Tsunade had long gotten used to the way Shin and Minato interacted. Over the past two months, she had often witnessed such scenes, and she had finally come to understand how Minato had been nurtured into who he was.
Minato analyzed seriously, "The Land of Iron may be poor in resources, but it trades with all the ninja villages. Many of the ninja tools used in the villages are forged by the Land of Iron, and this is one of its primary sources of income. However, in recent years, the Land of Rain has aggressively developed its industry. It refines iron ore purchased from various countries into high-quality iron ingots and sells them to the ninja villages. Nowadays, most major ninja villages prefer to buy ingots from the Land of Rain and forge their own weapons. After all, this reduces costs and boosts their internal industries. Why wouldn't they? But this has essentially cut off the Land of Iron's financial lifeline."
"You once said that cutting off someone's financial path is like killing their parents. Even a neutral country like the Land of Iron cannot tolerate this. So I suspect that a war between the Land of Rain and the Land of Iron is inevitable. And I believe it's very likely that Ame, whose ambitions have been swelling in recent years, will be the one to ignite it. The victor of this conflict will determine who gets to keep profiting from this lucrative trade."
After hearing Minato's analysis, Shin was very pleased and proudly showed off to Tsunade, "Did you see that? That's my brother!"
Tsunade rolled her eyes and replied irritably, "My brother-in-law."
At the mention of "brother-in-law", Minato's face immediately turned bright red. He was only nine years old. Even though he had shamelessly already "reserved" Kushina for himself, he was still modest when it came to emotional matters.
How could something like this be said out loud? If Kushina found out, would his ears even survive?
So he quickly said, "I have to go patrol now!"
Then he bolted out like he was fleeing.
Seeing this, Tsunade and Shin burst into laughter. Teasing Minato had become one of their favorite pastimes. After all, he always acted so mature in front of them, like a little grown-up. Seeing him panic and run off like that was far more amusing than teasing anyone else, it gave them a strong sense of accomplishment.
---
After exiting the tent, Minato immediately assembled his squad and, carrying his mission orders, led a group of young ninjas out of the camp.
Ever since arriving at the front-line camp, he had shown great enthusiasm. He had volunteered for patrol duties and had clashed several times with enemy scouts from Ame who had infiltrated the area. Each time, he had come out victorious. Because of this, he had built quite a reputation over the past two months, and people began to recognize his tremendous potential.
The three members of his squad were all rookies, fresh graduates from the Ninja Academy who had been sent straight to the front lines.
During a previous mission, their original squad captain had died unexpectedly, and Minato had taken over the role thanks to both his strength and his connections.
"Captain, where are we patrolling today?" one team member asked as soon as they left the camp, grinning mischievously.
Although Minato was only nine, these slightly older teammates, three or four years older, had nothing but respect and admiration for him, following his orders without hesitation. But since the war hadn't fully erupted yet, these kids still hadn't experienced true brutality. Their thinking remained somewhat naïve.
Right now, instead of focusing on completing the patrol, what they were really hoping for was to catch spies from Ame and earn merit. That way, when they returned to the village, they could brag to their friends about all the daring things they'd done on the border.
"What's your idea?" Minato responded with a question of his own. For someone like him, routine patrols were indeed an underutilization of his talents.
What's more, he had already placed several new types of sensory amplifiers along the patrol routes, so he could know what was going on without even being there. That's why he was also hoping for a more thrilling kind of mission.
He didn't particularly care about merit or achievements, he knew it was only a matter of time before he earned great accomplishments. What he really wanted was a good fight, one that could truly test his current combat strength. Preferably the kind where life and death hung in the balance.
"We've always taken the right path on patrol, and we've caught a few spies there. But I think even the dumbest ninjas from Ame wouldn't keep using the same route. So why don't we check the left path today?"
Minato agreed to the suggestion without a second thought.
Would someone try to nitpick him for not sticking to the regular patrol route?
He didn't care.
First off, if he noticed something unusual on the left path during patrol, it made perfect sense to check it out. That's what patrols are for, right?
Second, anyone who dared to question him would have to be out of their mind. Did they not know who the real power players in this border camp were?
Hadn't they seen that Tsunade practically had the final say on everything in the camp?
Hadn't they noticed that Shin came and went as he pleased, not even the Hokage restrained him?
So, the four-person team set out toward the left path, not so much to patrol as to hunt for enemy spies.
However, despite Ame's continued vigilance against Konoha, it hadn't actually intended to start a conflict just yet. So, after a few of their spies were captured, Hanzō, worried about provoking Konoha, had stopped sending more infiltrators, leaving Minato's hopes for battle dashed.
Just as the team, somewhat disappointed, was about to head back to camp, Minato suddenly became alert and ordered, "On guard!"
The squad members instantly formed a defensive formation around him, eyes locked on the direction ahead.
"Come out!" Minato barked coldly at a tree about ten meters away. But after a long moment, there was no response from behind the tree.
"If you don't come out, I'm coming in."
Behind the tree, three small figures were huddled together, trembling uncontrollably.
Hearing Minato's final warning, a timid girl's voice whispered, "Nagato, Yahiko… maybe we should just go out…"
Another voice followed, "We don't have a choice. We've been found anyway. We can't hide."
Having reached a decision, the three figures cautiously stepped out from behind the tree, looking nervously at Minato. Seeing the three tiny figures, he was taken aback. They looked to be only five or six years old, dressed in rags, their little arms and legs exposed. Their pitiful appearance immediately extinguished the killing intent he had been harboring.
What stood out most was their hair.
The boy on the left had a head of bright orange hair, with a carefree, easygoing look that naturally put people at ease.
The girl in the middle had long, blue hair. Though her face was smudged with dirt, her fair skin and cute features still shone through, she was adorably pretty.
The boy on the right had long, deep red hair that almost completely covered his face, making it hard to see his features. But the moment Minato laid eyes on him, he immediately thought of Kushina. Because this boy's hair was nearly identical to hers, in both color and style.
The reason he hadn't sensed them at first was that the three barely gave off any chakra signature. If they hadn't made a bit of noise, he might have completely overlooked them.