Ichiraku Ramen Shop.
This was probably the most inconspicuous corner of Konoha. One stall, three stools, one large pot, and an old man who had been making ramen for thirty years.
By the time Yan arrived, Minato was already seated.
Two bowls of steaming miso ramen sat before him.
"I ordered for you." Minato tipped his chin at him.
Yan sat down, picked up his chopsticks, and took a sip of the broth first.
Too salty.
No, it was not salty. His mouth was still salty from the peanuts he had eaten earlier.
"How long have you been back?" Minato asked.
"Since last night."
"Did you rest?"
"I slept for three hours."
Minato glanced at him. "Whenever you say 'I slept for three hours,' the real number is usually an hour and a half."
Yan did not deny it.
"I looked into it." Minato lowered his voice. "That intelligence source from the Second Staff Division."
His gaze stayed fixed on the noodles in his bowl as his fingers tapped twice against his chopsticks without thinking.
"The intelligence itself was real. That Iwagakure communication scroll was genuine, and the supply route mentioned inside was real too—but that route had been abandoned three days earlier. Iwagakure deliberately left that scroll for us to intercept. The whole thing was a fishing operation."
Yan picked up a mouthful of noodles and chewed.
"How did they rate it as B-level credibility? According to ANBU procedure, intercepted intelligence should not be rated higher than C-level without cross-verification."
"That's the problem." Minato put down his chopsticks.
He pulled out a slip of paper from his pocket and pushed it toward Yan.
Yan glanced down. Only a name and a position number were written on it.
"The deputy chief of the Second Staff Division. He was transferred into