"Do you want to go to the battlefield?"
Shengu Xuan's sudden question stunned everyone present.
Naruto was the first to react. The anger and shock twisting his face instantly gave way to determination.
"Yes! Of course I do! I have to go!"
He clenched his fists tightly, the golden chakra flames flickering violently with his excitement.
"Nagato... he chose to believe in me! I won't let anyone... desecrate his body again! That bastard Kabuto Yakushi-I'll send him flying myself!"
"And that Masked Man! I'm going to ask him to his face why he did this!"
"Good." Shengu Xuan nodded, offering no opinion on Naruto's fired-up state.
His gaze shifted to Raikage A and Killer B.
"What about you? Your village should be getting battered senseless by now, shouldn't it?"
Raikage A's face was ashen. Though he was here physically, his heart had already flown back to Kumogakure. Shengu Xuan's "soul search" had revealed the whole truth of the war to him: a hundred thousand White Zetsu, along with countless powerful fighters brought back through Impure World Reincarnation...
What a horrific slaughter that would be!
"Of course we're going back!" Raikage A said through gritted teeth. He glanced at his younger brother Killer B, who was equally eager to fight, then at the unfathomable Shengu Xuan. For the first time, his tone carried a hint of... pleading.
"Lord... Shengu Xuan, the survival of the entire shinobi world hangs on this war. We need your power!"
"My power?" Shengu Xuan scoffed. "My power doesn't come free."
He strolled over to Tsunade and Jiraiya.
"Now, as supreme commander of the Allied Shinobi Forces, I order you to return to the battlefield immediately and command your troops."
"As for me..."
Shengu Xuan stretched and yawned.
"I need to get some sleep first, adjust to