Shindai lay on the bed inside the tent, staring blankly at the ceiling with a dejected expression.
He now assumed that the Ninja Hawk had already died.
Sighing, he muttered, "Life sure is fragile. If I'd known this would happen… I should've just plucked its feathers, roasted it, and eaten it earlier."
Shindai had now completely given up.
What else could he do anyway?
He'd tried thinking of solutions, but nothing came to mind.
Sometimes, it takes courage to give up.
Shindai decided to just play along for now—worrying won't help. Maybe the people who knew about his undercover mission were already trying to contact him.
Thinking like that lightened his mood significantly. He closed his eyes and fell asleep right away.
His brain cells had been overworked just now. Whatever, life must go on.
...
Meanwhile, Obito approached Minato Namikaze.
"Sensei! I have important information to report!"
Minato Namikaze asked in confusion, "Obito, what did you want to tell me?"
Obito didn't answer immediately. Suspiciously, he poked his head out of the tent to check around.
Seeing how suspicious Obito looked—like someone casing the place—Minato asked curiously, "Obito, what are you looking at out there?"
After confirming everything was clear, Obito responded, "I'm worried that guy Shindai is following me. He's appeared from some really unexpected places multiple times, so I suspect he might be tailing me. But I think this time he didn't follow me. Sensei, what I wanted to say concerns Shindai—he's having trouble with his Ninja Hawk. He can't contact anyone from Sunagakure anymore!"
Minato asked in surprise, "How do you know that?"
Obito proceeded to tell Minato everything he'd discussed with Shindai earlier.
After listening, Minato's expression turned complicated.
Those two had basically let everything slip already just through normal conversation, hadn't they?
He wasn't sure whether to describe Obito and Shindai as purely naive or just plain clueless.
Though actually, Obito might genuinely be innocent-minded, while Shindai was simply socially oblivious.
After all, Shindai had pulled off quite a few weird stunts before.
Still, the intelligence Obito brought was valuable.
If Shindai had truly lost all contact with Sunagakure, then they couldn't use him to feed false intelligence reports back to the Sand Village anymore.
Furthermore, the longer Shindai remained cut off from Sunagakure, the deeper his connections here would grow—and the higher the chance they could persuade him to join Konoha.
Obito continued, "Sensei, when we were talking, I suggested he consider joining the hidden village he mentioned being trapped in—the one we belong to. But Shindai had one concern."
Intrigued, Minato asked, "A concern? What kind of concern?"
Obito answered, "Shindai is worried about what he would do if Sunagakure and Konoha end up fighting."
Minato Namikaze actually felt encouraged by Shindai's concern.
If Shindai had easily abandoned Sunagakure and switched sides to Konoha, they would inevitably have been somewhat cautious around him despite accepting him for his abilities.
After hearing Obito's words, Minato Namikaze smiled slightly and replied, "There's no need to worry about this. If Shindai really joins Konoha in the future, we'll naturally ensure he stays out of direct conflict with Sunagakure."
Obito let out a slight sigh.
Minato Namikaze ruffled Obito's hair, saying, "Obito, although Shindai often teases you and sometimes even gets physical, your relationship with him is the strongest. You've always treated him as your true comrade, so let this bond continue to grow."
"If Shindai decides to join Konoha, you'll definitely be one of the reasons behind his decision."
Obito looked at Minato Namikaze with an odd expression.
There was something oddly off about that statement...
Minato Namikaze could sense that while Shindai appeared close to Kakashi and Rin Nohara as well, it couldn't compare to how close he was with Obito.
Because both Kakashi and Rin were generally quite rational and calm. After all, Shindai had originally been a spy, and even though Minato Namikaze had told everyone to treat him as a genuine comrade, there would always be some differences.
But Obito was different. He was headstrong and loyal—once he accepted someone as a comrade, their background didn't matter anymore.
That might also be why Shindai got along so well with Obito and chose to talk to him about this.
Shindai trusted Obito, and believed... that with Obito's intelligence, he wouldn't notice anything unusual.
Minato Namikaze instructed, "Alright, Obito, just stay calm. Continue interacting with Shindai the way you normally do, no need to overthink things. I can promise you, Shindai will definitely join Konoha in the near future."
Obito nodded firmly. "I understand, Sensei Minato!"
...
Inside the meeting room of the Tsuchikage Building in Iwagakure.
Onoki's nose, already slightly red, turned an even deeper shade of crimson.
"Hmph! How dare those scoundrels from Sunagakure!"
Onoki tore the declaration of war from Sunagakure into shreds with his hands.
The other high-ranking officials in the room dared not utter a word in front of Onoki's fury.
But anger was only natural—who wouldn't be angry?
It would have made sense if they had truly assassinated the Third Kazekage—but they hadn't done anything of the sort.
They had no idea why Iwagakure always ended up taking the blame—anyone would feel furious about it.
After a long pause, Onoki finally managed to suppress his anger and asked, "Has Sunagakure responded?"
"Tsuchikage-sama, they've replied. They claim we're definitely responsible and even said that if we don't hand over the Third Kazekage, they'll start attacking in three days."
Onoki's barely-contained anger flared up again.
The enraged old man slammed the table loudly.
"Hand him over? Like hell I will—swimsuit Chiyo instead! Those brainless idiots at Sunagakure—if we really wanted to assassinate their Kage, would we actually announce our identities and wear forehead protectors while doing it? What an idiotic bunch!"
Everyone present at this meeting was elderly.
Back during the Second Great Ninja War, when Chiyo was still young and energetic, she'd been the jewel of the battlefield.
Even in her old age, picturing Chiyo in a swimsuit wasn't half bad...
One high-ranking official cautiously asked, "Tsuchikage-sama, what should we do next?"
Onoki angrily barked back, "What do you think we can do? Can any of you produce that brat Kaito? Sand wants war with us? Fine! Let's see who thinks Iwagakure is some soft clay to be shaped at their whim! Mobilize all forces immediately and prepare for battle!"
Despite his rage, Onoki remained composed enough to continue issuing strategic orders, "Also monitor Kumogakure and Konoha carefully to prevent any underhanded moves from them! Dismiss—get moving right away!"
Once everyone had left, Onoki grabbed his lower back and winced in pain. He'd thrown out his back slamming the table earlier, suffering silently in agony until now.
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