Witnessing, Departure

Minato led the group toward the Seventh Training Ground.

Along the way, Obito was chatting and laughing. It was clear that being able to be in the same team as Rin after graduation was something that made him very happy!

You can't believe he's still not recovered from this state of excitement; he's still holding onto Kakashi and Taiichi, talking nonstop!

When everyone arrived at the Seventh Training Ground, as is customary, this was where each member of the team would introduce themselves.

Only then did Obito seem to realize something.

"No, Taiichi, this is our team's first meeting. What are you still doing here?" Obito looked puzzled and expressed his dissatisfaction to Taiichi, then turned to the other side, "And you, Kakashi, are you all free? Don't you have any missions to carry out?"

With only him and Rin left in the team, Obito was now eager to get rid of Taiichi and Kakashi, as these two were potential "enemies" of his.

Taiichi laugh and glanced at Kakashi beside him, who looked completely speechless. "Well, I'm really just here to join in the fun today. Besides, we're old friends, so it's not unreasonable for me to be here to witness your graduation!"

As he spoke, Taiichi's gaze went straight past Obito and landed on Rin.

"Of course, I'm very happy that you could come and see us, Taiichi." Rin wasn't as unreliable as Obito. Not only were they friends, but Taiichi had also taught her her Medical Ninjutsu.

Taiichi looked at Obito with a strange expression and said with a malicious smile, "However, I'm not the only one here—"

Obito was taken aback when he heard this, and then belatedly realized that the team couldn't possibly have only two members. It's no wonder that Obito didn't think of this; even Taiichi himself initially thought that Kakashi had his own team.

"Kakashi, you—you wouldn't happen to be the third member, would you?!" Obito stared blankly, stiffly turning to look at Kakashi, his tone filled with disbelief.

Seeing Kakashi nod expressionlessly, Obito seemed to lose his soul, and his whole demeanor turned ashen.

Lin, on the other hand, was overjoyed and very excited about becoming Kakashi's teammate.

Minato finally stepped in, interrupting the commotion, and pointed at Kakashi, saying to Obito and Rin, "I don't need to introduce him, you all know him. He's the last member of our team. From now on, we'll all look after each other!"

Seeing Obito completely dejected, as if abandoned by the whole world, Taiichi could no longer hold back and burst into loud laughter.

Seeing this, the others were also influenced by Taiichi and chuckled softly. In the end, Rin couldn't bear to watch any longer and went over to comfort Obito.

Rin was just the right medicine for Obito. In just a few words, he was full of fighting spirit again, and his gaze toward Kakashi was full of provocation.

Next came the usual introductions and bell-grabbing game.

Taiichi had witnessed the current level of Kakashi, Obito, and Rin, and it could be said that they were all much stronger than at the same time in the original work, especially Kakashi, whose strength had reached the level of Special Jonin.

He was quite skilled in using Lightning Release Ninjutsu, especially his self-created Lightning Blade, which had amazing sound and light effects and was incredibly powerful. When he used it, it caught Minato completely off guard.

While the three of them didn't exactly have perfect teamwork, their coordination was still far superior to Kakashi's solo fighting style in the original story.

With the three working together, Minato was in a sorry state, and they almost managed to snatch the bell.

Looking at the occasional booming sounds coming from afar— Explosive Tag, Fire Style, Lightning Style —and even changes in the terrain, Taiichi was secretly astonished.

"Senior Disciple Brother Minato, you really don't hold back at all! Look at the mess you've made of this place, those guys in the logistics department are probably going crazy."

Behind a large tree, a Minato emerged from behind, gazing at the distant battlefield. "Holding back won't reveal their true strength, especially since that was just one of my Shadow Clone."

"What are your plans next, Senior Disciple Brother? The village is graduating a group of promising new recruits from the Ninja Academy so early, hoping they can familiarize themselves with the battlefield sooner. You Jonin leading this batch are in for a tough time!"

Taiichi said jokingly, but there was a hint of complaint in his tone.

Minato glanced at Taiichi beside him and said helplessly, "The village has no choice. Letting them graduate early is a way to help them adapt. When the war officially begins, the students who graduate then will probably be going straight to the battlefield."

Taiichi. Minato's words made sense, but thinking about how Konoha could suppress the four great nations First Shinobi World War, but could only hold back during Second Shinobi World War, and now World Third Shinobi World War was about to begin, with even the students of the Ninja Academy having to go to the battlefield ahead of time.

This only shows that Konoha's strength is getting worse and worse. If it weren't for the solid foundation laid by the First Hokage and Second Hokage, Konoha would probably have been besieged and wiped out by the other four great ninja villages long ago.

"Does Senior Disciple Brother Minato want to Hokage?"

Taiichi's unexpected question startled Minato.

He turned his head and looked at Taiichi in surprise, only to find Taiichi staring intently at him. His awkward smile disappeared.

"I definitely want to become Hokage, after all, that's my dream!" As he spoke, a smile unconsciously appeared on his lips, as if he were recalling the scene of telling Kushina about his ideal.

However, he then thought of his teacher and Orochimaru, who were the strongest candidates for Hokage. He himself was not even in the running, so he felt a little discouraged!

