Torikaze's words were naturally obeyed by Dan, who immediately sent a message to his phone group.
A flood of replies soon came in. Every Anbu ninja was delighted, with emoji after emoji popping up.
"Looks like they're happy."
Dan nodded. "Of course. Being able to go home and reunite with their families is a wonderful thing. Even though the New Year has already passed, there are still people waiting for them to return."
Torikaze smiled. "By the way, you spent Spring Festival here with us. Are you sure Lord Hashirama won't be angry? I imagine he's waiting for you too."
"Oh no!" Dan's expression immediately turned grim at those words, and Tsunade became somewhat nervous as well.
They had been having such a pleasant chat at the Cloud Clan Grounds that they had actually forgotten to go home for the New Year.
What were they supposed to do now?
"You two, hurry back while there's still time. Apologize to them and have a New Year's meal together. You might get scolded a little less that way."
Dan looked completely dejected. "Looks like that's the only thing we can do."
Torikaze smiled faintly. Dan was definitely going to get an earful.
"You can make up an excuse. Say you just finished a mission, or that you just finished reporting a mission to the Hokage."
Dan's eyes immediately lit up at Torikaze's suggestion. "That might work! I have to try it."
With Dan's frail build, he couldn't take a beating from Hashirama.
"Don't worry, Dan. I'll help smooth things over for you. We can get our stories straight on the way."
The husband and wife were joining forces to fool an old comrade, leaving Torikaze at a loss for words.
Still, there was no way he could help them get their stories