Chapter 134: Entering the Village Quietly
"Listen up, everyone. Our goal this time is to follow the Shukaku Grand Road, launch a rapid assault on Hidden Sand Village, and then release the Tailed Beasts inside the Village! We will create chaos, destroy as many buildings as possible, and reduce the Village's war potential!"
"Then, we will draw the Hidden Sand Village Ninjas away to provide support."
"If many of them go, the Allied Forces will launch an offensive."
"If only a few go, the Allied Forces will perform a feint, while we try to take out those who come to help."
"Understood?"
"Understood!"
"Very good!"
"Since this is a special mission, it should have a code name!"
"So I've decided, the code name for this operation will be... Entering the Village Stealthily!"
"..."
"Excellent! It seems no one has any objections to the code name, so let's move out!"
"???"
...Land of Rain.
Even though the mountain-ringed Land of Rain had three openings carved into it, the country's rainfall remained unparalleled.
The torrential downpour hindered the progress of the special operation.
But it also did a great job of concealing the tracks of their arrival.
At least... that's what they thought... "Nagato, how are things today?"
Uzumaki Ruming asked Nagato about the movements of the Allied Forces, as he did every day.
After all, dealing with seven Tailed Beasts, one could never be too cautious.
If a war without Tailed Beasts was considered conventional warfare... well... plus one Nagato, if these two didn't participate, it was conventional.
Then, a war where Tailed Beasts took the field was a true Village-destroying level war!
Although seventy thousand Allied troops could also destroy a Village, the nature of it was different!
Hidden Sand Village Ninjas were all elites!
Normally, a Hidden Sand Village Ninja taking on two or three was standard procedure; even against the Uchiha... Hidden Sand Village Ninjas dared to go one-on-one!
Clan against clan!
Tell me, isn't that one-on-one!
But Tailed Beasts were different!
Shukaku... that wasn't one against seven either!
So their confidence really wasn't that high!
As for the statues at the service area... that was just to fool idiots!
"The Allied Forces have moved!"
"It's fine... hm? They've moved so soon!"
"How many people?"
"Eight."
"Eight! Didn't the Seven-Tails run away, what?!"
"Did it fly back!"
"No! There's also a blonde guy among them."
"Minato Namikaze?"
"Yes!"
"Tsk tsk! Kushina is on a date, then."
"Let's go and discuss which people to send over."
"Okay."
..."This old woman won't be going. My puppets aren't much use against Tailed Beasts; it's better if I stay behind to guard against the Allied Forces."
After hearing Nagato's report, Chiyo was the first to voice her opinion.
Are you kidding? Using two-meter puppets against fifty-meter Tailed Beasts? She didn't have a death wish. Wouldn't staying behind to deal with the Fourth Raikage A be more comfortable!
"Then I won't go either. I only specialize in sword techniques; I'm afraid the Tailed Beasts will heal faster than I can stab them."
Seeing someone else answer, Hatake Sakumo followed suit immediately.
"Then the Chinoike Clan won't go either. The Allied Forces need a Gundam here to hold the fort."
"I'm not going, let my teacher go. That blonde guy is always stealing my gold dust; since he's there this time, I don't want to go."
"Let my teacher go. He uses Iron Sand, it's not worth as much!"
Sunasuke: [Angry Vein Pop!!!]
"Hmph! If this old man has to go, then I'll go!"
"I'll go as well. When it comes to sealing Tailed Beasts, you'll need my Uzumaki Clan."
...After ten minutes of discussion, the group finalized the personnel who would go.
"Alright, then it will be this old man, Elder Ashika, Sunasuke, Nagato, and Yahiko who will go to intercept the Allied Tailed Beast squad."
"Elder Meito, how about taking two more? I'm afraid with so few of you, there will be danger!"
"It's fine, the few of us are enough."
"If too many powerful people go, the pressure on the Allied Forces' side will increase instead!"
"After all, with Nagato gone this time and only Konan here, the Allied Forces will likely make a move."
"If we don't have enough powerhouses then, something might happen!"
"Besides, Master Bunpuku has two thousand Ninjas under him; it's more than enough!"
"Fine then."
Hearing Uzumaki Ruming's explanation, everyone stopped insisting and collectively agreed to the decision.
"Then... without further ado, let's set off. I believe Master Bunpuku is almost there!"
"Mm."
..."Kushina, are you tired? This is some juice I made before we left, drink some to quench your thirst."
Kushina: "Ah~, mua! Minato, you're so good!"
