"Stay strong!"
Konan stepped forward, her gaze gentle as she spoke.
He was the youngest junior brother of the three, and ever since the day of the Six Powers assessment, they had felt nothing but affection for the little boy.
"Mm-hmm!"
Kakashi nodded repeatedly, but his tears would not stop flowing.
An intense longing suddenly welled up inside him. He wanted to leave this place with his teacher and his senior brothers and sister.
Soon, however, he calmed down again.
"I still have things I must do!"
Xia Le and the others left. The cocoons hanging from the trees kept falling, releasing Konoha ninja one after another, their faces filled with relief at having survived.
Grief-stricken, Hiruzen Sarutobi picked up Danzo's body from the ground.
He had to personally see off the companion who had been by his side since childhood.
After a while, tears filled his eyes.
"Why did you come out?"
"Hadn't we already planned everything?"
"Why did you have to do this?"
He asked the same questions over and over of Danzo, now a corpse in his arms.
But just then, a light suddenly shone in the eyes of Danzo, who had already died.
"Hiruzen!"
A voice like a murmur reached Hiruzen Sarutobi's ears.
"Danzo?!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes widened in shock.
"You're still alive?!"
Danzo's breathing was so faint it was almost nonexistent. "Barely!"
"Take me home!"
"If I can integrate the First Hokage's cells into my body..."
"I can still be saved!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart jolted as he stared in horror at his old friend in his arms.
His neck had been broken, and he had lost a tremendous amount of blood. At this point, he was scarcely different from a dead man.
"Hurry!"
"I'm running out of time!"
Danzo urged him on.
Hiruzen Sarutobi snapped