Rin asked Minato: "Minato-sensei, what should we do next?"
Ryou has captured their teammate Kurenai, and Obito is also in his hands.
On one side is the mission, and on the other are teammates. What should they do?
If it were the old Kakashi, he would follow Konoha's traditional custom—he could only say sorry; that's just how the world of Ninja is.
But Kakashi had already been woken up by Obito. Now, in his eyes, teammates are more important than the mission.
If a mission isn't completed, you just wait for punishment, but if a teammate is gone, they're really gone.
Kakashi pleaded with Minato in the form of a subordinate kneeling: "Minato-sensei, please don't give up on Kurenai and Obito. They are our teammates."
Minato helped Kakashi up and smiled at him: "Don't worry, I will never give up on my teammates."
Minato's gentle yet sharp smile put Kakashi and Rin at ease. Minato-sensei has always been Konoha's little sun!
If Minato really wanted to become Hokage, the most important thing right now would be to complete the mission to find Nagato.
The importance of the Rinnegan far exceeds that of Kurenai and Obito.
But Minato felt that a Hokage should be someone who can protect their teammates. If he couldn't even save his own subordinates, how could he be worthy of becoming Hokage?
Furthermore, Ryou's appearance in the Land of Rain already explained a lot.
Kakashi thought of the intelligence he had heard from wandering Ninja before and said: "Minato-sensei, Uchiha Ryou is the Akatsuki's Yakuganra."
"That person named Nagato is very likely in the Akatsuki."
"The Akatsuki?!"
Minato had heard of such an organization while gathering intelligence in Amegakure before. It was a peace organization dedicated to eliminating world conflicts.
It actually fits well with some of Jiraiya-sensei's ideals. Maybe the Akatsuki was founded by Jiraiya-sensei's three disciples.
Minato nodded, preparing to set off for the Akatsuki.
Kakashi propped himself up and requested to follow.
Minato looked at Kakashi's frail appearance and shook his head: "Kakashi, your Chakra is exhausted."
Minato wanted Rin to take care of Kakashi while he went to the Akatsuki alone, but he was afraid that after he left, Ryou would take the opportunity to attack and kidnap Kakashi and Rin.
The Flying Thunder God Technique is not omnipotent. Although it allows Minato to cross distances of dozens or even hundreds of miles, it also requires reaction time in between.
For example, the matter of Kakashi's team being wiped out.
How could Minato know about Kakashi and the others' situation immediately?
Minato's choice was to use a Summoning Toad. Using the Summoning Toad as a communication device, if anything happened to Kakashi and the others, the Summoning Toad would teleport to Minato's side and inform him of the situation.
The time wasted in between would be enough for Ryou to kill Kakashi and the others a dozen times.
Minato thought of a crucial question: "By the way, Kakashi, did Ryou hurt you guys?"
Rin said: "Ryou-senpai was going to use Lightning Blade to kill Kakashi. Fortunately, Obito pleaded for Kakashi. However, I think Ryou-senpai looked like he was just trying to scare us."
How did he not hurt us? He even snatched my book away.
Kakashi wanted to say it out loud, but he was afraid of being scolded by Minato, so he didn't.
Minato rubbed his chin. Kakashi and the others were already lucky. The worst outcome of encountering Ryou would have been all three of them being killed.
But Ryou didn't kill them. Minato felt that Ryou could still be redeemed.
Kakashi also seemed to see Minato's concern—he was afraid Ryou would raid the base after he left.
Kakashi thumped his chest hard: "Minato-sensei, don't worry, I can still hold on."
Obito is suffering under the evil Uchiha Ryou; how can he, Kakashi, lie down here?
Bastard, don't underestimate our bond!
Just as he finished speaking, Kakashi couldn't hold on any longer and fainted.
"Kakashi!"
The invincible Lord Kakashi has fallen yet again.
Minato was truly out of options now and had to stay to look after Kakashi.
Suddenly, a buzzing sound came from outside the cave. A swarm of black flying insects appeared at the cave entrance, converging into a Konoha Ninja wearing a black cloak and sunglasses.
The most prominent feature was the purple mark on the right side of his face.
"Minato, it really wasn't easy to catch up with you!"
Minato was pleasantly surprised. This was Danzo's personal guard he had met before, an elite Jonin of the Root, and an Insect User of the Aburame family.
Minato wanted him to look after Kakashi and Rin so he could go rescue Kurenai and Obito.
But the words suddenly got stuck in his throat.
Who was this again?
Aburame Ryoma adjusted his sunglasses: "Minato, do you really not recognize me?"
"..."
Minato rubbed his head and smiled awkwardly.
The Aburame Clan basically all have the same look: wearing trench coats, sunglasses, and having a very weak presence.
This kind of person only knows they exist when there is a roll call.
Ryoma felt his world had turned gray. After a long silence, he told Minato: "Minato, I am Ryoma. We were classmates."
"Oh, so it's Ryoma! Sorry, sorry. You joined the Root after graduation, and we haven't seen each other for a long time."
Ryoma didn't blame Minato. Although he was the top Jonin of the Root and his infiltration Ninjutsu was the most outstanding in the history of the Anbu.
But a weak presence is a characteristic of the Aburame Clan. Once, when he was partnered with Orochimaru for a mission, Orochimaru searched for a long time and couldn't find him.
He even thought he knew Transparent Release.
Why was Ryoma's infiltration ability so strong? Because when he walked into the enemy's interior, the enemy guards couldn't even see him.
For their clan, undercover work doesn't even require the Transformation Jutsu.
Minato said a lot of apologetic words and finally requested Ryoma to take care of Kakashi and Rin, as he had an important mission to carry out.
Ryoma agreed.
After Minato left with Body Flicker, Ryoma found a place to sit and watched Kakashi and Rin.
He adjusted his sunglasses, very interested in Minato's important mission.
Minato was gone, so he could just question his two subordinates.
Before Ryoma could speak, Kakashi woke up. He looked around and only saw Rin.
"Where is Minato-sensei?"
Rin poured some water for Kakashi and said: "Minato-sensei has gone to rescue Obito and Kurenai."
Kakashi nodded. After drinking the water, he recovered a bit of strength.
Rin prayed: "I hope Minato-sensei can rescue Obito and Kurenai!"
Kakashi nodded: "He will. Minato-sensei is the Village's most excellent Ninja. He will definitely rescue Obito and Kurenai."
"And the Rinnegan. Minato-sensei will also bring Nagato back to the Village."
〣(ºΔº)〣.
Ryoma showed a look of shock and stood up abruptly: "Rinnegan? You said Rinnegan?"
Ryoma's sudden movement startled Kakashi, who thought Ryou was attacking again. After reacting, he recognized this was a Konoha Ninja.
Rin nodded: "Yes! Senior Ryoma, Minato-sensei said Lord Jiraiya has a disciple named Nagato who has a pair of Rinnegan."
"Lord Jiraiya suspects that Nagato's Rinnegan might have been transplanted by Uchiha Madara, so Hokage-sama sent us to the Land of Rain to investigate."
Rin had no guard against Ryoma. Firstly, she didn't know Ryoma was a Ninja of the Root; at her level, she couldn't come into contact with the Root yet.
Secondly, Ryoma was a classmate of Minato, and Minato trusted him, so Rin easily believed Ryoma.
Ryoma transformed into a swarm of insects, picked up Rin and Kakashi, and transferred towards Amegakure's location.
He had to inform Lord Danzo of this important intelligence as soon as possible: Nagato of the Akatsuki has the Rinnegan, suspected to be Madara's eyes.