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At the village gate, a large number of shinobi had gathered. In one corner, Obito stood with his head hanging low, looking like a scolded elementary school student who had done something wrong. His spirit seemed completely crushed.
Taiichi gave Rin a quick look. Yohei had already swung the big stick hard enough. It was time to offer a sweet date to balance things out, or Obito might actually stay down for good.
Sure enough, Rin was like a miracle cure for Obito. After just a few comforting words, he started to perk up again.
But under Yohei's death glare, he quickly lowered his head once more. Still, he said firmly, "I'll definitely change!"
Everyone nodded in satisfaction. As long as he had the will to improve, there was hope. The worst thing was knowing you were wrong but refusing to change.
Just then, Minato suddenly appeared beside Kakashi in a swirl of leaves—clearly using Flying Thunder God. Kakashi must have been carrying one of Minato's marked kunai.
Minato looked around and immediately sensed the strange atmosphere. He smiled warmly. "Looks like I missed something interesting?"
Before anyone could answer, Obito grabbed Minato's sleeve and jumped in. "No, nothing! We were just talking about the support mission!"
Minato was too sharp to miss what had really happened, but he didn't call anyone out. He checked the time, saw that it was about right, and patted Obito's hand before stepping to the front of the gathered shinobi.
"Everyone!" Minato raised his voice to get their attention. "I'm Jonin Namikaze Minato, the overall commander for this unit. Squad leaders, do a quick headcount. If everyone's here, we're moving out immediately."
The squad leaders responded quickly, confirming all members were present.
"Good!" Minato swept his gaze over the group, his voice steady and strong. "Time is short. The southern front needs us urgently. I won't waste words. Everyone, move out! Destination: the forward camp in the Land of Rivers!"
With that, he turned and led the way out of the village gate. Taiichi's team and Kakashi's squad followed right behind, followed by the rest of the hundred-plus shinobi.
Once everyone was outside the village, the pace suddenly increased. The entire group turned into a dark river of people rushing along the road.
Along the way, more squads of around a hundred shinobi joined them, making the force grow larger and larger. It only stopped expanding when they reached roughly one thousand people.
From morning until evening, the column only paused briefly for water and soldier pills. There were no real breaks. This kind of forced march tested every shinobi's endurance and showed just how urgent the situation at the front had become.
They kept moving with only the necessary rests. Finally, on the evening of the third day, the column slowed as they entered a river valley in the Land of Rivers.
In front of them stood a brightly lit, heavily defended camp. The Konoha symbol fluttered in the wind. Lookout towers with sentries were clearly visible, and countless tents filled the valley floor.
This wasn't the same camp Taiichi had left last time. Facing Sunagakure's fierce offensive, Jiraiya had been forced to pull the camp back to gain more strategic space.
Minato stood at the front of the column, handling the handover with Shikaku, who had come to receive them.
There was no grand welcome ceremony or rousing speeches. Everything was direct and efficient. Once the handover was complete, Shikaku spoke.
"Squad leaders, take your teams to rest. Special Jonin and Jonin, report to the central command tent in half an hour for a meeting. Dismissed!"
"Let's go find a place to stay," Taiichi said to Yohei and Saori. He turned to Kakashi's group. "You guys want to come with us, or wait here for Minato-sensei?"
Kakashi glanced at Minato, who was still talking with Shikaku, then shook his head. "We'll wait for Minato-sensei. It shouldn't take long."
Taiichi nodded, said goodbye, and led Yohei and Saori off to find a place to stay.
There were still plenty of empty tents in the camp. They had clearly been set up in preparation for the reinforcements. The tents were easy to assemble and there were no strict rules about where anyone had to sleep.
Most people just picked whatever empty tent they found, usually staying with their own squads.
"Taiichi, how about this one?" Yohei called out after searching for a while. "It's near the mission center, so it'll be convenient for picking up tasks later."
Taiichi didn't care where they stayed, but he still looked at Saori for her opinion.
Saori stepped inside, carefully checked the tent, then nodded at Taiichi. "It's new. This is fine."
The three of them went inside and began unpacking.
Once everything was ready, Taiichi said goodbye and headed to the central command tent for the meeting.
It wasn't really a meeting so much as task assignments for the various squads.
By the time Taiichi arrived, several Jonin squad leaders who had come earlier had already received their missions and left.
Even so, the tent was still packed with people.
Taiichi decided not to rush in. He stood outside quietly, using the wait to observe the camp's layout.
He had always wondered why the camp was built so close to the river. Wasn't there a risk of enemies attacking from the water?
But ever since his sealing technique had improved, he no longer worried about that.
Whether it was by the river or on land, skilled shinobi could sneak in without being noticed anyway. The real security came from the sensory barriers placed throughout the camp and the constant patrols by shinobi.
With both layers of protection, it was very difficult for enemies to launch a surprise attack from inside.
Right now, Taiichi was letting his own perception spread across the entire camp. Using his Lv11 sealing skill, he carefully probed the sensory barriers without triggering any alarms.
The more he checked, the more uneasy he felt. Because the camp was newly built, he found several weak spots in the barrier coverage.
These spots wouldn't cause problems during normal shifts, but during the gap when perception ninjas changed shifts, there could be blind spots. That was a serious security risk.
Taiichi quietly memorized the locations. He planned to mention them to Jiraiya later.
By then, most of the crowd inside the central tent had cleared out. Taiichi walked in.
Inside, Jiraiya was personally meeting with each arriving Jonin and Special Jonin. At this level, these shinobi held real status and influence in the village. The formal greeting was also a way for the front-line commander to show respect.
