The air in the Hokage's Office grew heavy because of an urgent report from the Land of Rain.
The night outside the window was as dark as ink. The room was brightly lit, yet it could not dispel the stagnant tension.
The ANBU captain, "Tit," knelt on one knee with his head lowered. His mask hid all expression, but the taut lines of his shoulders revealed the severity of the situation.
"He's gone missing."
Baishi sat behind the desk, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the warm side of his teacup. He did not look at "Tit." His gaze rested on the draft notice on his desk, freshly issued, regarding Namikaze Minato's "mandatory recuperation."
"The exact time." His voice was calm.
"Based on the traces left at the station, it should have been around an hour before the 'medical team' arrived. There were no signs of a struggle, no signs of forced entry, and no high-intensity Chakra residue other than Minato's was detected."
"Tit's" report was concise and precise.
Shikaku Nara, standing nearby, furrowed his brows into a knot.
No struggle meant Minato had left voluntarily. There were only two possibilities for voluntarily leaving at such a sensitive time. One, he had defected. Two, something more important and urgent than "mandatory treatment" had happened.
Knowing Namikaze Minato as he did, the former was impossible.
"So, one man, knowing our people were about to arrive, left on his own." Baishi summed up the situation in a blunt sentence.
"Yes."
"I understand." Baishi waved a hand. "Classify this as Class-A confidential. Publicly, say the observer has been transferred to a secret location for treatment as planned. Take people and seal off the scene. Under the pretext of investigating a 'disease-prevention loophole,' erase all traces. Remember, all of them."
"Yes, sir."
"Tit's" figure turned into