Minato shook his head.
"I'm only familiar with Mount Myōboku. I've never been to Ryūchi Cave, so I can't be certain. But logically speaking, if both Mount Myōboku and the Shikkotsu Forest have Senjutsu, then Ryūchi Cave should have it as well."
"All right, it's still early." He patted Naruto on the shoulder. "You can move around freely and enjoy yourselves outside the village for a bit. Have you all kept your mission pay properly?"
Aside from the mission to the Land of Waves, this was their first time leaving the village purely to have fun. Naruto and Sakura's eyes lit up immediately. Sasuke was more restrained than the two of them, but it was obvious he also wanted to see what the world outside the village was like.
The Land of Waves they had visited before was far too desolate. Minato didn't want that kind of environment to shape their understanding of the world beyond Konoha. That was exactly why he had brought them to a town even more prosperous than Konoha itself.
Even though it was his first time being a dad, Minato believed that the mental well-being of his son and his friends needed to be nurtured from an early age.
The dramatic moment came when Minato Namikaze and Adult Kakashi led the two teams, six students in total, out of their inn room—
—and immediately ran into someone.
Naruto Uzumaki, who had been walking ahead excitedly, let out a strange cry.
"Ah!!! It's you!"
The man with medium-length gray hair tied into a small braid, wearing oversized black-rimmed round glasses, was none other than the multi-faced spy, Kabuto Yakushi—the one who had stolen Naruto's mission scroll and gone into hiding to evade Konoha's pursuit.
This identity as a multi-layered spy was something only Minato had inferred after combing through all available information on Kabuto Yakushi. Naruto and the others only knew that Kabuto was Orochimaru's subordinate, and that he had vanished without a trace after handing the mission scroll over to Orochimaru.
Kabuto clearly hadn't expected to run into Naruto here either—much less see Kakashi Hatake behind him, along with Minato Namikaze dressed in casual clothes.
The moment he reacted, he flung several shuriken straight at Naruto.
Naruto and the others instantly drew their kunai and knocked the shuriken aside.
Using the shuriken as cover, Kabuto turned and tried to escape.
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a kunai fly past his face from behind. In the very next instant, while his attention was drawn to that kunai, it was already in someone's hand, slashing toward his throat.
"!!!"
Though his life as a multi-layered spy had thrown him into danger countless times since childhood, never had Kabuto Yakushi felt death this close.
Every hair on his body stood on end in that instant. The specially made kunai carved a thin line of blood across his neck and stopped just in time. As a medical-nin, Kabuto could even calculate rationally that it would have taken only the weight of a single straw for the blade to sever his carotid artery.
Hearing the noise upstairs, the innkeeper cursed under his breath and ran up to see what was happening.
The moment he realized it was ninjas fighting, he started shaking like a sieve and tumbled back down the stairs.
"Kabuto Yakushi!" Naruto exploded the moment he saw him. "After everything, we trusted you! And you stole my scroll and handed it to that bastard Orochimaru!"
A bead of cold sweat slid down Kabuto's face, but there was little fear to be seen on his expression.
From Naruto's angle, the thick lenses of Kabuto's glasses reflected the light, completely hiding his eyes.
As the saying goes, the eyes are the windows to the soul. When you can't see someone's eyes, it's almost impossible to read their expression or guess their reaction.
All they could hear was Kabuto's calm, matter-of-fact voice.
"What are you talking about, Naruto-kun? I've always been Orochimaru-sama's subordinate. Acting as a spy in Konoha for him is only natural. As for you—if you remain this naive as a ninja, sooner or later you'll end up harming yourself, and dragging your comrades down with you."
"What did you say?!" Naruto shouted angrily.
He didn't deny that he could be naive at times. But Kabuto's words—that he would one day hurt his companions and become a burden to them—stabbed straight into the fragile self-esteem he had only just begun to build.
As he lashed back in anger, that familiar mix of resentment and self-blame surged up inside him once again.
"People always grow up. But if someone is exposed to the darkness of the world too early and ends up twisted inside…" Minato Namikaze said quietly, "then I'd rather Naruto stay innocent forever."
Those plain words soothed Naruto Uzumaki in that moment, while also carrying a father's heartfelt wish for his son.
At the same time, they were a quiet rebuke to the hypocrisy and loss of direction embodied by Kabuto Yakushi.
After learning that Kabuto Yakushi had stolen Naruto's mission scroll, Minato Namikaze, who possessed authority on par with the Hokage, immediately reviewed every piece of information related to him.
