"Damn it, who the hell is after me now?"
Shindai pressed hard on his violently twitching right eyelid.
As the saying goes: left eye twitches bring luck, right eye twitches bring misfortune.
At this rate, how bad could this disaster be?
Obito stood with hands on hips, pointing at Shindai tauntingly and shouting, "Hey, Shindai! Why are you holding your eye like that? I didn't even hit your eye!"
Shindai's expression turned extremely annoyed, "Obito, I'm in a really bad mood—really bad. Don't mess with me, or I'll punch you into a pig's face."
Just as Obito was about to retort, Jiraiya showed up, sounding flustered as he spoke to Minato Namikaze, "Minato, something huge has happened!"
Minato blinked in surprise, quickly asking, "What kind of big news?"
Jiraiya involuntarily glanced toward Shindai before responding, "You come here first!"
Minato nodded, then told the four young people, "You all keep training on your own for now."
Following Jiraiya, Minato entered the battlefield command room.
Minato asked, "Master Jiraiya, what exactly is going on? It must be related to Sunagakure, right?"
Jiraiya's face grew serious, "Exactly. The Third Kazekage has gone missing, and Sunagakure has declared war on Iwagakure."
Minato looked shocked, "The Third Kazekage disappeared, and they've already declared war on Iwagakure? What exactly happened?"
Jiraiya explained, "I just received a letter from Konoha. The Third Kazekage has been missing for nearly a month. A few days ago, Sunagakure officially announced his disappearance, confirmed Rasa as the new Fourth Kazekage, and launched a full investigation into the Third Kazekage's disappearance.
The investigation uncovered forehead protectors belonging to Rock ninja and bloodstains in a desert area outside Sunagakure.
Sunagakure believes that since the Third Kazekage greedily appropriated supplies provided by Iwagakure, Iwagakure retaliated by attacking him.
Those supplies were originally given by Iwagakure to Sunagakure as part of an alliance aimed at attacking Konoha."
Frowning deeply, Minato asked again, "So does that mean Sunagakure has already begun hostilities against Iwagakure?"
"Not yet," Jiraiya answered, "but it's coming soon, probably within these next few days. Sunagakure has already gathered its ninja forces. This time, they're serious—they're not just talking.
Right now, Lord Third has sent Orochimaru with a squad to the Land of Birds, located at the border between Wind Country and Earth Country, to observe what happens. If Sunagakure and Iwagakure fully engage in battle, then the Third Great Ninja War will officially begin."
Kumogakure is currently furious over the Eight-Tails' rampage, and their relationship with Iwagakure is already terrible. There's a good chance they'll jump into the fight and stage a surprise attack on Iwagakure."
Minato Namikaze rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he spoke, "If that's the case, Sunagakure and Iwagakure will go to war, while Kumogakure may strike Iwagakure from behind. That would leave our Konoha on the outskirts of the conflict?"
Jiraiya shrugged his shoulders, "For Konoha, this is indeed a good thing. After all, everyone knows the Third Great Ninja War was bound to start eventually, but nobody wanted to be the one who initiated it. Even Kumogakure dared not take that responsibility, which is why we've been facing off against them in the Hot Water Country for so long.
Now that war has officially begun, we actually feel relieved because this means we won't be the passive side anymore."
Minato dropped his hand from his chin, and his previously furrowed brows relaxed.
This was genuinely good news for Konoha, but for certain individuals like Shindai, it wasn't favorable at all.
Minato pursed his lips slightly, "Shindai seems to have only communicated with the Third Kazekage from the beginning until now, without contacting anyone else. This suggests that Shindai might only be able to contact the Third Kazekage. Now that the Third Kazekage has disappeared, Shindai may have completely lost contact with Sunagakure."
Now it was Jiraiya's turn to rub his chin thoughtfully, "If that's the case, then that kid might be open to switching sides. To be honest, I rather like his style."
Minato shook his head, "Let's hold off on this matter for now. Rather than us informing him, it would be better to let him find out about the Third Kazekage's disappearance by himself, allowing him to come to terms with this on his own.
This way, our attempt to recruit Shindai can appear more natural. If we directly try to persuade him to defect, letting him know we've long known about his spy identity, I'm afraid he might not be able to handle this sudden revelation."
After thinking it over, Jiraiya nodded, "Hmm, that works too. For now, we'll continue to stay stationed here since the main conflict is between Sunagakure and Iwagakure, and we still need to remain vigilant against Kumogakure."
After finishing his conversation with Jiraiya, Minato returned to the grove where Shindai and the others were training.
Shindai was pinning Obito to the ground, punching him so hard that Obito's goggles flew off.
"Will you submit?!"
"I won't! You're using underhanded tactics! While Teacher Minato was away, you used your Iron Sand Body to bind me—that's unfair!"
Obito, pinned to the ground by Shindai, was completely wrapped up in iron sand, both cheeks already swollen.
Shindai rolled his eyes at Obito, "Underhanded tactics? This is simply my ninjutsu technique. Can't I use my Iron Sand Body on you just because you blasted me with your [Great Fireball Jutsu]?!"
Obito mumbled through a mouth full of sand, "I have no objection to you using ninjutsu techniques, but could you at least be a bit more direct instead of springing ambush after ambush on me!"
Shindai quirked the corner of his mouth, "Ambush you?"
"What do you mean, 'what's a ninja?' A ninja is someone who works in secret. If you wanna be so upfront and direct, why don't you just become a Samurai?"
While Shindai and Obito were still arguing, Kakashi suddenly picked up a faint noise.
Kakashi turned his head to the left and saw Minato watching them from a distance, looking helpless.
Minato Namikaze exchanged a knowing glance with Kakashi.
Sighing inwardly, Kakashi said to Shindai, "Alright, Shindai, that's enough. I've sensed that Teacher Minato is coming this way."
Upon hearing that Minato was on his way, [Iron Sand Body] binding Obito was immediately released by Shindai, who quickly flung the iron sand into the nearby bushes.
Convinced he'd successfully hidden the 'proof' where no one else would ever find it, Shindai exhaled in relief.
Thankfully Kakashi had warned him, or else Minato would have definitely noticed.
Seeing that Shindai had already 'hidden' the evidence, Minato Namikaze reappeared and walked toward them.
Shindai asked curiously, "Lord Minato, what's going on? What was that important thing Lord Jiraiya mentioned earlier?"
Pushing himself up from the ground, Obito quipped, "Man, Shindai, you're really behind the curve. If Lord Jiraiya wanted to talk privately with Teacher Minato, it's gotta be top secret. You really think they'd tell you about it?"
Smiling gently, Minato Namikaze replied, "Actually, there's no harm in letting you know. You'll all hear about it soon anyway—Sunagakure has declared war on Iwagakure."
Wanting Shindai to discover the Third Kazekage's disappearance on his own, Minato Namikaze deliberately left that detail out.
When Shindai heard the news, he froze in shock, as if hit by lightning.
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