"So that's why. No wonder this is an A-Rank mission."
That was Sasuke.
"They're Snow Ninja?"
That was Hinata, wary.
"What are Snow Ninja?"
That was Naruto, confused.
Everyone turned to look at Naruto. Seeing that his ignorance was genuine, not a joke, Kakashi pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed.
"Naruto, you don't think only the Five Great Nations have Shinobi Villages and ninja, do you?"
"Huh? They don't?"
"Besides the Shinobi Villages of the Five Great Nations, plenty of Small Nations have their own villages that train ninja, along with their own Ninjutsu traditions and names. Snow Ninja are ninja from the Land of Snow."
Understanding dawned on Naruto, while the two captured Snow Ninja felt like crying.
So this brat had captured us without even knowing who we were? We're skilled enough to be sent abroad on covert missions! There ought to be a limit to looking down on people!
What the two Snow Ninja didn't realize, however, was that their stealth skills really weren't the problem.
Naruto might not have known who they were, but with his ability to sense malice and Hinata's ability to observe everything around her without a single blind spot, even the stealthiest tailing was a joke.
Following up on the subject, Kakashi gave Naruto another lesson on the current world's geopolitical landscape. Only then did Naruto recall the academic lessons at the Ninja Academy that had once sounded like gibberish to him.
There was no helping it. Compared with his father Minato's entertaining, comedy-routine-like lessons, simply managing not to fall asleep during the school's dry, tedious academic classes was already a huge improvement for Naruto.
And Minato Namikaze, who had died so young, had no way to teach Naruto about all these present-day Small Nations and villages. After all, he