"Kakashi-sensei, did you see that move of mine? The one I used on Kakuzu at the end!"
Naruto stood atop a white bird, excitedly recounting his earlier battle to Kakashi beside him.
"I came up with that move myself! Even Master Jiraiya doesn't know it. It's called the Big Ball Rasengan! What do you think? What do you think? Pretty powerful, right?"
Kakashi was in standby mode. Though he sat cross-legged on the bird, he made no effort to rouse himself, simply staring ahead with dead-fish eyes.
As he listened to Naruto, he nodded rather halfheartedly.
Deep down, however, he was nowhere near as calm as he appeared.
During this battle, he had seen tremendous potential in Naruto.
At his age, Naruto already possessed a means of killing Kakuzu, a veteran Kage-level powerhouse.
That meant that, with proper training, Naruto could certainly become someone even more outstanding than his father, the Fourth Hokage.
Just then, a figure suddenly appeared without a sound in the path ahead of their group.
Since they were high in the air, however, the figure inevitably dropped a little upon appearing. Only after reacting did he steady himself and fly toward them.
Hmm?
Kakashi and Karin Uzumaki, who had remained silent beside him, were the first to react to the newcomer's appearance.
But the moment Karin Uzumaki saw the figure, delight flashed in her eyes. She immediately rose from the bird and watched expectantly as he approached.
Kakashi also recognized the figure and immediately stood up, calling out:
"Lord Shin, what brings you here? Has something happened in the village?"
The mission their team was carrying out was an S-rank one, so it was fairly important.
But that also depended on whose perspective one took.
Opponents on the Immortal Duo's level hardly warranted the intervention of