After returning the cat to Minato's team and them submitting the mission, Ling was also ready to bid farewell. Having trained all morning, her stomach was now rumbling in protest.
"Ling, we're about to have a meal together, why don't you join us!"
Minato seemed to have heard Ling's stomach rumbling, and immediately smiled like the sun, gently inviting Ling to eat with them.
Ling's cheeks were slightly flushed, which seemed to be an instinctive reaction of this body. However, her stomach getting hungry so quickly was beyond Ling's expectation. The Heavenly Restriction indeed consumed a lot.
"Kawaii ne! Ling looks so cute when she's shy."
Rin Nohara looked at Ling's originally cool face flushing, and immediately let out a soft laugh, gazing at Ling with sparkling eyes.
"Hmm, alright, thank you, Namikaze-senpai."
Ling also planned to get acquainted with Minato's team, after all, the main characters of the Third Shinobi World War were almost all here.
So, everyone waited boredly for Obito to bring the old woman back.
"Ling, you're almost going to the Ninja Academy, aren't you?"
Looking at Ling's tender face, Rin Nohara remembered when she enrolled, Obito was also late then, and she helped him with his enrollment.
"Yes, that's right, just a few more days."
Ling also planned to lay low in the Ninja Academy, to avoid being targeted by the two old fogeys, Third Hokage and Danzo. If she were sent to the battlefield then, she'd regret it too late.
"Ling is so amazing, she'll probably be first like Kakashi."
Rin's smile was very gentle, no wonder that silly boy Obito fell for her.
"Hmm, well, I'm not that amazing, actually. It's just that I have more strength, other than that, I'm not good at anything else."
Ling still decided to bide her time and wait until after the Third Shinobi World War. Although the Third Shinobi World War hadn't erupted yet, all countries were actively preparing for war.
The Second Shinobi World War and the Third Shinobi World War were only eight or nine years apart. It could be said that the Third Shinobi World War was a continuation of the Second Shinobi World War, but the fuse was Sasori of the Red Sand killing their strongest Third Kazekage, haha.
It seemed that, except for the Third Mizukage of the Hidden Mist Village, the Thirds of other Villages were all called the strongest. It's unknown if it was the Thirds bragging about themselves.
Anyway, the Third Hokage of Konoha Village was definitely bragging about himself. The Third Raikage of Hidden Cloud Village could indeed be called the strongest Third. Hidden Sand Village was unclear. As for Ōnoki of Iwagakure, in terms of longevity, he was definitely the strongest, having lived until the new generation.
Kakashi leaned against the wall, hearing the conversation between Rin Nohara and Ling, and looked at Ling thoughtfully.
He could sense a Chakra amount similar to his own within this girl. One must know that although he wasn't known for his Chakra amount, he was still at the level of an elite Chunin.
Moreover, he could vaguely sense a threat from Ling. This sensory ability was formed after years of combat since he became a Chunin at six and joined the Anbu.
It had saved him from danger many times and helped him escape many life-or-death crises, so it absolutely couldn't be wrong. In other words, Ling, at only five years old, already possessed the combat power of a Chunin, making her even more of a genius than him.
Ling didn't know that Kakashi was overthinking about her. At this moment, she only had a strong physique; she hadn't started practicing hand signs, Ninjutsu, or Genjutsu.
"Haha, Ling, don't be so humble. I believe you will all become pillars of Konoha in the future."
Minato Namikaze had been observing Ling and indeed found that Ling had a lot of Chakra, already comparable to a Chunin.
If Minato hadn't known that Ling only had the Uchiha Clan's bloodline, he would have suspected if Ling was a relative of Kushina.
"Haha, everyone's waiting for me, huh? Sorry for making you wait so long."
Obito ran over from the corner, panting, waving his hand, looking very happy after doing a good deed.
"Hmm, someone's late again."
Kakashi stared at Obito with dead fish eyes and retorted.
"Stuck-up Kakashi, I caught the kitten before you did! This time, remember to treat me, I want to eat barbecue."
Obito was very proud. It was not easy to win against Kakashi even once, so he immediately made an exorbitant demand for barbecue.
Akimichi Clan's barbecue was very expensive. Even a Chunin could only afford to go occasionally, and each time it would cost over a hundred thousand ryo.
"I remember you weren't the one who caught the cat and brought it over, right? Rin said you caught it yourself but it ran away, and Ling helped bring it back. Are you sure you caught it?"
It must be said that Kakashi's sarcastic skills were truly impressive, directly causing two streams of white smoke to rush out of Obito's ears, his face turning red.
"Stuck-up Kakashi, anyway, I caught it first! Are you not convinced? Do you want to fight?"
Obito rolled up his sleeves, ready to ignore the difference in strength between him and Kakashi, preparing to fight.
"Tch, someone, a Genin who failed the Chunin Exams, dares to challenge me, a Chunin?"
Kakashi disdainfully glanced at Obito with his dead fish eyes, the contempt in his eyes exceptionally obvious.
"Alright, you two, stop arguing. When Lady Kushina arrives, she'll scold you again."
Minato Namikaze directly held down their heads, which were almost touching, then didn't forget to call out to Ling, leading the way to the Akimichi Clan's barbecue restaurant.
As noon approached, Akimichi Clan's barbecue restaurant was packed, but Minato led the four of them straight in.
"Minato, how many today?"
A big fat man, clearly a member of the Akimichi Clan, greeted Minato warmly, obviously very familiar with him.
"Haha, Choza, six people today, please arrange a table for us."
Minato showed his standard sunny smile and said to the Chō of this generation's Ino–Shika–Chō.
"Alright, follow me."
Akimichi Choza personally arranged a row of seats for them. "Here it is. Please wait a moment, the barbecue will be right out."
"Thank you, Choza."
Minato bid farewell to Choza, then said to Ling and the others, "Please wait a moment, I'm going to pick up Kushina, I'll be right back~~".
Before he could finish speaking, a Flying Thunder God Kunai was left in place, and Minato Namikaze disappeared from his seat. It seemed he went to pick up Uzumaki Kushina.
"Wow, Minato-sensei's Flying Thunder God Technique is amazing! If I could learn it, I wouldn't have to worry about being late."
Obito looked enviously at the spot where Minato disappeared, longing to learn the Flying Thunder God Technique himself.
"Hmph, dreaming. Someone, a dead last, can't even properly perform a C-rank Great Fireball Technique, and still wants to learn an S-rank Flying Thunder God Technique."
Kakashi never gave up on despising and mocking Obito; the contempt in his dead fish eyes made Obito furious again.
"Kakashi, Obito, stop arguing! If Lady Kushina comes, she'll scold you again."
Rin Nohara quickly stopped their argument, lest they get beaten by Kushina later.
"Hmm, as soon as I arrive, someone's talking about me. Are Obito and Kakashi arguing again?"
Minato Namikaze suddenly appeared with Kushina in front of them, yet they weren't startled.
"Haha, how could that be? Kakashi and I are best friends, how could we possibly argue?"
Obito quickly chuckled awkwardly, clearly afraid of Kushina's iron fist education, which would leave him with bumps all over his head.