Shindai hadn't enjoyed peace at the Stationed Camp for more than a few days before Kakashi and the others took him along on missions again.
The missions were mostly investigative assignments, posing no real danger.
Moreover, recently Minato had been joining them on these tasks, making it even harder to find any actual trouble.
Gradually, Shindai adjusted to this routine and stopped constantly complaining during missions.
With Orochimaru away from the Stationed Camp and Jiraiya maintaining the status quo, there was no need to deploy Minato—the battlefield's ultimate cheater—the title he'd earned.
Thus, with some free time on his hands, Minato led their team while simultaneously training Kakashi, Obito, and now also Shindai.
Minato gave Shindai a helpless look and advised, "Shindai, you can't just throw a punch and stop. Your biggest problem right now is that after you land a hit, you don't follow through. You must think about how to chain your next strike with the first one so your opponent has no chance to catch his breath."
Minato felt it was actually easier teaching Obito than teaching Shindai.
Although Shindai showed talent in Puppet Technique and his Kekkei Genkai, and occasionally displayed some cleverness during fights, this didn't change the fact that Shindai simply wasn't good at combat.
Even Obito understood how to keep up the pressure with continuous strikes, unlike Shindai.
Shindai would habitually throw a punch, then wait for his opponent to react before throwing the next one.
Wasn't that just handing the enemy an opening?
If his strength surpassed that of his opponent, such habits could still prove costly. But if facing someone of similar power, such a bad habit could cost him dearly.
Minato continued pointing out Shindai's flaws: "You also can't keep using 'I'm scared of fighting' as an excuse. Escaping takes skill too—you have to seize on your opponent's mistakes to get away. What will you do if there's absolutely no opportunity to run? Then you'll have to create opportunities yourself, and to do that, you must fight."
Shindai's face turned bright red.
Minato had basically cut off all his excuses.
Shindai thought if Minato really knew his true abilities, he definitely wouldn't talk like this!
However, regardless of whether Minato knew Shindai's actual strength or not, even without knowing, Minato would still make such an assessment upon observing Shindai's current performance.
Because these shortcomings had nothing to do with Shindai's personal strength.
Dejectedly, Shindai replied, "I understand, Master Minato. I'll do my best to correct these tendencies."
Then Minato Namikaze turned to Obito, who was secretly laughing beside him, and said sternly, "Obito, stop laughing. You have no right to mock Shindai. I know what you're thinking. You're probably thinking that as long as you awaken the Sharingan, you'll instantly become powerful, right?
This kind of thinking is extremely foolish. The Sharingan is merely an auxiliary ability. Even after awakening it, if your own strength doesn't meet the standard, it won't help much at all.
Depending too much on the Sharingan will only make you stagnate. Besides, you haven't even awakened your Sharingan yet. Therefore, you should work harder in your training.
The Sharingan is just adding the final touch. Only when your own strength improves, then the day you awaken the Sharingan, combined with its power, will your overall strength truly shine."
This time, Obito's face also turned bright red.
He had just seen Shindai getting scolded and wanted to laugh, but he never expected the next target would be himself.
Shindai's stifled laughter only made Obito's face turn even redder.
Next up were Kakashi and Rin Nohara.
However, Minato Namikaze praised both Kakashi and Rin Nohara, immediately leaving Shindai and Obito feeling envious.
Seeing how discontented Shindai and Obito looked, Minato Namikaze offered them a small incentive.
"If you two meet today's training goals, I'll give you a little extra coaching!"
Shindai immediately responded enthusiastically, "Please rest assured, Lord Minato! I'll definitely meet the standards!"
Last time Minato gave them some extra coaching, Shindai had been amazed to discover that Minato was actually an excellent cook!
So Shindai was incredibly excited about this extra coaching from Minato.
Obito followed closely behind Shindai's declaration: "I will definitely meet the standards too!"
It wasn't that he was eager for Minato's extra coaching—it was just that he didn't want to fall behind Shindai.
Seeing that Shindai and Obito's enthusiasm had been stirred up, Minato smiled and said, "Alright then, let's continue training."
In the following days, Shindai accompanied Minato Namikaze on missions, trained with him, and studied during his spare time—he couldn't have been more fulfilled.
Half a month later, a major event suddenly happened in the ninja world.
Unexpectedly, the Eight-Tails from Kumogakure broke free from its Jinchuriki and went berserk, unleashing serious destruction on the village.
However, the Third Raikage led elite ninjas to seal the Eight-Tails while it was in its rampaging state. This battle resulted in the sacrifice of eight elite Cloud ninjas, and the Jinchuriki Killer B also perished.
These eight elite ninjas weren't just ordinary Jonin—they were figures of comparable strategic value to Minato Namikaze within their own village.
Losing other ninjas might not have been so bad, but losing these eight elite ninjas was undoubtedly a severe blow to Kumogakure.
Naturally, the new successor to become the Jinchuriki fell upon the rap master, Killer B.
Behind this chaos—the Eight-Tails breaking free and going berserk—stood none other than Orochimaru, who had secretly infiltrated Kumogakure.
Inside the Cloud Ninja Stationed Camp in the Hot Water Country, Killer B lost control and caused casualties among several Cloud Ninjas. Afterward, when he regained his senses, Killer B felt deeply guilty.
Ever since becoming a Jinchuriki, Killer B noticed that people around him began treating him differently, which gradually exhausted him mentally and physically. He often imagined the horror of death. The tailed beast would take advantage of these moments—when the Jinchuriki's mind was weakest—to attack their willpower, leading to episodes of lost control.
This wasn't something Eight-Tails intentionally did; it was simply the effect of Tailed Beast Chakra on humans. Even Eight-Tails couldn't help it, which is why only those with strong minds should become Jinchuriki.
And now, weighed down by guilt, Killer B was at his most vulnerable.
Orochimaru, that sly serpent, infiltrated Kumogakure and disguised himself as a Medical Ninja assigned specifically to examine Killer B. He used specially-made [Genjutsu Pills] to paralyze Killer B completely, rendering him unable to move.
Then, Orochimaru removed the Iron Armor Seal from Killer B, forcibly separating Eight-Tails from him and causing Eight-Tails to go berserk uncontrollably.
Because Orochimaru's [Genjutsu Pills] were so powerful, even if Eight-Tails tried hard afterward, he couldn't recall what happened during the rampage. Orochimaru escaped unharmed, and no one ever discovered that he was the true culprit behind the incident.
Most people in Kumogakure believed that due to mental and physical exhaustion, Killer B had been influenced by Eight-Tails' chakra, causing the seal to break down, allowing Eight-Tails to break free and create this disaster.
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