Strategy Plan: Achieved!

Kakashi cried his heart out while everyone silently watched him release the emotions he had kept bottled up.

This time, Uchiha Obito didn't make fun of him.

Once Kakashi had finished crying and returned to his usual cool self, Sen Chisato turned to Nohara Rin.

The problems with Uchiha Obito and Hatake Kakashi had been mostly resolved. Now only this girl remained.

Noticing Sen Chisato's gaze, Nohara Rin immediately sat up straight. Though she was nervous, she prepared herself to face the criticism seriously.

Besides Rin herself, Uchiha Obito was incredibly nervous too.

He'd gotten a taste of Sen Chisato's methods. Those questions left people completely speechless—they struck right at the heart.

Obito had nearly been broken, and Kakashi had actually burst into tears.

If Rin had to go through that, how could she possibly take it?

Thinking this, Obito clenched his fists and warned him, "I'm telling you, watch yourself. If you make Rin cry, I'll beat you up!"

"You can't beat me," Sen Chisato calmly stated.

"You... I..." Uchiha Obito deflated like a punctured balloon, all his bluster gone.

"Rin, you..." Returning to Nohara Rin, Sen Chisato began slowly.

Nohara Rin summoned her courage and nodded nervously. Uchiha Obito could barely bring himself to breathe.

After a long hesitation, Sen Chisato finally delivered his verdict. "You're too weak!"

"..."

Silence fell over them.

After a long while.

"Huh?" Nohara Rin tilted her head, her brown eyes blinking.

"Is that all?"

"Yeah, that's right." Sen Chisato nodded firmly.

Setting everything else aside, judging by the battle earlier, the only problem with this girl was that she was a little weak.

From the very beginning, she had known they should work together when they encountered enemies. So when Kakashi went off alone, she had tried to stop him.

When that didn't work, she immediately sought help from their Squad Leader Jonin, Namikaze Minato.

From Namikaze Minato's silence, she understood the answer and immediately thought of sending reinforcements. When Obito hesitated and might have delayed their help, she decisively set off ahead of him.

When she reached the battlefield, she reacted quickly: first rescuing Kakashi from danger, then showing remarkable courage while protecting Obito.

Though she hadn't made much of a difference, she had performed the best in that battle.

After finishing his breakdown of Nohara Rin's performance, Sen Chisato looked at Namikaze Minato. "That's all I wanted to say. Is there anything you'd add?"

"Not at all. I agree with everything you said." Namikaze Minato beamed.

Sen Chisato was incredibly useful.

He silently thanked Orochimaru. If Orochimaru hadn't sent Sen Chisato to help, the problems within Team Minato would never have been properly resolved.

If they'd been left to fester and later erupted, who knew what regrettable things might have happened?

Though he had great confidence in his own abilities, the battlefield was too complicated for him to keep an eye on Kakashi and the others at all times.

Besides, the order to promote Kakashi to Jonin was already on its way.

Once Kakashi became a Jonin, he would have to undertake even more dangerous missions. Then the squad would have to rely on themselves.

After what had happened today, he was sure Kakashi and the others' chances of survival had greatly improved.

He had Sen Chisato to thank for all of it.

Sen Chisato had no idea what he was thinking. He glanced up at the time and said, "Let's find a suitable place to rest and discuss how we should train them."

The first stage of the Strategy Plan was more or less complete. Next came the second stage.

A comprehensive boost for Team Minato!

"Sounds good." Namikaze Minato nodded.

They got up and, with the help of Sen Chisato's Perception Technique, made their way to a nearby stream.

After the intense battle, Kakashi was both injured and exhausted, so they told him to rest.

Obito and Nohara Rin split the work between them: one caught fish, while the other cooked.

There was no need to keep watch with Sen Chisato and Namikaze Minato there.

Once everyone had their tasks and went to work, Sen Chisato and Namikaze Minato sat facing each other.

Leaning against a tree, Sen Chisato spoke first. "All three of them have obvious flaws, but most of them are rooted in their personalities. What happened today won't change them overnight, but at least they're moving in the right direction."

