As usual, Mitsuki used his Six Eyes to scan the situation around the camp. Suddenly, his eyes lit up.
"Ruri, Heiji, I'm going to take a walk around the area. You two go ahead and rest in the tent."
Without waiting for a reply, Mitsuki darted off on his own.
"Alright. Stay safe" replied Heiji.
Ruri didn't say a word — she simply stared in the direction Mitsuki had run, her eyes glinting with curiosity.
...
Mitsuki moved like the wind and arrived near the mission hall of the front-line camp.
He came to a sudden stop, took a deep breath, and waited for about two minutes before casually strolling up to the hall's entrance.
Just then, Team Minato was walking out.
"Yo! You guys here too?" Mitsuki called out in greeting.
"Mitsuki! You came too?" Rin lit up the moment she saw him — each syllable of her voice was filled with unhidden joy, like she'd just spotted the person she missed day and night.
That bright, sun-like smile of Rin's shone without restraint before Mitsuki, dispelling the gloom that had been weighing him down after seeing the tragedies of many refugees on his way over.
Rin carefully stepped closer to Mitsuki and slowly circled around him. Her gaze was sharp, like a scanner, inspecting every inch of his body in detail—afraid of missing even the smallest scratch.
Once she confirmed Mitsuki wasn't hurt, she finally let out a long, relieved breath.
Obito clasped his hands behind his head.
"Now that Mitsuki's here, looks like the only one from our year not at this camp is Guy. What took you so long, anyway? What mission were you on?"
Kakashi shot Obito a sideways glare. "Idiot. Don't go asking about other people's missions."
"Hey, I didn't mean anything by it—I was just curious…"
Obito had been at the front long enough now to learn some tact. Realizing he'd overstepped, he immediately shrank back.
"You can't do that, Obito. No matter how curious you are, you can't go poking into others' missions" Minato chimed in, taking the opportunity to teach his student a lesson.
"…Got it, Minato-sensei" Obito mumbled with his head low.
Kakashi looked around. "You're here alone, Mitsuki? Where are your teammates?"
"Oh, they were exhausted and went to rest. I still had some energy, so I thought I'd take a walk. Haha…"
Obito squinted. "You didn't just sense Rin was here and come running, did you?"
…
For a second, the air froze.
Mitsuki's smile stiffened. "Obito, did you know Ruri recently awakened her Three Tomoe Sharingan? The Uchiha's power growth is insane. Don't you think so?"
"What?! That violent girl already hit three tomoe? Damn it!"
Mitsuki sighed inwardly.
"Seriously, Obito? I was trying to guilt-trip you, but you're not even reflecting—you're jealous she got stronger first?"
As the four chatted away, Minato suddenly spoke up.
"Sorry to interrupt, Mitsuki—I need to talk to you."
Mitsuki turned to him, puzzled.
Minato glanced around.
"Not here. Let's go somewhere more private."
He led the group to his personal tent in the camp.
As an elite jonin and high-level combat asset for Konoha, Minato enjoyed a few special privileges—such as a private tent.
Inside, Mitsuki glanced around. The space was small and sparsely furnished, only the bare essentials. Yet it was impeccably tidy — just like you'd expect from the man dubbed the Yellow Flash. Honestly, the guy was annoyingly perfect.
"So, Minato-san … what do you need me for?" Mitsuki asked, already suspecting this had something to do with Kento. After all, he had zero connection to Minato otherwise.
Minato and Rin exchanged glances, then turned toward Mitsuki together.
"We're sorry, Mitsuki."
"We're really sorry."
Minato and Rin bowed in unison.
Whoa, what the hell?
Mitsuki's confusion only deepened.
Kakashi started to speak: "Actually, it's about earlier—"
But Minato straightened up and cut in. "Let me explain."
It was a simple story.
Team Minato had taken on a mission to investigate a village where enemies had mysteriously disappeared multiple times. The front-line command suspected a hidden Sunagakure base in the area.
Upon arrival, Team Minato decided to split up for efficiency. Obito, Kakashi, and Rin took the west side; Minato searched the east alone.
As luck would have it, the trio found what looked like a Sand safe house — normally unoccupied. But this time, three Suna-nin happened to show up for resupply.
A battle broke out.
Minato rushed over after hearing the commotion, and what he saw left a deep impression—Rin, mid-fight, using the Rasengan.
At the time, Minato had been racking his brain for a seal-less jutsu that could complement his Flying Thunder God Technique. What he envisioned was something exactly like the Rasengan — but he just couldn't crack the final piece of inspiration.
Then, seeing that glowing blue sphere in Rin's hand… it clicked. This was the technique he'd been searching for.
The rest was history.
Having already spent a long time researching seal-less ninjutsu, all he lacked was a breakthrough. After witnessing Rin repeatedly using the Rasengan in battle, Minato finally put the pieces together.
And just like that, he too became a ninja who could form balls of chakra in his hand.
But Minato was a man of integrity.
Even though he never asked Rin for any details about the jutsu, he felt guilty for copying it. He apologized and offered to make up for it somehow.
That's when he learned the Rasengan had been created by Mitsuki.
Now there were two people he needed to apologize to.
To Minato, this wasn't a matter of apologizing to the wrong person—it was that there were more people to apologize to.
On the other hand, when Rin realized that her teacher had learned the Rasengan before he ever taught her anything… and that she had unknowingly passed along Mitsuki's jutsu…
Her feelings were complicated.
She wasn't worried Mitsuki would be angry — if anything, she hoped he would be. That would've been easier.
Instead, Rin just felt miserable for leaking his technique without his knowledge.
That was the whole story.