"However, there are still many competitors: the teacher, Orochimaru- Senior, and even Lady Tsunade —they are the disciples of the Third Kazekage Hokage."

"Teacher Tsunade, forget it. She can't be Hokage for the time being for some reasons. As for Jiraiya- sensei, needless to say, he's too free-spirited to handle the Hokage's duties. And Lord Orochimaru— "

Minato was also hearing these inside stories about the higher-ups for the first time, especially about the Hokage candidates. He was completely absorbed until Taiichi stopped talking, at which point he unconsciously asked, "How is Lord Orochimaru?"

"It's hard to say right now, but I feel that Lord Orochimaru?" Taiichi didn't dare to be too certain, after all, everything had changed. Tsunade was still in contact with the village, and Hatake Sakumo was still alive. There was no guarantee that Orochimaru's side would also be affected.

"Oh, why do you have this feeling?" Minato was also puzzled. Orochimaru was the commander-in-chief of the Northern Front. If he made meritorious contributions, given that the other two Sannin had no interest in the Hokage Position, Orochimaru should be the most likely candidate.

"Lord Orochimaru is more interested in the research of Ninjutsu than the Hokage Position. Besides, our Hokage-sama is not at the age where he can retire right now!"

Taiichi's words were vague, but he believed that Minato would definitely understand the deeper meaning behind them.

As expected, Minato stared intently at Taiichi, clearly stunned by his last words.

"And you, Taiichi, do you want to Hokage?" Minato.

"Me! I'm not cut out for Hokage. I just want to protect the people I care about, and then pursue the strongest power," Taiichi said frankly. "But if Senior Disciple Brother Minato wants to become Hokage, I'll definitely support you!"

As he spoke, Taiichi gave Minato a thumbs-up, "After all, if someone as sunny as Senior Disciple Brother Minato Hokage, the kids at the Ninja Academy probably wouldn't have to go straight to the battlefield!"

Minato smiled but did not answer, though the confidence in his eyes made it clear that he had both the idea and the ability to achieve this goal.

By this time, the commotion in the distance had gradually subsided, indicating that the competition over there had ended. However, Taiichi no longer wanted to stay; his objective had been achieved, and the outcome was already known. What remained was for Team Minato to do their own thing.

"Senior Disciple Brother Minato, I'll be going now. I'm still a little worried about the hospital!"

After saying that, without waiting for Minato's reply, he Body Flicker disappeared from the scene.

Not long after, Obito's laughter echoed from afar, "Minato-sensei, how about that? We're pretty awesome, aren't we? We managed to snatch that bell, didn't we?"

Not only Obito, but Kakashi and Rin also had smiles on their faces. They knew that Minato was Elite Jonin of the village, whose strength was far beyond that of ordinary Jonin. Being able to snatch the bell from him was indeed something to be happy about.

But before they could celebrate for long, Minato's true form appeared right in front of them. They stared blankly at each other, until Minato, who had fought them earlier, suddenly vanished into white smoke with a "Minato."

"Shadow... Shadow Clone, so the one we've been fighting all along was just a Shadow Clone!" Obito muttered to himself.

Kakashi clenched his fist inwardly, realizing the vast gap between himself and a Jonin like Minato. He resolved to train even harder from now on.

Thinking back to how Taiichi had often worked on high-level missions with Jonin like Minato, one can't help but wonder just how big the gap is between the two now.

"Minato-sensei, where is Taiichi?"

Thinking of Taiichi, Kakashi searched around but couldn't find him, so he asked curiously.

"He went back to the hospital. He's there every morning now."

One sentence left Kakashi, Obito, and Rin speechless, unsure whether to marvel at Taiichi's diligence or admire his hard work.

Regardless, the Team Minato was officially established, and from this moment on, they could take on missions for the village and for themselves!

Taiichi had returned to the hospital and, after receiving the memories of the Shadow Clone, officially began his work at the hospital.

Days passed by one after another, and from that day on, Taiichi would occasionally Genin into those newly graduated genin on his way to and from the hospital.

Sometimes it's Minato Squad that's busy catching cats and dogs everywhere, while poor Kakashi, a Chunin, can only accompany Obito and Rin on these D-Rank Mission.

Sometimes you can even see Kai. His team is quite funny. Not to mention that Kai himself is an enthusiastic and impulsive young man, Ebisu is also a complete goofball.

Therefore, we often see them encountering setbacks Jonin their missions due to some inexplicable problems. Fortunately, their instructor, Akimichi Choza, is a typical magnanimous and easy-going person who can tolerate these troublesome students.

Such fulfilling yet leisurely days lasted for a month, which is quite a luxury at this time of year.

But it was precisely during this period of consolidation and improvement that the team members were able to fully integrate the various new abilities they had suddenly acquired into their own combat system, thus completing a transformation in their strength.

On this day, the Taiichi Squad reappeared in the Mission Hall. While long-term training at home was certainly good, for them, who had just experienced the sharpness of the battlefield, too much comfort was actually unsettling.

The village did indeed begin urging capable squads to return to the mission, after all, the shadow of Third Shinobi World War had not yet dissipated.

