28. Racing Against Failure

That sense of familiarity stemmed from his throwing knives.

Thinking back on it now, his knives must have already been making contact with space itself.

That was the reason why his knives could appear without a sound.

Because after his knives were launched, although they hadn't reached the level of piercing through space, they were still flying while grazing the spatial barrier.

That was why they were almost untraceable, invisible to the naked eye.

Even so.

After coming into contact with the Space Transfer technique, Ye Yuexin now possessed some unique insights into the nature of space.

"Are you daydreaming? We were only able to take them down so quickly thanks to your cooperation." Seeing Ye Yuexin standing there in a daze without moving, Minato Namikaze smiled with a slight frown.

He really was gentle; with just those words, he had immediately split the credit equally with Ye Yuexin.

One had to realize that Ye Yuexin's performance just now had been, at most, a mere assist.

"Ah, sorry, Captain." Hearing Minato Namikaze's words, Ye Yuexin snapped out of his thoughts and apologized immediately.

"Go and bring Ebisu and the others over now."

"Oh, right, understood." Feeling quite embarrassed for spacing out at a time like this, Ye Yuexin ran toward Might Guy immediately.

Meanwhile, Minato Namikaze began binding the unconscious person wearing the Rock Ninja forehead protector.

Before long, Ye Yuexin returned with the two of them.

It seemed their chakra had recovered quite well, as their footsteps no longer felt the slightest bit unsteady.

However, Ye Yuexin's own chakra was already bottoming out.

Having traveled such a long distance, his chakra was already nearly exhausted, and he had just fired a condensed, nature-transformed A-rank Wind Style jutsu.

His chakra had hit rock bottom instantly.

Now, a sense of fatigue was washing over his body at every moment.

Seeing Ye Yuexin and the others arrive, Minato Namikaze said immediately, "Ebisu, it's up to you now."

Ebisu seemed familiar with this situation; he gave a nod and walked up to the Rock Ninja.

After forming three hand seals, he turned his hand into a sword-finger, closed his eyes, and slowly pointed it at the Rock Ninja's forehead.

Seeing this, Ye Yuexin guessed that this must be a special ninjutsu used to read the memories of others.

It was the specialized mental secret technique of his clan that he had mentioned earlier.

However, it seemed this secret technique was quite taxing on chakra; after only a short while, fine beads of sweat began to appear on Ebisu's forehead.

Suddenly, Ebisu's tightly closed eyes snapped open.

"This is bad, we've been tricked." After lowering his sword-finger, Ebisu panted heavily.

This sentence caused a lump to form in the hearts of both Ye Yuexin and Minato Namikaze.

It seemed there really was a much larger conspiracy at play.

"What exactly happened?" Minato Namikaze asked immediately. The most important thing now was to clarify the situation before deciding on the next move.

With this development, time had become even more pressing.

Hearing Minato Namikaze's anxious inquiry, Ebisu replied at once, "From his memories, I learned that these people were merely bait."

"The real assault force is at the border of the Sand Ninja village. We've been played."

"It will take at least two days to get from here to the Sand Ninja border. And they have already decided to launch their breakout in one day."

"Furthermore, the rogue ninjas they have gathered number as many as eighty. Aside from four elite Jonin from the Rock Ninja, there are also two rogue ninjas from the Land of Water who appear to be at the Jonin level, while the rest are mostly Genin, with a few Chunin among them."

As these words left his lips, Ye Yuexin felt Minato Namikaze's breathing grow rapid.

Indeed, this was a massive bomb.

Almost all the ninjas had gone to the front lines. To think such a force would attempt to raid the border defenses of the Land of Fire now.

Given the current defensive strength of the border, they would certainly be unable to hold them off.

The surrounding villages would likely be in danger, and more importantly, this would have a significant impact on Konoha.

It wasn't just that Konoha might become a laughingstock among other villages.

It would lead to the Daimyo of the Land of Fire losing further trust in Konoha. Future missions or economic support for the village would likely drop to a certain degree.

No one could bear the weight of such losses.

It would directly make one a sinner in the eyes of the entire village.

As the captain of this mission, Minato Namikaze bore an inescapable responsibility, regardless of whether the intelligence provided by the village was accurate or not.

Given the way the village handled such matters, they certainly wouldn't allow a stain on the decisions made by Konoha's top brass.

Therefore, it was very likely that he would become the scapegoat.

As an elite Jonin, Minato Namikaze was already well aware of the darkness within the village.

Even so, it did not shake his resolve to become Hokage, for his determination was to change the village once he attained that position.

He wanted to make it truly resemble the image it projected to the world. Darkness might still exist, but he would shoulder it all himself.

Therefore, he was currently racing against failure, and as it happened, speed was Minato Namikaze's greatest specialty.

"I am now issuing new orders. You are to be led by Ye Yuexin and continue toward the border defense squad of the Land of Rock."

"Based on my intelligence, they have already pulled some personnel from the surrounding defenses. You are to deliver this message and have them reinforce the Sand Ninja Defense Base."

"After that, rendezvous with Kakashi's squad and use every possible means to take down several of the Rock Village's peripheral defense outposts. Give them a taste of their own medicine. Is that clear?" Minato Namikaze said, his tone serious and rapid.

"Understood," Ye Yuexin and the others replied with equal decisiveness.

Immediately afterward, "I am heading to the Sand Ninja side first." With that, Minato Namikaze vanished instantly.

To cover such a vast distance, Minato Namikaze was actually using the Body Flicker Technique to travel. It seemed he was determined to arrive within a day.

However, it was uncertain whether his chakra could hold out.

After all, they had already been traveling for a full day.

Ye Yuexin wondered, even if he managed to arrive within a day, how much chakra would he have left to face the enemy?

He shook his head, feeling he was overthinking things. How could the Fourth Hokage possibly fail?

Minato Namikaze must have been in too much of a hurry when he left, as he hadn't even retrieved the four Flying Thunder God Kunai stuck in the ground.

This worked out perfectly; Ye Yuexin had long wanted to study them. He hadn't been able to think of a reason to ask for one on the road.

He quickly pulled the kunai from the ground.

Afterward, he asked, "I am unfamiliar with the terrain here. Do you know the location?" Upon hearing Ye Yuexin's question, Might Guy spoke up first, "We have all performed missions here before; we know where the base is."

"That's perfect. Without further ado, let's head out immediately. Also, Might Guy, it's your turn to carry me. My chakra is bottoming out."

"Oh, oh, right, no problem. Hop on." Hearing Ye Yuexin say this, Might Guy quickly turned his back to him.

In times like these, there was no room for false modesty. Ye Yuexin jumped directly onto Might Guy's back, and the three of them set off once more.

Before departing, Ebisu delivered one final strike to the throat of the Rock Ninja.

The blood on the ground had yet to dry, but there was no time now to dispose of the body.