"He has far, far too many secrets! Fortunately, a ninja this powerful isn't our enemy. Otherwise, the consequences would be unthinkable..." Standing outside the window, the Third Hokage blew smoke rings and looked out, his thoughts drifting farther and farther away along with them.
"I wonder when Ruri will be back! This wait is killing me! Has he been taking proper care of himself on the battlefield? Honestly..." At Hizashi Hyuga's house, Mei Ling Hyuga was already frantic with worry, staring at the horizon and muttering to herself.
"All right, all right. Ruri will be fine. He'll definitely come home safely, so stop overthinking things here! We should have faith in him!" Seeing how frantic Mei Ling Hyuga had become, Hizashi Hyuga walked over to her, held her in his arms, and spoke softly.
"I'm just worried about him! If anything happens to him, how are we supposed to answer to his parents? He's our child now. How could we not worry about our own child?" Mei Ling Hyuga said, looking at Hizashi Hyuga with tears filling her eyes.
"All right, all right. Trust me, he'll be fine. He'll definitely come back here safely. Don't worry!" Hizashi Hyuga smiled and sat down there, holding Mei Ling Hyuga tightly.
Mei Ling Hyuga said nothing. She leaned into Hizashi Hyuga's embrace and watched the white clouds in the distance, silently praying that nothing would happen to Ruri.
Meanwhile, in Kumogakure, the Fourth Raikage was flying into a rage in his office.
"What? You're saying all the ninja we sent out this time were wiped out by Konoha? How is that possible? What were they even doing out there? Were they all just freeloaders?" After hearing his subordinate's report, the dark-skinned, incredibly muscular Fourth Raikage stood in front of his desk and roared