Chapter 43.3- One Thousand Hands

“Terribly” I replied.

“What’s the issue?”

“I don’t even want to think about it. What’s up?”

“A letter came for you. It’s from the Hokage” She said. I perked up and caught the scroll she tossed in my direction.

The orders within were simple. I was to delegate command to someone of my choosing and return to Konoha as soon as possible. My heart skipped a beat. What had happened? Tsunade? Grandmother Mito? Kushina? Someone had to be hurt for the message to call me back like this. As far as I knew people who were shipped out for war didn’t just get called back home for no reason. To be fair, they also didn’t get called back when they lost family, but maybe there was something there.

“What does it say?” She asked as I dispelled my clones, taking in the progress they’d made before forming a new set to pack up my stuff.

“I’ve been summoned back to the village” I said.

“Who died?”

“Doesn’t say. Hopefully no one. I’ll be leaving now. Please inform Shika that she’s in charge and tell the others of what happened if they ask.” I said as I walked to the corner of the room and picked up the giant scroll, slinging it over my shoulder.

“Alright then. Stay safe” She said. My clone handed me a scroll containing all my notes and everything else. I slipped it into my pocket. The lab had been designed to be packed up in seconds if necessary. One never knee when they could be ambushed after all. He walked away and left the hideout, waving to everyone he passed as he did so. Once he was outside, he travelled to the West, moving three kilometers in that direction, and then two kilometers south before he was certain that he’d gone far enough from the hideout. He allowed his hold on his chakra to slip, sending it coursing through every cell and muscle. He pushed against the ground, displacing a ton of it and shooting off like a rocket aimed straight for Konoha.

XXX-

“Identify yourself” The gate guards asked as I walked towards them. Even at full speed, it had still taken me three hours to travel to the Village from the Land of Rivers.

“Shorirama Senju” I said.

The guard seemed shocked, before waving me in. The orders had been to report to the Hokage tower immediately, but there was one building closeby I just had to check. It was still Afternoon, so Kushina was supposed to be within the academy. I body flickered to a frooftop, activating my byakugan and giving the building a scan. Sure enough, I could see the bright furnace of her chakra right there. I breathed a sigh of relief to see that she was fine. She wouldn’t be at the academy if something had happened to Grandmother Mito either, so my worries for the both if them were settled even as the worry I felt for Tsunade skyrocketed.