Sen shoved both hands into his pockets and scraped the mud off his soles against the tree trunk as hard as he could. He turned to look at Kakashi in the puddle and grinned broadly. "Hey, old Kakashi, those two melodramatic students of yours swaggered off ages ago. By now, they're probably at the Valley of the End, trading punches in perfect harmony. If you can haul yourself up, come with me and catch the show from the front row. Get there late and there won't be a seat left for you. Seriously."
Kakashi spat out a huge mouthful of mud and coughed dryly. "Sen, do you think I'm some monster like you with an endless supply of chakra? My bones were nearly crushed flat. It's a miracle I've still got this last breath in me instead of dying on the spot, and you're standing there making snide remarks and teasing me. Seriously."
Sen jumped down from the thick tree trunk, glanced sideways at the muddy ground, and spoke with utter indifference. "Suit yourself. These clothes cost a fortune. I'm not carrying you."
Ōnoki crawled out from between a heap of broken rocks in a foul ditch, his aching old back creaking as he spat out a huge mouthful of sludge. Rubbing his swollen, red eyes, he looked around. Granny Chiyo and the Land of Earth ninja beside him were equally bedraggled, soaked through and staring at one another in bewilderment. "What kind of rotten war is this? I was just drinking and playing finger-guessing games with Hashirama! How did I wind up lying in this Land of Lightning sludge in the blink of an eye? You dragged me all this way and didn't even give me somewhere to sit. What the hell is this?!"
The red moon overhead turned