Everyone's eyes were heavy with focus as they stared at the unusually beautiful yet eerily dark red flower.
After a short while, smiles gradually appeared on the faces of all four.
The joint preparations that lasted over a month, and their days of exhausting effort—finally, the target stood before them.
Sakumo Hatake and Junko Watanabe had always trusted Minato's judgment, so they expressed only measured joy at having located Desert's Sorrow. However, Hyuga Kubei's look toward him already held clear traces of admiration.
Minato was long accustomed to such expressions. After a brief moment of contemplation, he once again signaled with his hand.
[Within range, three Suna Ninja need to be dealt with.]
Sakumo Hatake glanced around and nodded. Although the planting site of Desert's Sorrow had fewer guards than expected, through simple observation, he could already tell that the three Suna Ninja were positioned precisely in a triangular formation, monitoring this area.
The distance between them was equal, and this location was very close to the Kazekage Building itself.
In other words, they couldn't eliminate all three at once—if even one escaped, it would set off the alarm and alert all of Sunagakure.
What's more, these three were clearly no pushovers; even the weakest among them matched a Tokubetsu Jonin.
An average intruder would hesitate to act—even if they found this place.
But for Minato and the others, success was not impossible.
Thus, Sakumo Hatake began laying out the battle plan for this operation.
...
Whoosh!
Under the cover of darkness, Junko Watanabe darted across rooftops like a shadow in the night.
Guiding Sakumo and the others had been a heavy burden. But moving solo and staying hidden came naturally to her—it was second nature, especially for someone with her background in Anbu and her skills as a Sensor.
She closed the distance stealthily behind one of the Suna Ninja, stopping less than ten meters away. Then she halted, her hands forming seals.
Pure moonlight spilled across the sand, casting a pale gleam that resembled a light dusting of frost.
Suddenly, the Suna Ninja on duty felt the moonlight above him dim under an unexpected shadow.
A powerful sense of danger surged within him. He sharply raised his head, while his body instinctively reacted, slicing through the air with his ninja blade.
[Konoha Style — Dance of Moonlight and Shadow!]
At this moment, Junko Watanabe moved like a phantom beneath the moonlight, her movements light and swift as a gentle breeze.
Clang!
The two blades clashed, producing a sharp ringing sound. Then the Suna Ninja's weapon flew from his grasp and landed on the sandy ground.
"Come out! There's an enemy attack!"
Without even glancing at his wounded arm, the Sand Ninja immediately shouted loudly, turning his gaze toward Junko. His expression was filled with mockery.
In his mind, breaking into the heart of Sunagakure was nothing short of suicide.
Yet moments after his cry echoed out, the entire world seemed to fall into silence—no response came to his alarm.
His gaze suddenly shot toward the direction where his two other companions had been standing. And at that moment, under the pale moonlight reflecting into his eyes, the sight before him made his whole body shiver.
The white chakra tanto blade glimmered coldly in the moonlight, and drops of blood were falling from its edge. His comrade-in-arms stared with horror and disbelief frozen on his face, already dead.
The silver-haired man who had killed him turned to look their way as well, his expression unreadable.
Not far away, a taller and a smaller figure stood facing each other. In the hands of the blond boy was a bloodstained kunai, and those clear blue eyes also turned in their direction.
Two jonin from Sunagakure had been eliminated without so much as a whisper.
As disbelief surged within him, a ninja blade pierced straight through his chest.
"Bang!"
He collapsed instantly. Even so, the sound wouldn't escape this area.
Junko Watanabe had already set up a barrier within a ten-meter radius around the fallen ninja to prevent sound from escaping.
Sakumo Hatake instantly killed a Suna jonin, while Minato and Hyuga Kubei took down theirs as a team.
After eliminating the enemies, the four didn't regroup immediately, but instead began covering their tracks.
The three Sand ninja bodies were sealed using special scrolls, and all traces of blood were buried beneath the sand.
Only after finishing these tasks did the four finally gather together.
[Get the flower now]
Without any unnecessary words, the four exchanged glances, and Sakumo Hatake pulled out a pair of light yellow gloves from his ninja pouch.
Approaching the Desert's Sorrow, he crouched down and slipped the gloves on. The next moment, the surface of the gloves was covered in a thin layer of chakra membrane.
These gloves were made from materials similar to those used in creating chakra test paper.
The toxicity of the Desert's Sorrow was serious—it must never be touched directly.
After reinforcing the gloves with chakra, Sakumo slowly reached out and touched the flower's stem. At the moment of contact, bead-like objects exuded from the stem, causing the membrane over his glove to turn a dark red.
This was only possible thanks to Sakumo's exceptional chakra control—anyone else would likely have had most of their hand eaten away by the flower's poison, even with the chakra protection.
Next, Sakumo carefully pulled the Desert's Sorrow out from the sand, along with its entire root system.
Once stored within the space scroll, even the gloves showed faint signs of corrosion.
[Got it at last]
A sheen of sweat trickled down Sakumo's forehead. But whatever the case, they'd now completed half the mission.
Still, some cleanup remained.
Minato pulled a plant from his pocket and buried it exactly where the Desert's Sorrow had grown. Then, forming seals, he transformed the plant into an exact replica of the flower.
It was a chakra-infused plant, and using Transformation Jutsu on it greatly extended the duration of the illusion.
Sakumo Hatake also bit his finger and formed hand seals with both hands, summoning three Ninja Hounds Ninken wearing forehead protectors.
These Ninja Hounds Ninken had been personally trained by him. Not everyone—like Minato or Jiraiya—had bonded with a powerful Summoning Beast Clan.
However, although these Summoning Beasts weren't very strong in battle, they were extremely obedient. As Sakumo signaled the hounds with different hand gestures,
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
They immediately understood and took position at the exact spots where the Suna ninjas had previously stood. At the same time, Sakumo formed the hand seal sequence for the Transformation Jutsu.
The three Ninja Hounds transformed into exact replicas of the three Suna ninjas.
Once this was done, Minato and Junko Watanabe activated their sensors, accompanying Sakumo Hatake and Hyuga Kubei as they left the area.
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