The early infiltration work went very smoothly for Rei Kaguya.
After all, he was acting alone now. There were not many things he needed to worry about. At the same time, Konoha had only just finished fighting an intense battle and still needed to guard against Kirigakure making a comeback. For the time being, they did not have that much manpower to maintain a blockade.
Adding Rei Kaguya's own solid shinobi skills into the mix, it only took him two days to bypass the front line and reach the core region of the Land of Fire.
Looking at the small city before him, which still possessed a commercial atmosphere far stronger than the Land of Water's even while shrouded under the clouds of war, Rei Kaguya curled his lip and silently sighed at how rich and blessed the land of the Land of Fire truly was.
As expected of the foundation laid down by the two strongest men of the Warring States Period. Not only was it rich in resources and fertile land, but it also had transportation routes extending in all directions. If someone truly unified the shinobi world one day, then the Land of Fire, whose territory bordered almost all four other great nations, would clearly be one of the most suitable places to establish a capital.
Furthermore, unlike the Land of Water, which had fully tied the lifeline of its national economy to Kirigakure's mission commissions and war employment, the Land of Fire's economic model was obviously much healthier.
Caravans formed by ordinary people came and went. Hawking cries rang through the towns without pause. On the rooftops, Konoha shinobi could occasionally be seen moving over walls and eaves.
This image of ordinary people and shinobi jointly supporting a nation's economy was already quite a good model in the current shinobi world.
While walking through the city, Rei Kaguya even heard someone selling something mysterious and impressive-sounding called Uchiha senbei.
"Tch. Looks like the first step of reform is to come up with some businesses that can earn money outside of missions for those guys in the village who only know how to fight and kill…"
Rei Kaguya casually found a small roadside shop with a good view and sat down. He ordered some special snacks from the Land of Fire and began tasting the food of another country while thinking back on what industries could be developed in the Land of Water.
Then, just as he gradually became somewhat lost in thought, a sudden commotion came from the street outside.
"Did anyone see where that woman ran after leaving the casino?"
"W-what woman?"
"That legendary sucker! She lost a huge amount of money to us, then mortgaged the little follower brat with her to the casino, saying she was going out to gather some funds before coming back to gamble. But now she's gone and hasn't returned at all. Even the follower she mortgaged at the casino secretly ran off at some point!"
"Damn! That fat sheep actually came here!? Not good. I heard Hetaro bragging there the day before yesterday that some blond old woman borrowed a huge high-interest loan from him. Don't tell me it was her!?"
"Search! We must find that damned old woman!"
Listening as the clamor outside gradually moved away, Rei Kaguya looked around the small shop he was in. Then his strange gaze stopped on two girls of around twelve or thirteen sitting at the table beside him.
The black-haired girl looked as though she had suffered some enormous grievance and was muttering complaints to the blond girl. The blond girl, on the other hand, had a relaxed expression and completely ignored the black-haired girl's complaints, putting all her effort into dealing with the food before her.
And in the middle of the blond girl's forehead was a pale-blue diamond-shaped mark.
No way.
I can even run into Tsunade here?
The shinobi world really is ridiculously small…
Rei Kaguya speechlessly shook his head. After quickly clearing the food in front of him, he left behind the bill and departed.
Now was not the time to contact Tsunade. There was no need to disrupt the action plan he had already set just because she had appeared in front of him early.
More importantly, he was only a newly promoted jonin from Kirigakure. What right did he have to say he wanted to discuss cooperation with Princess Tsunade, the granddaughter of the First Hokage and one of Konoha's Legendary Sannin?
Konoha and Kirigakure were still fighting to the death on the front line!
At the same time, Minato Namikaze, who had ignored Haruto Yamanaka's medical instructions and forced his sick body to come near the town, suddenly stopped without warning.
"Minato-sensei? Why did you suddenly stop?"
Seeing Minato Namikaze halt abnormally, Kakashi Hatake thought his teacher's wound had opened and started bleeding again. With a Body Flicker, he rushed to Minato Namikaze's side.
But Minato Namikaze only waved at him, then closed his eyes and sensed his own chakra on the spot.
"There's no mistake. It's the feeling of the Flying Thunder God mark… But why is it here?"
"Minato-sensei?"
Although he did not quite understand what he had heard, Kakashi Hatake still very vigilantly took out a kunai from his ninja tool pouch.
"Did you discover traces of an enemy?"
"No. It's more troublesome than that…"
Minato Namikaze opened his eyes and murmured with an ugly expression.
"Rei Kaguya… Why did he suddenly appear here? Did he receive intelligence on Lady Tsunade and come here to attack her, preventing her from returning to Konoha?"
"No, that doesn't seem right. The Flying Thunder God mark is moving toward somewhere outside the town… Is he trying to shift the battlefield outside? But there are no signs of battle breaking out in the town at all. With Lady Tsunade's personality, it's impossible for her to follow him without doing anything…"
"Or does he have some other mission and didn't come for Lady Tsunade…"
Hearing Rei Kaguya's name emerge from Minato Namikaze's murmuring, Kakashi instinctively covered his left eye, as if he had suddenly returned to that night filled with bloody mist.
Rei Kaguya was indeed not the direct murderer who killed Rin Nohara.
But precisely because he had heavily injured Kakashi and consumed a large amount of Kakashi's chakra, Kakashi had ultimately failed to rescue Rin Nohara from the other Kirigakure shinobi.
And that mysterious Hyuga female shinobi who had taken the initiative to help him had also disappeared after fighting Rei Kaguya. If nothing unexpected had happened, she had most likely become a wisp of a soul in his hands as well.
"Minato-sensei. If there is a battle next, can you leave it to me?"
Kakashi tightened his grip around the kunai in his hand and asked Minato Namikaze in a tone that carried a clear self-destructive tendency.
"No. Absolutely not… We have no way to defeat that guy right now."
Minato Namikaze keenly caught the abnormal state of Kakashi Hatake's emotions. With a sigh, he raised a hand and pressed it on Kakashi's shoulder.
"Don't think about doing something like dying together with that Rei Kaguya, Kakashi… That guy's strength has already far surpassed the category of ordinary shinobi. He is a monster whose limits cannot be seen at a glance. If you recklessly charge up to him wanting revenge, the only result will be a meaningless death."
"But…"
"Kakashi."
Enduring the severe pain in his waist, Minato Namikaze bent down and looked seriously at Kakashi, whose eyes burned with pain and hatred. Then he spoke to him earnestly.
"Jiraiya-sensei once told me that a shinobi is someone who can endure hardship and pain… I agree with that very much. Because only those who survive have the chance to change the things that created that hardship and pain. And the courage needed to keep living is far greater than the courage needed to simply die."
"Kakashi, you are already my only disciple who is still alive. I hope you can inherit the things Jiraiya-sensei taught me and pass them on to Konoha's next generation of shinobi… Before that, live properly, all right?"
"Does Sensei want me to give up on revenge?"
Kakashi lowered his head and asked in a depressed voice.
"Whether you give up on revenge or not is something you should choose for yourself, Kakashi."
Minato Namikaze gently patted Kakashi's shoulder, his tone warm.
"What I hope is simply that before you make up your mind completely, you can live properly and grow properly.
"Before then, I'll help you block the storms outside as your teacher."
After saying that, Minato Namikaze grimaced as he straightened up. Then, together with his silent disciple, he left Flying Thunder God kunai outside the town for transfer and carefully entered the town Rei Kaguya had just left .