After the three had eaten and drunk their fill, the sky gradually darkened.
"This time, we're entering the Land of Rivers only to receive intelligence. We need to avoid contact with the Sand Shinobi as much as possible, so we'll need a concealed route."
Minato took out a map of the Land of Rivers and, by the firelight, drew a route from their current location to the intelligence drop-off point.
Chiga and Kakashi leaned closer to Minato. Looking at the winding route on the map, they saw that most of it bypassed the places where the Sand Shinobi were frequently active.
Chiga had no objections.
Although he felt that if a Sand Shinobi squad encountered them, the Sand Shinobi would be the unlucky ones,
ninja needed to prioritize their missions. Their mission this time was only to receive intelligence, so he did not want to cause any unnecessary trouble.
Kakashi thought for a moment before asking, "Teacher Minato, if something unexpected happens and we suddenly encounter the Sand Shinobi, how should we handle it? Should we retreat first?"
"If the other side has fewer than a squad..."
Minato thought for a moment, then said emphatically, "Then we'll take them down!"
Facing this version of Minato, Kakashi was somewhat surprised. He said, "Teacher Minato, that seems inconsistent with how you've acted before!"
Kakashi had followed Minato for a year.
Because Konoha was short on manpower, the two of them had always been assigned together, so Kakashi understood Minato's caution during missions very well.
He would never easily engage in unnecessary conflict.
"Kakashi, times have changed. You should change your mindset too!"
Minato rubbed Kakashi's head and smiled.
He had indeed changed his usual way of doing things.
As his Flying Thunder God Technique became increasingly proficient, he had already reached the