Joint Mission

"Jiji, open the window, Jiji, open the window." The sound of banging on the window rang out outside, attracting Taiichi's attention.

Taiichi put down the book in his hand, turned his head and saw Captain Yamaguchi's Summoning Animal Jiji, standing at the window. It was flapping its wings from time to time to maintain its balance, as the narrow window could not accommodate its increasingly fat body.

Taiichi walked to the window, opened it, and let the fat bird into the room.

"Jiji, you should lose weight. If you get any fatter, you won't even be able to fly anymore." Although he said this, Taiichi actually opened the drawer next to him with ease and took out a bag of delicious snacks and scattered them on the table.

"Jiji, Taiichi mean! He makes Jiji lose weight, but then he makes such delicious snacks for Jiji."

It seems the culprit has been found.

Taiichi touched his nose, looking a little embarrassed. He just wanted to tease the Jiji Bird, and he really didn't expect to feed it so fat. Captain Yamaguchi had come to him several times because of this.

This bird was clearly a glutton; ever since it first tasted Taiichi's special snacks, it had been clamoring for more every time it came.

"You've come to see me, is it for another mission?" Taiichi changed the subject.

"Jiji, yes, there's a mission." As it spoke, it lifted its leg, which was so fat it was almost invisible.

Taiichi then noticed that Jiji's leg was tied with something this time. He took it off and saw that it was a task description written in tiny print.

After reading the mission details, Taiichi frowned. It was a rescue mission, and more importantly, the person he needed to rescue was Hatake Sakumo.

Taiichi wondered if ninjas of this caliber would need their help.

"Jiji, Taiichi, after you finish reading, roll it up and put it on Jiji's lap. Jiji still needs to inform others." Jiji, having finished her snack, urged the dazed Taiichi.

"Oh, that's good."

Seeing Jiji fly out of the window, Taiichi stopped thinking about it and prepared the supplies before heading to the Konoha Gate to assemble, confident that the Captain would have more mission information.

When Taiichi finished packing the supplies and arrived at the gate, he found Captain Yamaguchi chatting and laughing with a blond ninja. It seemed that the two had a good relationship.

Taiichi recognized the blond ninja from his back view Taiichi —who else could it be but his Senior Disciple Brother Minato?

At that moment, Captain Yamaguchi also saw Taiichi arrive and called out from afar, "Taiichi, come here quickly."

Pulling Taiichi closer, Captain Yamaguchi introduced him, "Minato, let me introduce you. This is our team's most powerful member, Taichi Matsushita."

"Oh, the best? How good is it?" Minato teased.

Captain Yamaguchi's face stiffened; he didn't understand what Minato meant.

"Captain, I've known Senior Disciple Brother Minato for a long time." Taiichi tugged at Masasuke Yamaguchi's sleeve, explaining with a helpless expression.

"You... you guys! Senior Disciple Brother?" Clearly, this was unexpected by Masasuke Yamaguchi.

"Haha, Masasuke, you didn't know that, did you? Taiichi Lady Tsunade's disciple, so calling me 'senior Senior Disciple Brother' wouldn't be a problem," Minato explained from the side.

"So that's how it is! Taiichi, you kept that a secret!" Captain Yamaguchi patted Taiichi on the shoulder with a big smile. Although he had always known that Taiichi was good at Medical Ninjutsu, he didn't expect that he was Tsunade's disciple. Now his medical care would be more reliable.

The three chatted for a while, and then the other team members arrived one after another.

Once everyone had arrived, Minato stepped forward and explained the specific details of the mission to everyone.

After Minato finished explaining, everyone seemed to relax. They had initially thought it would be a difficult task requiring two teams to work together, but it turned out to be quite simple.

As stated in the mission description, the village has already sent a note to Kumogakure, so Cloud Village should no longer pressure Sakumo Senior. Their trip was just a backup plan in case of emergency.

After everyone learned about the mission, Minato and Masasuke Yamaguchi introduced their respective team members. It was then that Taiichi learned that Minato's three subordinates were named Inuzuka Makoto, Gekko Sora, and Nakamura Rei.

The names of three ninjas I'd never heard of before; I wondered if they'd died in some war.

After everyone got to know each other, it was almost time. Led by the two Captain, the group left Konoha and headed to the agreed-upon rendezvous point—a dense forest on the border between the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Moon.

Before Taiichi and the others received their mission, Danzo, who had just finished a meeting, returned to the Root base.

Thinking of Hiruzen Sarutobi's smug face during the meeting, Danzo felt a nameless fire burning in his heart.

--

Why should the Hokage position be reserved for him? Why should he be in the sunlight while I have to hide in the shadows? Why should Sakumo steal the fruits of Root's hard work in investigating the mission, and now I have to clean up Sakumo's mess? And why can't such a good seedling come to Root?

