Rōran

Outside Konohagakure, within a dense forest.

A group of five people was rapidly traveling between the towering trees.

As they moved, Namikaze Minato explained the mission: "According to intelligence, a massive and abnormal amount of chakra is hidden deep beneath the Country of Roran, serving as the energy source that powers the nation."

"They call this energy the Dragon Vein."

"However, not long ago, the Dragon Vein began to fluctuate violently. After failing to find the cause, the Queen of Roran, Sara, requested assistance from Sunagakure to prevent disaster in the city. The mission was ranked A."

"Now that Sunagakure has been defeated, the mission has been reassigned to us in Konohagakure."

"Because this is a cross-border mission, the Hokage has upgraded the rank to S."

"Our objective is to investigate the cause of the Dragon Vein's instability and seal it if necessary. During this time, everyone must be wary of one thing: Sunagakure may harbor a desire for revenge and launch an attack on us."

After hearing Namikaze Minato's briefing, the expressions of the group turned grave.

Uchiha Aoba was the same, though he was merely putting on an act, as he knew from his own knowledge that this trip to Roran was a mission without any real danger.

Besides, even if Sunagakure were given a hundred times the courage, they would never dare to lead a force to attack a team that included Namikaze Minato.

The reputation of the Yellow Flash was certainly not just empty talk.

After a day and a half of forced marching, the five arrived at the border of the Land of Wind.

Atop a high cliff.

Namikaze Minato stood at the edge, gazing at the Country of Roran in the distance below, formulating an action plan in his mind.

It was not until some time had passed that he finally spoke.

"Next, I, Uchiha Aoba, and Choza Akimichi will head to the Country of Roran to begin our investigation."

"Shibi Aburame, your insects can serve as an early warning system, so you will remain here to stand guard, with Kakashi assisting you."

"If you spot any Sunagakure forces, fire a signal flare immediately."

"Understood."

Shibi Aburame and Kakashi replied in unison.

Uchiha Aoba felt relieved; he had been genuinely worried that Namikaze Minato might leave him and Kakashi behind.

It was hard enough to get an S-rank mission, and he didn't want to end up just being a bystander.

Fortunately, Namikaze Minato did not make such an arrangement.

And so, Uchiha Aoba followed behind the other two, heading directly into Roran.

Half an hour later, the three entered the city.

Looking at the high-rise buildings standing everywhere, a trace of strangeness flashed across Namikaze Minato's expression. He seemed to have sensed something, or perhaps he was simply surprised that such a well-developed nation existed on the border of the Land of Wind.

At this moment, Uchiha Aoba's expression shifted.

With his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, he looked at the pipes connecting the high-rise buildings, and the corners of his mouth twitched.

In his past life, watching the movie, he hadn't felt much.

Now, seeing it with his own eyes, he had to marvel at the sheer scale of the effort Mukade had gone to in order to control the Dragon Vein.

"What is it?"

Choza Akimichi noticed the anomaly and asked.

"Did you find something?"

Namikaze Minato also inquired.

Uchiha Aoba pointed at the pipes: "Lord Minato, Senior Choza, the pipes connecting these buildings are all conduits used to transport chakra."

"Through my Sharingan, these pipes look like a spiderweb, covering the entire city."

"From top to bottom, they extend all the way into the ground."

"If I am not mistaken, that is where the Dragon Vein is located."

Upon hearing this, Namikaze Minato's expression grew serious.

"It seems the instability of the Dragon Vein is indeed man-made. This is getting tricky."

"Aoba, you lead the way. We will follow the flow of the chakra and investigate further."

Unexpectedly.

Just as he finished speaking, a massive explosion suddenly erupted within the city.

"Boom!"

The attention of the three was immediately drawn to the sound.

After a brief moment of thought, Namikaze Minato pulled out a mask and put it on, immediately moving rapidly toward the site of the explosion. Uchiha Aoba and Choza Akimichi did the same, following closely behind him.

Before long.

A young ninja with golden hair, wearing a Konohagakure forehead protector and yellow clothing, appeared in their sight.

The young boy was in a sorry state, dodging frantically as he was pursued by several bizarre puppets.

"How are there other Konoha ninjas here?"

Namikaze Minato's gaze sharpened, and he thought to himself, Lord Hokage shouldn't have sent anyone else.

"Who is this boy?"

"Minato, should we help?" Choza Akimichi asked.

Namikaze Minato nodded.

"I'll find an opening to save him. Choza, Aoba, leave these puppets to you two."

"Let's go."

At that moment, the blond boy was blasted into the ground by an energy cannon fired by the puppets.

Seeing this, Namikaze Minato vanished from his spot in a flash.

Regardless of how suspicious the other party might be, to Namikaze Minato, as long as they wore the Konoha forehead protector, they were a member of the village. He would never stand by and watch while they faced a crisis.

With the captain having given the order, Uchiha Aoba and Choza Akimichi naturally could not refuse.

As they breached the underground area.

They saw Namikaze Minato scoop up the blond boy, who was desperately swinging a kunai to fend off attacks, and then vanish using the Flying Thunder God.

The four puppets in mid-air retracted their attacks, intending to pursue.

Choza Akimichi landed and used a Partial Multi-Size Technique, his enlarged right hand smashing two of them to pieces with a single blow.

Meanwhile, before even touching the ground, Uchiha Aoba drew the long blade at his waist and channeled chakra into it. With a single swing at the chakra threads controlling the puppets, he severed the connection between the puppets and the pipes.

The two puppets stiffened, then fell to the ground in fragments.

After finishing this, Uchiha Aoba sheathed his blade and looked up.

The blond boy, rescued by Namikaze Minato, sat cross-legged on a platform, looking confused as he muttered something.

Uchiha Aoba didn't pay much attention to that; instead, the system's notification sound made his brow furrow.

According to the system's assessment.

A single puppet only provided a 0.1% increase in fusion rate, so two meant 0.2%.

So, one puppet was equal to one genin?

Uchiha Aoba spat lightly, feeling somewhat dissatisfied. Given the strength of the Rōran puppets, how could one only be worth 0.1%? He seriously suspected the system had malicious intentions to suppress his combat power.

Since that was the case, he would just have to rely on quantitative change to bring about qualitative change.

After all, there were plenty more puppets in Rōran.

Having sorted out his thoughts, Uchiha Aoba left the underground area and appeared beside Namikaze Minato. He couldn't help but find it amusing to see the blond boy staring at them in bewilderment, looking them up and down.

However, the next second, he couldn't laugh anymore.

The blond boy exclaimed in surprise, "Eh, big brother, why is there a little kid in your squad?"

"Also, why are you all wearing masks?"

"..."

"Who are you calling a little kid?" Uchiha Aoba asked in a cold, deep tone.

"What's small about being twelve? How many years older than me are you?"

"Hahaha."

Namikaze Minato chuckled at this. Seeing Uchiha Aoba radiating an unfriendly aura, he quickly stepped in to explain, "Young man, he just looks small, but he is a bona fide jonin."

"Eh!?" The blond boy was greatly shocked.

"Alright, compared to other things..."

Namikaze Minato looked at the wound on the blond boy's left leg, which was still bleeding.

"The priority now is to treat your injuries first."