After a while, Tsunade seemed to remember something and raised her head again.
"Kakashi."
"Yes."
"After you leave here, go check on Sasuke."
"See how far he's gotten with his training."
"Find out when he'll be able to open a Space-Time Portal, and whether he can give us a rough estimate."
Kakashi Hatake considered this for a moment, then said without much hope, "It's unlikely he'll succeed in such a short time."
"I know."
Tsunade said, "But we need a timetable. Even a rough one is better than nothing."
"If Sasuke says he needs another month, we'll make all our preparations within that month. If he says he needs six months, we'll have to consider other options."
Kakashi nodded. "I understand. I'll ask him and try to get a concrete assessment."
"Also..."
Tsunade added, "When you ask him, tell him about Isshiki sending people to Konoha. Let him know we might not have much time."
"All right."
Jiraiya spoke up then. "If Sasuke's Space-Time Portal isn't usable for now, do we have any other way?"
"I don't know either. But if things don't work out on Sasuke's end, we'll still have to find a way to rescue Naraku," Tsunade said.
"Then we can only count on Sasuke." Jiraiya sighed.
Tsunade did not respond. She simply looked back at Kakashi. "Go see Sasuke as soon as possible. Once you've gotten a clear answer, come straight back and report to me."
"Understood."
Tsunade stood up. "That's settled, then. Shikaku will handle security and ANBU deployment, Jiraiya will continue posing as Naraku, and Kakashi will ask Sasuke for a timetable."
"Get to it."
All three answered at once, then turned and left.
By the time Kakashi walked out of the Hokage Building, the sun was already low in the west.
The sunset painted