Tactics Two: Crow Flying Thunder God

After seeing too much of the ocean, the scenery always became dull and boring.

Aside from spending most of the first day eagerly watching the sea, Yamanaka Kei and Namikaze Minato spent the rest of their time either discussing the disciples they had recently taken on or exchanging insights on ninjutsu.

Every so often, they would also spar with a few moves and study combat strategies.

Minato really was a genius through and through.

The many traits he possessed—

Even Yamanaka Kei, who had the System, turned green with envy when he saw them.

Space-Time Insight (Purple), Super-Speed Reaction (Purple), Sealing Mastery (Blue), Ingenious Mind (Blue), Strong Luck (Blue), Energy Storage (Blue), Wind Release Mastery (Green), Handsome (Green).

A full eight traits.

And six of them were talent-type traits!

Space-Time Insight allowed him to clearly perceive space-time fluctuations and perfectly adapt to all kinds of space-time ninjutsu.

Super-Speed Reaction enhanced neural reaction speed, physical reaction speed, hand seal speed, Chakra circulation speed, ninjutsu casting speed, and many other attributes.

Ingenious Mind improved learning ability, tactical thinking, as well as ninjutsu development and research abilities.

Strong Luck directly increased fortune, while Energy Storage increased Chakra reserves and recovery ability.

Only the Handsome trait was slightly inferior to Yamanaka Kei's.

"With this, if Minato doesn't become the Fourth Hokage, then who the hell can?"

Every time Yamanaka Kei looked at Minato's traits, he could not help feeling envious.

Setting everything else aside, Space-Time Insight alone made him crave it desperately.

What transmigrator didn't want to learn the Flying Thunder God Technique?

Unfortunately—

Being transported into the Naruto World had not given him extraordinary talent in space-time techniques.

His talent in that area was only enough for him to barely use the Summoning Technique and storage seals. He could not even touch the threshold for learning the Flying Thunder God Technique.

If not for the hope offered by the System—

He would have long since completely given up on learning the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Two and a half days passed in a flash amid Yamanaka Kei and Namikaze Minato's constant discussions and sparring.

The relatively stable weather at sea over the past few days allowed them to arrive at a port town in southern Tea Country half a day ahead of schedule.

It was around noon.

After the ship docked, the two cautiously removed their Konoha forehead protectors and used the Transformation Technique to disguise themselves as ordinary carpenters.

Just as they were about to enter the town and gather intelligence in some crowded places—

Four ninja wearing Hidden Mist forehead protectors emerged from the town.

The leader had waist-length orange hair, meticulously groomed. He stood around two and a half meters tall, with an exceptionally massive and muscular build.

Combined with the Great Sword Samehada on his back—

Who else could he be but Suikazan Fuguki, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist?

Yamanaka Kei and Namikaze Minato did not recognize the three behind him, but judging by their attire, they were most likely elites of the Hidden Mist Anbu, each at least possessing jonin-level strength.

Faced with the Hidden Mist Ninja approaching them—

The two tacitly put on frightened expressions and hurriedly retreated to the side of the road.

They looked no different from ordinary civilians.

The four from Hidden Mist noticed nothing unusual and walked straight past them.

After watching the Hidden Mist group vanish before the town gate with a few leaps, Yamanaka Kei and Namikaze Minato did not rush to follow them. Instead, they entered the town directly.

Under the governing philosophy of the Second Mizukage, Gengetsu Hozuki, Hidden Mist had begun advocating covert operations long ago.

Even after the Third Mizukage took office, that philosophy had remained unchanged.

When Hidden Mist Ninja operated outside their village, there was no way they would swagger openly through a town like this.

No matter how one looked at it, something was wrong.

Sure enough, just as Yamanaka Kei and Namikaze Minato entered the town gates—

More than ten "civilians," male and female, old and young, began emerging from the streets and alleys.

At their head was an elderly woman who looked over seventy, her hair completely white. After saying a few words to her subordinates, she waved one hand.

The dozen or so people shot off like arrows, racing toward the north and south sides.

It looked like they were preparing to outflank the Hidden Mist Ninja from both sides.

