"I think I've got the gist of it."
Mitsuki rubbed his chin thoughtfully with one hand. He had already planned to teach Minato the Rasengan—but unexpectedly, Minato had already figured it out on his own.
Mitsuki found this result quite satisfactory, so he said calmly,
"Minato-san, you only saw Rin using the Rasengan and managed to reconstruct it from that. In my eyes, there's no need to apologize for something like that. So don't feel guilty about it. And Rin, you don't need to worry either — you're both forgiven."
Mitsuki truly lived up to being the protagonist—boldly declaring forgiveness to the original inventor with a straight face.
But really, in a world like the shinobi world where strength reigns supreme, if Shinobi A saw Shinobi B's jutsu and managed to learn it on their own, people wouldn't call it stealing — they'd praise A's talent instead.
Minato only apologized because he held himself to a personal moral standard.
Relieved by Mitsuki's magnanimity, both Rin and Minato let out a breath.
"Thank you, Mitsuki" Minato said seriously. "Also, there's no need to call me 'san'—just call me by my name."
"I don't think that's appropriate. You're my senior and also Rin's sensei."
"Then just call me Captain Minato."
"Eh? Captain?" Mitsuki blinked, confused by the sudden title.
"You'll find out tomorrow" Minato said with a wink.
"Back to the main point. The Rasengan is truly a huge help to me. Is there anything I can do for you in return, Mitsuki?"
It felt like a quest in an RPG game — like he had to pick a reward.
"Alright, let me think... I've been interested in fuinjutsu. If possible, just teach me any sealing technique you know. Anything is fine."
Mitsuki remembered that Minato had inherited fuinjutsu knowledge from the Uzumaki clan. He never intended to trade the Rasengan for anything specific, so when he said "any sealing technique," he meant it literally.
"Fuinjutsu, huh? I understand. I do know a technique that suits you. However, I didn't create it myself, so I'll need to ask the original developer for permission. But I don't think it'll be a problem" Minato said seriously.
Naturally, Mitsuki had no objections. Minato really was a good guy. It looked like he wasn't planning on brushing Mitsuki off with some basic seal—he was even asking permission from the true heir of the technique: Uzumaki Kushina, the last of the Uzumaki clan's orthodox sealing line.
After explaining everything, Minato excused himself and left.
He was still fairly busy and, as half an elder in the group, he figured the kids might be more comfortable catching up without him around.
As soon as Minato was gone, Obito visibly relaxed and said,
"Mitsuki, since you just got here, let's take a walk around outside. I bet you don't know that Asuma and Kurenai are also stationed in this camp!"
"Yeah, sure" Mitsuki replied casually.
Rin excitedly began telling Mitsuki about her recent experiences on the battlefield.
"You were right, Mitsuki! There really are rivers in the desert—and even lakes! But I haven't seen that 'mirage' thing you mentioned yet."
That was something Mitsuki had once told her before they entered the Academy—a tale about strange and wondrous phenomena in the world.
She still remembered.
Kakashi, meanwhile, had entered full-on roast mode, recounting all the ways Obito had messed up during missions since Team Minato was formed.
"I'm starting to think this idiot steps into traps on purpose."
"Shut it, you stuck-up Kakashi! Don't get cocky!"
...
The next morning.
Mitsuki walked out of his tent full of energy. He stretched and rotated his shoulders under the morning sun.After spending the whole day with Rin yesterday, he felt fully recharged—overflowing with what he jokingly called "Rin Energy."
After breakfast with Heiji and Ruri, a flak-jacketed shinobi jogged over to him.
"Shimizu Mitsuki, please head to the command tent. The Commander-in-Chief has summoned you."
With the message delivered, the shinobi quickly ran off.
Mitsuki didn't know why he had been called by name, but he didn't have the right to refuse orders from above.
"The Commander-in-Chief should be Lady Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sannin" said Heiji.
"What could she want with you?" Ruri asked, frowning. "Have you interacted with her before?"
"Not that I recall" Aside from Kento once begging Tsunade to heal Chiyoko, Mitsuki had no connection to her whatsoever.
"Well, I'll go and see what this is about" he said with a shrug.
On the way to the command tent, Mitsuki instinctively activated Six Eyes to observe the people inside. Whoa—quite the crowd. He recognized several of them: Jiraiya, Minato, Tsunade, Shikaku, and even Inoichi.
After the sentry announced his arrival, Mitsuki was granted entry.
"Genin Shimizu Mitsuki, reporting" he said formally. Though he saw many familiar faces, he wasn't the type to act like Obito and get too casual in official settings.
"No need to be so formal, Mitsuki" Tsunade said, her hands folded under her chin as she sat in the main seat.
"According to the escort mission report, you used a large-area S-rank Wind Release technique, correct?"
It sounded like a question, but her tone left no room for doubt. Despite that, she didn't come off as arrogant.
Maybe Mitsuki was naturally biased toward characters he liked.Or maybe it was just because Tsunade was... huge.
Of course, I meant in status.
As the granddaughter of the First Hokage and officially recognized as a princess by Konoha, she was known as Tsunade-hime.
"Yes. The technique is called Rasenshuriken. But I haven't seen other S-rank jutsu to compare, so I can't say for sure if it really qualifies."
"No need to play humble in front of me. That blond guy over there is Namikaze Minato — you've heard of him, haven't you?" Tsunade said bluntly.
Minato gave a slightly awkward smile.
"Of course" Mitsuki nodded.
"Great. Then I don't need to introduce him" Tsunade said. "The village is assigning you and Namikaze Minato to form a surprise attack squad. Minato will handle mobility with the Flying Thunder God Jutsu, and you'll be in charge of using your Wind Release to destroy key Sunagakure encampments and infrastructure."
So that's why Minato called himself "captain" yesterday...Looks like the village higher-ups read the mission report and immediately decided how to make use of my technique.
Mitsuki sighed internally.
"Still, if I'm acting alongside Minato... won't that drastically increase the danger level for Rin?"
To be honest, he wasn't too thrilled about this assignment. But in times of war, shinobi didn't have the luxury of refusing missions. Even a genin could be ordered to assassinate a Kage from another village—and they'd have to obey.