"Hokage-sama."
They were all appearing here at the same time for only one reason: the deployment of proctors for the Chunin Exams.
"Thank you for your hard work, Anko, Hayate, Ibiki."
Hiruzen's gaze swept across the faces of the three, his tone carrying his usual kindness. "For the upcoming Chunin Exams, I will have to trouble the three of you to preside over your respective stages."
"Ibiki will be responsible for the first stage written exam, Anko will be responsible for the second stage, the Forest of Death, and Hayate will be responsible for presiding over the third stage preliminaries."
"After the preliminaries are over, I will personally supervise the final official matches."
"Hokage-sama, this is what we ought to do."
The three spoke in unison.
Hiruzen nodded.
He picked up a document on the desk and went over the specific arrangements and precautions for the Chunin Exams with the three of them from beginning to end, discussing everything from the examination procedures, emergency contingency plans, and communication codes between various exam venues, to how to handle potential provocations from ninjas of other villages and sudden diplomatic disputes.
After the discussion concluded, the three bowed slightly once more, then exited the Hokage Office one by one.
The footsteps in the corridor gradually faded away, and the office returned to quiet.
Hiruzen reached out and picked up the scroll that the Anbu had just delivered. But his hand paused for a moment on the wax seal of the scroll without opening it, because another document spread out on the corner of the desk, with a few lines of text that pulled his thoughts toward matters more worthy of his attention.
This was a partial record of communications between Sunagakure and Otogakure over the past few months, and there was one piece of intelligence that concerned him greatly.
The Fourth Kazekage seemed to be in contact with someone, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
When Hiruzen saw that name, the hand holding his pipe paused slightly.
The Chunin Exams were a selection process, but also a game of strategy, and the undercurrents of this year's game seemed even more turbulent than in previous years.
Hiruzen put down the intelligence and fell into deep thought amidst the rising smoke.