The old woman herself also pursued the direction the Hidden Mist Ninja had gone alone.

Seeing this, how could Yamanaka Kei and Namikaze Minato fail to guess that Hidden Sand and Hidden Mist were playing against each other?

Not knowing whether either side had more forces lying in wait—

The two disguised as carpenters hurriedly put on fearful looks and quickly headed deeper into town.

After weaving through several turns, they found a secluded alley where no one would notice them.

Yamanaka Kei formed hand seals with both hands and pushed the Yamanaka Clan's secret sensory ninjutsu to its maximum range.

Chakra signatures within nearly ten kilometers instantly flooded into his mind.

"There really are quite a few people..."

Yamanaka Kei muttered as his hand seals shifted.

He used the Mind Transmission Body Technique again, transmitting everything he sensed to Namikaze Minato.

The frequent clashes lately had clearly stirred up real anger in both Hidden Sand and Hidden Mist.

More than thirty Chakra signatures in total was far beyond the scale of an ordinary border skirmish.

On Hidden Mist's side, the four people they had just seen, led by Suikazan Fuguki, were obviously only responsible for luring in the enemy.

In the forest several kilometers away, sixteen people were hidden in ambush.

On Hidden Sand's side, one person was charging directly toward the encirclement, while twelve were moving in from the north and south, seemingly preparing to counter-surround them.

Inside the town, there were also four Chakra signatures.

It was unclear whether they were Hidden Sand scouts left behind or Hidden Mist's backup plan.

"A clash on this scale..."

Namikaze Minato frowned tightly as he examined the information Yamanaka Kei had shared.

A violent conflict involving nearly forty people was no longer a simple feud between ninja.

Personnel movements on such a scale had to be approved by the higher-ups of both ninja villages.

And once the higher-ups got involved, it often meant the conflict between the two villages had reached an irreconcilable point.

"There's no use worrying about it. Let's focus on our own job."

Yamanaka Kei did not care too much about the conflict between Hidden Sand and Hidden Mist.

Having long known that war would inevitably break out, he only cared about how to complete this mission and whether he should slip in a little "extra work."

Perhaps he could take this opportunity to interfere with the course of the Third Shinobi World War.

"Mm. Then let's use Tactics Two and wait for a chance to enter the battlefield."

Namikaze Minato nodded, temporarily suppressing his worries about the war and seriously focusing on their current mission.

While on the ship, the two had devised several tactical plans based on the characteristics of each other's ninjutsu.

In the current situation, the second tactic—which allowed them to enter the battlefield at any time and retreat just as quickly—was undoubtedly the most suitable.

"Alright."

Yamanaka Kei took a small tube engraved with numerous Sealing Technique formulas from an inner pocket of his clothes.

After opening the cap and dipping into a little of the blood sealed inside, he formed hand seals and used the Summoning Technique.

Unlike the maniacs in the ninja world who bit their fingers or stabbed their palms with kunai at the drop of a hat—

Even after more than ten years in this world, he still could not ruthlessly hurt himself without even blinking like they did.

Poof—

Caw! Caw! Caw!

Chakra smoke billowed up as three black-feathered crows appeared before them, flapping their wings.

Mind Transfer Clone Technique!

Yamanaka Kei changed his hand seals. While retaining enough focus to control his own body, he simultaneously took control of the three crows with his mind.

The three crows, which had been noisily hopping about, immediately stood still.

Namikaze Minato stepped forward. After closing his eyes to focus for a moment, he gently pressed his right hand against the crows' bellies and inscribed Flying Thunder God Technique Formulas upon them.

Though he had not yet reached the level he displayed in the original story when fighting Obito, capable of inscribing a Flying Thunder God Technique Formula in the instant they exchanged blows—

With formulas already in place, he had long trained his speed of spatial transfer between them to the absolute limit.

After the three crows received the Flying Thunder God Technique Formulas, Yamanaka Kei controlled them to flap into the sky and fly straight toward Hidden Mist's ambush site.

Before he could even see the battlefield through the crows' eyes—

The instant the old woman came into contact with Hidden Mist's encirclement, casualties had already appeared on the Mist Side!