A Grand Spectacle (Request for Subscriptions)

Land of Grass.

Above Kusagakure, a black Azure Hawk shrieked as it soared through the sky. It flew in an S-shaped path, then an 8, heedless of everything around it, arrogant and unrestrained.

"That's..."

In a corner of Kusagakure, Kakashi looked up at the hawk, his expression shifting slightly. He blurred into motion and raced toward it.

At the same time, the other members of Konoha Anbu's Sixth Division, who were investigating throughout Kusagakure—including Tenzo and Itachi Uchiha—saw the hawk's flight and hurried toward it as well.

Since leaving Konoha several months ago, Kakashi had led the Sixth Division across the Shinobi World in search of the Missing-nin Kisame Hoshigaki and Zetsu, the Missing-nin from Kusagakure. Unfortunately, they had found nothing.

Unwilling to give up, Kakashi had brought Tenzo and the others to Kusagakure, hoping to uncover information about Zetsu and analyze his patterns of activity. But after several days, they still hadn't found the slightest trace of him!

It was as though Zetsu had never lived in Kusagakure.

Until... this hawk appeared.

It was an emergency signal from an Anbu contact. Anyone who saw it had to report to the rendezvous point immediately!

Half an hour later, Kakashi, Tenzo, Itachi Uchiha, and the others arrived at a small dense forest.

"Is everyone from the Sixth Division here?" The Azure Hawk, which had been soaring high above, beat its wings and descended slowly, its sharp talons gripping a branch tightly.

Kakashi wasn't surprised that a hawk could talk. His dogs could speak, too.

"Does Headquarters have any other instructions?" Kakashi asked coolly.

"The latest order from Lord Hokage: everyone is to return to the village!" The Azure Hawk beat its wings and took off again. "I still have to notify the other divisions. See you."

After the hawk flew away,