"Weren't you on the western front?" Shimizu asked curiously. "Why did you suddenly come here? And why aren't you wearing your ANBU uniform?"
Minato was dressed in Konoha's signature dark green flak jacket—the standard attire for jōnin. That also meant he was on a regular mission.
The details and results of such missions could be made public. Unlike ANBU operations—whether they succeeded or failed—they would forever remain hidden in the shadows, unknown to outsiders.
"On the western side, Orochimaru-senpai has already suppressed the Sand's offensive from the front," Minato replied. "But the situation in the southwest is more complicated. At the same time, the Hokage has given me a new mission—a regular S-rank mission."
It turned out that even before Bunshi's rescue squad reached the main Konoha forces on the western front, Konoha had already detected something unusual in the Southwestern Canyon.
Konoha had since confirmed that near the canyon was a camp large enough to house approximately two Sunagakure ninja divisions. The estimated numbers were based on the size of the encampment.
On one hand, Konoha's leadership immediately redeployed two divisions from Kikyo Castle to Rakuyō City. Combined with the two divisions already stationed there, they planned to dispatch a large force of over a thousand ninja to annihilate the two Sand divisions and reclaim the lost Southwestern Canyon.
On the other hand—how had Sunagakure managed to bypass Konoha's defensive lines and secretly establish two divisions behind them?
To this moment, Konoha's high command had no answer.
And in war, nothing was more terrifying than an enemy appearing silently at your back.
After discussion among Konoha's leadership, the Third Hokage decided to send his most trusted and reliable grand-disciple—Minato Namikaze—to carry out this difficult mission.
In short, Minato's task was to investigate how Sunagakure had managed to set up camp near the canyon—and where exactly they had come from.
Discovering the truth behind it all had originally been Shimizu's intention as well.
Originally.
Although he felt some attachment to Konoha, now that he knew there truly were so many Sand ninja in the canyon, this near-suicidal reconnaissance mission was something he genuinely didn't dare to take on.
And who knew whether even more Sand ninja would appear?
Besides, who said that following Minato guaranteed survival until the end of the Third Great Ninja War?
The manga from his previous life?
But in that manga, there was no Shimizu.
The butterfly effect had begun the moment he appeared in this world. After twenty years of influence, who knew how much had already changed?
And no matter who you were, carelessness on the battlefield meant only one thing—death.
Shimizu had never underestimated the cruelty of war. Having lived through the Second Great Ninja War, he understood its merciless nature all too well.
"So you're not about to ask me to go with you, are you?" Shimizu truly didn't want to hear the answer.
"As expected, you understand me," Minato said with a bright laugh.
"Wait… just the two of us? There are at least five hundred Sand ninja in that canyon right now." Shimizu felt a headache coming on.
The more complete the military formation, the more thorough its reconnaissance and security network would be.
Conducting reconnaissance deep behind enemy lines sounded simple enough.
But once discovered—how many enemies would surround and hunt them down?
And when that time came, how would they escape from a regular Sunagakure legion with powerful tracking and detection abilities?
"Of course not. Akimichi Yoshimaru and Nikaidō Naoko are also joining this mission. They've been transferred from Kikyo Castle and are still on their way."
Akimichi Yoshimaru and Nikaidō Naoko were both Konoha jōnin, the same age as Minato and Shimizu.
Yoshimaru, a member of the prestigious Akimichi clan, possessed extremely powerful taijutsu. He had been promoted to jōnin at the age of fifteen and was hailed as the rising star of the Akimichi clan. His current strength had already reached the level of an elite jōnin.
Naoko, though born into a civilian family, had mastered medical ninjutsu to an extraordinary degree and was exceptionally skilled in Earth Release. She too had become a jōnin at just seventeen.
The two of them were undeniably reliable teammates.
With Minato as captain, the trio had completed countless high-difficulty missions together. Their coordination was seamless.
Moreover, all three had been personally taught by Jiraiya—members of Jiraiya's team.
Students personally trained by Jiraiya—could their strength possibly be lacking?
More importantly, there were strong political implications here.
A regular mission—wasn't this a perfect opportunity for Minato to accumulate political capital?
If he missed this one, who knew when the next chance to rack up merit would come?
Shimizu needed an opportunity like this—one that could elevate his own influence within Konoha.
It would serve as excellent groundwork for building his own power base in the future. Influence and hard strength made it far easier to win people's trust.
And power itself was a kind of strength.
Now that he had decided to join the mission, Shimizu needed to evaluate it thoroughly. Was their four-man squad truly enough to handle any sudden developments inside the canyon?
"Aren't we missing a reconnaissance ninja?" Shimizu knew all too well that even a team like this would be doomed if surrounded like dumplings in a pot.
There was a vast difference between being encircled by dozens and being besieged by hundreds.
Until one reached a truly high level of strength, facing more than a handful of jōnin at once would simply wear you down to death.
"My sensory ability is pretty good. Usually, I act as the reconnaissance ninja," Minato replied.
"What's your detection range?"
"About 350 meters."
A DPS who could also provide vision—Minato really was a bug.
Compared to Shimizu's 144 meters, that range was indeed impressive.
Even specialized sensory ninja typically detected only around 300 meters.
But Shimizu had someone more suitable.
"I know a Hyūga clan jōnin. We can bring her along. Her direct line-of-sight range exceeds 1.5 kilometers."
"1.5 kilometers?! Then she's the one!" Minato decided without hesitation.
"However, she's a member of the Third Division of the ANBU. She's not under our direct command."
"I have the Hokage's orders. I can requisition any Konoha ninja."
"Then it's settled. She's in."
Just like that, they cheerfully determined Mercury's next assignment.
Shimizu continued, "Her codename is Mercury. She's from ANBU's First Corps, Third Division, Fourth Squad. You can go directly to her. But she's currently exhausted—her chakra is depleted. She'll need one to two days to recover."
"That works. Akimichi Yoshimaru and Nikaidō Naoko will also arrive in about two days. I'll go find this Hyūga ninja first."
"Alright."
With that, Minato vanished.
"Hey, wait?! I forgot to ask about Wind Release chakra nature transformation..."
...
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