After eating and drinking their fill, the Root members, still savoring the foreign cuisine, received orders to set up a temporary camp. Though their superior said nothing more, the people picking their teeth had already tacitly guessed what their next mission would be.
"Huh? Why do we have to go back?"
However, not everyone was allowed to stay. Kushina looked at Nonō, who had come to relay the withdrawal order to them, her cheeks stuffed round with after-dinner dessert and her little face full of indignation.
"Is this Uncle's idea?"
Beside her, Little Blondie, who was peeling a banana, paused. The deeply lined brows furrowed slightly. If this really was Danzo deliberately giving him special treatment, all the sweat he had shed over the years would be written off in one stroke.
Minato and Hyuga Kagami were also frowning tightly. The Konoha Rangers' debut had not been perfect, far below what they had expected before coming here, so they desperately wanted to prove themselves with a clean, satisfying victory.
"No. This is Lady Hi Shin's order."
Nonō shook her head. From a personal standpoint, she actually agreed with this decision.
Minato and the others were certainly once-in-ten-thousand geniuses, but they were simply too young. Most people their age had only just graduated from the Ninja Academy and were following their team leaders around doing small missions like chasing dogs and catching cats. Some of them had not even seen blood yet.
And this was not some extraordinary period that required half-grown boys like them to shoulder the burden on the battlefield. Growth step by step was the proper path. A dead genius was nothing more than a cold name on the memorial tablet.
"That White Hair at least understands a little of the Will of Fire."
Uchiha Gin, who was