"What are you doing here?"
Tsunade stared at them with wide eyes, asking in surprise.
At her words, Sosuke's smile slowly faded. He lowered his head slightly, his eyes dimming.
A bitter smile appeared on his face as he spoke softly.
"Minato and I reached our squad, but everything was already in ruins. If I had to guess, the Rain Ninja attacked them..."
Sosuke didn't continue.
Hearing his words, Tsunade thought of what had happened earlier.
She remembered the cruelty of war Mitarashi Juma had shown them.
Then she gave him a comforting smile and looked at him with her wide eyes, gently trying to reassure him.
"It's all right. It wasn't your fault, Sosuke."
"This is... war..."
Jiraiya chimed in from the side.
He pursed his lips slightly and gave Sosuke a look of exasperation.
He reached out and patted Sosuke on the shoulder, speaking as if he were an old hand.
"This is only the beginning of the war, Sosuke. The world of shinobi has always been cruel."
"Comrades die, villages lose battles. Things like that could happen any day in wartime. We should have been mentally prepared for it, shouldn't we...?"
At those words, Sosuke looked up at him.
Suddenly!
"Thump!"
A delicate fist landed on Jiraiya's head!
"You idiot! If you don't know how to comfort someone, don't open your mouth!"
"What do you mean, 'comrades die' and 'villages lose battles'?! You moron! If you don't know how to choose your words, don't put on airs and spout nonsense!"
Tsunade glared furiously at Jiraiya, a vein bulging on her forehead as she shouted at him.
With a huge bump on his head, Jiraiya burst into tears at this treatment.
He huddled in the corner, obediently drawing circles and silently nursing his grievances.
I was only trying