The next day, Namikaze Minato was summoned to the Hokage's office.
The Fire Daimyō had issued his request personally.
A direct call, by name, for Minato to undertake a high-priority A-rank secret mission.
It was unusual—but not unheard of.
Famous shinobi were sometimes hired this way when nobles or foreign lords wanted the "best available" for a particularly delicate problem. The missions were usually dangerous… but the compensation was appropriately generous.
For Konoha, a Daimyō's trust brought more than money. It translated into reputation, more missions, more leverage.
And for the shinobi named, being singled out by the Daimyō could polish a reputation to a bright, politically useful shine.
"This is good for you, Minato," Hiruzen said.
Black circles hung under his eyes, but his gaze was warm as he clapped Minato on the shoulder.
"You have the skill. What you lack is public prestige—and a chance to show it. A task like this, directly commissioned by the Daimyō, can fill in that final gap for you."
As one of the current candidates for Fourth Hokage, Minato's situation was no secret to him.
Between Minato and Orochimaru, Hiruzen's heart leaned heavily toward the former.
He didn't say it out loud, but he knew himself.
A man like Orochimaru, with his cold curiosity and utter disregard for limits, holding Konoha's reins… the village might not survive him.
Minato, by contrast, was steady. Gentle. Politically soft in all the right places.
"In today's Konoha," Hiruzen thought, "Minato is the right choice."
"I understand, Lord Hiruzen."
Minato smiled, sunlight in human form.
His blond hair gleamed in the office light like a halo.
"I'll handle it."
"I trust you."
Hiruzen nodded.
"But this mission's location is… unusual. Be careful."
Minato's gaze dropped to the scroll in his hand.
He'd skimmed it earlier, but now he read more closely.
"The Land of Hot Water?" he murmured, brows knitting. "Isn't that overseas? Why would the Daimyō be suddenly interested in them?"
"Keep reading," Hiruzen said, lighting his pipe.
Minato read on.
His expression darkened.
"An X-Religion cult," he said slowly. "They've already infiltrated the Land of Fire… no wonder the Daimyō's alarmed."
The intelligence report described a strange, newly emerged organization.
It preached in whispers, hid in shadows, and performed bloody sacrificial rites—targeting nobles. In several provinces, members of the aristocracy had been murdered in ways that could only be described as ritualistic.
Panic was spreading like a disease.
When the root of the cult's activity was traced, all fingers pointed to the Land of Hot Water.
No wonder the Daimyō had lost patience.
"I see," Minato said, carefully refolding the scroll and tucking it away. "If that's the case… I'll make sure to investigate thoroughly, Lord Hiruzen. Excuse me—I'll prepare right away."
In a flash of yellow, he was gone.
"Flying Thunder God…"
Hiruzen watched the empty spot where Minato had stood a heartbeat ago.
Envy and something like relief flickered in his old eyes.
"At last, sensei's jutsu has a worthy successor."
—
Minato's three-person squad assembled quickly.
He would lead as captain.
His team: Uchiha Obito, Hatake Kakashi, and Nohara Rin.
After packing their gear and supplies, he kissed Kushina goodbye and left through the village gate, three genin (one technically a chūnin) at his heels.
"Obito, Kakashi, what are you two looking at?" Rin asked.
Both boys kept glancing back toward the village, just visible as a smudge behind the winter trees.
"Uh… I was hoping Sogetsu-nii would come see me off," Obito muttered, shoulders slumping. "I told him I'd be taking an A-rank mission this time. And still he didn't come. Arghhh, it's so annoying!"
"Maybe he finds you annoying and wanted to avoid you," Kakashi said flatly.
"He does not!"
Obito flared instantly, like a cat with stepped-on paws.
"My relationship with Sogetsu-nii is great! Don't stir up trouble, Kakashi!"
Kakashi pressed his lips together and said nothing more.
His eye, however, drifted back toward Konoha once, almost involuntarily.
Since his last "counseling session," there were things he desperately wanted to ask Uchiha Sogetsu.