In front of the Mission Office, the three looked at the dazzling array of Mission Scroll, some from other villages, but most of them were various War Mission.

Considering the purpose of this mission—to test the results of our individual training over this period—we need a sufficient number of strong enemies.

These routine tasks seemed too mundane to them.

"Strength can only be honed in actual combat!" Saori softly voiced everyone's thoughts, representing their final mission choice.

Looking at the Mission Scroll in their hands—"One mission: to be stationed in the Southern Front for two months"—this was the mission Taiichi Squad had accepted.

Why choose the Southern Front instead of the more familiar Northern Front Theater Command? That depends on the frontline commanders on both sides. Compared to Orochimaru in the Northern Front, the frontline commander of the Southern Front was Jiraiya.

This is someone even Taiichi formally calls "teacher." Working under him is much more reassuring than working under Orochimaru.

The squad packed their belongings and arrived at the Southern Camp in just two days. Compared to the Northern Camp, which was stationed in the Land of Land of Fire, the Southern Camp was now located directly in the Land of Land of Rivers.

Although the Land of Rivers Daimyo Incident last year has been resolved, the trust between the two sides has been completely destroyed.

As tensions escalated between Konoha and Sunagakure, Konoha simply offered a perfunctory greeting as a courtesy, and without waiting for the Land of Rivers' consent, directly advanced their frontline Camp into the Land of Rivers.

Naturally, Sunagakure wouldn't be polite to the Land of Rivers either. Seeing Konoha's actions, they followed suit and also stationed their frontline Camp in the Land of Rivers.

Thus, the forces of the two major ninja villages were all crammed into the already small Land of Rivers. Although the two sides had not yet officially started fighting, the daily conflicts were more intense than those on the Northern Battlefield.

The Central Command Tent of the Southern Camp.

"Lord Jiraiya, Taiichi Squad is here to report!" Taiichi said Jiraiya to Jiraiya at the head of the tent as he entered, handing over the squad's mission assignment.

Jiraiya, being a free spirit, saw Taiichi's state and exaggeratedly added, "Taichi Matsushita, Chunin, you've arrived just in time! The entire Camp is in dire need of manpower right now. Not to mention talents like you, even some Tom, Dick, or Harry could be of use!"

Yohei and Saori were behind Taiichi. They had been wondering why Taiichi was speaking to Lord Jiraiya in that tone, but now they realized that the two of them were just joking around because they were close friends.

Seeing this, and finding Jiraiya's words amusing, the two couldn't help but laugh out loud.

As Yohei and Saori laughed, Taiichi stopped pretending. "Jiraiya- sensei, how can you describe people like that? We're not just some Tom, Dick, or Harry!"

After catching up, the conversation finally got down to business. "Taiichi, what I said before was indeed true; there is a shortage of manpower in the Camp, especially in the Medical Camp— "

The more Taiichi listened, the more something felt off. It seemed to be the same situation as Orochimaru's side. Wasn't it said that the Southern Camp had much more Resupply than the Northern Camp?

When Taiichi raised his question, Jiraiya could only smile wryly, "We do have more manpower and supplies than they do, but the battles here are much more frequent, especially since the Sunagakure Ninja has a Puppet Master Unit, all of whom are skilled in using poison, which makes logistics and medical care even more difficult."

Upon Taiichi felt a heavy responsibility. In truth, Sunagakure should have been the most suitable Tsunade to take over as commander-in-chief in Sunagakure; her strength, prestige, and Medical Ninjutsu made her the best candidate. But alas—

Konoha is currently Camp on two fronts, while Iwagakure and Mist Village haven't made any clear moves yet. This shows how difficult things are for them. It's unclear whether the village is deliberately reducing its frontline forces to lull Cloud Village and Sunagakure into a false sense of security. If not—

"Jiraiya worry, Jiraiya-sensei. My Medical Ninjutsu has improved recently, and I'm sure it will be of great help to the Camp. Besides, Yohei and Saori are not ordinary Chunin."

Jiraiya laughed heartily, "Of course! Orochimaru told me all about your situation in his letter. Your team is full of talented people!"

As he spoke, he winked at Taiichi and said mysteriously, "Also, there's a surprise waiting for you to discover in the Camp."

Taiichi was completely bewildered, but since it was a pleasant surprise, he couldn't ask too many questions. He could only accept the task assigned by Jiraiya with a heart full of confusion.

After leaving the Central Command Tent, Taiichi led Yohei and Saori to familiarize themselves with the Camp. This was where they would live for the next two months. They needed to know exactly where to hand over missions, where to collect supplies, where to rest, and where to train.

After a round of inspections, Taiichi discovered that the Southern Camp indeed had more manpower and supplies than the Northern Camp. In just a short time, Taiichi and his group found that the number of ninjas entering and Camp was nearly twice as frequent as that of the Northern Camp.

This shows just how intense the fighting has become; they're probably just waiting for an excuse to start.

After wandering around, when Taiichi others arrived at their resting camp, they finally discovered what Jiraiya meant by "surprise." To be honest, they didn't feel much joy, but they were definitely surprised!