"This is..."
Perhaps because he had fallen unconscious from his severe injuries, Ōnoki was momentarily dazed, unable to grasp what had happened.
But after seeing Jiraiya and Tsunade, his eyes gradually focused, and he recalled everything that had happened earlier.
"Han!"
"Have either of you seen Han?"
Faced with Ōnoki's anxious expression, Jiraiya and Tsunade both shook their heads, and that response made his heart sink.
Iwagakure's Fourth Tsuchikage was simply gone!
Thinking of how quickly the hopes he had placed in Han had vanished, Ōnoki felt utterly miserable.
It had taken him so much effort to make up his mind to retire and hand the position of Tsuchikage over to Han, hoping Han could shoulder the heavy responsibility of Iwagakure and the Land of Earth. Who could have known that the Akatsuki would abduct him?
The blow hurt even more than Ōnoki's physical pain!
Tsunade and Jiraiya exchanged a glance. Ōnoki's silence after waking left them unsure how to even begin comforting him.
"Ahem... Lord Ōnoki, could you tell us about the battle?" Jiraiya asked. What mattered most now was any intelligence about the Akatsuki. Even a little more could offer greater hope of success in the coming clash in the shinobi world.
"The battle, cough, cough..."
Ōnoki had barely begun to speak when he aggravated his still-unhealed internal injuries and began coughing violently.
"Easy, easy. There's no rush. We have plenty of time to discuss the Akatsuki now," Jiraiya soothed him from beside him.
Ōnoki no longer showed his stubborn streak. He worked to calm the surging blood within him, then said with a bitter smile, "At the Five Kage Summit, Dodai suggested that the Five Kage use Kumogakure's formula to stay in contact and communicate, making it easier to wipe out the Akatsuki. I nearly persuaded Han