Minato worked with incredible efficiency. He had only learned about the Kirigakure situation the day before, and by the next morning he had finalized the list of those being dispatched for support.
Just looking at the list made it obvious how much this disciple cared about his somewhat reckless teacher. Out of the ten people selected, eight were well-known figures from the original timeline.
At the top of the list was the Flying Thunder God squad Minato had assembled long ago: Raidō Namiashi, Shiranui Genma, and Iwashi Tatami.
Below them were the main forces who had gone to Kirigakure in the last expedition: Sakumo and Kakashi, Pakura and Dan, and lastly the trio—Jiraiya, Kuugetsu, and Hoshiyomi.
Anyone familiar with these names would know they were being sent to support Kirigakure. Anyone who didn't would think this squad was going to wipe Kirigakure off the map as one of the Five Great Ninja Villages.
Tsunade was very satisfied with this list. She praised Minato multiple times, saying he truly hadn't been a wasted disciple. With this lineup, she was finally at ease with Hoshiyomi going on the mission.
The morning after the list was announced, all ten members packed their bags and gathered at the rooftop balcony of the Hokage's office.
Because there was a chance White Zetsu might be scouting outside, Hoshiyomi had disguised himself in advance. Wearing Anbu gear and a mask, he even intentionally changed the way he carried his two swords. Without being someone very close to him, no one could recognize this masked Anbu as Gekko Hoshiyomi.
Seeing everyone assembled, the Flying Thunder God trio swallowed nervously:
"If everyone is ready… please step into the formation. We will use the Flying Thunder God technique to send you directly to Kirigakure."
Hoshiyomi and the others didn't waste words; they all stepped into the specialized teleportation array.
With the trio forming the seals—struggling visibly—the ten figures disappeared from the balcony.
In the blink of an eye, Hoshiyomi and the group appeared at the Konoha outpost near Kirigakure.
The Anbu stationed there were startled by the sudden arrival. When they turned around and saw who had come, they were even more shocked.
Wow, and here I was still hesitating whether to report the situation in Kiri, and Lord Minato sends this all-star lineup.
The Fifth Hokage truly calculated everything flawlessly.
Among the squad, Sakumo—having experience leading the previous Kirigakure expedition—naturally took command. He called over an Anbu he recognized:
"Shiratori, give us a report on the situation in Kirigakure."
The Anbu known as Shiratori hurried over and saluted before explaining:
"Honored sirs, Kirigakure's situation is not much different from previous years. The Conservative faction and the Militant faction are still competing openly and covertly.
But because Konoha intervened heavily last time, they have become much more restrained.
They no longer incite shinobi into large-scale internal warfare. Instead, they've shifted to recruiting various bloodline clans. Using 'territory disputes between bloodline clans' as an excuse, they continue their factional conflict through clan-on-clan fighting."
Hearing this, the young Kakashi frowned and asked with confusion:
"Are the clan heads of those bloodline families stupid? Why would they listen to the faction leaders and fight each other? Do they not care about their clansmen's lives?"
Pakura, the only one among the ten who had personally experienced bloodline clan conflicts, spoke after a moment of silence:
"It's not that the clan heads are stupid. Many times, to maintain their position, they have no choice but to follow orders.
Not every bloodline clan is respected the way Konoha's major clans are.
Because members of bloodline clans are naturally stronger than ordinary shinobi, many ordinary shinobi are resentful toward them.
The Kage of the various major villages, for the sake of internal village stability and the stability of their own rule, often choose to suppress bloodline clans.
The Kage in power will usually support one group of bloodline clans while suppressing another. By doing this, they force the bloodline clans into internal conflict, preventing them from uniting and overthrowing the Kage's rule.
The clans favored by the Kage are still better off.
The ones being suppressed have it the worst—they're disliked by ordinary shinobi on one side, and on the other side they're pressured by other bloodline clans under the Kage's orders.
As for the clans favored by the Kage, in order to maintain their prosperity, they can only accept this arrangement and fight desperately for the Kage.
This situation is even more extreme in the turmoil of Kirigakure.
The clans favored by the Kage—or the conservative faction—must fight with all their strength if they want to preserve their current status.
The bloodline clans under the militant faction, however, have a chance to rise to power and overturn their oppressed status if they defeat the conservative faction. Naturally, the two sides fight brutally.
The Anbu named Shiratori nodded after hearing Pakura's explanation and continued:
"Also, the rise of each Mizukage is nowhere near as stable as in Konoha. In fact, every Mizukage in Kirigakure comes into power with bloodshed involved, and their ascent is always tied closely to the bloodline clans backing them.
The strength of each bloodline clan rises and falls with every change in leadership.
After generations, it's natural that some clans form generational alliances while others develop generational blood feuds.
These long-standing grudges have intensified the scale of the fighting.
Perhaps at the beginning, they truly fought for the future of their clans.
But now, with the conflict escalating to this level, many clans are already blinded by hatred. They won't stop until the opposing clan is completely exterminated."
Hearing this, Hoshiyomi's heart stirred.
He looked at Shiratori and asked:
"Is there currently any bloodline clan in Kirigakure that has already been wiped out?"
Shiratori glanced at Hoshiyomi—seemingly trying to identify who this Anbu wearing a similar uniform to himself might be—but after failing to figure it out, he gave up and simply reported what he knew:
"In fact, quite a few smaller bloodline clans have already been wiped out. While 'territory disputes' is just a pretext, the victorious clan does indeed take over the territory and resources of the defeated one.
During this time, both major factions have consumed many smaller bloodline clans aligned with the other side.
Clans like the Fujiwara and Sanke—already not very well-known—have disappeared completely within the past two months.
Oh, and we just received intel:
The Yuki clan of Kirigakure was besieged by three militant bloodline clans recently, and as of yesterday, they were declared annihilated.
This is the first major bloodline clan on either side to fall."
Hearing the surname Yuki, Hoshiyomi immediately perked up.
He really came at the perfect time—just as the Yuki clan fell, he arrived.
He didn't know if Haku had died in the attack. Hopefully he could find the boy within the next seven days.
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