Emergency Mission

Watching Ichijima hurry off after accepting the order, Nishikawa Tetsu stood before his desk, continuously piecing together those seemingly scattered clues in his mind.

"Deep-sea equipment parts smuggling, the Eastern Coastal Chamber of Commerce, the Kirigakure Missing Survey Team..."

Suddenly, Nishikawa Tetsu's breathing caught.

"Wait!"

"I remember Minato saying that Kushina, Team 3, and Terumi Mei from Kirigakure had taken on a joint mission personally assigned by Hokage-sama some time ago, hadn't they?!"

Nishikawa Tetsu's expression instantly turned grave.

"That mission seemed to be in the East Coast of the Land of Fire!"

"Could they have been investigating the missing Kirigakure survey team?"

"And it's already been several days. With Kushina's fiery temperament, plus a lineup like Kana, Shizune, and Sasori, if it were an ordinary investigation, they should have either sent back the results or returned to the village by now."

"But there hasn't been a single word from Team 3."

The more Nishikawa Tetsu thought about it, the more something felt wrong. If the Eastern Coastal Chamber of Commerce really had something to do with the Kirigakure team's disappearance, or had even woven a black web bold enough to smuggle classified deep-sea equipment, then the direction Kushina and the others were investigating had likely already touched upon an extremely dangerous forbidden zone!

"No, I need to confirm this."

Nishikawa Tetsu could no longer sit still. He snatched up the copy of the inspection report on his desk, did not even have time to put on his coat, and rushed out of the office toward the Hokage Building.

Hokage's Office.

Bang!

The door was shoved open in a rush, without even a knock.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had been holding his pipe and reading a document on his desk when the sudden commotion startled him.

"Che, when are