Mount Myōboku's Grand Feast

Yamanaka Kei committed the matter of his exclusive spatial coordinates to memory.

Delighted, he examined his personal panel again.

Space-Time Insight!

Once he had fully mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique, he could attack or defend, fight or flee, hold enemies off while covering a retreat, or break through fortified encirclements.

His survival capabilities had instantly been maxed out!

Why the hell should he still worry about the Third Shinobi World War?!

"If I could get another chance to copy something and copy over Super-Speed Reaction too, that'd be even better."

Yamanaka Kei grumbled to himself, still not quite satisfied.

Seeing that he had one remaining chance to draw a Word Entry, he casually tapped it.

Congratulations, Host, for obtaining the White Word Entry: 'Brother, You Smell So Good.'

Brother, You Smell So Good (White): ♂ Upon obtaining this Word Entry, attention toward ♀ will continuously decrease, while attention toward brothers of the same age will continuously increase. The effect will steadily grow with the amount of time spent with brothers, until one charges straight at men.

????

This damn System.

When it came to disappointing people, it truly never disappointed.

The corner of Yamanaka Kei's mouth twitched.

One second ago, he had been fantasizing about Super-Speed Reaction, and the next second he got this?

This?!

He knew that, theoretically, White Word Entries had the highest probability of being drawn.

But this White Word Entry was no longer merely a matter of psychological disappointment!

"Kei? Did you overexhaust your Chakra?"

Namikaze Minato, who had been keeping watch, was slightly startled when he saw his close friend's unpleasant expression.

He hurried over from the window.

"I'm fine. I'll have to trouble you to let the toads of Mount Myōboku deliver this Intelligence Scroll back."

Yamanaka Kei took a deep breath and handed Namikaze Minato the Intelligence Scroll, which contained quite a bit of his own added material.

It was called added material, but the intelligence within had all genuinely been read from the minds of the ninjas on both sides.

He had merely emphasized different aspects when describing it.

"All right. Get some more rest. Don't overwork yourself."

Namikaze Minato accepted the scroll, still giving him a concerned reminder before taking out a small tube identical to Yamanaka Kei's from his clothes.

He dipped it in a little blood and used the Summoning Technique.

It couldn't be helped.

Ever since Yamanaka Kei had used the Summoning Technique like this in front of him,

every time he looked at the wound on his finger that took several days to heal completely, he felt like an idiot.

After doing that a few times, he naturally swallowed his pride and asked Kushina to get him one of these blood storage tubes covered in Sealing Technique formulas.

The Sealing Technique on the tube could greatly preserve the blood's vitality. As long as it was not opened frequently, it could be stored for an entire year without any issue.

Poof—

As the smoke from the Summoning Technique dispersed, a communications toad wearing goggles, crimson all over but not especially large, appeared in the room.

"Yo, good evening, Minato! Jiraiya happens to be visiting Mount Myōboku, and Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima made a huge feast. Want to come along?"

Toad Takoma raised a hand in greeting to Namikaze Minato.

"Huh? Where was Jiraiya-sensei reverse-summoned from to Mount Myōboku?"

Namikaze Minato froze for a moment before hurriedly asking.

"Konoha. He went back yesterday and didn't see you, and he said it was quite a shame."

Toad Takoma vividly imitated Jiraiya's mannerisms.

"Then please give this scroll directly to Jiraiya-sensei. Please tell Jiraiya-sensei..."

A smile bloomed across Namikaze Minato's handsome face.

Under normal circumstances, the toads of Mount Myōboku needed to use an item called Far Body Water to transmit messages to Konoha.

It was said to be a treasure passed down from an era even more ancient than that of the Sage of Six Paths.

It allowed smaller toads to travel swiftly through water veins.

It was one of Mount Myōboku's most important inherited treasures.

The speed at which the toads delivered intelligence using Far Body Water was far faster than ordinary ninja hawks could fly.

From the moment a message was sent to the moment Konoha received it, it took no more than an hour.

But if Jiraiya had been reverse-summoned from Konoha to Mount Myōboku, then canceling the Reverse Summoning Technique would allow him to return to Konoha instantly.

Forget an hour—he would not even need a minute.

"Minato, go to Mount Myōboku yourself. Have Senior Jiraiya give this to the Analysis Team, and while you're there, have the toads transfer these two directly to Konoha as well."

Yamanaka Kei took out the scroll sealing the Hidden Mist Ninja heads from his clothes.

He forcefully stuffed the scroll into Minato's arms.

"Uh... actually..."

Thinking of Sage Shima and Sage Fukasaku's "feast," Namikaze Minato's face faintly turned green.

But when he looked at the two severely injured captives to the side,

he sighed softly to himself.

Although Yamanaka Kei had read the two men's memories, time had been limited, and he had only read part of them.

They still possessed immense intelligence value.

If they were not transferred back through Mount Myōboku, then in order to maintain the mission's secrecy, they would have to be dealt with directly.

That would be somewhat wasteful.

"I know. You've actually been looking forward to Mount Myōboku's feast for ages. Go on, I'll be fine by myself!"

Yamanaka Kei gave him a thumbs-up just like Might Guy.

That standard sunny, cheerful young man's smile nearly caused Namikaze Minato to break down.

Too vicious!

This was too vicious!

He had clearly counted on Minato being too embarrassed to complain about Mount Myōboku's food in front of the toad.

But he didn't want to eat bugs either!

Those were bugs, damn it!

"So little Minato has been looking forward to it for a long time? I'll go tell Sage Shima right away~"

Toad Takoma happily agreed. Without waiting for Minato to respond, he turned into a puff of smoke and returned to Mount Myōboku.

"No..."

Namikaze Minato held out a helpless hand, his entire body frozen stiff.

Had he said anything?

No!

"Take your things, and enjoy the food and drink."

Yamanaka Kei waved with a grin, looking thoroughly entertained.

"I... sigh..."

Faced with his foul-tempered friend, Namikaze Minato let out a deep sigh.

Helplessly, he used the Summoning Technique to summon Toad Chū, whose body occupied more than half the room.

He had it swallow the two severely injured captives.

The moment he canceled the Summoning Technique and sent Toad Chū back to Mount Myōboku with the captives,

before he could say anything else, he felt the pull of the Reverse Summoning Technique.

Minato wore a pained expression and took several deep breaths.

Thinking that at least Jiraiya-sensei would be there with him, he gritted his teeth and agreed to the reverse summoning.

Poof—

Yamanaka Kei watched Namikaze Minato vanish from the spot.

After grinning, he eagerly began testing the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Following the method he had previously learned from the Ninjutsu Scroll, he closed his eyes and connected with the power of space, guiding his Chakra to merge with it.

A moment later, he pressed one hand against the outside of the teacup before him.

A marking appeared on the cup's surface: a ring containing two clockwise-rotating arrows.

That spatial perception, several times clearer than Minato's spatial coordinates,

brought a satisfied smile to Yamanaka Kei's lips.

But the longer he looked at it, the more he felt something was off.

This marking...

"Fuck! East Wind pays up!"