Inside the Hokage's Office, the Chakra Communication Array for the Five Kage Summit had just begun to take shape. Tsunade was gathering her thoughts for her opening remarks when the door burst open!
"Lady Tsunade! Something's wrong!" Shizune gasped, her face deathly pale. The scroll clutched in her hand trembled from the force of her grip. She rarely lost her composure like this.
Tsunade's heart sank. Her instincts as both a top Medical Ninja and a leader sounded the alarm.
"Shizune, calm down! Tell me what happened."
"Our outermost Hidden Outposts monitoring Jigen in the Land of Rice Fields all went silent three minutes ago!"
"The last images they sent show that the target detected our surveillance. He's heading straight for the eastern border of the Land of Fire at a speed far beyond anything possible with the Body Flicker Technique!"
"Judging from the energy he left behind, he's definitely above Kage Level. He may even..."
Fear crept into Shizune's voice. "Be close to or at the Super Kage level mentioned on the Canopy Screen!"
"What?!" Tsunade shot to her feet. The burst of Chakra from her body sent her solid-wood chair sliding backward with a shrill scrape.
Countless terrible possibilities flashed through her mind before it settled on the deadliest one.
"Is he after Naruto?! Jiraiya reported this morning that he was taking Naruto through survival training in that area!"
Shizune's nod confirmed her worst fear. "Based on his last known coordinates, his path almost exactly overlaps with Jiraiya and Naruto's expected location!"
"Damn it!" Tsunade slammed her fist onto the desk, scattering papers everywhere.
Her eyes turned bloodshot, but in that moment, the decisiveness of a Hokage rang through her voice and crushed her panic.
"Highest state of emergency! Shizune, act at once. First, assemble every available Jonin