All of this was because I was stunned for just one second back then.

Whenever Danzo thought of these things, his heart was filled with resentment and anger.

I hate myself for being so cowardly back then, for not being the first to respond to Teacher Tobirama's request.

He hated Hiruzen's decisiveness back then, which led to him taking the Hokage's throne.

He even resented Teacher Tobirama -sensei for being so hasty, not giving himself a second chance.

This had almost become his inner demon, constantly reminding him and tormenting him.

"Someone come here." A somber, oppressive voice rang out.

"Yes, Danzo." A figure suddenly appeared in front of Danzo, kneeling on one knee.

"Send this investigation report to Cloud Village. Remember, send it at this time tomorrow, understand?" The gloomy voice rang out again, but this time it was even more sinister, sending chills down one's spine.

"Yes, sir!" The Root ninja answered without hesitation, without questioning the mission at all, and simply obeyed Danzo's orders.

Now it all depends on your luck. That's all he can do. Any more and it would be hard to explain, and it would arouse the Hokage's suspicion.

At this moment, Taiichi and the others were clearly unaware that their mission had encountered setbacks even before they had set off.

They are currently traveling on the road to the Land of Hot Water, and since time is not of the essence, everyone is controlling their pace.

"So, Taiichi, the cause of this mission is somehow related to you?" Yohei asked, drawing everyone's attention.

The members of the Minato Squad were also curious about how their mission could be connected to Taiichi.

Taiichi everyone in Minato Squad was so interested, Taiichi briefly recounted how he had rescued Kurama Chizuru.

--

Everyone was amazed, never expecting that the mission they were currently carrying out was caused by something that happened to one of their teammates a few months ago.

Without the pressure of rushing, everyone chatted and laughed along the way, making the journey anything but boring.

Perhaps because they had never carried out a mission with another squad before, the three members of the Team 8 were quite excited.

Especially Yohei, who really made the three members of Minato Squad get to know the Uchiha in a new light. They never expected that there could be such a talkative and interesting ninja in the Uchiha. The group became good friends in less than a day.

Seeing their subordinates getting along so well, Minato Namikaze and Masasuke Yamaguchi nodded in approval. No matter what mission they were carrying out, team unity and teamwork were crucial, as they greatly increased the success rate of the mission.

From this perspective, the team's coordination in this mission was at least satisfactory.

The group spent two days reaching the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Hot Water, where they were resting under a large tree.

"The Land of Hot Water Springs is just ahead. Once we cross the border, everyone needs to be careful on the road. Don't worry about anything outside of our mission. We'll speed things up from here on out," Captain Yamaguchi said to everyone, holding a water bag.

However, he kept staring at Yohei while speaking, which puzzled Yohei.

"Captain, you don't think I'm meddling, do you?"

After taking a sip of water to moisten his lips, Captain Yamaguchi's words immediately broke down Yohei's defenses. "It's good that you know!"

"Haha!" Everyone burst into laughter, especially Inuzuka.

Of the three members of Minato Squad, he had been playing best with Yohei these past two days, and he was laughing the loudest right now. He was so abducted that he shook the Ninja Dog that was pretending to sleep on his head off, causing the little Ninja Dog to bark angrily.

This prompted Inuzuka Makoto to quickly apologize to the little Ninja Dog.

Even Yohei himself couldn't help but laugh out loud.

After resting for a while, the group resumed their journey, heading towards the border between the Kingdom of Soup and the Land of Moon —the agreed-upon rendezvous point.

Not long after Taiichi and his group entered the Land of Land of Hot Water, Danzo's investigation report was finally delivered to A Third A of Kumogakure.

"Karui, what is this? How did it end up here?" The Third A was sitting at his desk, holding a huge special dumbbell in one hand, working on his strength.

"This is a diplomatic note and an investigation report from Konoha. I've taken a look, and it describes our previous operation to seize their Kekkei Genkai."

"Oh!" The Third A put down the barbell and picked up the diplomatic note on the table to read it.

But as he read, the veins on his forehead became more and more prominent, until—

"Bang!" That was the sound of a punch hitting the table.

"Crash!" That was the sound of the table falling apart.

"What does Konoha want? They killed my men and now they want to threaten me into withdrawing the pursuing ninjas? They're dreaming!" The Third A, unleashed a furious tirade, his angry roar echoing throughout the Raikage Building.

Looking at the enraged Raikage and the shattered table, Karui didn't even flinch, as if he was used to it all.

"Lord Raikage, it seems that's really the only way things can be done, if you don't want to become the target of everyone's criticism." As she spoke, she picked up the investigation report that the Third A hadn't even looked at from the shards of the table and handed it to him.

