ᗰOᑎᔕTEᖇ [🧡 ᑎᗩᖇᑌᕼIᑎᗩ 💜] [Ɱҽէąʍօɾքհօʂìʂ] Bσσƙ Oɳҽ

Congratulations

"The people that observed Shukaku's behavior before he went into the desert did say it seemed as though he were in a trance, rather than a rampage when he trampled over a nearby village on the path to the Desert of No Return."

He remembered that detail, and though he was more than a little concerned for his bijuu friend, the trance gave them the biggest hope that Shukaku was fine...just caught in a dreamlike world unable to free himself. That the disconnect was due to that zombie state of mind, and not something far worse...

"Did you speak of this to anyone?"

Did you tell the Kazekage?

"No."

And it still didn't sit right with him.

"We'll need to send a team to investigate this village. We'll recover the computer, sift through any documents that will shine some light on what this place was. I'll contact the Kazekage. With this place buried beneath his own land, he'll have his own questions, not to mention his own team investigate it as well. You won't be able to be apart of initial team, Naruto. You and Kurama were severely effected by what was left behind and though your sensory ability could lead to details the intel team may miss, we don't know enough about what it is that's effecting you to send you with them. However, once we've processed the scene and perhaps made some sense of it, will you two be able to handle going back for another sweep?"

"Of course, dattebayo."

He hoped.

Though, what choice did they have?

They had to go back. As far as they knew, no one could do what they could and with a bijuu personally experiencing the effects of that place, perhaps it could help them not only understand what may have happened to their tanuki friend but maybe even point them in his direction. Neither of them were keen on going through that ordeal again, but they both felt the same way. They needed answers and if those answers would lead to the rescue of Shukaku, then so be it. Somehow, someway, they'd figure out how to deal with those new, alien sensations.

They had to.

"As of now," Kakashi continued, "this information goes no further than who I've individually given you permission to discuss it with among the respective clans currently engaged with this matter."

"What about the other locations we were supposed to investigate, Hokage-sama?" Lee questioned.

"For now, our focus has to be on this new development. We may need to hit those other points later, but for now, this is of top priority," Kakashi replied, "Good work on the mission. You are dismissed."

"I don't like any of this." Kiba complained as they traversed the corridor leading to the main entrance to the Hokage tower.

"There ain't anything to like, 'ttebayo."

"Obviously," he growled, glaring at his blonde friend, "I mean this shit is serious. The Otsutsuki's gotta be involved in this and that dead tree we saw, it's probably some sort of knock off of the real thing. They're tryna pull that Kaguya shit again."

"I also believe it's possible," Lee chipped in, "it's too much of a coincidence for a tree that looked like...that...to affect Kurama-san not to be from the hands of the Otsutsuki."

Unsure how much Kakashi had told them, Naruto refrained from over-sharing and said simply, "Even if those guys show up, we'll beat em just like we did Kaguya."

"We almost didn't!" the Inuzuka reminded him as they reached the open doors leading outside, "and we're hardly prepared for it now...so many of us...died the last time...the villages, hell, the world hasn't recovered and-"