Minato couldn't be bothered to entertain the other man and instead asked directly, "Speak. Who sent you?"
"Heh!" The ninja sneered and replied, "You think I'd actually tell you?"
Minato glanced toward the six-person group nearly a hundred meters away, who couldn't hear a word of this conversation, saying, "You make it sound like I wouldn't know it was Danzō even if you didn't say anything."
The ninja's pupils shrank sharply as he stared at Minato in disbelief. He was shocked. He had no idea how Minato had figured it out.
"Guess all you want," the ninja said coldly. "It's not like you have any proof."
"That's true," Minato said casually, not the least bit concerned. "But who told you I needed proof? As long as Root recruits people, we'll kill them. Recruit more, kill more. If we keep it up, what kind of force do you think Danzō can still muster?"
"I don't even understand what you're talking about, but aren't you afraid this will start internal conflict in Konoha?" the ninja asked in disbelief.
Minato scoffed, "That's a weird thing to say. You came here to kidnap me, aren't you the ones stirring up internal strife?"
"Hmph!" the ninja said coldly, "Whatever. You won't get anything from me anyway."
"You really think you're that important, huh? But whether I get anything from you isn't up to you. What should we do with this guy?" Minato suddenly turned and asked someone nearby.
"You actually noticed me," came a voice from a dozen meters away. Shin revealed himself, smiling.
"Hehe, honestly, I didn't sense anything. I was just bluffing," Minato scratched his head with a silly grin. "But your stealth technique is getting better and better."
"All the recent improvements have paid off. I'll teach you when we get back to camp."
"Okay!" Minato replied excitedly, then asked again, "So, what do we do with this guy?"
"Bring him back for study," Shin said, as usual.
"Oh right, there's one more thing!" Minato pointed into the distance at the three kids and said, "They are homeless orphans. Do you think we could help them?"
When Shin saw the trio, his head started to ache.
This wasn't rescuing three kids. This was bringing back a heap of trouble. Even though Madara no longer had the Rinnegan, and Black Zetsu had no real combat power... If those two figures hiding somewhere really wanted to make a move, the destruction they could cause would be terrifying. Still, seeing the hopeful look in Minato's eyes, he couldn't bring himself to say no.
Fine. He'd just pretend he didn't know anything and do what little he could to help. With that, he took Minato and appeared in front of Nagato and his companions.
"Let me introduce myself. I'm Shin, and this is Minato."
Nagato and the others were no longer as relaxed as they had been with Minato. After all, Minato's looks were misleading, and he didn't seem much older than them, which made it easy to lower their guard. But Shin was different. The aura he gave off alone made the three feel uneasy.
"Would you mind telling me about yourselves?"
Though clearly scared, the three still told their stories. Konan and Yahiko were both from the Land of Rain. Up until two months ago, they had families. However, their homes were near the border of the Land of Rain, and were destroyed during a battle between ninjas from Ame and Suna. In that battle, they lost all their family members and were forced to flee for their lives.
As for Nagato, he met Yahiko and Konan about a month ago. The reason he ended up here was that, after hearing news of the Allied Shinobi Forces attacking the Land of Whirlpools, his parents fled the country with him to avoid the conflict. But for outsiders, surviving in another country isn't easy, especially with such distinct features, making it impossible to hide their identities. As a result, his family was mistaken for spies by Ame and were hunted down. Only he, who had always been protected, survived.
Because all three were orphans, Yahiko and Konan brought Nagato into their group, and the three began their wandering life together. If the story had progressed as in the original timeline, the three would have met Jiraiya in three years and been trained by him for another three years. Unexpectedly, they were found by Minato now, after knowing each other for only a month.
Given that, perhaps Yahiko and Konan's fates could be changed.
As for Nagato, with Madara watching from the shadows, his future was more uncertain. However, since Madara's Rinnegan was already in Nagato's possession, it meant that Madara himself likely wasn't very powerful at this point. Most likely, he was already old and near death, nothing to be particularly afraid of.
"I understand now," Shin said after hearing their stories. "You three can come with me to the Land of Fire. Since none of you were born or raised in Konoha, it's not convenient for me to bring you directly to the village. You'd probably feel uncomfortable there anyway. I'll find you a few good families in the Land of Fire, couples without children, so that you'll have someone to rely on. But that means you'll have to be separated. Are you okay with that?"
If it had been three years later, the three would have rejected the idea without hesitation. By then, their bond would have grown deep, and they wouldn't have accepted being separated under any circumstances. But things were different now. The three were still adjusting to their status as orphans.
Now that they had a chance at a stable life, they readily agreed. However, they made a promise to each other, to meet up regularly. Though their bond wasn't as strong as it would be after three years together, they still cherished one another.
He had no objections to their gentleman's agreement.
After sending the two captured enemies over to Orochimaru, he took the six children back to camp. He greeted Tsunade briefly, then began the process of finding homes for Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan.
The Land of Fire was vast and populous. Due to various reasons, there were many couples who wanted children but couldn't have them. And now, he had access to a wide range of resources and could gather information through many channels—finding three suitable households was easy.
Before long, he had chosen a few kind-hearted families and brought Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan to visit them one by one. Couples who longed for children but couldn't have them often had a deeper desire than most. Thanks to Tsunade, who had cleaned the children up nicely over the past few days, and with their naturally cute and well-behaved appearances, the three were soon adopted into new families.
This was all he could do. As for what would happen in their futures, that was beyond his control.
Upon returning to the camp, Shin noticed that Minato seemed a little down.
"Oh, oh, oh, what's with that expression on your face?"
Minato was already used to Shin's constant teasing in all sorts of ways and didn't take it seriously.
But after sighing, he said, "I just don't know if those three kids will be happy in the future."