After listening, Third A looked at Karui with suspicion, took the investigation report from her hand, and began to read it carefully.

At this moment, Karui was directing her subordinates to quickly clear away the wreckage of the desk and carry in a new one from outside. Judging from their practiced movements, this was clearly not the first time they had done this.

At this moment, Third A finished reading the investigation report. He felt a fire burning in his chest, unable to vent it, and feeling extremely uncomfortable holding it in. Frustrated, he wanted to find something to smash and destroy.

"Lord Raikage, the village is short of funds. This is the eighth table we've used this month. You should think more about the ninjas under your command." Karui calmly advised the Third A, A.

"Are all the intelligence ninjas in Konoha like rats? How come they're everywhere? They know so much about what's happening in other villages!" Third A complained loudly.

Clearly, the level of detail in this investigation report exceeded the Third A's expectations. Now that the report has been given directly to him, if Konoha were to distribute it to the other ninja villages, then Cloud Village's situation would be in serious trouble.

Not to mention the joint boycott from other ninja villages, even mission requests might be affected, since not everyone wants to cooperate with a village that only cares about coveting other people's valuables.

Once an image and reputation are damaged or lost, rebuilding them becomes extremely difficult.

"Send a message back to Konoha saying that we will give up the pursuit of Hatake Sakumo, but if he dies at someone else's hands, that's beyond our control." The Third A, A, was decisive, knowing that his goal could not be achieved, he readily gave up.

"Yes, I'll go reply right away."

"By the way, send someone to notify the pursuit team a day later. After all, they've already chased so far, it's understandable that the village can't find them right away," the Third A added.

"Also, spread the word that Hatake Sakumo was seriously injured in the Land of Lightning, and see if anyone can help us solve this problem."

Karui looked at the Third A with a surprised expression, as if she was discovering for the first time that the Third A also had so many tricks up his sleeve.

"Yes, I'll take care of it right away."

Watching Karui disappear from the room, the Third A felt a surge of anger. "You think you can just kill someone in my Kumogakure and leave peacefully? You're dreaming!"

Not to mention that Hatake Sakumo was already severely injured when he fled, the subsequent pursuit alone would have been enough to give him a hard time, not to mention the hyenas that came running after hearing the news.

If he manages to survive and return home, then it can only be said that he was destined to live.

The rendezvous point is located on the border between the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Moon.

Taiichi others had been here for almost half a day, and two hours had already passed since the agreed time.

The relaxed mood they had when they arrived was gone; everyone's face was heavy.

Being a ninja is a profession that requires punctuality, especially during missions, where a strong sense of time is even more crucial. And situations like not arriving at the agreed-upon time rarely end well.

The two Captain were currently torn between continuing to wait or entering the Land of Moon to directly search for Hatake Sakumo's whereabouts.

Another hour passed, and the two Captain couldn't wait any longer. If Hatake Sakumo hadn't arrived after so long, he must have encountered danger. If they continued to wait foolishly like this, they might not even see his body.

"Minato, we still need to leave some people here to keep an eye on things. What if we all leave and Sakumo comes over instead? We'll miss him then," Captain Yamaguchi suggested.

Everyone agreed that this made sense, but staying behind was not a good task. Staying too many people would delay the search, while staying too few would be quite dangerous in this environment.

Just as everyone was pondering, Minato began to Hand Seals, Summoning Jutsu.

With a "pop," a puff of white smoke rose up, and Toad the size of a palm appeared on the spot.

"This is the Communication Toad from Mount Myoboku. I left it here to keep watch. Even if enemies come, they won't notice a Toad watching them." He then took out a specially made three-pronged Kunai from his Ninja Tool Pouch and handed it to the Communication Toad, instructing it to hide it carefully.

When Taiichi saw Minato take out that special Kunai, he was shocked. The Flying Thunder God Kunai! So Minato learned this technique so early? This mission might be much safer then.

"Let's go!" After arranging everything, Minato called everyone to enter the Land of Moon and Scout in the direction of Kumogakure. Although they didn't know Hatake Sakumo's exact route, they could't go wrong by Scout this general direction.

"Jiro, summon all your Companions. Now it's your time to shine," Minato said to Inuzuka.

"Alright, watch this!" Everyone saw Inuzuka use his Summoning Jutsu, but what he summoned were three large dogs.

"Makoto and his Ninja Dog can use secret techniques to exchange information over short distances. Let's split up into two teams of two, each with one Ninja Dog, and search separately," Minato suggested to Captain Yamaguchi.

"Good."

And so, everyone paired up, with Taiichi following Inuzuka Makoto, and leading the way was a little Ninja Dog named Kuromaru who was perched on Makoto's head.