Tekuno climbed dazedly to his feet, his gaze shifting back and forth between the garrison and Captain Shirakumo.
"I didn't."
"I didn't set them off."
"How? How could this happen?!"
His trembling voice squeezed out through his lips, and his pudgy hands would not stop shaking.
At that moment, he had none of the composure or calm expected of a jonin.
Kimura Kai wore an equally vacant expression. If Arata had not thrown him aside earlier, he would have been blown to pieces by now!
Hayama Shirakumo did not answer his companion's muttering. His left fist was clenched tight, veins like coiling dragons bulging across his arm.
This matter...
Whether it had been Iwagakure or the mastermind Arata had mentioned no longer mattered.
Because he was already beside himself with rage!
How laughable.
The laughable Will of Fire, burning on without end!
Was this how they treated the younger generation of their own faction?
If the Third Hoshikage could not give him a satisfactory explanation after they returned, then there was no point in staying in Konoha.
The smoke gradually dispersed.
What should have been their final refuge had already been blasted into ruins.
However...
When a battered Rock Soil barricade appeared before his eyes, Hayama Shirakumo could not help but cry out:
"Arata!"
He had never so desperately hoped for someone to appear. Even though, when they had first met, he had thought he would never get along with this brat; even though this little guy, clearly only a genin, had directly ordered him around on the battlefield despite their difference in rank, and in such an indifferent manner; even though he had once harbored an unforgettable misunderstanding toward this seemingly cold-blooded boy.
But...
Right now, Hayama Shirakumo only wanted that person to survive!
No matter the cost!
It