"How extravagant! I remember you saying the Flying Thunder God Mark doesn't have to be imprinted on a weapon, right?"
Nawaki couldn't help but click his tongue as he watched Minato's actions.
"To prevent it from being destroyed and to ensure I can retrieve it later," Minato explained.
Ninja are trained in wilderness tracking and are highly sensitive to such marks. Whether imprinted on a tree or a rock, there's always a risk of them being destroyed, moved, or even targeted with traps.
The Land of Rain's strength isn't enough to invade the Land of Fire, so Minato is guarding against White Zetsu.
The information about his Wood Release isn't exactly a secret. With White Zetsu's vast intelligence network spanning the Shinobi World, Madara should have already caught wind of it.
He wasn't sure if Madara would take any specific countermeasures, but he was simply taking precautions.
For the rest of the journey, Minato would establish a relay station every half hour.
However, his methods weren't limited to Wood Release. Sometimes he would use Earth Release to excavate sufficient underground space or carve out hollows within rock walls, leaving disguised tree hollows on the exterior for ventilation.
Grrr...
Midway through the journey, Nawaki's stomach suddenly rumbled.
Seeing Minato and Mikoto turn back to look at him, he rubbed his stomach and grinned sheepishly.
"Hahaha, I'm starving."
"Then let's take a break and eat something," Minato said.
He nodded, stopped, and asked, "What do you guys want to eat?"
"W-We can actually choose?" Mikoto asked, looking at him in disbelief. "Aren't we on a mission?"
"Even on a mission, we can't skip meals. Though it should be something simple during mission time," Minato replied with a smile. Still growing, he had no intention of lowering his standards.
With a clap of his hands, various vegetables and fruits sprouted from the ground.
Under Mikoto's astonished gaze, Minato swiftly prepared the ingredients.
He left a Wood Clone to guard the spot and vanished in a flash.
Before long, he returned carrying a wild boar and summoned a large black pot and a variety of seasonings from a scroll.
Nawaki: "..."
Mikoto: "..."
As the sky gradually darkened, wisps of cooking smoke drifted through the forest.
The three of them ate grilled beef and sipped hot soup, enjoying the cozy atmosphere.
"I never expected Minato-kun to be such a good cook," Mikoto couldn't help but marvel. "And going on missions with him feels more like a picnic than a mission."
"Burp~ Are you falling for him?" Nawaki asked lazily, leaning against a tree with a teasing tone.
"Huh? Why would you say that?" Mikoto blushed instantly at his words.
Minato was indeed excellent, but she had never really thought of him in that way. For one, there was the age difference—he was four years younger than her. And then there was his long-standing childhood friendship with Kushina.
If she were to be honest, Minato's type really appealed to her. He was handsome, steady, reliable, gentle yet strong, and he could even cook.
Most importantly, there was his overwhelmingly overwhelming combat power!
Nothing appealed to an Uchiha's heart quite like overwhelming strength.
Moreover, in the harsh environment of the Shinobi World, strength meant security—a crucial criterion for a traditional girl like Mikoto.
If Minato were a little older, she might have...
Thinking of this, Mikoto's cheeks flushed faintly.
Nawaki waved his hand lazily, with an air of having seen through everything. "Because your expression just now was exactly like those fangirls back at school who chase after Minato!"
"It's human nature to gravitate toward the exceptional," Mikoto replied calmly. "Minato-kun is truly the most outstanding person I've ever met."
Her straightforwardness prompted her to ask, "Nawaki-kun, don't you have anyone you like?"
"No way! I'm a man aiming for the Hokage!" Nawaki declared proudly, snorting. "In talent and strength, I'm far inferior to Minato. If I wasted time on such trivialities, I'd have no chance of competing with him at all."
"The worst part is, ever since I met Minato, almost every girl around me has been after him!"
"I used to have someone I was interested in, but seeing those girls swooning over him just shattered my illusions. It's like that girl you used to chase so humbly is now humbly chasing someone else..."
Nawaki pointed at Minato, a hint of helplessness in his voice.
Minato, who had just finished carving a leg of beef, smiled sheepishly at the remark.
He hadn't expected his presence to inadvertently accelerate Nawaki's understanding of romantic relationships.
"What about you, Minato-kun?" Mikoto asked, her curiosity piqued. "Do you have someone you like?"
Minato nodded frankly. "Yes, I do."
"Oh? Who is it? Is it okay to say?" Mikoto asked tentatively, aware that this question touched upon personal matters.
Minato shook his head and smiled enigmatically.
For now, his ambition to become Nawaki's brother-in-law couldn't be revealed. Otherwise, before Tsunade even earned her title as one of the Three Great Sannin, the title of "pervert" would already be spreading throughout the Shinobi World.
"Who else could it be? It's definitely Kushina, being so secretive," Nawaki said casually, observing Minato's reaction. "Or maybe Nonou. It's one of those two, for sure."
"I do like Kushina very much," Minato acknowledged, bringing the topic to a close. "Alright, we've eaten enough. It's time to get back on the road."
"Oh!" Nawaki slapped his thighs and scrambled to his feet.
Mikoto glanced thoughtfully at Minato, sensing that his words held unspoken meaning. However, everyone has their secrets, and she didn't want to pry.
After tidying up, the group set off toward the border again.
The power gap between Amegakure and Konoha was significant, and they lacked the capability to invade the Land of Fire. Thus, their journey was uneventful. They traveled day and night, finally reaching the border outpost under the starlight.
"Halt!"
Two ninja squads, a total of eight men, were stationed at the outpost.
Upon seeing Minato and his two companions arrive, the guards looked surprised.
The Jonin in charge swept his gaze over Minato and Nawaki, his tone hesitant: "You are... Genin?"
The war hadn't truly begun yet, and Konoha's military strength was more than sufficient. Even if Genin were sent to the battlefield, they wouldn't send someone like Minato and Nawaki, who looked no older than freshly graduated Academy students.
"We are here to guard this outpost by order of the Lord Hokage," Minato said without preamble, handing over a scroll. "From now on, our squad will handle all intelligence transmissions from this outpost."
"Hey, you're kidding, right?" The Jonin examined the scroll carefully for a long moment, finding no signs of forgery.
Suddenly, his gaze fixed on one of the names. He looked at Minato uncertainly: "You're Namikaze Minato? The legendary prodigy?"
When Minato nodded, the Jonin remained surprised but no longer questioned the matter.
Namikaze Minato's name was widely known throughout the village, primarily for two reasons: his status as a "prodigy" and his mastery of Wood Release.
For such a prodigy to be assigned to a front-line outpost, there were only two possibilities:
Either he possessed exceptional strength!
Or the Third Hokage had gone mad!
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