"So next, we focus on improving their combat abilities?" Namikaze Minato asked with a smile.

"Combat experience," Sen Chisato corrected him.

Combat experience was different from ability. Ability was only one part of fighting.

Take Uchiha Obito, for example. His current strength had already reached the level of a Chunin, yet he'd performed terribly when he encountered enemies. He couldn't even cast ninjutsu or use Taijutsu, let alone shake off the fear inspired by his enemy's killing intent.

"What do you have in mind?" Namikaze Minato asked.

Sen Chisato smiled faintly and laid out the training plans he had prepared for them. Namikaze Minato nodded along, occasionally adding a few details.

The breeze stirred the leaves, which rustled softly as the two chatted happily. They kept taking things out and making preparations.

Time flew by, and before they knew it, the afternoon had arrived.

A girl's surprised voice rang out from the forest.

"Huh? These are for me?" Nohara Rin stared at the three ninjutsu scrolls before her, at a loss for what to do.

"As a medical ninja, your main responsibility is to heal and provide support, not to fight enemies head-on. You only need to be able to offer some support at crucial moments."

Pointing to the three scrolls, Sen Chisato explained, "Minato-senpai and I picked these based on your chakra nature and reserves. They're suitable for support, restraining enemies, and protecting yourself."

"This is too valuable." Nohara Rin was touched, yet hesitant.

As a ninja, she knew how precious ninjutsu was.

Especially for a civilian ninja, learning a technique depended on their squad leader being willing to teach them. Otherwise, they had to exchange merit for it.

But civilian ninja were already weaker than those from ninja clans. With missions and enemies to deal with, they were lucky just to stay alive. How much merit could they possibly earn?

Aside from the Three Body Technique taught at the Academy, the only two techniques she knew had been taught to her by her teacher, Namikaze Minato.

Now they were giving her three more... Nohara Rin was naturally gentle and level-headed, so instead of feeling excited, she felt as if she could hardly accept them.

Seeing her reaction, Sen Chisato understood what she was thinking. Pointing to the first scroll on the left, he said, "This one is from Minato-senpai. He's your teacher, so you don't need to refuse."

"Haha, this one was given to me by Jiraiya-sensei. I heard he got it from a Rain Ninja back in the day. I don't have a water nature, so it's no use to me. I'm already happy if it can be useful to Rin." Namikaze Minato scratched his head and smiled.

Nohara Rin relaxed a little.

She knew Namikaze Minato was trying to reassure her. After all, chakra natures could be developed through training.

"Thank you, Minato-sensei." Nohara Rin bowed slightly and didn't refuse again.

When she straightened up, she looked at Sen Chisato.

"To be honest, I've got a whole pile of ninjutsu. If you didn't have so little time to train and your chakra natures weren't such a poor match, I wouldn't mind teaching you everything... as long as you could survive a few more days in this war." Sen Chisato spoke calmly.

"Show-off," Uchiha Obito muttered under his breath, but he didn't say anything more.

He was just used to arguing with people, especially when this guy in front of him seemed just like Kakashi.

As for the goodwill Sen Chisato had shown, Obito could sense it.

"What an idiot." Kakashi sighed and rubbed his forehead.

Sen Chisato smiled at Uchiha Obito but didn't take offense.

A magnanimous person could tolerate anything. Did he really look like the sort of person who'd hold a grudge because Uchiha Obito badmouthed him?

He'd only said it to encourage his teammates to improve.

Silently doubling Uchiha Obito's training plan, Sen Chisato turned to Kakashi and Obito.

"As for you two, you don't need to improve your ninjutsu. What you need is combat experience!"

Sen Chisato pointed to the pile of weights nearby, his smile growing brighter. "I think you've rested enough. Put these on."

"From now on, we'll train as we travel!"

At these words, Uchiha Obito glanced at the pile of weights, swallowed hard, and grew increasingly alarmed.

He had a feeling something bad was about to happen.