Unfinished Mission

Takeuchi Joji, who had long been impatient to return home, thanked Minato Namikaze repeatedly before warmly inviting the three of them into Yamagō Village and to his home as guests.

Minato Namikaze had arrived at Yamagō Village two days earlier but had never appeared in the village, secretly helping restore its water supply. He agreed and followed behind Takeuchi Joji with Veigar and Kakashi Hatake.

When the villagers of Yamagō Village noticed that Takeuchi Joji had returned, and saw that the water supply had just been restored after two days, they immediately broke into cheers. Before long, Takeuchi Joji, who had yet to reach home, was surrounded by villagers.

The three hidden on the rooftop without revealing themselves, Kakashi Hatake asked Minato Namikaze in confusion, "Teacher Minato, haven't we completed our mission?"

"Why are we still accepting the client's invitation to stay?"

Normally, after completing a mission, a ninja would leave after obtaining the mission completion receipt from the client.

In the past, whenever Kakashi Hatake followed Minato Namikaze out of the village on missions, Minato Namikaze had done the same.

But this time was different. Just now, Minato Namikaze had not asked Takeuchi Joji for the mission completion receipt. Instead, he had readily accepted Takeuchi Joji's invitation.

This made Kakashi Hatake feel as though he had overlooked something.

Minato Namikaze watched Takeuchi Joji being surrounded by villagers and gently replied, "Our mission isn't complete yet, Kakashi."

Hearing Minato Namikaze say that the mission was not yet complete, Veigar and Kakashi Hatake were both stunned and turned to look at him.

Then Veigar asked, "Did something unexpected happen?"

Minato Namikaze replied, "Our mission this time is to completely solve Yamagō Village's water-supply problem. For now, I only temporarily restored their water supply. It hasn't been completely resolved yet!"

At this, Veigar and Kakashi Hatake came up with new questions. Veigar continued, "Couldn't Teacher Minato solve it quickly either?"

Minato Namikaze shook his head and replied, "That's not it."

"Rather, I'm planning to have the two of you solve this problem, so..."

"Do your best!!"

Veigar and Kakashi Hatake turned to look at each other, then answered seriously in unison, "Yes."

Over the past two days, Minato Namikaze had completely investigated Yamagō Village's situation. Completely solving the problem would not have been difficult for him.

However, Minato Namikaze was fulfilling his responsibility as a guiding jonin and training the abilities of the students under his command.

That was why the current situation had come about.

Takeuchi Joji finally managed to break free of the villagers surrounding him and returned to the home he had been away from for many days.

As soon as he entered the house, Takeuchi Joji tightly embraced his wife, whom he had been missing and who had been waiting for him to return.

"Nanako, has everything been all right at home these past few days? How is Tomoo doing now?"

After holding each other for a while, Takeuchi Joji released his wife and asked her.

With her husband's return, much of the worry on Nanako's face faded. She revealed a not-unpleasant smile and replied, "Nothing happened at home. It's just that Tomoo still hasn't woken up."

Takeuchi Joji nodded, then said, "I'll go see Tomoo first."

Then, as if he had just remembered something, Takeuchi Joji turned back to Nanako and asked, "Have you cooked dinner yet?"

"Three ninja lords will be coming to our home later. They might be able to wake Tomoo up."

When Takeuchi Joji's wife, Nanako, heard this, joy immediately appeared on her face. She asked in surprise, "Really?"

"They really can wake Tomoo up?"

Seeing the smile on Nanako's face, Takeuchi Joji's heart suddenly ached. Ever since the previous incident, after his son had fallen unconscious and failed to wake up, he had practically never seen this kind of smile on Nanako's face.

Not wanting Nanako to worry and hoping to preserve the smile on her face a little longer, Takeuchi Joji, who did not know whether Minato Namikaze and the others could truly help, could only brace himself and reply, "Yes. They're all ninja, so they'll definitely have a way."

After receiving her husband's affirmative answer, Nanako happily said, "Then I'll go prepare food for the three ninja lords right now."

With that, Nanako hurried toward the kitchen.

At the same time, remembering Veigar's terrifying appetite, Takeuchi Joji immediately called out to her back, "Remember to cook plenty!"

With her back to Takeuchi Joji, Nanako replied without turning her head, "I know."

Minato Namikaze and the other two had appeared on the roof of Takeuchi Joji's house long ago. After seeing Takeuchi Joji and Nanako finish their affectionate reunion, they waited a while longer. Only after Takeuchi Joji emerged from the house did they reappear before him.

"Lord Minato, Veigar, Kakashi, you're here. Come in, come in."

Seeing Minato Namikaze, Veigar, and Kakashi Hatake suddenly appear, Takeuchi Joji hurriedly greeted them.

"Sorry to trouble you."

The three politely replied in turn before following behind Takeuchi Joji inside.

Nanako, busy in the kitchen, heard the commotion and hurriedly took a furtive look. When she saw Veigar and Kakashi Hatake behind Minato Namikaze, she could not help but freeze.

"Are children this young also ninja? He can't even be half as old as Tomoo, can he?"

However, although Nanako was only an ordinary housewife, she knew that she could not go out and disturb the guests. Even though she desperately wanted to know whether Minato Namikaze and the other two could truly wake her son.

After entering the house, Takeuchi Joji handed each of them a cup of tea. Minato Namikaze then said to Takeuchi Joji, "Mr. Jōji, regarding this mission..."

Before Minato Namikaze could finish, Takeuchi Joji had already replied, "Lord Minato, I understand. I'll get you the mission completion receipt right away."

As he spoke, Takeuchi Joji pulled out the mission completion receipt he had prepared and handed it to Minato Namikaze.

Minato Namikaze pushed the receipt away with his right hand, then smiled and said, "Mr. Jōji, we haven't completed your commission yet, so we can't accept this."

This time, Takeuchi Joji was just as stunned as Veigar and Kakashi Hatake had been earlier. After a moment, he asked, "Lord Minato, hasn't the water supply in our village been restored?"

"How can you say the mission isn't complete?"