Fishing in Troubled Waters

"Shit! What kind of crappy place is the Hidden Sand? There isn't even a damn tree," Jin grumbled as he ran. Kato Dan burst out laughing. "That's why the Hidden Leaf is still better."

"Could you two maybe wait until we're safe before chatting?" Minato, who had suddenly appeared, cut off their conversation, panting as he spoke.

"Minato, which way do we go?" Jin asked. Mainly because with such a huge commotion... going back the way they came was completely out of the question.

Minato took a deep breath, stopped, turned to look at the two of them, and said with a serious face, "Dan, Jin, there are only two options now... the first is to force our way through, and the second is to turn back and pull a hiding-under-their-noses move."

Kato Dan pondered for a moment, then said in a low voice, "No. Turning back is too risky."

"Relying on just the three of us to force our way through isn't realistic either..." Jin rubbed his temples and looked at Minato with a face full of complaint. "What happened to an actual B-rank mission? Is this actually B-rank?"

Minato gave an awkward laugh, pulled a map from his robes, and studied it carefully with Kato Dan, while Jin rested off to the side in utter boredom.

"If we want to save time on the mission, why don't we disguise ourselves as Sand ninja?" Minato suggested, only for Jin, who was listening nearby, to reject it. "They're not stupid."

"Mm..." Minato thought it over and seemed to agree. Kato Dan also knitted his brows tightly in thought.

"Lady Chiyo has given orders! Strictly seal off all areas!"

"The intruders are Hidden Leaf ninja! Two youths and one child! ..."

Listening to the Sand ninja messenger's voice, Jin could not help growing anxious. "Minato, Dan, if you two don't come up with something soon, we really are going to die and be buried in a foreign land."

"No choice!" Minato steeled his heart. "We'll pretend to be communication troops and pass messages along the way, see if we can break out!"

"Leave it to me," Kato Dan said solemnly, forming hand seals at the same time. "Spirit Transformation Technique!"

Minato and Jin guarded Kato Dan's body. Kato Dan's soul flew out swiftly, leaving no trace as it killed that messenger.

"Transformation Technique!"️3

Jin transformed into the messenger, while Minato and Kato Dan transformed into Jin's guards...

Hidden Leaf Command Headquarters

"Summoning Technique!"

Jiraiya sensed that something seemed to be happening at Mount Myoboku, and immediately summoned Toad Tora.

"Jiraiya, this is the intelligence Minato and the others sent back." Toad Tora spat a scroll from his mouth and handed it to Jiraiya.

As soon as they heard there was intelligence, Hatake Sakumo and Yoshi Nara immediately came to Jiraiya's side.

"What about Minato and the others?" Jiraiya casually handed the scroll to Sakumo and the other man, then asked Toad Tora.

"Minato and the others were discovered by the Hidden Sand. They're probably running for their lives right now," Toad Tora said helplessly, then took the initiative to undo the summoning and return to Mount Myoboku.

Hearing that Minato and the others had been discovered by the Hidden Sand, Sakumo's brows locked tight. He did not even bother to check the intelligence in his hands before running to the sand table to infer the three's route.

"Senior Sakumo, don't worry. With Minato and Kato Dan there, they'll definitely protect that kid Jin," Jiraiya advised, even though he said that... he was just as worried...

"Stop! Which unit are you from?" A Sand ninja blocked the three of them. The youth standing in the middle of the trio took a paper order from his robes and said in a deep voice,

"Lady Chiyo has given orders. Three Hidden Leaf intruders have been discovered in the village, and they are now suspected to have fled. Every war zone along the route must intercept them with full force."

"Intruders?" The Sand ninja froze for a moment. "Wait here. I'll go report it."

Before long, a chunin hurried over with several genin. "My name is Yuki Matsushita. I'm the chunin in charge here."

"Lady Chiyo's orders." Jin once again showed that paper order. "Please be sure to watch for any suspicious individuals. We still have to notify the other sectors, so we'll take our leave first."

"All right, thank you for your hard work..."

Just like that, the three of them relied on a single paper order to bluff their way through one station after another. It was just that as they fled ahead, the Sand ninja behind them were in hot pursuit.

"Did three people pass through here?" a Sand Anbu shouted sternly. The chunin Minato and the others had met earlier answered with trembling fear, "An... Anbu, sir... there were three messeng—"

"Where did they go!" the Anbu ninja interrupted impatiently. The chunin had only just spat out, "Ahead..." before the Anbu ninja cut him down with one slash.

As the chunin fell at his feet, the Anbu ninja said coldly, "Letting intruders escape is punishable by death." Seeing this, the other genin all did not dare meet the Anbu ninja's eyes, afraid that they would be the next one he killed.

"Once we pass the next station, we can take the hidden route back," Minato said in a very good mood. He had not expected getting out to be easier than sneaking in.

"These Hidden Sand guys are seriously dumb," Jin said carelessly. Kato Dan smiled as he looked at the two of them. After spending these past few days together, he knew very clearly that these two had limitless futures ahead of them. Bold, meticulous, and strong...

"Stop! Which unit are you from!" the patrolling Sand ninja barked. Jin repeated the old trick. "Lady Chiyo has given orders! The village was attacked by Hidden Leaf intruders, who escaped afterward. Now all suspicious personnel entering and leaving must be strictly checked!"

"Where is Lady Chiyo's paper order?" The patrolling Sand ninja frowned slightly. Jin handed over the paper order with a solemn face. After taking it, the Sand ninja examined it carefully, and seeing no problems at all, he let the three leave.

"You must strictly inspect everyone coming and going," Jin instructed with a convincing manner. The Sand ninja also cooperated by answering, "Of course. My older brother died at the hands of the Hidden Leaf! I'll definitely avenge him!"

"All right, we'll go on ahead then." After Jin said that, he led Minato and the other man toward the next station.

They had only taken a few steps when someone suddenly shouted behind them, "Hurry and stop those three up ahead!"

"We've been discovered, run!" Minato shouted, immediately releasing the Transformation Technique. Taking advantage of the Sand ninja's momentary daze, Jin hurriedly activated his ninjutsu. "Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Flower Nail Crimson Technique!"

Countless small fireballs swept in from every direction. Seeing this, the Sand ninja hurriedly cast ninjutsu.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

"Wind Release: Gale Palm!"

"..."

Just when they thought they were fine, the small fireballs suddenly turned into shuriken. Some Hidden Sand genin who had no time to resist were stabbed instantly, blood splashing up as their wails rang out.

"Kill them! Kill them!"

Seeing this, one genin suddenly shouted and charged at the three of them. When the other Sand ninja saw their comrades beside them fall, they also rushed over desperately one after another.

"Fuck, have these people gone crazy?" Jin cursed loudly while using a kunai to block. Minato could not free himself, so he could only warn them, "Dan, Jin, be careful."

"Jin, as the saying goes, even a cornered rabbit will bite," Kato Dan said after finishing off the enemy before him with a kunai.

"Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere!"

Not far away, a Hidden Sand Anbu formed hand seals and shouted. Countless giant high-pressure bullets formed from wind attacked the battlefield below indiscriminately.

"Careful!" Minato called out a warning, his body instinctively retreating. Jin and Kato Dan likewise dodged the wind bullets falling from the sky.