"Chirp... chirp chirp!"
Birdsong in the bright morning sunlight broke the silence of the night.
After Minato Namikaze and Hirohiko had talked and settled on Hirohiko joining Kakashi's route for the Kannabi Bridge mission, the rest of the night had passed without incident.
The night's encounter had left Kakashi and the others physically and mentally exhausted. After Obito's heart-to-heart with Minato Namikaze, he had not dwelled on Kakashi's issue for long before falling into a deep sleep. Rin had kept holding Yukina without making a sound.
As for Kakashi, he was perhaps the most exhausted of the three. The real combat use of Chidori had drained a great deal of his stamina, and he had slept the deepest of them all.
Minato Namikaze had stood guard all night, but compared to the days he had spent rushing across the battlefield lately, this had been a rather easy night. It was not much of a problem for him.
As for Hirohiko, once he had confirmed that he could stay and continue carrying out the Kannabi Bridge mission, he had gone to sleep contentedly. Though he had not slept as deeply as Kakashi and the others, he had rested enough that it would not affect the mission the next day.
"It's much better now!"
At that moment, Rin's relieved voice rang out amid the birds' chirping.
She was changing the bandages on Kakashi, who sat on the ground with his shirt off. As she spoke, she wrapped fresh bandages around him, while the old, bloodstained ones lay discarded beside her knee where she half-knelt on the ground.
"But if you push yourself too hard, the wound may split open again. Be careful."
After voicing her relief, she could not help adding a reminder.
"It's about time to set out!"
Minato Namikaze, having