"Shingetsu, who's this?"
Only after leaving Iwagakure did Hashirama notice that Shingetsu had brought along a female shinobi dressed in Iwa gear. She was currently unconscious.
At Hashirama's question, Shingetsu finally turned her gaze toward the Iwa shinobi she had captured-no, rescued-and shrugged, admitting frankly:
"I don't know, but I thought she looked a little like Chinatsu."
Hashirama took a closer look at the woman. Yes, her air and those glasses really did remind him of Chinatsu.
"Hehe, you two really are close~"
Hashirama teased her playfully, then paid the matter no more attention.
But Kabuto Yakushi, mingling among the Iwa shinobi who had all turned into screaming chickens, felt his pupils quake. Countless waves of shock surged through him, and he nearly screamed:
"That's... the director!"
There was no way he could mistake that familiar face. That was Yakushi Nonō, his director, the woman he regarded as a mother.
"But why is the director here?"
Kabuto Yakushi's thoughts were in turmoil. He did not know that Nonō had rejoined Root for his sake, nor that Danzo was already dead. But his body reacted instinctively, chasing after them without hesitation.
Ultimately, everything he had done in Danzo's service had been for the orphanage and its director.
Now that the director was in danger, duties and missions meant nothing. He cast Danzo and Konoha out of his mind as well.
At that moment, Kabuto Yakushi had only one thought:
"I have to rescue the director!"
Naturally, the string of fine deeds Shingetsu, Madara, and Hashirama had committed sent towering waves through the Shinobi World-
In just one day, they had abducted two Kage in succession, along with the villages' jinchūriki. Even Hashirama Senju hadn't captured tailed beasts this quickly back in the day!
The remaining Raikage and Mizukage naturally braced