The air in the Hokage Office seemed to have been sucked dry.
Beneath the desk, Minato Namikaze's fingertips had already touched the Flying Thunder God Formula embedded in its underside.
Tsunade stood in front of Shinichi, her Hokage Ceremonial Robe stirring without a breeze. The diamond-shaped Yin Seal on her forehead glowed dangerously, like an awakening eye.
Orochimaru... Orochimaru's expression was quite a sight.
A sickly flush crept across his perpetually bloodless face. Streams of data cascaded through his golden snake eyes, almost taking physical form.
At the center of the office, Uchiha Shinichi stood languidly, as though he had just returned from a stroll on the moon.
Behind him stood a woman whose white hair reached the floor-the source of all this pressure.
Kaguya Otsutsuki.
She released no chakra, but her very existence eroded the "rules of the world."
Light slowed around her. Sounds seemed to be swallowed as they reached her, and space itself took on a visibly unstable, viscous quality.
Her pure white eyes, free of any trace of impurity, swept over the three people present.
As though she were looking at three differently shaped insects.
"Ahem."
Shinichi cleared his throat, breaking the silence that threatened to stop their hearts.
He casually hooked a thumb over his shoulder and spoke as though introducing a new intern:
"Let me introduce our new colleague, Kaguya Otsutsuki."
He paused, then added something that nearly made Tsunade punch him.
"She'll be handling external affairs. Her main duties... are odd jobs."
"Shinichi!"
Tsunade clenched her teeth and forced his name through them.
"You brought a nuclear weapon that could explode at any moment into our kitchen!"
"No, no, no."
Shinichi waved a hand, wearing an expression that said she clearly didn't get it.
"She's not a nuclear weapon. She's now a... 'nuclear