It was as if something terrible had happened—something even worse than the moon being sliced apart by some mysterious force...
Kakashi did not understand why he felt that way, but he had a very bad feeling about it. At the very least, every one of his bad premonitions had come true. Could it be... Naruto and the others... No way, right?
As Kakashi muttered to himself, a voice suddenly rang out behind him. "Mr. Hiashi, your injuries... are they all right now?"
Kakashi abruptly turned around. Hyuga Hiashi had been brought back by Sasuke. Although Sasuke was not particularly welcome in the village, Kakashi was still deeply grateful that he had returned at such a critical time—especially since he had brought back the severely injured Hyuga Hiashi.
The Hyuga clan had suffered grievous losses in the previous Shinobi World War. The Hyuga, once considered Konoha's greatest clan before the war, had never recovered, and Hyuga Hiashi's influence in the village had declined sharply as clan head. Still, if he went missing, Kakashi, as Hokage, would face no small headache.
And now there was Hanabi's kidnapping on top of that. It could be said that a mountain of troubles had come knocking all at once.
Now that Hyuga Hiashi had returned to Konoha, even though he remained unconscious, half the weight on Kakashi's shoulders had been lifted. At least he no longer had to worry that, when the other Hyuga clan members returned, they would fight endlessly over the position of clan head.
But what Hyuga Hiashi said next immediately darkened Kakashi's face. "You're saying Naruto and the others are up there?"
Hyuga Hiashi slowly nodded. "If you truly assigned that mission earlier, then it should be them."
At once, something else appeared in Kakashi's eyes. "Arrange the Communications Unit immediately.