"Once it's placed, inject a little chakra into the kunai, and we'll be able to sense it."
Gourd Toad took the kunai in its paws, inspected it, and nodded. "Easy enough. Leave it to me.
"But I'm not familiar with Kumogakure's waterways either, so it might take some time to find the route."
"It's fine. Better safe than sorry," Mirai added from the side. "Once you get there, just leave the kunai somewhere secure."
"Got it." Gourd Toad swallowed the two kunai, turned, and leaped toward a nearby canal. With a splash, it vanished beneath the water and soon disappeared from sight.
Minato stood on the bank, closed his eyes, and began sensing the Ninjutsu mark on the kunai.
"Alright, now we wait."
While they waited, Naori suddenly said, "Shouldn't we take off our forehead protectors first?"
Everyone froze.
"What else would we do?" Naori swept her gaze over them. "Wouldn't infiltrating Kumogakure while wearing Konoha forehead protectors be a little too brazen?"
"...That makes sense." Mirai nodded. "Take them off first."
The four of them untied their forehead protectors and put them away. Kushina looked at her own Kurenai-colored hair, then at Mirai's Kurenai-colored hair.
"Wouldn't Mirai's and my hair be too conspicuous too? There aren't many Kurenai-haired people in the entire Shinobi World."
"True." Mirai thought for a moment. "Let's use the Transformation Technique! You turn your hair black, and I'll turn mine white."
"White hair?" Kushina's eyes lit up.
"What?"
"Nothing. I just feel like it'll look really good... Let's try it first!"
Kushina formed hand seals with both hands. Chakra flowed through her, and her hair changed from Kurenai-colored to black. She shook her head from side to side, then tugged at the ends of her hair. "How does it look?"
"Not bad. Pretty natural." Mirai