Namikaze Minato's Question

This girl was always so gentle with her comrades.

As for Obito, he was grinning like an idiot right now, seemingly having already put what happened earlier behind him.

Sen Chisato looked at Namikaze Minato, and at that moment, Minato was looking at him too.

Their eyes met. Minato beamed, and Sen Chisato shrugged.

It seemed the conflict had been resolved just like that.

The group continued along the defensive line Konoha had established. At regular intervals, the ninja stationed there came out to report on the situation.

Things looked good. There were no signs of Sand Ninja infiltrating these areas.

At times like these, Sen Chisato would remain silent.

The stationed ninja were cautious, carefully patrolling their assigned areas every day. After all, their lives were on the line, and no one dared to be careless.

But Sen Chisato didn't readily trust their reports. Every few kilometers, he would stop and sense his surroundings.

He trusted himself more than so-called comrades.

Fortunately, the day passed peacefully.

In the blink of an eye, the sun sank and night fell. A fire sprang to life in the forest.

Team Minato and Sen Chisato sat around the fire, going over the day's reports and discussing their next steps.

"From what we can tell, the information the command center received is mostly accurate. No Sand Ninja have infiltrated this area..." In the flickering firelight, Namikaze Minato pointed to an area on the map—the stretch they had covered that day.

After a pause, he added, "But we can't be sure the Sand Ninja won't infiltrate here later!"

"There's nothing we can do about that. The Sand Ninja are moving while we are, and they might change their route if something unexpected happens." Sen Chisato nodded. Even now, Konoha still hadn't confirmed why the Sand Ninja had infiltrated the area.

As for cutting off supply lines and the transport of provisions, those were only guesses, unsupported by any solid intelligence.

"What do you think we should do?" Minato asked, rubbing his chin.

Although five people were taking part in the discussion, including his three students, only he and Sen Chisato could truly contribute.

Kakashi was strong, but for now, he was only suited to being a blade—someone who charged in and cut down the enemy.

Obito was careless and lacked a sense of the bigger picture.

Nohara Rin was thoughtful and perceptive, but strategy and tactics were her weak points.

In short, they were all still too green.

It couldn't be helped. His subordinates had graduated just as the war began. War could temper people and, provided they survived, help a new generation of ninja mature quickly. But someone still had to teach them.

He was willing to teach them and had no intention of keeping anything to himself, but he simply didn't have the time.

If he hadn't sent several "complaint" letters every day, and if Lord Orochimaru hadn't suddenly announced that he was leaving the village to join the war, finally "begging" his own teacher to return, he would have been even busier.

At this stage, Konoha was suffering a far more severe shortage of high-level combatants than it had during the Second Shinobi World War.

Just look at the Second Shinobi World War. The Third had been in his prime. Though he had stayed in Konoha, he had still given everyone a sense of calm, as if everything were under control.

As long as he was there, neither the Cloud Hidden nor Iwagakure dared to cross the border into the Land of Fire lightly. By tacit agreement, the battlefields had been confined to the Land of Rain, and Konoha had mainly faced the Land of Rain and the Sand Hidden.

Back then, there had also been the Sannin and Hatake Sakumo. The "Darkness of Konoha," Shimura Danzō, would pop up from time to time to stir up trouble.

But now?

The Third had grown old; Hatake Sakumo was dead; Lady Tsunade had left Konoha, the place that held so many painful memories; and Jiraiya had been unable to bear certain problems in the village any longer. He, too, had left and set off alone on a journey to find the "future."

The only one still in the village, Orochimaru, had been changed by the war as well. His personality had undergone a drastic shift. He hardly ever left home, and even when something happened, he acted as if it had nothing to do with him, lost in his own world—a complete shut-in.

Then the war began, and people realized Konoha had weakened. Its top fighters had died, grown old, or left.

As for the "Darkness of the Shinobi," he seemed to be showing signs of becoming the "Darkness of Konoha."

At a time like this, Minato had stood out from the rest, suddenly drawing everyone's attention. He had always been talented, and after learning the Flying Thunder God, the burden had fallen squarely on his shoulders.

He had spent the whole battlefield flying from place to place, turning into a one-man firefighting squad.

He was the busiest person in all of Konoha.

