The moment Minato opened his mouth to ask about the name of the technique, Mikami Yuu had already sensed where this was going.
Sure enough—
"From the way you described it, this move is a multi-stage assassination technique built around Substitution. How about calling it Substitution Spiral Super Ultimate Phantom Multi-Stage Assassination Technique? Sounds pretty cool, right?"
"…"
Mikami Yuu's mouth twitched. "I'll think of one myself. No need to trouble yourself, Minato-sensei."
"Huh?"
Minato scratched his head. "You don't like it? I thought it was a pretty good name."
Beside them,
Kakashi—who had originally come over to ask Minato about ideas for developing a new Lightning Release technique—quietly shut his mouth and decided he should probably come up with a name for it first.
…
The rest of the escort mission passed without much trouble.
At one point they ran into some ninja from another village, but after observing for a while, those people left without making a move. Minato didn't go out of his way to chase them.
They also encountered two groups of armed bandits, but Mikami Yuu and Kakashi didn't even need to step in—Obito and Rin drove them off by themselves.
After that, the group reached the scenic Land of Tea.
It was basically one of the tourist spots of the Naruto world. As a peninsula nation bordering the Land of Fire, it was famous for its tea, and its fishing industry was also very prosperous. The broad coastline was an eye-opening sight for Obito and Rin, who had spent their whole lives inland, and they felt the trip had been well worth it.
When it came time to part ways, Tachibana Masamune's family specially prepared two large crates of tea and gave them to Minato, saying it was a prized local variety from the Land of Tea. He could take it back and share it with everyone—or even send a crate to Hiruzen.
Obito also said an emotional goodbye to the two children, Chisei and Chijo.
The mood on the return journey was much lighter.
However—
when they passed through the forested area near the southwestern border of the Land of Fire, that peace was shattered.
"Stop! There are people ahead!"
Kakashi, who was scouting in front, shouted sharply, his keen gaze cutting through the sparse trees.
Minato immediately raised a hand, signaling the team to halt and hide.
After waiting a short while, they saw a three-man squad stumble into view along the path ahead. All of them were clearly wounded, supporting each other as they walked with difficulty. They looked like they had just fought their way out of a brutal battle.
"They're Konoha comrades!"
Obito recognized the forehead protectors and instantly moved to rush out.
"Wait! Observe first and stay alert!"
Minato grabbed Obito with one hand, then swept a sharp gaze over the three men and said without turning his head, "Yuu, Rin, get the medical packs ready. Kakashi, watch both flanks. If there's an ambush, warn us immediately!"
At that moment,
the wounded squad also noticed them.
One of them stopped and shouted loudly, "Are those Konoha ninja up ahead? Which squad are you with? We're Border Patrol Squad Three! We were ambushed by unknown enemies and barely broke through… Intel! We have important intel that must be delivered to the Suzaku Town outpost immediately!"
"…."
After a brief observation and confirmation,
Minato finally stood up. "I'm Konoha jōnin Namikaze Minato, currently on mission. The Suzaku Town outpost partly overlaps with our route back, so we can escort you part of the way. Yuu, Rin, perform emergency treatment on them immediately!"
"Yes!"
Mikami Yuu and Rin got to work right away.
The wounded Konoha ninja felt the cool relief spreading through their injuries, and the tension in their bodies eased slightly. "Thank you… But if possible, we need to move quickly. The people chasing us may still be behind us!"
"Understood."
Soon,
the group of seven or eight resumed traveling.
Because they had to accommodate the wounded, their pace was not very fast.
After walking a few kilometers, Minato's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. He quietly moved closer to Kakashi and Mikami Yuu.
"Be careful. We've got a tail. Around six or seven of them. Their tracking is very skilled, and they're being cautious—not the level of ordinary rogue ninja."
Kakashi's expression sharpened, and his hand quietly settled on the hilt of the sword on his back. "Do we take them out?"
"What do you think, Yuu?"
Faced with Minato's question,
Mikami Yuu thought for a moment, then glanced out of the corner of his eye at the seemingly calm forest around them.
"The enemy is hidden and we're exposed. They came prepared, and they're skilled at concealment and tracking. If we turn back recklessly, we might fall into a feint and end up failing the real objective of escorting both the intel and the wounded.
"In my opinion, we should pretend we don't know they're there, keep moving, lure them into making the first move, then counterkill."
"…Makes sense."
Minato nodded slightly. "Then we'll go with Yuu's approach. Keep moving, but stay at maximum alert. Kakashi, you take the left flank. Obito, the right. Rin stays in the center with the wounded. Yuu and I will bring up the rear. Everyone keep an eye on every little disturbance and be ready to fight at any time."
The group continued forward.
This time, the atmosphere turned much heavier.
The pursuers seemed to sense that something was off. They still didn't make a move, but they also didn't retreat.
Only after night had fallen did Minato signal the group to stop in a relatively open clearing near a stream, so the wounded could catch their breath and everyone could refill their water.
"Kakashi, Obito, go fetch some water from the stream. Be careful."
"Got it."
Kakashi answered and headed toward the nearby stream with Obito, both carrying waterskins.
Mikami Yuu leaned against a tree, pretending to rest, but his attention had already spread quietly through the area.
Then suddenly—
a faint, oddly sweet fragrance appeared in the air.
"?!"
Mikami Yuu's eyelid twitched. He looked at Minato, and Minato looked at him at the exact same moment, subtly raising a hand in a signal.
Soon after,
two of the wounded ninja from the rescued squad rubbed their noses and began to grow drowsy.
Mikami Yuu instinctively turned to look, just about to stand up—then sat back down instead. Overwhelming sleepiness rose from nowhere, forcing him to lean against the trunk and sink into deep sleep.
Then Minato and Rin followed.
The clearing in the woods instantly fell deathly silent, with only the crackling of the campfire, the distant murmur of the stream, and a few brief, muffled shouts.
Then—suddenly!
Several kunai shot out from nowhere. Three flew toward Minato, while two targeted Mikami Yuu. With the wet sound of steel piercing flesh, blood sprayed—but neither of them woke up. Dark red blood even began to seep from the wounds.
"…Heh. So much for Konoha ninja."
Along with a cold, sinister voice, several figures slipped out like ghosts from the edge of the forest. They wore dark gray tight-fitting clothes, no forehead protectors, and masks covering the lower halves of their faces, leaving only cold, wary eyes visible.
The tall, thin leader made a hand signal.
The others instantly shot forward like arrows, each lunging toward the "sleeping" Minato, Mikami Yuu, Rin, and the others. Their kunai gleamed with cold light as they stabbed for vital points, clearly intending to finish them off.
The tall leader stayed where he was, watching the area carefully.
And just as those kunai were about to plunge into the hollow of their victims' throats—
Bang—!
First, Minato's body dissolved into a puff of smoke and vanished.
Then the "unconscious" Mikami Yuu under the tree collapsed into a splash of water.
"What—when?!"
The attackers' eyelids twitched in shock.
~~~
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