Commoner Ninja

"How is Kakashi?" Namikaze Minato asked Nohara Rin softly, looking at Kakashi who had already woken up.

In the heart of the Iwa Ninja's rear, Uchiha Kei and his group were hiding in a cave.

Uchiha Kei himself didn't know how many caves he had hidden in since arriving in the Land of Grass.

However, this time the situation was clearly very bad, because this was the core of the Iwa Ninja's territory in the Land of Grass. They were in danger of being captured every hour, or even every minute.

It was just that Kakashi's condition was a bit dire. Namikaze Minato had considered taking Kakashi back to the Konoha base directly.

But there was no way. Kakashi's condition really couldn't withstand spatial travel like the Flying Thunder God. If he were forced to take him back, he might die on the way.

With no other choice, Namikaze Minato could only have him receive treatment as quickly as possible. Even with the danger, this was the only option. Once he was a little better, he would be taken back to the Konoha base.

Although Kakashi's condition was bad, this kid truly lived up to his genius status, graduating and going to the battlefield at the age of five.

Perhaps he had experienced too many unimaginable horrors, so he had developed a special muscle memory.

In such extreme circumstances, he was still able to make some evasive actions and mobilize his Chakra for small-scale defense in an instant.

Moreover, Kitsuchi's eyes were only on Uchiha Kei. Although his attitude towards Kakashi was not good, he also had some 'perfunctory' thoughts. It was under these circumstances that Kakashi managed to cling to life.

"Although it's very bad, I've basically stabilized his condition," Nohara Rin said softly, being the only Medical Ninja. "But Kakashi needs to be sent back as soon as possible. I can only stabilize his condition slightly; to heal him, he must be sent back."

"I understand," Namikaze Minato nodded. "I will send him back, and also Chunin Hyuga."

Compared to Kakashi, Hyuga Aya's condition was much better. Although both her hands were fractured, it wasn't a big deal.

Not everyone was as unlucky as Rock Lee, who encountered a Jinchuriki. He was directly crushed by Gaara, which was why he was in such danger.

Hyuga Aya's situation was common on the battlefield. Not to mention the battlefield, even on regular missions, being hit by the enemy and fracturing bones was a common occurrence.

The dangerous part for Hyuga Aya was that she had also been hit by the Iwa Ninja named Genboku, causing her internal organs to vibrate. After Nohara Rin's examination, she found some internal bleeding.

However, this situation was nothing compared to Kakashi's. Therefore, after Nohara Rin gave her some basic treatment, she focused her attention on Kakashi.

Since neither Hyuga Aya nor Kakashi could be relied upon, the only ones who could continue this mission were Uchiha Kei and Imai Kenta.

Namikaze Minato sighed. He gently patted Nohara Rin's shoulder and walked out.

He had to continue observing the situation outside. He couldn't trust Imai Kenta alone, even with Uchiha Kei guarding outside. However, Uchiha Kei's recovery situation wasn't great either.

Yesterday, Uchiha Kei had basically used up all his Chakra. His current condition was somewhat unknown, and the situation on the front lines was truly bad. If they were to replace people, Namikaze Minato even wanted to pull them all back.

"How is the situation?" Namikaze Minato appeared on the tree where Uchiha Kei was hiding like a ghost and asked softly.

"Very bad," Uchiha Kei shook his head. "Imai Kenta has already dealt with three squads, all of them Chunin and Genin. But if this continues, we won't be able to hold on here."

The Iwa Ninja were not stupid; they naturally wouldn't fail to check if they were missing any personnel.

As soon as someone was found missing, they only needed to investigate the patrol and search areas of those people to determine Uchiha Keisei's hiding place.

Namikaze Minato also knew this, so he frowned and began to ponder countermeasures.

Uchiha Keisei didn't care. He was watching Imai Kenta, who was hidden below. This kid had really surprised Uchiha Keisei quite a bit.

Uchiha Keisei knew that Imai Kenta's strength was great, but since they were fighting individually, they rarely got to understand each other's strength.

Now that Imai Kenta was basically unharmed and his Chakra recovery speed was super fast, he had become their main attacker. Uchiha Keisei finally had the opportunity to get a good understanding of this guy's strength.

Very strong, truly strong. His swordsmanship was extremely sharp and terrifying. Combined with his perception, his sneak attacks were probably not much worse than Uchiha Keisei's, even with his Sharingan activated and using the Body Flicker Technique.

However, this guy's shortcomings were also very obvious. Although his swordsmanship was powerful, his Chakra reserves were large, and his speed was good, the Ninjutsu he had mastered seemed a bit lacking.

Thinking about it carefully, it was normal. Imai Kenta was the type of Commoner Ninja, one of the most ordinary Commoner Ninjas.

Not everyone was like Namikaze Minato. Besides his terrifying talent, Namikaze Minato also had one more thing: his luck was truly excellent.

If he hadn't had someone like Jiraiya as his teacher, his chances of rising might have been very small, let alone mastering techniques like the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Of course, strictly speaking, Jiraiya was also an example of good luck.

Originally meant to fill a quota and serve as an example of the Third Hokage's 'equal treatment,' while also implicitly acting as a 'team confidence booster,' it was incredible that he inexplicably managed to rise up.

Although the ninja world was always talking about topics like 'love and mutual understanding between people,' in reality, these were political considerations based on the current situation.

Perhaps only Jiraiya, Namikaze Minato, and the future Uzumaki Naruto truly believed in these things.

The major clans and a few individuals held the power of speech. In times of peace, they wished for everyone to 'understand each other' and have 'love,' which could naturally be achieved. But in times of war, they wouldn't even mention these illusory things.

Similarly, the major clans and these few individuals also controlled sufficient resources.

In fact, even during Naruto's era, it was still the major clans and a few individuals who controlled the 'core power.'

Look at the graduating class of Naruto. Looking further up, how many of the so-called Konoha 12 were from commoner backgrounds?

Even how many of their Jonin instructors were?

Might Guy was an anomaly, so his team had one commoner like him, while the others were the descendant of a wealthy family and someone from the Hyuga Clan.

Naruto's graduating class was even more so. Strictly speaking, Naruto had already escaped the 'Commoner Ninja' status. Even if he wasn't the Fourth Hokage's son, he was a Jinchuriki.

The only one, Haruno Sakura, happened to have a special identity: Uzumaki Naruto liked her, and she liked Uchiha Sasuke. She was caught between the two, able to establish a special communication bridge between Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke.

And a graduating class couldn't be that small. Where did the other graduates go?

Those guys might also have team leaders, but it was uncertain if they would be Jonin.

And they wouldn't receive detailed guidance like those children who were being specially trained. The task of these leading ninjas was to help the newly graduated Genin adapt to the ninja lifestyle more quickly, understand various work procedures, and then they would no longer manage them.

Without sufficient teaching resources, without suitable mentors, this was the fate of Commoner Ninjas.

Just as Uchiha Keisei was lost in thought, Imai Kenta suddenly drew his Tanto and charged towards a certain spot.