The rest: [Angry Vein Pop!]
"Kushina, are you hungry? This is sushi I made personally, have some to tide you over."
Kushina: "Ah~, mua! Minato, you're amazing!"
The rest: [Angry Vein Pop!!]
"Ah! Minato, Minato! Those sand dunes over there are glowing golden in the sunlight, just as warm as your hair."
"I really want to go over and roll around on both sides!"
Minato: "No problem, Kushina!"
Swoosh!
This was the sound of the Body Flicker Technique disappearing!
Swoosh!
This was the sound of the Flying Thunder God returning!
"Wow, Minato! You're so great! I love you so much!"
The rest: [Angry Vein Pop!!!]
[Damn it, are those two ever going to stop!]
[What do they think we're doing right now!]
[This is a mission! A mission! An infiltration mission!]
[An S-rank mission to infiltrate Hidden Sand Village of the Five Great Ninja Villages and cause destruction!]
[What do they think this is! A romantic getaway?!]
[And is the Flying Thunder God supposed to be used like that?!]
[Calm down! Calm down! After all, we're counting on his Flying Thunder God for the retreat later!]
[Hmph! I'm telling you, if she wasn't the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and he wasn't the one taking us out with Flying Thunder God afterward, I would have knocked him out long ago.]
[Yes, yes! You are a magnanimous person! It's normal for a young couple, normal!]
Through eye contact, the group finally managed to soothe the enraged Roshi.
Then, their pace involuntarily quickened.
"Eh! Minato, why are they running so fast?"
"Maybe they just finished eating and want to burn some calories, since they're getting on in years."
"Oh~, I see. Then they definitely need to exercise more!"
"Minato! I want to eat more! Ah~"
The rest: [Angry Vein Pop!!!!]
...After an arduous long-distance trek, the Tailed Beast unit was finally about to arrive at the location of Hidden Sand Village's First Service Station.
As for why it was arduous, it was mainly mental.
"Minato, Minato! I heard the service area in Hidden Sand Village is really fun?"
"Yes, that service area has everything, and the decor is quite nice."
"Really? Then I want to go see it."
"Uh, right now? But it's closed now, there's not even a soul inside."
"It doesn't matter, I just want to take a look!"
"I heard so many people in Konoha saying this service area is so much fun, but I could never come out. Now that I've finally made it out, just take me over to see it."
"Uh... but..."
"Please! If I don't see it this time, I don't know when I'll ever be able to come out again!"
After saying that, she stared at Minato Namikaze with blinking eyes.
[(●'◡'●)] [Bling Bling]
"Then... just one look."
"Yay! Minato, I knew you were the best!"
The rest: [Angry Vein Pop!!!!!]
Once Minato Namikaze was completely out of earshot, someone finally couldn't take it anymore and spoke to the captain of this operation, Burubi.
"Captain! Aren't you going to do something about this!"
"Before, we were still at the border of the Land of Wind, but now? The service area is just ahead, which is basically Hidden Sand Village's sphere of influence!"
"There's no guarantee a patrolling Hidden Sand Village Ninja won't pop up somewhere. If we're discovered, our infiltration is blown!"
"Cough, it's not that serious, and... do you really think we can reach Hidden Sand Village without them noticing at all?"
"Huh? Captain, what do you mean by that?"
"The meaning is simple: Hidden Sand Village is hiding too much!"
"We know nothing about Hidden Sand Village, yet we're supposed to infiltrate it. To be honest, I have zero confidence in not being discovered the whole way."
"Maybe... we've already been discovered!"
"Ah!"
Hearing Burubi's words, that person was clearly shocked. He never imagined that Burubi, the Raikage's brother who could skillfully control the Eight-Tails, would be so pessimistic about this operation.
"Then... Captain! What is... the point of our operation?"
"The point is to destroy Hidden Sand Village!"
"And if we're discovered?"
"Then we run, relying on that blonde guy's Flying Thunder God to escape!"
"Do you really think the blonde guy is just on a date?"
"What else?"
"He's placing Flying Thunder God Marks everywhere! Otherwise, how are we going to escape later?"
"Do you expect to fly directly back to the Allied camp? If he had that kind of ability, Hidden Sand Village wouldn't even be a fight!"
"And!"
"Don't you want to see what the First Service Area looks like?"
"Huh?"
The Ninja, who was still listening to Burubi's logical explanation, was caught off guard by this sudden turn, and his brain almost failed to process it.
