Back in Konoha, after seeing Nagato and Konan off, Meihui went back to find Naruto and Sasuke.
He found Itachi already waiting for him beside the two of them.
"Come on, let's head back to Konoha."
But Itachi spoke up. "I won't go back just yet. Given my circumstances, it's best if Sasuke goes back first."
Meihui was puzzled, but after thinking it over, he guessed the reason.
"Hm? What is it? Is this because of Danzo?"
Itachi nodded without saying anything. The answer was clear: it was because of Danzo.
That left Meihui rather unhappy.
"Danzo? A Konoha elder? If I'm feeling generous, I'll call him an elder. If I'm not, I'll put him six feet under."
Hearing Meihui's words, Itachi still smiled and shook his head, indicating that he didn't want to cause Meihui any trouble.
It was better to let Sasuke go back instead. Seeing Itachi's attitude, Meihui had no choice but to stop insisting.
Uchiha Sasuke, however, stood on no ceremony with Meihui. He simply brought his companions along and returned to Konoha with him.
When Meihui and the others returned, they found Tsunade and the others already waiting to greet them at the Konoha Gate. Don't ask why the gate was still perfectly intact when Konoha had been devastated like that. The answer was that Pain hadn't dared enter through Konoha's main gate because its gate guardians were there.
"Welcome back, everyone."
Tsunade, accompanied by Jiraiya and some of Konoha's people, welcomed them at the Konoha Gate.
Although Konoha was in shambles, that did nothing to dampen their enthusiasm.
With Meihui were Naruto, Sasuke, Suigetsu, Jūgo, and Karin.
When Sakura saw Sasuke, she was so excited that she couldn't even speak.
She rushed straight at Sasuke and pounced on him.
"Sasuke, you're finally back! I