Among the records was the name Nonō Yakushi.
Minato couldn't truly determine why Kabuto Yakushi chose to serve Orochimaru. But one fact was undeniable: the orphanage once run by Nonō Yakushi had been funded by Konohagakure. Logically speaking, even if children raised there didn't serve Konoha, they should never have acted as spies leaking its intelligence.
At this point, Kabuto Yakushi was no different from a Konoha missing-nin.
Having lived as a multi-layered spy since childhood, Kabuto Yakushi felt almost nothing upon hearing Minato's words. Over more than a decade of traveling between nations under fabricated identities, what ridicule or humiliation hadn't he endured? How could something as mild as "a twisted heart" possibly shake him?
He even felt like mocking Konoha for being overly protective of its genin.
After stealing Naruto's mission scroll, Kabuto Yakushi had immediately left Konohagakure. Because of that, he had never been dragged into another world by the scroll's reward, never learned the truth of Naruto's background, and never knew who it was that had subdued him in an instant.
Only when Minato finally released his grip did Kabuto Yakushi turn around.
When he saw the face he had gazed upon countless times carved into the Hokage Rock, he froze.
The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze…?!
Naruto and the others were startled when Minato let Kabuto Yakushi go, but what he did next left them even more confused.
Minato used a kunai to slice through the strap securing Kabuto Yakushi's ninja pouch at his waist, then took the pouch into his own hands.
Was he turning Kabuto Yakushi's own methods back on him?
Clearly not. Minato's expression was solemn, with no hint of humor.
What could a multi-identity spy possibly be carrying that warranted this level of attention?
Yet the moment Kabuto Yakushi saw Minato do this, his expression stiffened. He looked even more tense than when the kunai had been pressed against his throat just moments ago.
When Minato pulled a scroll from Kabuto Yakushi's ninja pouch, Adult Kakashi, along with Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Obito, Kakashi, and Rin, all stared in shock.
"That's Naruto's…" Obito Uchiha muttered.
In truth, Minato had only noticed the scroll because he sensed a space-time fluctuation coming from it.
But Naruto's scroll should have been in Orochimaru's hands by now.
Recalling what had happened to Naruto, Obito subconsciously reached into his own ninja pouch.
Thankfully, his mission scroll was still there.
That small movement, however, caused a flash of reflected light to pass over the thick lenses of Kabuto Yakushi's glasses. After more than ten years as a spy, nothing escaped his notice.
This was a hotel corridor, not a place for conversation. Minato pushed Kabuto Yakushi forward and led everyone into the room he had just exited.
Inside, Minato used a sealing technique to temporarily restrain Kabuto Yakushi's movements, then opened the mission scroll right in front of him.
[Mission Rating: SSS-Class]
[Mission Content: Use the Edo Tensei Technique to benefit the ninja world and host a Ninja World Family Reunion Conference!]
As expected, the first mission on every scroll was always an SSS-class task, either extremely difficult or involving impossibly complex conditions.
At present, they knew of three mission scrolls: Naruto's, Obito's, and Itachi Uchiha's. The one in Kabuto Yakushi's possession was the fourth.
Minato continued unrolling the scroll. He had just sensed another fluctuation of space-time ninjutsu, and from experience, that meant a new mission had appeared or one had been completed.
[Mission Rating: C-Rank]
[Mission Content: Fight Tsunade and gain the upper hand!]
Seeing this, Minato instinctively began to doubt whether the scroll truly belonged to Kabuto Yakushi.
"Is this scroll yours?" he asked.
From Minato's tone alone, Kabuto Yakushi could tell that the man didn't believe he was the rightful owner.
After all, Minato already knew Kabuto Yakushi had stolen Naruto's scroll before. And a bizarre mission like "benefiting the ninja world through Edo Tensei" didn't seem like something an unknown, ordinary ninja could accomplish.
Still, Kabuto Yakushi adjusted his glasses and asked calmly,
"What makes you so sure this scroll isn't mine?"
This was pure instinct for a reconnaissance spy. Exploit every opening. Gather every scrap of information. That was Kabuto Yakushi's nature.
Naruto didn't understand either. He couldn't figure out why his dad thought the scroll didn't belong to Kabuto Yakushi. Hadn't Sasuke's brother received a mission scroll too?
Minato glanced at Kabuto Yakushi, then unfolded the contents of the next mission on the scroll in his hand for everyone to see.
