"Damn it, which bastard is thinking about me?"
Shindai pressed his right eyelid, which was twitching like crazy.
As the saying goes, a twitching left eye brings wealth, and a twitching right eye brings disaster.
With it twitching like this, how big of a disaster would it be?
Obito stood with his hands on his hips, pointing at Shindai, and shouted provocatively, "Hey, Shindai, why are you pressing your eye? I didn't hit your eye!"
Shindai's expression was very annoyed as he said, "Obito, I'm in a very bad mood right now, the kind that's extremely bad. Don't provoke me, or I'll beat you into a pig's head."
Just as Obito was about to retort fiercely to Shindai, Lord Jiraiya appeared and said to Minato Namikaze with some urgency, "Minato, something big has happened!"
Minato Namikaze was stunned for a moment, then quickly asked, "What big thing?"
Lord Jiraiya's gaze unconsciously swept over Shindai, then he said to Minato Namikaze, "Come with me first!"
Minato Namikaze nodded and said to the four of them, including Shindai, "You guys can train on your own for now."
Minato Namikaze followed Lord Jiraiya to the combat command room.
Minato Namikaze asked, "Lord Jiraiya, what was that big thing you just mentioned? It must be about Hidden Sand Village, right?"
Lord Jiraiya's expression was solemn as he said, "That's right. The Third Kazekage has gone missing, and Hidden Sand Village has declared war on Iwagakure."
Minato Namikaze looked at Lord Jiraiya in astonishment: "The Third Kazekage went missing, and they declared war on Iwagakure? What exactly happened?"
Lord Jiraiya explained, "I just received a letter from Konoha. The Third Kazekage of Hidden Sand Village has been missing for almost a month. A few days ago, Hidden Sand Village officially announced the Third Kazekage's disappearance and confirmed the new Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, and began a thorough investigation into the Third Kazekage's disappearance."
"The results of the investigation came out. An Iwagakure forehead protector was found in a sandy area outside Hidden Sand Village, and there were bloodstains there."
"Hidden Sand Village believes that because the Third Kazekage embezzled a batch of Iwagakure's supplies, Iwagakure attacked the Third Kazekage in retaliation."
"And those supplies were given by Iwagakure because they wanted to form an alliance with Hidden Sand Village to attack Konoha."
Minato Namikaze's brows were furrowed, and he asked again, "So, does that mean Hidden Sand Village has already started fighting Iwagakure?"
Lord Jiraiya replied, "Not yet, but it's coming soon, probably in the next few days, because Hidden Sand Village has already mobilized its Ninja forces. It seems this time they're really going to fight, not just talk."
"Now Hiruzen Sarutobi has sent Orochimaru with a team of Ninja to the Land of Birds, which borders the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth, to observe the situation. If Hidden Sand Village and Iwagakure truly start fighting, the Third Shinobi World War will officially begin."
"Kumogakure is also holding a grudge because of the Eight-Tails' rampage, and the relationship between Kumogakure and Iwagakure is quite bad. It's very possible they'll get involved if a fight breaks out, and even launch a sneak attack on Iwagakure."
Minato Namikaze pinched his chin, thinking as he spoke, "So, if Hidden Sand Village and Iwagakure go to war, Kumogakure might sneak attack Iwagakure. Does that mean Konoha will be on the periphery of the war?"
Lord Jiraiya shrugged and said, "For Konoha, this is indeed a good thing. After all, everyone knows that the Third Shinobi World War will eventually begin, but no one wants to be the one to start it. Even Kumogakure didn't dare to be the one to start it, which is why they confronted us in the Land of Hot Springs for so long."
"Now that the war has officially begun, we are actually relieved. This way, we won't be the passive party."
Minato Namikaze released his chin, and his tightly furrowed brows relaxed.
For Konoha, this was indeed a good thing, but for some people, like Shindai, it was not.
Minato Namikaze pursed his lips and said, "It seems Shindai has only been in contact with the Third Kazekage from the beginning until now, and not with anyone else. This means it's very likely that Shindai can only contact the Third Kazekage. Now that the Third Kazekage is missing, Shindai might be completely out of contact with Hidden Sand Village."
Now it was Lord Jiraiya's turn to pinch his chin: "So, does that mean that kid can be turned? To be honest, that kid is quite to my liking."
Minato Namikaze shook his head and said, "Let's hold off on this for a bit. Instead of us telling him, it's better to let him find out about the Third Kazekage's disappearance himself and let him come to terms with it."
"That way, recruiting Shindai will be more natural. If we directly try to turn Shindai and let him know that we've long known about his undercover identity, I'm afraid Shindai won't be able to accept it all at once."
Lord Jiraiya thought for a moment, then nodded: "Hmm, that's good. We'll continue to be stationed here, after all, Hidden Sand Village and Iwagakure are the main players now, and we still need to guard against Kumogakure."
After talking with Lord Jiraiya, Minato Namikaze returned to the small forest where the four of them, including Shindai, were training.
Shindai was currently pinning Obito to the ground and beating him, even knocking Obito's sunglasses off.
"Do you submit?!"
"I don't! You're too sly! You used Sand Iron to tie me up when Minato wasn't here! You have no martial ethics!"
Obito, pinned to the ground by Shindai, was covered in Sand Iron, and both sides of his face were swollen.
Shindai rolled his Byakugan at Obito and said, "Sly? What's sly about it? This is my Ninjutsu! Can you use Great Fireball on me, but I can't use Sand Iron on you?!"
Obito, speaking somewhat indistinctly, said, "I don't mind you using Ninjutsu, but can you be a little more open and honest, and stop always ambushing me!"
Shindai twitched his mouth: "Ambush? Ninja, what is a Ninja? A Ninja refers to someone who acts in secret! If you want to be so open and honest, why don't you go be a samurai?!"
Just as Shindai and Obito were still bickering, Kakashi heard a slight movement.
Kakashi looked to his left and saw Minato Namikaze in the distance, looking at them with a helpless expression.
Minato Namikaze gave Kakashi a wink.
Kakashi sighed speechlessly, then said to Shindai, "Shindai, that's enough. I sense that Minato is coming this way."
Upon hearing that Minato was coming, Shindai immediately released the Sand Iron wrapped around Obito, then threw all of it into the nearby bushes.
Shindai, believing he had successfully hidden the 'criminal' evidence and that no fifth person would know, breathed a sigh of relief.
Luckily, Kakashi reminded him, otherwise Minato would have discovered him.
Minato Namikaze saw that Shindai had 'hidden' himself, then reappeared and walked towards them.
Shindai asked curiously, "Lord Minato, what happened? What was that big thing Lord Jiraiya was talking about earlier?"
Obito stood up from the ground and grumbled, "Shindai, you're so dumb. What Lord Jiraiya told Lord Minato privately must be confidential. How could he tell you?!"
Minato Namikaze smiled and said, "Actually, it's not that it can't be said. You'll know soon enough. Hidden Sand Village has declared war on Iwagakure."
Because he wanted Shindai to find out about the Third Kazekage's disappearance on his own, Minato Namikaze did not mention it.
When Shindai heard this, he was struck by lightning and stood frozen in place.