Fourth Hokage Goes Out

After rushing out of his house, Yang Xing gathered his energy and hurried toward the meeting point.

With every leap, he could truly feel the growth in his physique; compared to his previous state, the difference was far more than just twofold.

Although the journey was somewhat long, with his recent progress and the excitement in his heart, this distance was nothing to Yang Xing.

Before long, he arrived once again at the small, sunken plain.

At this moment, although Kakashi, Obito, and Rin Nohara had all arrived, a key figure was still missing.

For some reason, Minato Namikaze was late once again today.

"Where is Sensei Minato?" Yang Xing stopped, scanned his surroundings, and asked with a look of confusion upon realizing there was no sign of him.

"He's not here." Obito grunted while clutching his head, his mood clearly sour: "Don't tell me he's planning to pull some stunt again?"

"That's unlikely. Yesterday, I think I heard something about an incident at the border of the Land of Fire, and the Fourth Hokage went over to investigate." Kakashi said in a low voice; it seemed he had already heard some intelligence.

This left the three of them looking puzzled: "What do you mean?"

Kakashi looked up and said seriously: "Yesterday, when I went to submit my mission report, I heard some Anbu members talking about it. It seems that several ninjas investigating the border of the Land of Fire failed to send back necessary intelligence on time, and some accidents occurred. This matter was originally intended for the Third Hokage, but since he was away, it was reported to the Fourth Hokage. I don't think the Fourth Hokage would just ignore it."

"Something happened to the ninjas at the border?" Obito's face darkened slightly.

Rin Nohara's small face filled with worry: "Will the Fourth Hokage be alright?"

"Well, I don't fully understand the situation either, but given the Fourth Hokage's abilities, there shouldn't be much danger. Let's focus on ourselves." Kakashi finished with a calm expression.

Obito was the first to start walking away: "Well, since the Fourth Hokage isn't here, there's no point in us staying here. Let's just go home."

Before he could take a step, he saw someone spring out from the front.

The person's presence was so well-hidden that it was difficult to notice them until they were right in front of them.

An Anbu ninja wearing a cat mask stood before Obito, who had been so startled he'd sat down on the ground. The ninja scanned Yang Xing and the others: "1, 2, 3, 4. You are the members of the Fourth Hokage's squad, right?"

"What happened to the Fourth Hokage?" Looking at the Anbu member, Obito scrambled up and asked with a hint of nervousness.

Under the cat mask, it was impossible to discern the Anbu ninja's expression: "The Fourth Hokage has some matters to attend to and has left temporarily. He has some messages to pass on to you."

"Messages?"

"Yes. The Fourth Hokage said that while he is away," the Anbu ninja said with a serious tone, scanning the two of them, "Kakashi will act as the squad leader, but all final decision-making power rests with the deputy leader, Yang Xing."

"What does that mean?" Glancing between Kakashi and Yang Xing, Obito looked both dissatisfied and extremely surprised by this arrangement.

"It's simple. I will arrange the missions, and Yang Xing will decide on the feasibility of the mission objectives." Kakashi shrugged, looking helpless. It seemed the Fourth Hokage really thought highly of Yang Xing; if not for Yang Xing's lack of strength, he might have been the squad leader instead.

"Yes, that is exactly what the Fourth Hokage said." The cat-masked ninja didn't care about the thoughts of a few children. After speaking quickly, he turned to leave: "That is all I have to say."

Seeing the person about to leave, Yang Xing couldn't help but step forward: "Um, when will Sensei Minato return?"

"Within three days, probably." With a single leap, the person left in a hurry, clearly not wanting to discuss it further.

The Anbu ninja left quickly, leaving behind only those inexplicable words that plunged the four of them into silence.

After a long while, Kakashi was the first to speak: "In any case, let's discuss the arrangements for these next few days."

"Why do you get to make the decisions? I mean, even if you're the leader, why does this guy get to be the deputy?" Obito was clearly dissatisfied with the previous decision, pointing at Yang Xing with a hint of jealousy in his eyes.

Kakashi replied coldly: "It's the Fourth Hokage's arrangement. If you have any objections, you can go tell the Fourth Hokage yourself."

"You, you guys..." Looking at the chilling gaze in Kakashi's eyes, Obito suppressed his complaints, though he still looked unhappy.

"Alright, let me state my plan. Although I am not the Fourth Hokage and cannot lead your training, we can train together." Kakashi said calmly, scanning the three of them: "It's simple. For these next few days, we will take on various ranked mission requests."

After saying this, his gaze fell on Yang Xing. Since the Fourth Hokage had designated Yang Xing to make the decisions, he had to follow the Fourth Hokage's instructions, even if he didn't personally agree with it.

"That works, though I haven't really done many missions before." Yang Xing scratched his head with a smile.

"Leave the mission details to me. I'll tell you what to do. So, it's settled."

"Yeah." The three nodded; no one objected.

With the Fourth Hokage away, they couldn't let their training stop, especially after hearing about the incident at the border of the Land of Fire. Rin Nohara and Obito were clearly preoccupied.

As for Yang Xing, he was extremely excited; this was a chance to try out his newly acquired ninjutsu, and he had to make the most of it.

Konoha, Mission Assignment Desk.

"Kakashi-san, here again?" Seeing them arrive, especially the child leading the group, the Jonin at the mission desk greeted them with great enthusiasm: "That's not right. Aren't you supposed to be training with the Fourth Hokage? It's not even afternoon yet, why are you here so early?"

"Yes, the Fourth Hokage is away, so only the few of us are here to train today." It was clear that Kakashi was a regular at the mission desk. After a slight nod of greeting, he said naturally: "Just give us an A—no, a B-ranked mission will do."

"Alright, alright!" The ninja lowered his head to check for suitable missions, speaking nonchalantly while he searched: "Kakashi, you have to work hard. The Fourth Hokage thinks very highly of you."

"Is that so?" For some reason, Kakashi's eyes inadvertently swept over Yang Xing, who was distracted and looking in another direction.

The ninja at the mission desk clearly didn't notice: "Yeah, yeah. The Fourth Hokage often talks about you to others. You are his most prized disciple, and he even said you might be the fastest person in Konoha to become a Jonin. That's amazing! You're only 12, and you're already catching up to me. When you grow up, you might even be the Fifth Hokage."

"That won't happen!" Before Kakashi could reply, Obito, who was standing to the side, turned red with anxiety and stepped forward directly: "I said, the Hokage will only be me! In a few years, I will definitely surpass this guy."

He pointed at Kakashi, speaking with great bravado.

The Jonin looked up at Obito's flushed face and couldn't help but laugh: "Oh, a kid from the Uchiha Clan, huh? Haha, you've got guts, but you still need to work at it slowly. Kakashi has already completed several A-ranked missions, and I seem to recall you failed a solo B-ranked mission last time."