"His strength should be around the level of a Special Jōnin, far below Tsunade-sama, one of the Sannin. For him to fight Tsunade-sama and still gain the upper hand, it would require either an extremely special circumstance, or Tsunade-sama willingly holding back."
But how could something like "willingly holding back" ever happen with that Tsunade-hime?
"Also, the Edo Tensei was a technique developed by the Second Hokage-sama," Minato pointed at the SSS-rank mission on the scroll and explained to his son. "Later, because it requires living sacrifices and desecrates the souls of the dead, it was personally sealed away by his older brother, the First Hokage-sama, in the Scroll of Seals. Future generations were forbidden from learning it."
Even if someone managed to obtain that forbidden technique and master it, it was highly unlikely to be Kabuto Yakushi.
Comparing the two missions, Minato found himself more inclined to believe that the scroll in his hand belonged to Orochimaru.
Kabuto Yakushi laughed inwardly, with no intention of correcting Minato's line of thinking. His reason for coming here in the first place was to pursue more secrets surrounding these scrolls. If he could complete even one of the missions, he could follow that trail to uncover the scroll's origin, and why both he and Naruto Uzumaki had received one.
And beyond the two of them, were there others who had obtained a mission scroll as well?
That was what he was thinking. But someone reacted faster than him, cutting off Minato's train of thought and steering it back.
Naruto Uzumaki said, "…But this scroll has already brought us so many things we never expected."
For example, the true identity of the masked man.
And how Naruto could defeat Gaara and drive back Orochimaru; how Obito could impersonate the Fourth Mizukage and deceive Kisame Hoshigaki and Zabuza Momochi, two members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
Thinking it through, Minato realized Naruto was right.
The mission scrolls knew their past and their future. They couldn't be judged using ordinary logic.
Adult Kakashi reached out and patted his student on the head.
"In terms of unpredictability, you're a match for this thing."
Sasuke spoke coldly. "Take him back. Let Itachi interrogate him with genjutsu."
A certain foolish younger brother had already started thinking about how to squeeze his older brother dry.
Young Kakashi turned to Obito Uchiha beside him.
"You've got the three-tomoe Sharingan too, right? Just interrogate him directly."
Obito was about to say that he had the Mangekyō Sharingan, and that genjutsu interrogation wasn't his strong suit.
But when he caught Kakashi's casual sideways glance, he immediately understood. Kakashi was bluffing Kabuto Yakushi.
So he swallowed what he was about to say and instead activated his three-tomoe Sharingan.
Kabuto Yakushi froze for a moment, then forced a smile.
"Looks like Itachi Uchiha didn't leave behind just one younger brother."
Sharingan-based genjutsu interrogation was extremely painful, and Kabuto had far too much valuable intelligence in his mind. He had no intention of losing everything over a small matter.
"All right, I surrender," he said. "This scroll really is mine."
"Honestly, I'm even more surprised than you are. Why would a small-time subordinate like me, working under Orochimaru-sama, be assigned something as grand as 'benefiting the ninja world'?"
Minato's group and Team Kakashi both thought the same thing at the same time.
Nothing is impossible. For all they knew, the final boss of the Fourth Shinobi World War could be standing right in front of them.
"…"
Obito pressed on. "When did you obtain this scroll?"
Kabuto Yakushi gave a specific date.
They exchanged looks. That time matched exactly when Naruto completed his second S-rank mission.
The first S-rank mission required leading at least seventy candidates through the first stage of the Chūnin Exams. Naruto received Shisui's eye and the right to use Kotoamatsukami as his mission reward, and at the same time, Itachi Uchiha obtained a mission scroll.
The second S-rank mission forced Gaara to use the Feigning Sleep Technique. Naruto received a Nine-Tails Chakra Mode experience card as his reward, and Kabuto Yakushi obtained his mission scroll.
Just as Obito's mission led them to deduce that the masked man was Obito Uchiha of this world, Naruto's missions were guiding him toward redeeming those who shared his past.
Unseen and intangible, the scrolls seemed to be leading them all toward the final SSS-rank mission…
But having Kabuto Yakushi fight Tsunade and gain the upper hand—
No matter how one looked at it, rating that as a C-rank mission felt completely outrageous.
Still, the reward for a C-rank mission seemed to involve sending someone to another parallel world. If they completed it, they might gain even more valuable information.
That reminded Minato that he still hadn't told Jiraiya-sensei about Obito and the masked man. When he met him today, he would explain Kabuto's mission as well as that matter, and hear what his sensei thought.