Chapter 67, Taking The Leap

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"Where am I?", the hoarse voice that emanated from the side of the room caught our attention instantly.

"Sh-Shisui?", Hana's voice was slightly unsteady as she rushed over to him. Shisui's eyes were open in bare slits as he tried to make out his surroundings.

"Thank goodness", Hana teared up, knowing better than to engulf him in a hug right now.

"H-Hana?", he rasped, slowly tilting his head in her direction.

"I missed you so much", she wiped away tears and gently took his hand, "you're at the hospital..."

"How did I-", he halted midway when one of the cuts on his body ached suddenly.

"It's all right!", Hana assured, hovering her hand over the cut and infusing it with green hued chakra.

Shisui's scrunched up face softened a bit as Hana kept infusing chakra in his wound while wiping away the sweat on his forehead with a napkin.

"I-Itachi...Kakashi...", he grit his teeth as he said our names.

"They're alright", Hana assured again, "they've both woken up already..."

"Shisui...", I gently call out making his slit eyes snap in my direction.

"Itachi...you're alright...thank goodness..."

"Don't move", Hana instructs as she uses her other hand to double the chakra infusion.

I fall back again in my bed and my eyes wander the blank ceiling. Shisui and Kakashi are alright...that's reassuring and all...but...

What is Hanabi trying to tell us exactly?

Protect Naruto...

Six Paths...

The face behind the mask...

The Tailed-Beasts...

I can easily deduce two of the messages and tie them together. If the Akatsuki is after the Tailed Beast then Hanabi clearly meant for us to protect Naruto. After all, Madara did tell me that the Akatsuki's goal is world domination.

I couldn't quite decipher what 'Six Paths' meant, but just thinking about the other message made my stomach drop.

The face behind the mask isn't peculiar...

This critical time isn't the time for me to start denying what my gut is telling me.

If she says it, she means it...

That's right, if I keep believing in that then the only deduction that's left to consider is that the masked man is no stranger. And by that I'm guessing that Hanabi is trying to tell us that the masked man isn't Madara Uchiha.

If the masked man isn't Madara then there's a possibility that he didn't unleash the Nine-Tails. If that is by any chance true, then the peace the Uchiha and the village maintained is at risk.

On the other hand, if this man did actually unleash the Nine-Tails and only acted as a stand-in for Madara then the peace won't be threatened.

No matter how I flip the equation, something is always bound to go wrong.

If only Hanabi was a bit more clear about what 'Six Paths' meant then I might just have the answers for once.

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