Fortunately, Orochimaru had finally returned to the field, and Jiraiya had come back with him. At last, Minato could catch his breath.

That was why he looked at Sen Chisato with deep gratitude.

He had noticed some of the changes in Orochimaru, too. They made him feel uneasy and unfamiliar. Given Orochimaru's personality, how could he change his mind so easily? Once he had decided not to go to the battlefield, no amount of persuasion would work—not even if his teacher, the Third, personally tried.

And yet Orochimaru really had changed his mind!

There was only one person who could have influenced him: his new disciple, Sen Chisato.

And the reason his own teacher had agreed to return was also partly that Orochimaru had announced he would join the war.

So all of this was thanks to Sen Chisato.

He was even more certain that Sen Chisato, who had spent years with Orochimaru and been taught by him personally, couldn't possibly be lacking in strategy or tactics!

Under Minato's expectant gaze, Sen Chisato pondered for a moment before answering, "Our mission is to clear out the Sand Ninja who infiltrated the rear. We just need to follow the plan and sweep through our assigned area. As for any stragglers we might miss, they won't cause much trouble. We don't need to worry about them."

If they swept the area thoroughly, they might encounter a lot of Sand Ninja in the short term, which would help him grow stronger quickly. He was naturally happy to do that.

But if he had to advance bit by bit, searching back and forth for every last straggler, he couldn't be bothered.

The effort simply wasn't worth the return.

With the time that would take, he might as well return to the main camp and take on other missions.

Besides, Team Minato's mission was important, but the large-scale battlefield was still the top priority.

"Why bother discussing it? We can just fight our way through," Obito muttered.

"Obito, don't interrupt!" Nohara Rin admonished him sternly.

"Sure, sure!" Obito grinned and shut up.

"But what if those Sand Ninja get desperate and infiltrate the Land of Fire directly?" Kakashi asked, thinking of another possibility.

Konoha's defensive line was currently set up in the Land of Rivers, and the infiltrating Sand Ninja were scattered between it and the Land of Fire. If they really were trying to cut off Konoha's supply routes, it wasn't impossible that they would enter the Land of Fire and operate there.

Minato and Sen Chisato exchanged smiles.

"That's not our problem," Sen Chisato said.

"Don't forget, the Hokage is in Konoha," Minato reminded him.

So that was it.

Kakashi nodded silently and said nothing more.

"All right, that's enough discussion. It's late, so let's get some rest."

Minato put away the map and smiled. "The next stretch is going to be exhausting. We'll need to get plenty of rest."

"I'll take the first watch," Kakashi offered, raising his hand.

"I'll take the first half of the night. You can decide the rest among yourselves," Sen Chisato said, leaving no room for discussion.

"I..."

Kakashi was about to say something when Sen Chisato glanced at him. "Don't overthink it. I haven't had a proper rest since we left Konoha, and I didn't sleep at all last night. I only want the first watch so I can get a decent night's sleep."

"Then Chisato will take the first half, and I'll take the second. That's settled," Namikaze Minato said. He also wanted his three students to get some proper rest.

As for himself, he was already used to it.

Once the watches had been assigned, Team Minato settled down to rest. Sen Chisato sat alone in front of the fire, eyes closed, dozing lightly.

But before long, after Kakashi and the others had fallen asleep, Namikaze Minato came back and sat opposite Sen Chisato across the fire.

Sen Chisato didn't react, as though he hadn't noticed. In truth, he had expected this.

The forest was silent in the darkness, broken only by the occasional crackle of the firewood.

"Can we talk?" Namikaze Minato asked softly.

"About what?" Sen Chisato asked, feigning ignorance, his eyes still closed.

"Why were you provoking Obito all day?" Minato asked, then added, "I'm not accusing you. I can tell you don't dislike them. Of course, if you don't want to answer..."

"They're talented. They each have their flaws, but they're all comrades worth trusting." Sen Chisato opened his eyes and spoke slowly.

"So I don't want them to die... at least, I want them to survive longer on the battlefield."

"Think of it as a lesson. That's all!"

In the wavering firelight, Sen Chisato's young face shifted between light and shadow.

Minato looked into Sen Chisato's eyes and saw nothing but sincerity.

He truly cherished his comrades!