"Lady Kushina, are you all right?"
Might Guy, Asuma, and the others gathered around Kakashi.
Naruto, who had been blown away by the shockwave, came sprinting over at once. "Mom! Mom!"
"Naruto, everyone..."
Looking at all those familiar faces, Kushina remembered the Tailed Beast Bomb explosion and Gyuki's frenzied assault. A warmth she couldn't put into words welled up inside her.
"Everyone, now's not the time to catch up."
Supported by Sasuke, Advisor Fugaku hobbled over, his gaze... unfocused?
"Advisor Fugaku, how are you?" Kakashi asked.
Advisor Fugaku squinted at the speaker. Only when he came closer did Fugaku recognize him. "Kakashi, I'm fine."
You expect me to believe that? Kakashi rolled his eyes.
Fugaku ignored him and went straight to the point. "Tenzo is still trapped in the Sea of Trees. Unless something unexpected happened, Orochimaru has captured him. And Hanfeng..."
Hanfeng was certainly powerful. He had once effortlessly blocked a strike from Fugaku's First Form Susanoo, and just now he'd blasted the enormous Aerial Fortress to smithereens with a single attack. But that move clearly couldn't be used against Orochimaru, because they were in Konoha. Given the range of Hanfeng's attack, using it against the ground would wipe out nearly half the village!
Besides, Orochimaru was wielding pure Wood Release!
Wood Release capable of capturing Tailed Beasts!
The Kekkei Genkai of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, who had once ended an age of chaos, swept across the Five Great Ninja Villages, and dominated the Shinobi World!
It was absolutely incomparable to Tenzo's amateur Wood Release!
With a grave expression, Fugaku stared at the figure floating above the Sea of Trees, radiating love... Er, green light.
High above the Sea of Trees, Hanfeng had easily blocked the Tailed Beast Bomb, but his expression had turned unusually solemn.
Because