“This time, we’ve split into two squads to carry out the mission.”
Minato Namikaze swept his gaze across the group, then spoke slowly:
“Kakashi, Rin, and Obito will remain in one squad.
You’re responsible for blowing up the bridge.
Kiyohara, Genma, and Kurenai, you’ll be the second squad, tasked with disrupting the Iwagakure shinobi and drawing their attention.”
Minato Namikaze said.
“Blow up a bridge?
What bridge?”
Obito asked in confusion.
His geography was poor—he didn’t even know where the Kannabi Bridge was.
“The Land of Grass and the Land of Fire share a border.
Right now, the Land of Earth is committing aggression against the Land of Grass, and over a thousand shinobi have already gathered on the Land of Grass front line.
Once they break through it, they can march straight from the Land of Grass into the Land of Fire’s territory.”
Kiyohara spoke up.
Honestly, this mission was simple—it was just about pulling the lane and sneaking around to strike the enemy’s crystal.
Whether they survived or not, the Konoha higher-ups didn’t care.
You had to buy your own fine blade; otherwise, if you died, you were truly dead.
Not everyone was a Dreamer’s Tear.
“Am I right, Lord Minato?”
“Correct, Kiyohara is quite right.”
Minato Namikaze shot Kiyohara an appreciative look.
Kiyohara possessed Chunin-level talent, not someone who earned the rank purely through raw strength.
With the war ongoing, the requirements had been relaxed.
In peacetime, to advance to Chunin, one had to demonstrate the leadership ability to command a basic squad—not just individual combat prowess.
Additionally, at the Chunin level, one had to possess the capacity to analyze battlefield conditions.
Usually, those who excelled in this area but were weaker in practical combat would be assigned as instructors or proctors at the Ninja Academy.
“Then what does that have to do with our mission?
Aren’t we supposed to blow up some bridge?”
Obito scratched his head.
Would blowing up one bridge really stop over a thousand shinobi from charging in?
How wide was that bridge supposed to be?
“Obito, think carefully.
The fact that they can launch an attack like this means the Iwagakure shinobi already have solid control over parts of the Land of Grass, and their rear support is running very smoothly.”
Rin Nohara had gleaned some insight from the exchange between Minato Namikaze and Kiyohara.
“So the point of this mission is to strike the enemy at the very front line.
The best way is to cut off their logistics, and the Kannabi Bridge is the most critical node.”
Kurenai Yuhi said.
Genma Shiranui silently nodded along.
Kakashi, meanwhile, wore a look of utter exasperation.
Everyone here understood.
Only Obito was still a bit lost.
Kiyohara shook his head—after all, in the databooks, Obito’s “Wisdom” stat was only a two, and “Wisdom” represented a shinobi’s knowledge reserve and intellect.
Even Rock Lee, Kiba Inuzuka, and Choji Akimichi all had “Wisdom” values of four—double Obito’s.
So there was a reason Obito was so poor at theory.
It was innate.
“Oh, I see.”
Seeing that everyone else looked like they understood, Obito claimed he understood too.
Minato Namikaze, noticing this, patiently re-explained the mission to Obito.
This matter was of grave importance—it could very well determine the course of the war between Konoha and Iwagakure—so it remained highly classified.
But with the great nations locked in war, Konoha had to manage multiple battlefields at once, and simply didn’t have enough shinobi left.
That was the only reason it was Kakashi and the others’ turn to go.
Just as Minato Namikaze was about to say something more, he suddenly sensed a strange sound near his ear.
Enemies!
Minato Namikaze instinctively reached back to draw a kunai and kill the enemy.
The next moment, he suppressed that impulse.
There was one more thing he hadn’t told Kiyohara, Kakashi, and the others: he wouldn’t be participating in this mission.
Instead, he would prioritize supporting the front lines.
Right now, Minato Namikaze wanted to see how these few would respond to a crisis.
So he pretended not to notice.
“Someone’s coming.”
Rogue Ninja Kiyohara spoke up.
Having spent years hunting enemies across the ninja world—and being hunted by them in turn—he was keenly sensitive to prying eyes.
“Enemies?”
A hint of wariness immediately crept into Kiyohara’s expression.
“Go scope it out for me first.”
Kiyohara said to Rogue Ninja Kiyohara.
“You mean I should drift over and observe for you?”
Rogue Ninja Kiyohara was taken aback.
This guy really did treat him like a tool.
“Please, future me!”
Kiyohara pleaded.
“Fine, but I don’t know what the limit distance is either.”
Rogue Ninja Kiyohara shook his head.
Then his spiritual body began to float, drifting toward the enemy.
When he passed three meters, he could clearly feel himself dispersing faster.
“Seems I can’t get too far from you.”
Rogue Ninja Kiyohara said as he quickened his drifting pace.
Soon, he reached the middle of the enemy’s position.
Hidden there was a four-man squad of Iwa ninja from Iwagakure.
Leading them was a middle-aged shinobi with a weariness comparable to Rogue Ninja Kiyohara’s own; the other three Iwa ninja looked somewhat younger.
“Four of them—one Chunin leading three Genin.
They’re equipped with a Fuma Shuriken, three ninja swords…”
Rogue Ninja Kiyohara began reporting the information and positions to Kiyohara.
“Good.”
Kiyohara nodded.
This was one of the proper uses.
Since he could drift away from his body, he surely had some capacity for independent action.
If he kept expanding on that line of thought, Kiyohara might even pass by the Hokage Building someday and have Rogue Ninja Kiyohara sneak in to peek at the Scroll of Seals.
It was just that Rogue Ninja Kiyohara had no ability to touch reality—unless he possessed Kiyohara’s body.
Or unless the Scroll of Seals inside happened to be open, in which case Rogue Ninja Kiyohara could steal its techniques.
“Hm?”
Kakashi noticed something wrong.
He felt a probing gaze.
There were enemies here!
“He noticed it too, Kakashi.”
Minato Namikaze nodded inwardly.
As expected of White Fang’s son—a true genius.
After all, in his day, the White Fang of the Leaf, Sakumo Hatake, had enjoyed greater renown than even the Sannin!
Minato Namikaze often wondered: if Sakumo Hatake had also run for future Hokage…
Would he even have had a chance?
His own fame had certainly been forged in this Great Ninja War, but compared to the older generation, he was still lacking in accumulated prestige and foundation.
What a pity that this answer would never be revealed.
Because Sakumo Hatake had already chosen to take his own life at home.
What a waste—he had escaped death crises countless times and slain countless enemies.
In the end, he didn’t die on a battlefield or during a mission, but in his own home, in the village he loved most.
“Ka—”
“Minato-sama, there are four enemies hiding to the south.
They should be Iwa ninja.”
Kiyohara spoke, cutting off Minato Namikaze, who had just uttered his first syllable.
“You could sense all the enemies?”
Minato Namikaze’s eyes showed surprise.
Another prodigy?
Not only had he detected the enemies’ presence, he even knew their exact number.
“Enemies?”
Obito, hearing this, hurriedly pulled down his yellow goggles—he couldn’t let anything hurt his eyes.
“There are enemies here too?”
Kurenai Yuhi, standing beside Kiyohara, drew her kunai, her small face etched with vigilance.