"Speaking of which, has there been any word on Shinji Uchiha?" the Third Tsuchikage suddenly asked.
Tsunade shook her head, her face filled with worry. "Since he led a team out to hunt down Orochimaru, we haven't heard from him."
Jiraiya frowned. "He was still too reckless!"
Orochimaru had breached Konoha and killed the Third Hokage. The Five Kage had already recognized him as one of the most dangerous fugitives in the Shinobi World.
On top of that, Orochimaru had top fighters like Kabuto Yakushi at his side, along with formidable subordinates such as Jugo, Guren, and Tayuya.
Shinji had gone after him with only a handful of people from the Konoha Military Police Force. In everyone's eyes, that was undeniably overconfident.
The Five Kage also suspected that Itachi Uchiha had left some kind of message in Kakashi's or Sasuke's mind.
But without Shinji, there was no way to verify their suspicions. By sheer coincidence, Kakashi and Sasuke—the only people on the Ninja Village Allied Forces' side with the Mangekyō Sharingan—had been the ones affected. One was still unconscious, and the other had suffered severe damage to his Dojutsu. There was simply no way to check.
As they continued talking, the situation on the battlefield shifted.
Gaara, whom the Five Kage hadn't held in high regard, was performing far better than Darui. Though he had lost the One-Tail and was no longer a Jinchuriki, that didn't seem to have weakened him completely.
Without the One-Tail interfering, Gaara could control his Chakra with greater precision. His physical and mental condition had also returned to its peak after the One-Tail's disappearance. As a result, he was surprisingly not far behind Naruto.
Of course, everyone present knew that Naruto wasn't fighting at full strength. Menma, who was hidden inside Naruto, hadn't even joined