Border of the Land of Fire.
Five days had passed since Minato escorted Takumi Fujihara's cargo out of the village.
Under normal circumstances, a ninja could have covered this distance in a single day. However, transporting goods made the journey extremely slow.
During these five days, the trip had been surprisingly peaceful—the Land of Fire belonged to Konoha, so naturally there weren't any unexpected incidents.
After lunch, Minato and his team arrived at the border of the Land of Fire.
"If we keep going forward, we'll be entering the Land of Hot Springs," Minato said.
He didn't need to refer to a map—this location was familiar. Two years ago, he had come here personally with Sakumo Hatake, Junko Watanabe, and Yan Uchiha for a mission.
Back then, he had only been a provisional genin, tagging along behind Sakumo.
In just over two short years, he'd risen to become a team captain himself, leading missions.
However, compared to that previous task, this current mission was clearly on an entirely different level.
The so-called rogue Konoha ninja Shinsaburo Tachiyama, said to have possessed the Immortal Body, had ultimately perished in the Land of Hot Springs.
Following that incident, the Evil Cult's influence within the Land of Hot Springs suffered a major blow and faded from public view.
Still, completely wiping them out proved to be a difficult feat.
Because of that event, relations between the Land of Fire and the Land of Hot Springs improved significantly. During the Second Great Ninja War, although Hidden Hot Spring Village didn't send reinforcements to Konoha, they acted as a strategic buffer, helping Konoha numerous times by capturing spies attempting to infiltrate.
Minato's group continued escorting their cargo into the Land of Hot Springs. Previously, during the mission to the Land of Hot Springs, he had always tried to take detours. This time, however, they traveled mostly through towns.
This was because traveling through towns controlled by Hidden Hot Spring Village felt relatively safer.
Three more days passed as Minato and his companions passed through over a dozen towns and villages scattered throughout the Land of Hot Springs before finally reaching its border—a small town known as Izumi Town.
Just beyond Izumi Town lay a small forest. Once they passed through, they would leave the Land of Hot Springs and step into enemy territory.
Before reaching the woods, Minato suddenly stopped walking and softly laughed.
"You two have worked hard these past few days."
His words caused confusion among his subordinates. In the next moment, three Konoha chunin stiffened, and two figures darted in front of Minato's group.
Their attire and forehead protectors clearly marked them as ninjas from Hidden Hot Spring Village.
"It's been a while," Minato smiled when he saw one of the teenagers, about fifteen years old.
"Yeah, Minato," the boy grinned upon seeing him.
This youth was Akimoto Yama, the only young ninja from Hidden Hot Spring Village that Minato had met on his previous mission.
Minato had noticed their presence the moment he entered Hidden Hot Spring Village.
Seeing the two speak, everyone in Minato's squad looked at each other in confusion.
Although they knew the ninjas from Hidden Hot Spring Village weren't enemies, how exactly did Minato know him?
The "Hot Springs Country Mission" had been top secret from the start, and apparently no one in this group knew anything about it.
"I've heard from Aniki about your performance on the Wind Country battlefield. You're so strong!" Akimoto Yama said with admiration toward Minato, making him slightly uncomfortable.
The Hot Spring Ninja beside Akimoto Yama also looked at Minato with reverence.
In the ninja world, strength commands respect. Takumi Fujihara didn't know exactly how Minato had performed on the battlefield, but even within the Hidden Hot Spring Village, Minato's reputation had already begun to spread.
Among the currently renowned ninjas across the Ninja World, Minato was the youngest.
"Please also thank Leader Fuu Akimoto for me," Minato smiled. Although the Land of Hot Springs and the Land of Fire were allied nations, such cargo transport missions wouldn't normally require the Hidden Hot Spring Village to dispatch ninja escorts.
I haven't heard anything about it either, so this must've been Fuu Akimoto's own call.
Hearing this, Akimoto Yama replied, "Compared to the help you and Senior White Fang provided us back then, this is really nothing significant."
"Now that I've safely escorted you all to the border of the Land of Hot Springs, I should return to report to our leader."
After saying this, Akimoto Yama departed together with another Hot Spring Ninja, disappearing from everyone's sight.
"Let's go too," Minato turned around to face the others after meeting the familiar faces.
They drove the wagon loaded with cargo into the woods when a Konoha ninja approached and asked, "Minato, what was he referring to just now? The help you and White Fang senior supposedly gave the Hidden Hot Spring Village?"
"Senkawa Senpai, that matter is classified information. I cannot say," Minato answered thusly. After all, Akimoto Yama was still somewhat naïve, accidentally revealing some details about the Hidden Hot Spring Country mission.
"Oh," the Chunin named Senkawa simply responded and asked no further questions.
Still, the three Konoha ninjas were confused—they knew Minato's group had only graduated after the Second Great Ninja War had started.
Minato and Sakumo Hatake must have visited the Hidden Hot Spring Village before, but how old would this kid have been back then?
But as soon as they thought about Minato's outstanding battlefield performance, they felt reassured.
You can't judge this kid by ordinary standards...
...
After leaving the Land of Hot Springs, Minato and his companions encountered a gang of bandits numbering dozens, but they were easily dealt with by Minato and the three Konoha Chunins.
Six days later, deep within a forested area in the Land of Lightning...
During the midnight watch shift, Minato stood beneath a large tree.
Placing both hands into hand seals, he gently pressed one hand against the tree trunk. Moments later, he withdrew his hand.
Blackish patterns faintly crawled along the trunk, which upon closer inspection were indecipherable strings of text.
Minato formed another series of hand seals—this time significantly more complex. He bit his finger and smeared blood onto the tree trunk. Instantly, the blood spread across a section of the trunk and finally transformed into a seal.
[Hidden!]
Minato formed the [Seal of the Rat] with both hands. The seal and the earlier black characters gradually faded away, vanishing without a trace.
The tree trunk looked exactly as it had before.
"The coordinates are complete," Minato said with a faint smile.
"This method is too inefficient..." Senior Minato's voice echoed in his mind.
Minato nodded with a slight sigh. "However, given the information we have so far, this seems to be the only option. Fortunately, we still have plenty of time..."
"I suppose this is our only choice..."
...
Three days later, Minato and his group finally arrived at the branch office of the Lightning Country's Commerce Guild.
This branch, originally stationed along the border of the Lightning Country, had been pushed deeper inland during the Second Great Ninja War.
With the war over, those regional branches were slowly being rebuilt, though they would still take time.
After handing over the cargo, Minato received an official transfer receipt from the Lightning Country's Commerce Guild. Next, he had to head back with the guards Takumi Fujihara had sent and deliver the receipt directly to him. Only then would this mission be officially complete.
Seven days later, after completing the mission delivery in the Fire Country's capital city, Minato led three Konoha Chunin and rushed back to the village.
Honestly, Minato couldn't stop worrying about Kushina. The Chunin Exams should have ended more than two weeks ago...
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