After that, the squad leaders went to Shikaku and Minato to receive their specific missions. Taiichi didn't know the details yet.
Finally, the last of the other shinobi left, leaving only Taiichi—the newest Special Jonin. The atmosphere immediately became more relaxed.
"Jiraiya-sensei, what's the situation at the front right now?" Taiichi asked directly.
Jiraiya gave him a slightly annoyed look. "I thought you weren't in any hurry. You took your sweet time coming in last."
"I saw how crowded it was, so I waited outside," Taiichi said, scratching his head awkwardly. Then he remembered something. "Oh, right—I noticed a few weak spots in the sensory barriers while I was outside."
"Weak spots?" Not just Jiraiya—Shikaku and Minato both turned to look at him.
"I'm not sure if they count as full weak spots, but the detection is definitely weaker in those areas," Taiichi nodded. He looked around. "Do you have a map of the camp?"
Shikaku glanced at Jiraiya. When he nodded, Shikaku pulled a map from a nearby cabinet and spread it on the table.
This map was classified information. It showed every type of barrier, their detection ranges, and the exact locations of all visible and hidden sentries. If it fell into enemy hands, the camp's defenses would be cut nearly in half.
Taiichi stepped forward and immediately spotted the areas he had sensed earlier.
But when he looked at the markings on the map, his pupils shrank.
"That's not right," he said, pointing at several spots. "The detection strength in these areas is much weaker than what the map shows. It looks like someone deliberately marked them wrong."
Jiraiya, Shikaku, and Minato all looked at the locations Taiichi was pointing to. They were all on the outer perimeter. If the detection was really that much weaker, this wasn't a simple problem.
One word appeared in everyone's minds at the same time—spy.
"Don't spread this yet," Jiraiya ordered. "Shikaku, assign trusted people to fix the barriers quietly. Don't alert anyone. Also, investigate who set up, maintains, and operates the barriers. See if there's a spy among them."
"Understood." Shikaku immediately left to handle it.
Jiraiya laughed heartily and clapped Taiichi hard on the shoulder. "Haha, Taiichi, you're our lucky star! You just got here and already found such a big hole in the camp's defenses. I'll remember this merit."
Taiichi smiled awkwardly. He had only been casually probing out of boredom and ended up finding a major vulnerability. It seemed even the heavens were on Konoha's side.
After chatting for a while, Jiraiya finally got down to explaining the current situation at the front.
In short, Konoha was on the defensive.
Sunagakure had three top-tier fighters—the Fourth Kazekage Rasa, Chiyo, and Ebizo—while Konoha only had Jiraiya holding the line before. It had been difficult at times.
Rasa in particular was an active fighter. With his position still unstable, he desperately needed victories to solidify his power.
That was why Rasa often appeared on the front lines himself. Many key positions had been lost because of him.
Fortunately, Jiraiya was the type who valued his subordinates and understood the importance of trading space for time. Whenever things got too dangerous, he would pull back decisively to preserve Konoha's fighting strength.
Now, with the arrival of over a thousand reinforcements, Konoha's numerical disadvantage had disappeared. Especially with both Minato and Taiichi—two Flying Thunder God users—on the field.
From now on, Konoha would have many more tactical options.
"Taiichi, I need you to report to the medical camp first. Because of the intense fighting, a lot of wounded haven't received proper treatment. They need your help over there."
"No problem!" Taiichi agreed immediately. Then he thought of his teammates. "What about Yohei and Saori?"
Jiraiya and Minato exchanged a look. Taiichi stared at them in confusion.
"You and Minato are exactly the same," Jiraiya said with a chuckle. "Both of you always ask about your squad members first." He stopped teasing and continued. "Minato is going on a behind-enemy-lines mission. His squad can't go with him. Since your two teams already have experience working together, we're temporarily merging them. Yohei will be the acting captain."
Taiichi and Minato looked at each other and both nodded. It made sense. They had already worked together once before, so cooperation wouldn't be awkward.
After leaving the central tent, Taiichi returned to their tent and told Yohei and Saori about the new arrangements.
Both of them looked completely calm. They had clearly expected something like this. Having such a skilled medical ninja on the front lines would dramatically increase survival rates. No commander would pass up that advantage.
Seeing their reaction, Taiichi felt relieved. Still, he pulled out two of the upgraded Flying Thunder God kunai from his pouch and handed one to each of them.
"These are the improved Flying Thunder God kunai I made. If you run into danger you can't handle, just pour chakra into them. I'll know immediately and come straight to you. With my Flying Thunder God, even if I can't win, I can get you out safely."
Yohei and Saori's faces lit up. They accepted the kunai without hesitation and examined them closely. This was a life-saving treasure, every bit as valuable as the sealing tags Taiichi had given them earlier.
"Haha, Taiichi, this is perfect timing! Now even if we can't win, we can at least run away!" Yohei was already daydreaming, his expression making it obvious what he was imagining.
Taiichi had to warn him before he got too carried away.
"Don't go doing anything reckless just because you have this. You're the captain now. You're responsible not just for yourself, but for your teammates too.
Flying Thunder God isn't all-powerful. The Second Hokage, who created it, still died protecting his students.
And what if I'm in trouble myself and can't come right away? Then you'd all be in danger."
Yohei broke into a cold sweat. He really had been getting carried away. Thank goodness Taiichi had reminded him in time. If he kept thinking like that, something terrible could have happened—and by then it would have been too late to regret it.