Hatake Ziyan paid the two of them no further attention. He left the Uchiha Clan Compound and returned to Sakumo.
"Uncle Ziyan, did the Uchiha agree?" Sakumo asked when he saw Hatake Ziyan.
"They did. Uchiha Fugaku will personally lead his men to the Land of Water Battlefield. I didn't tell them the details of our plan. Just tell Fugaku directly what you need him to do when the time comes," Hatake Ziyan said.
"All right!" Sakumo nodded. "The Third Hokage just sent someone with a message asking me to come to the Hokage Building. I'll head over now!"
"Go ahead! He's probably arranging your deployment. Don't worry about Kakashi. I'll secretly follow Minato to keep my plan from going wrong. Just focus on fighting the enemy!" Hatake Ziyan said, noticing Sakumo's hesitation.
"Thank you, Uncle Ziyan!" With his worries settled, Sakumo walked straight out.
Hatake Ziyan stretched and muttered to himself, "I really am destined to work myself to the bone. Why do I have to go to all this trouble? I really want to throw in the towel!"
Despite saying he wanted to quit, Hatake Ziyan's body honestly betrayed him as he stood up and headed outside.
Hatake Ziyan soon found Minato Namikaze, who had already left the village with Kakashi, Obito Uchiha, and Rin Nohara following behind him.
Hatake Ziyan followed them from a distance without alerting them.
Not long after meeting Hatake Ziyan, Minato Namikaze had received a mission from the Third Hokage: destroy Kannabi Bridge and cut off the Land of Earth's supply line. Since the operation would take them deep behind enemy lines, only Minato Namikaze and his own squad were permitted to go.
Minato Namikaze had been startled when he received the mission. He had actually been only half convinced by Hatake Ziyan's words and had agreed because of Kushina. He hadn't expected the first part of Hatake Ziyan's plan to fall into place so quickly.
As soon as he left the village, Minato Namikaze opened the first sealed pouch Hatake Ziyan had given him.
"On the front against the Land of Earth, the little monkey will have you destroy Kannabi Bridge to cut off their supply line and force them to withdraw. There will also be another mission: reinforcing the front lines. You'll probably go there alone and have Kakashi lead the rest of your squad to destroy Kannabi Bridge.
"But aside from Kakashi, the other two members of your squad aren't capable of completing this mission. So, to let you carry out your reinforcement mission without worrying, I'll protect them from the shadows. Go reinforce the front lines, then return and lead them in destroying Kannabi Bridge. Once you've completed both missions, stop concerning yourself with the war against the Land of Earth. Head to the Land of Lightning battlefield alone as quickly as you can!"
After reading the message in the pouch, Minato gained more confidence in Hatake Ziyan's arrangements. The mission scroll only mentioned destroying Kannabi Bridge; the Third Hokage had personally given him the order to reinforce the front lines, and very few people knew about it. Besides, given the relationship between the Third Hokage and Hatake Ziyan, the Third Hokage would never have told him.
Minato Namikaze led the three through mountains and forests to avoid being seen. They encountered no enemies along the way. Only when they were nearing Kannabi Bridge did he assign Kakashi and the others their tasks.
"Kakashi, you've been promoted to jonin, so I'm leaving the mission to destroy Kannabi Bridge to you. I'll head to the front lines and tie down the enemy's main force!" Minato Namikaze took out a map and gestured over it.
Kakashi stared with his dead-fish eyes, his gaze utterly flat. "Don't worry, Minato-sensei! I'll complete the mission!"
Minato took out a Flying Thunder God Kunai and handed it to Kakashi. "Take this. Once I've finished my mission, I'll return immediately!"
Kakashi took the kunai, put it in his ninja tool pouch, and nodded.
"All right, make sure you hold out until I get back. I don't want to lose a single one of you!" With that, Minato left using the Body Flicker Technique.
Still wearing that dead-eyed stare, Kakashi signaled to the other two. "Let's go!"
After they had traveled a little farther, Kakashi noticed something was wrong. He signaled for the other two to stop, then studied the area ahead.
"You're pretty alert, kid!" An Iwagakure ninja leaped out and called toward Kakashi.
Kakashi didn't answer. He continued watching the spot where the Iwagakure ninja had emerged.
"Stop hiding. This kid's spotted us!" The ninja who had just appeared waved to those behind him.
As his words fell, three more Iwagakure ninja jumped out and took defensive stances, facing Kakashi and his teammates.
Kakashi assessed them, then said to Obito and Rin beside him, "Two jonin and two chunin. I'll take the two jonin. Can you handle the two chunin?"
Obito tightened his grip on his kunai, then glanced at Rin Nohara beside him. "No problem. Are you sure you can handle two jonin by yourself?"
"Just worry about your own opponents. Don't die!" Kakashi drew the Short Blade from his back and leaped out, charging at the enemy leader.
Using Flying Thunder God to travel, Minato Namikaze soon reached the frontline position the Third Hokage had ordered him to reinforce. He saw that only four Konoha ninja remained, sheltering behind rocks as they desperately held on.
Minato used the Body Flicker Technique to reach their side and began laying out the kunai bearing his Flying Thunder God marks from his scroll. "Sorry I'm late. Leave the rest to me!"
"Lord Minato, you're here!" they exclaimed in delighted surprise. Seeing Minato Namikaze, they knew they had a chance to survive.
"Throw all these kunai out there. You won't need to worry about anything else after that. Just retreat!" As he spoke, Minato laid all the Flying Thunder God Kunai on the ground.
"Yes, Lord Minato!" Without the slightest hesitation, they quickly picked up the kunai and began throwing them into the enemy crowd.
Minato peeked out to check where the kunai had landed, then turned to the four of them. "You can retreat now!"
As soon as Minato finished speaking, a yellow flash appeared on the battlefield. Wherever it flashed, an enemy fell.
"Oh no! It's the Yellow Flash! Retreat!" Only after Minato Namikaze had killed several people did an Iwagakure ninja recognize him. He shouted a warning and was just about to turn and flee.
Minato Namikaze appeared behind him and drove a kunai straight through his neck.
The battle turned in an instant, becoming a one-sided slaughter by Konoha. None of the enemy ninja could land a hit on Minato Namikaze, and with their comrades all around them, they dared not use large-scale ninjutsu.
They could only let Minato Namikaze pick them off one by one.
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