The Self-Mortification Scheme Behind the Mutiny and the Kazekage's Desperate Counterattack

The night was as dark as ink, blending the sea of sand with the sky.

Namikaze Minato stood alone in the shadow of the tent. The Flying Thunder God Kunai between his fingers carried a cold metallic feel. He could hear neither the wind nor the footsteps of the sentries in the distance. The entire world seemed to have been reduced to his own heavy heartbeat and that towering wall built from regulations.

He could wait no longer.

Rather than passively waiting for intelligence reports delayed by six hours and stripped of all value through layer upon layer of approval, he might as well become the eyes himself.

It was a violation of the rules.

A commander-in-chief abandoning the main force and infiltrating enemy territory alone to conduct reconnaissance—once recorded, that would be dereliction of duty and irresponsibility toward the safety of the entire force. Hyuga Hiashi's ever-present Byakugan was the sword of Damocles hanging over his head.

But Minato understood even more clearly that a commander-in-chief who was blind and deaf would be the greatest possible threat to all his subordinates' lives.

He closed his eyes and sensed the Flying Thunder God coordinates spread throughout the southern border of the Land of Fire, their locations long engraved in his memory. He had personally established that network for mobile warfare during the Third Shinobi World War.

The next moment, his figure vanished from the spot.

There was no sound, no violent surge of Chakra—only an almost imperceptible ripple in the air.

After several brief consecutive teleports, Minato had already traveled dozens of miles into the Land of Wind. Instead of heading directly to the area where Baki's troops had last appeared according to the intelligence, he landed atop a wind-eroded rocky hill.

He crouched down and gently pinched up a