"Why's he like some flimsy watermelon, rolling his eyes back and passing out at the drop of a hat?"
Sen muttered.
He stood up and rubbed the mud off his sole against Kakashi's soaked trouser leg.
Then he let out another enormous yawn, tears nearly running down to his chin.
Those two terrors from the Akatsuki had fled.
The suffocating pressure hanging over the river had vanished with them.
A breeze swept past, and the river lapped noisily against the rocks.
Besides the smell of mud, the air carried the scorched stench left by Amaterasu.
It made them cough.
"Sen..."
Clutching the wound on his arm, Asuma limped through the water toward him.
His green vest had several large tears seeping blood, and his soaked trouser legs dripped steadily.
Kurenai hurried forward to support him, her face pale as paper, the cold sweat on her palms soaking the kunai's wooden handle.
"This time... we owe you."
Asuma panted, looking at the unconscious Kakashi on the ground, then at Sen, who stood there as though nothing had happened.
He pulled a waterlogged cigarette from his pocket and tried to light it, but his lighter wouldn't spark.
"All right, spare me the thanks."
Sen waved a hand and turned to leave, his feet squelching through the wet mud.
"It's early in the morning, and I haven't even had breakfast. I'm starving."
"Hurry up and haul that white-haired guy to the hospital. If they don't treat his eye soon, I reckon he'll go blind."
Sen didn't look back, leaving Asuma and Kurenai staring at each other.
The Fifth Hokage's office in the Hokage Building.
Sunlight streamed through the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows, and smoke swirled through the room.
Tsunade had her feet propped on the desk, without a shred of decorum.
Her green