Questions about war. About their fathers. About the shadows behind "heroic deaths."
But it looked like those questions would have to wait until they came back.
If they came back.
—
Meanwhile, inside the Uchiha compound, a pale figure slid out of the wall.
"Lord Sogetsu, they've already departed," White Zetsu reported.
"I know."
Sogetsu lounged on the tatami, his robe half-open, hair slightly messy. He looked almost lazy as he nodded.
"Should I tail them?" White Zetsu asked eagerly, slashing a finger across his throat with a gleeful shhk.
"Wait until they and the AB Brothers beat each other half to death… and then—snip?"
"No. Minato can't die. Not yet."
Sogetsu shook his head.
"But the AB Brothers aren't enough to handle him anyway. We'll need to… add pressure."
White Zetsu blinked, baffled.
"I don't get it," he admitted.
"You don't need to."
Sogetsu smiled.
He slipped several pages out of Lemanor's notebook and tossed them.
White Zetsu caught them and peered down, eyes widening as he recognized the recorded jutsu.
"I want you to use these," Sogetsu said. "At the right time. Don't kill Minato—just make sure things get… difficult."
"Ahhh. I understand now~"
White Zetsu's grin stretched wider and nastier.
"Cloud's AB Brothers plus the Mizukage's water jutsu… hehehe… I'll make it very interesting."
He melted into the floor, gone.
—
Days passed in a blur of trees and snow.
Minato drove his team hard.
By the time Konoha's border came into sight—a line of marker stones and a faint change in the air—Rin was breathing hard and Obito looked half-dead.
Kakashi, of course, was still upright. Barely.
"We'll rest here for a day," Minato decided, taking in their exhaustion with a pang of guilt.
If the Daimyō's schedule hadn't been so tight, he never would've forced this pace on them.
"Finally! Rest!" Obito cried, collapsing onto the cold ground with a thump.
"So this is what an A-rank mission feels like… I'm going to die before we even start…"
"If you have time to complain, you have time to recover your stamina," Kakashi said.
He wasn't much better off, but his hands stayed near his weapons pouch. His eye scanned the trees, alert.
"Don't forget—we're outside the village now. This isn't like training near Konoha. We could run into shinobi from other countries at any moment."
"Kakashi's right," Minato said, voice gentle but firm.
"Outside our borders, missions are more than just the objective. We have to assume enemy shinobi are nearby at all times. Never let your guard down."
"Um… Minato-sensei," Obito said.
His face had gone a little stiff.
He lifted a trembling hand and pointed over Minato's shoulder.
"When you say 'enemy shinobi'… do you mean… that guy?"
"!"
Minato and Kakashi turned their heads at the same time, chakra tensing.
A lone figure was walking toward them along the border clearing.
His skin was dark, muscles thick and cut. A greatsword rested on his shoulder. Dark shades hid his eyes, and his lips moved silently, as if he were muttering a rhythm only he could hear.
He hadn't even noticed them yet.
"From the Cloud?"
Minato's brows drew together.
The man's clothes and headband left little doubt.
"Excuse me!" Minato called out, hand resting lightly on a tri-pronged kunai. "Kumo shinobi over there. Can you explain why you've entered the Land of Fire's border zone?"
"Huh?"
The man looked up, finally seeing them.
He scratched his head.
"Man… that was fast," he muttered. "Big bro did tell me to be careful…"
He sighed, then gave them a sheepish, dazzling grin.
"Hey," he said. "Can you guys just pretend you never saw me?"
Minato's eyes went cold.
"Restrain him," he ordered.
The special kunai left his fingers with a whistle, streaking toward the man like a bolt of light.
Shing!
A flash of steel.
The kunai was sliced clean out of the air.
The Cloud shinobi exhaled heavily and reached up, gripping the hilt of his blade.
"Too bad," he said. "Killer B really didn't wanna fight today."
The grin faded, replaced by something sharper.
"But you forced my hand."
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 60 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/StrawHatStudios