Task

"Sensei!" Anko was the first to call out in greeting to Orochimaru, with Kagetsu close behind.

"Orochimaru-sama!" Shisui beside them also bowed respectfully.

"You're all here." Orochimaru, dressed in Jonin attire, looked at the three of them.

"Are we taking a mission?" When Anko saw the familiar mission scroll Orochimaru had taken out, her eyes immediately lit up! Her desire to fight was running high right now. She had always wanted to leave the village on a high-level mission to make up for her meager mission record.

"A B-rank Mission. Gather intelligence." Orochimaru tossed the mission scroll to Kagetsu.

"Sensei, aren't you coming with us?" Seeing Orochimaru hand the intelligence over to Kagetsu, Anko froze for a moment before looking up at him and asking blankly.

"I won't be leading the team this time." Orochimaru shook his head.

Just as Anko pursed her lips and was about to question him further, a gentle, familiar voice suddenly sounded behind them.

"Everyone's gathered?"

"Senior Minato?" Turning around and seeing the man who had suddenly appeared behind them, his hair still swaying slightly in the air, Anko instinctively called out his name.

"We meet again. You've all become even more outstanding!" With a warm smile as approachable as sunlight, Minato first greeted Orochimaru before looking at the three of them and speaking with a smile.

"Senior Minato is leading us this time? That works too." Anko's pout relaxed. From their previous encounters, she had developed considerable fondness and trust toward Namikaze Minato, who was like a little sun.

"I have my own mission. I'm only responsible for leading this mission." Namikaze Minato smiled. Then, before Anko could ask anything else, he said to Orochimaru, "Then I'll take them and leave, Senior Orochimaru."

Orochimaru nodded. His gaze lingered on Kagetsu for a moment before his fingers formed a hand seal. His entire body scattered like shattered grains of sand, slowly drifting away with the wind.

"We're the last ones to leave the village. If you're ready, it's time to set off." Namikaze Minato looked at the three of them.

Following Namikaze Minato out of the village, they found several others waiting outside.

One was tall and broad, with symmetrical markings on both sides of his face. Kagetsu recognized this member of the Akimichi Clan at a glance—Akimichi Todo! The Akimichi Clan Jonin who often visited his father at their home during breaks.

The other bore the standard markings of the Inuzuka Clan. He was currently crouching on the ground, petting the large tawny dog beside him. Because of Dog Food transactions and the like, Kagetsu had met this Inuzuka Clan Jonin before—Inuzuka Gaku.

"Let's go." With that, Namikaze Minato immediately led the team onward.

Of course, to accommodate Kagetsu and the other two, Namikaze Minato and the other three did not move too quickly. As they traveled, Namikaze Minato also took the time to explain their mission to the three of them.

"This time, we're responding to a request for aid from our allied nation, Sunagakure." Namikaze Minato got straight to the point and briefly explained the reason and the current situation.

"So we're heading to the Sunagakure battlefield?" After listening, Anko glanced at Kagetsu. Seeing that he said nothing, she took the initiative to ask.

"No, that isn't our battlefield!" Namikaze Minato shook his head. "We only need to help them tie down a portion of Kumogakure's shinobi. Your mission is to gather intelligence, not to fight on the front lines."

"Kumogakure is being led by Raikage A this time. Based on the intelligence provided by Sunagakure and information we collected ourselves, the Raikage has brought Kumogakure's elite Jonin and Chunin with him.

Sunagakure will resist that force themselves. Their battlefield is the real battlefield. You'll be operating behind the lines. You may encounter Kumogakure shinobi squads, but as long as you avoid them carefully, the danger won't be too great." Akimichi Todo's honest, steady voice followed, soothing any fear Anko and the other two might have felt.

After all, on a battlefield involving the leader of a village, even an Elite Jonin might not emerge from that meat grinder unscathed. Much less these little ones, who had barely left the village to carry out missions.

"We'll tie down the enemy Jonin and other dangerous opponents invading Konoha for you. So don't worry!" The silent Inuzuka Gaku spoke as well.

Under normal circumstances, Jonin would not be so gentle toward three Chunin. But the three before them were all connected to them in countless ways, not to mention Orochimaru behind them. Just as Jonin leading children from their own clan into battle would do, they soothed their tense nerves and offered them advice and experience.

"I remember giving you a Kunai. Did you bring it with you this time, Kagetsu?" Namikaze Minato asked softly as he sped forward.

"It's in my pouch." Kagetsu pulled a three-pronged dagger from where he kept his ninja tools and waved it before Namikaze Minato.

"That's good. You should know what it does." Namikaze Minato said nothing more.

The six-person team traveled in silence. After a day and a half, they arrived near Konoha's border.

In an open area, after the six of them had rested and recovered their strength, Namikaze Minato bade Kagetsu and the other two farewell. "We'll part ways here. This is already close to the battlefield, so there's a high chance of encountering enemy shinobi. Be careful while carrying out your mission!"

After seeing the three of them nod, Namikaze Minato took Akimichi Todo and the other man with him, vanishing from the spot in a Body Flicker. In the blink of an eye, they disappeared into the distance.

"What do we do next?"

Watching the three figures vanish in an instant, Anko and Shisui turned their gazes toward Kagetsu, whom Orochimaru had appointed team leader.

"Infiltrate Grass Country and Rain Country, and determine the stance of those two nations." Kagetsu opened the mission scroll and huddled with Shisui to examine the tasks listed on it.

Of course, the mission instructions on the scroll were not written clearly at all. Even the requirements were vague.

"What? There aren't even any specific requirements. How far do we have to go for it to count as a success?" Anko was speechless as she looked at the vague mission requirements in the intelligence.

"That depends on how the higher-ups assessing the mission view the intelligence we submit," Kagetsu said casually.

"We shouldn't be the only team gathering intelligence. There should be other intelligence-gathering teams as well, such as Anbu." Having trained with the Anbu, Shisui knew well that intelligence-gathering missions like this were generally carried out by two or several teams. The teams usually did not know one another. That way, if one team was wiped out or captured, the others could still complete the mission, while secrecy was maintained.