Konan and Nagato were summoned to the leader's residence by Yahiko, where they found a blond man seated in the living room.
When they got a closer look at his face, both of them were utterly shocked.
"You are..."
This man was Namikaze Minato, the S-rank Rogue Ninja currently wanted by Konoha!
But Minato now looked far more weathered. The Namikaze Minato they remembered had been a sunny, handsome young man, always wearing a warm smile that made people feel at ease.
After everything he had gone through, that gentle man was long gone.
"Mr. Nagato, Miss Konan." Minato greeted them, his gaze lingering on Nagato for an extra moment.
Nagato and Konan could not help looking at Yahiko, who sat in the seat of honor.
Yahiko said, "We are all Jiraiya-sensei's students, disciples of the same master. There's no need to be so formal."
After saying that, he explained to Nagato and Konan, "Minato came to rescue Jiraiya-sensei with us."
Nagato and Konan recovered from their shock, then took seats on the other side at Yahiko's gesture.
Yahiko asked bluntly, "We have very little time left, only five days. Minato, do you have a plan?"
Minato pondered for a moment before saying, "Konoha has a Sunlight Tower. You all know about it, right?"
Yahiko nodded. It was an extremely tall watchtower that shone with purple light day and night, illuminating all of Konoha.
He had once asked Konoha's ninja what the tower was for, but had only been told that it was meant to guard against petty intruders. And whenever the Chunin Exams reached the third round, the tower allowed the candidates to fly through the air into the arena.
Though Yahiko did not know the Sunlight Tower's true power, he could sense that it was anything but ordinary.