Fourth Hokage Goes Out

After hurriedly leaving home, Yang Xing headed for the meeting place, full of energy.

With each leap, he could feel how much his physique had improved. Compared to before, it was more than twice as strong.

The journey was a little long, but with his recent progress and excitement, it was nothing to Yang Xing.

In no time, he was back in the small sunken plain.

At that moment, Kakashi, Obito, and Rin Nohara had all arrived, but one key person was still missing.

For some reason, Minato Namikaze was late again today.

"Where's Minato-sensei?" Yang Xing stopped and looked around. Seeing no one, he wore a puzzled expression.

"He's not here." Obito gave a dissatisfied grunt, his hands behind his head. "Could he be planning some kind of trick again?"

"I don't think so. Yesterday, I think I heard something happened near the Land of Fire's border, and the Fourth Hokage went to investigate." Kakashi spoke in a low voice. It seemed he had heard some news already.

The three of them looked confused. "What do you mean?"

Kakashi raised his head and explained seriously, "Yesterday, when I went to turn in a mission report, I heard some Anbu talking. It seems several ninja sent to investigate the Land of Fire's border failed to return some important information on time, and something went wrong. They originally wanted to report it to the Third Hokage, but he wasn't around, so they told the Fourth Hokage instead. I don't think the Fourth Hokage would just leave it alone."

"Something happened to the border patrol?" Obito's expression darkened.

Rin Nohara's little face was tinged with worry. "Will the Fourth Hokage be all right?"

"Well, I don't really know what happened, but with the Fourth Hokage's abilities, he won't be in much danger. Let's talk about us instead." Kakashi finished, his expression calm.

Obito was the first to step forward. "Well, the Fourth Hokage isn't here, so there's no point in us staying. Let's go home."

Before he could take another step, someone suddenly appeared in front of them.

The figure's concealed presence had brought him right up to them in an instant, making him hard to notice.

A masked Anbu ninja wearing a cat mask stood before Obito, who had fallen on his backside in fright. The ninja looked over Yang Xing and the others. "One, two, three, four. You're the members of the Fourth Hokage's team, right?"

"What happened to the Fourth Hokage?" Obito scrambled to his feet and asked the Anbu ninja, his face tense.

The Anbu ninja's expression was impossible to make out beneath the cat mask. "The Fourth Hokage has some things to take care of, so he left ahead of time. He has a message for you."

"A message?"

"Yeah. The Fourth Hokage said that while he's away..." The cat-masked ninja spoke sternly, looking over the group as he continued, "Kakashi will lead the team, but the deputy captain, Yang Xing, will make all the decisions."

"What do you mean?" Obito glanced between Kakashi and Yang Xing, his face full of dissatisfaction and confusion at the arrangement.

"It's simple. I'll assign the missions, and Yang Xing will decide whether they're feasible." Kakashi shrugged, looking helpless. It seemed the Fourth Hokage really thought highly of Yang Xing. If Yang Xing weren't so weak, he might have been made team captain.

"Mm, that's exactly what the Fourth Hokage said." The cat-masked ninja paid no heed to the children's thoughts. He quickly finished speaking, then turned to leave. "Well, that's all I have to say."

Seeing him about to leave, Yang Xing couldn't help taking a step forward. "Um, when will Minato-sensei be back?"

"Probably within three days." The ninja leaped away, leaving in a hurry without any desire to talk further.

The Anbu ninja was gone in an instant, leaving only those baffling words behind as the four fell silent.

After a while, Kakashi spoke first. "Anyway, let's discuss what we'll do over the next few days."

"Why do you get to decide? Sure, you're the captain, but why does he get to be deputy captain?" Obito was clearly unhappy with the decision. He pointed at Yang Xing, his eyes still tinged with jealousy.

Kakashi replied coolly, "It was the Fourth Hokage's decision. If you have a problem with it, take it up with him."

"You—you two..." Kakashi's icy gaze made Obito feel a chill down to his bones, and he swallowed his complaints, still unhappy.

"All right, here's what I've planned. I'm not the Fourth Hokage, so I can't train you myself, but we can train together." Kakashi looked over the three of them, his expression calm. "It's simple. Over the next few days, we'll take on missions of various ranks."

As he finished, he looked at Yang Xing. Since the Fourth Hokage had made Yang Xing the decision-maker, he would follow his orders, even if he still didn't agree with them.

"That works, but I've never done a mission before." Yang Xing scratched his head with a slight smile.

"Leave the missions to me. I'll tell you what to do. Then it's settled."

"Mm." The three of them nodded. No one objected.

The Fourth Hokage was away, but they couldn't let their training stop. Especially after hearing that something had happened at the Land of Fire's border, Rin Nohara and Obito were clearly preoccupied.

As for Yang Xing, he was extremely excited. This was his chance to try out the new jutsu he had just learned, and he had to make the most of it.

Konoha, Mission Assignment Office.

"Kakashi, back again?" The jōnin at the mission desk greeted them warmly when he saw who had arrived, especially the child leading the group. "Wait, aren't you training with the Fourth Hokage? It's not even afternoon yet. Why are you here so early today?"

"Mm, the Fourth Hokage isn't around, so we're training on our own today." Kakashi was clearly a regular at the mission office. After nodding in greeting, he went straight to the point. "Give us an A-rank—no, a B-rank mission."

"Sure!" The jōnin bent his head to look through the available missions. As he searched, he remarked offhandedly, "Kakashi, you'd better keep up the good work. The Fourth Hokage thinks very highly of you."

"Is that so?" For some reason, Kakashi's gaze drifted toward Yang Xing, who was casually looking elsewhere.

The jōnin at the desk clearly hadn't noticed. "Yeah, the Fourth Hokage often talks about you to others. You're his most prized student. He even says you might become a jōnin faster than anyone else in Konoha. Impressive, especially at only twelve. You're already almost as good as me. Once you grow up, who knows? You might even become the Fifth Hokage."

"That won't do!" Before Kakashi could answer, Obito's eyes flashed with anger, and he stepped forward. "I told you, I'm the one who's going to become Hokage. I'll surpass this guy—not someday, but in just a few years!"

He pointed at Kakashi, speaking with complete confidence.

The jōnin looked up at Obito's red face and laughed. "Oh, a little Uchiha, huh? Ha ha, that's quite a boast. But you've still got a lot of work to do. Kakashi has already completed several A-rank missions. I seem to remember you failed even a solo B-rank mission last time."