If it had been another, more cold-hearted ninja, they might have simply dusted themselves off and left by now. But as Konoha Village's Little Sun, Minato Namikaze—handsome and kind-hearted—couldn't bring himself to do that.
Faced with the client's questions, Minato Namikaze explained the reason, saying, "Mr. Jōji, I've only temporarily restored the village's water supply. I haven't solved the problem completely."
"According to my investigation, the reason the source of your village's water supply disappeared was that someone deliberately blocked it."
Takeuchi Joji was startled and asked incredulously, "Lord Minato, wasn't it blocked by a landslide?"
Meanwhile, upstream along the river of Yamagō Village, which was surrounded by mountains on all four sides, a group of fierce-looking men gathered near the spring on the mountainside. Every one of them carried a blade or some other weapon.
Their leader stared at the spring that he and his men had gone to great lengths to block.
Now that it had been reopened and was once again supplying water to Yamagō Village below, he roared furiously, "Has that Konoha ninja left?"
The enraged leader was Kawamura Daiji. He had once been a criminal imprisoned by the Land of Fire. After escaping prison, he became a bandit and gathered the bandit force behind him, which still numbered nearly eighty men.
A little over half a month earlier, Kawamura Daiji had brought more than fifty men to the vicinity of Yamagō Village, intending to establish a stronghold there.
However, before establishing the stronghold, he led his men in raiding Yamagō Village. What Kawamura Daiji hadn't expected was that the villagers made their living by hunting. When conflict broke out, the villagers of Yamagō Village proved exceptionally ferocious in battle. Not only did Kawamura Daiji fail to seize a single coin, but more than twenty of his men died as well. Kawamura Daiji had fled in disgrace, escaping the area around Yamagō Village.
He had blocked the spring that supplied drinking water to the villagers of Yamagō Village while fleeing, intending to take revenge.
Two days earlier, after recruiting another group of new men, Kawamura Daiji had returned here, preparing to capture Yamagō Village in one fell swoop. Unexpectedly, he encountered Minato Namikaze, who was carrying out a mission.
At the time, he recognized the Konoha Ninja Headband on Minato Namikaze's head. Knowing that ninjas possessed tremendous power, he fled once again.
However, he also knew that Minato Namikaze definitely wouldn't stay for long, so he hadn't gone far.
Now he had returned here once more, resulting in the scene just described.
As Kawamura Daiji roared, the bandit he had assigned to monitor Yamagō Village immediately appeared before him and said, "Boss, that Konoha ninja still hasn't left. Besides, two more Konoha ninjas arrived tonight, though they're both only six or seven years old."
"At the same time, I also discovered that Yamagō Village's headman, Takeuchi Joji, has returned."
Upon hearing that Minato Namikaze had yet to leave, Kawamura Daiji cursed furiously, "Damn it, why hasn't that ninja left yet?"
As for Veigar and Kakashi Hatake, he had completely ignored them because of their young age.
Then Kawamura Daiji said to the subordinate responsible for monitoring Yamagō Village's movements, "Go keep watching them. The moment that ninja leaves, we'll make our move."
Meanwhile, at Takeuchi Joji's house.
After hearing Minato Namikaze say that he had discovered a group of bandits nearby and that they had most likely been the ones to block the spring, Takeuchi Joji was instantly overwhelmed with shock.
He was very familiar with—and resented—the group Minato Namikaze had described. They were the reason his only son had remained unconscious to this day.
After giving Takeuchi Joji a moment to panic, Minato Namikaze continued, "Mr. Jōji, don't worry. We'll complete the mission tonight."
"As for the voucher in your hands, you can give it to me tomorrow."
Takeuchi Joji nodded woodenly, then put away the mission-completion voucher that he was supposed to hand to Minato Namikaze after the three of them finished their mission.
Not long afterward, Nanako prepared a table full of dishes to entertain Minato Namikaze, Veigar, and Kakashi.
At the table, Nanako repeatedly shot Takeuchi Joji meaningful looks, but he kept refusing her.
Seeing the expressions of the married couple who owned the house, Minato Namikaze set down his bowl and chopsticks and said knowingly, "Mr. Jōji, if you have something to say, you may as well say it."
Veigar and Kakashi Hatake also set down their bowls and chopsticks and looked at Takeuchi Joji.
When Minato Namikaze asked him, Takeuchi Joji's hand, which had been reaching for a dish, suddenly stopped in midair.
After a long while, Takeuchi Joji lowered his chopsticks and let out a faint sigh. Only then did he plead with Minato Namikaze, saying, "Lord Minato, may I ask you to help me with something?"
Minato Namikaze asked seriously, "Mr. Jōji, just tell me what it is."
Before Takeuchi Joji could answer, Nanako could no longer hold back. She immediately knelt toward Minato Namikaze, intending to kneel before him.
However, Minato Namikaze's strength was far beyond Nanako's reach. He caught hold of her at once, not giving her a chance to kneel.
Held up by him, Nanako looked at Minato Namikaze, then began to cry as she pleaded, "Great ninja sir, please, you must save my child."
Seeing Nanako's actions, Takeuchi Joji also immediately knelt before Minato Namikaze and begged, "Lord Minato, please save my child!"
Minato Namikaze looked at Takeuchi Joji and Nanako, then finally nodded. "All right. I can agree to take a look, but whether I can save him or not, I can only answer after I've examined him."
Takeuchi Joji and Nanako hurriedly nodded frantically at Minato Namikaze, thanking him repeatedly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
After dinner, Minato Namikaze called Veigar and Kakashi Hatake aside and said, "Your mission target tonight is the bandit group nearby. Whether you kill them or drive them away will be up to you."
Veigar and Kakashi Hatake exchanged a glance before replying together, "Yes."
Minato Namikaze then said, "In that case, go."
Veigar and Kakashi Hatake again answered together, "Yes."
Before long, Veigar and Kakashi Hatake vanished from Minato Namikaze's sight.
After Veigar and Kakashi Hatake had completely disappeared from view, Minato Namikaze used the Body Flicker Technique and vanished as well.
Before you continue