"Let's go! As Jinchuriki, we can't leave our Villages so easily. Since we're already here, we might as well see what this legendary service area is all about!"
"Uh... yes!"
After a firm reply, the rest followed behind Burubi, heading toward the service area.
Little did they know, at the very front, Burubi's expression wasn't as relaxed as he made it out to be; instead, it was filled with gravity.
Everything he said before was true.
But... there was one more thing he didn't say.
And that was... this mission was truly dangerous!
So dangerous that... Jinchuriki, or even Tailed Beasts, might die!
Flying Thunder God was certainly powerful, but Minato Namikaze wasn't omnipotent. In terms of Chakra reserves alone, taking seven people at once would be extremely taxing!
Moreover... not everyone was a perfect Jinchuriki!
If they couldn't suppress the Tailed Beast and were eventually consumed by its beastly nature.
Or even if the Tailed Beast fully emerged... who could fly that away!
When the time came, those who couldn't be taken away would have to be abandoned.
And the fate of those abandoned... one could well imagine.
This was also why Burubi was unwilling to be too strict about this mission.
Everyone was a Jinchuriki... oh wait, the Three-Tails wasn't; the Three-Tails was sealed and currently being carried by a Ninja from the Hidden Mist Village.
Setting aside the Three-Tails, everyone was a Jinchuriki, and they all knew through personal experience what a Jinchuriki went through.
Now... for some, this might be their final mission... being happy! That was what mattered most!
Don't die with regrets!
..."The service area is just ahead. If you're interested, go have a look."
Looking at the building ahead, Burubi turned back and spoke to everyone.
"Yoshi. They say the service area is a money pit; this old man wants to see what's so special about it."
..."Eh~, look, isn't that Minato standing over there?"
"Yeah, it is. Why is he just standing there like a pole? Where's his little girlfriend?"
As they got closer to the service area, everyone saw a blonde guy standing there motionless. Although they felt Minato Namikaze was the only blonde guy around.
But not seeing the redhead who was always stuck to his side made everyone a bit unsure.
[Did they... have a fight!]
[Hehehehe...]
While some old Jinchuriki were secretly speculating in their hearts, the full view of the service area slowly revealed itself.
Along with it, the redhead appeared.
Except now, the redhead was sitting cross-legged on the ground, appearing very quiet.
Don't say it! You really shouldn't say it!
When the redhead was quiet, she actually had some looks.
"Minato, what's wrong with Kushina?"
Looking at Kushina sitting cross-legged nearby, Burubi asked Minato.
But the response was a shushing sound from Minato Namikaze, who then pointed his finger toward one side of the plaza.
Everyone followed Minato Namikaze's finger and looked toward the other side.
Then they knew what the reason was.
They saw statues of nine Tailed Beasts standing there quietly. Well... to be precise, the Nine-Tails was lying there, the One-Tails was perched on top, and the rest were surrounding them, watching the show.
"Ah, this... so... Kushina is..."
"Yeah, the Nine-Tails is throwing a tantrum inside."
The rest: [...]
"Then this... hm?"
Burubi was about to say something, but then he calmed his mind and began to close his eyes.
Following that... the other Jinchuriki also closed their eyes one after another.
Minato Namikaze: [???]
Three-Tails: [???]
A moment later, Burubi reopened his eyes and looked at Minato Namikaze with a strange expression.
"Cough, Minato, the Eight-Tails just told me he can soothe the Nine-Tails... cough, what do you think, Minato?"
"I..."
Before Minato Namikaze could speak, the other Jinchuriki also opened their eyes one by one.
Then... "Cough, Minato, the Two/Four/Five/Six-Tails just told me they can soothe the Nine-Tails... you guys can soothe it too?" ×4.
The other four Jinchuriki spoke in unison upon opening their eyes, then glanced at each other, finished their sentences together, and looked toward Minato Namikaze.
Minato Namikaze: [...]
Finally.
After several confirmations and guarantees from them... Minato Namikaze eventually chose to believe them.
After all... the Nine-Tails had been causing trouble and was clearly truly angry. Kushina couldn't 'coax' it for the time being, so he might as well let the others try.
Maybe there was a Tailed Beast among them who got along well with the Nine-Tails.
With Minato Namikaze's permission, everyone began to use Tailed Beast Chakra.
Unexpectedly... this time, the Tailed Beasts didn't show the slightest sign of wanting to riot; they were even eager to leave the Jinchuriki's bodies.
It was as if they had something extremely urgent to attend to.
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