Shihōin Naraku soon returned to Konoha. On his way to the Hokage Building, he could faintly hear passersby discussing the strange spectacle that had appeared in the sky earlier.
Recalling the sight of himself unleashing his power high in the sky, he could hardly blame the people on the ground for noticing an explosion on that scale.
But although the commotion had been rather large, Konoha's villagers were not panicking.
Please. With the Phoenix-Shihōin Naraku-here, what enemy would have the sheer nerve to come to Konoha to die?
Listening along the way to the villagers discussing the spectacle in the sky and singing his praises, Naraku arrived at the Hokage's Office.
"I was just about to send someone to fetch you, and here you are."
Tsunade's eyes lit up at the sight of Naraku. "There's an S-rank mission I need you to carry out, Naraku!"
"What?"
Naraku had been about to ask about Sage Mode, but Tsunade caught him off guard by throwing a mission straight at him.
"The ninja stationed at the Great Naruto Bridge in the Land of Waves reported that they've spotted large numbers of Kirigakure ninja appearing in the Land of Waves over the past few days. The Land of Water's intentions are unclear for now, but we need to take this intelligence seriously."
"Also, the border defense forces along the Land of Fire's coast have discovered what appear to be signs of tailed beast activity. Yesterday, some ninja even witnessed a Tailed Beast Bomb exploding out at sea! But we still don't know which jinchūriki it was!"
"The ninja in the border defense forces are experienced. Some have fought in several Shinobi World Wars, so they probably weren't mistaken."
"Whether the Land of Water intends to destroy the Great Naruto Bridge or a Kirigakure tailed