[Chapter Size: 2900 Words.]
Third Person POV
Konoha, 43.
...
...
She met her students at the west gate, as they had arranged, each of them wearing a backpack.
Even Kakashi, which surprised Minato, because it was believed that, since the boy belonged to a great clan, he should use storage scrolls. Even more so with a father like Sakumo, this knowledge should be practical among the great clans...
But thinking about it, even on that mission in Classic Naruto, in the Land of Waves, Kakashi also used a backpack, which means he never used storage scrolls very frequently.
That was when Minato thought he would have to teach him to be more practical. Even though storage scrolls were not cheap and were very difficult to create, requiring a master in fūinjutsu, using them had moderate difficulty and they could learn.
After all, a backpack, even with a body strengthened with chakra, was still subject to being an unnecessary extra weight when you could use scrolls.
Minato had a style of storing his weapons directly in his bracers, in the style that Sasuke used, while keeping supplies, such as food and water, along with resources like tents and sleeping bags directly in scrolls in his pocket.
"Well, it's good that you arrived. Are you prepared?" Minato asked, while the three nodded.
"I want the three of you to follow me and maintain the position we trained when we leave the Land of Fire capital."
Minato said and immediately jumped to the first tree, with the three children following, ignoring the flow of merchants entering and leaving at the village gate and the guards watching them leave.
Thus, they followed as arranged, advancing over the trees. In front went Minato, obviously, Obito and Kakashi on each of the flanks of the formation, while Rin stayed in the middle, taking care of the rear.
Even though nothing passed Minato's radar, his function was still to train them in the correct formation, keeping them aware of each of their roles, as if the lives of their companions and the success of the mission depended on it.
On the way, throughout the day, Minato had secretly created clones and attacked each side while the children were caught by surprise, stopping so Minato could give some lecture, since he didn't want any of them to get soft, even if they felt safe being his students.
The only one who came out better was Kakashi, but even so Minato spoke about many of the flaws Kakashi should work on, even though he was a chūnin.
Anyway, they crossed the Land of Fire from Konoha to the border for two days, camping, always keeping watch and taking turns among themselves during the night, and moving on during the rest of the day, until they finally reached the border.
The marks of the war had never left that place. Minato couldn't help but stop to breathe in that air a little, an air that brought sadness and euphoria to him.
There, he saw companions being killed. He saw himself become frustrated while the enemy surprised them. He also saw himself argue with people he called friends and even with his future wives at that time... But he also saw passions arise and made friends and comrades. He saw people look at him like a hero, like someone who had saved them on some occasions or even avenged them. He saw people wanting to be like him, having admiration for what he had been achieving on the battlefield since the beginning.
Thus, they were passing near where the medical camp used to be, in the center of the border.
"So this is where the Second War happened, sensei? You worked here?" Rin asked cautiously, seeing Minato standing on his own while he remained there observing the scenery.
"I worked further north, near the border between The Land of Fire, the Land of Grass, and the Land of Rain," Minato said.
"It was here that you changed the course of the war, right? I read this week in one of the history books... that you became a hero after you obtained the antidote that changed the war," Obito said with admiration.
But Minato just shook his head. "War is not only the glory that you see. I saw my companions die in front of me. I saw them having their dreams destroyed, losing limbs that made them unable to continue being ninjas. I saw the despair of people watching their relatives and friends die and losing themselves because of it. I saw hatred often being the fuel to attack enemies in the next mission. I saw ninjas lose themselves in that same hatred, even betraying one another, even among the ninjas of Konoha..."
Minato recited each example, making even Kakashi, along with the others, shrink.
"War is not only glory to make you famous and powerful. If you are not prepared to survive, it will consume you..."
"I know some of you wanted to be in this war," Minato said, looking mainly at Kakashi. With his few years of life, he had the desire to prove his worth, seeing his father being praised by the village for his performance in the war. It's no wonder he tried to graduate at only five years old and succeeded, influenced by that. At that time, he had already met Minato saying that he would surpass him...
"But don't worry." Minato returned with a more determined expression toward the three.
"I promise that I will do everything so you never have to go through this. Most ninjas of Konoha have to try to survive, and sometimes they reach dilemmas. There will come a moment when they ask themselves if they shouldn't abandon the mission, if they should betray their companions, or if they should sacrifice themselves for them and for the sake of the mission. But I want you to do what is right... Never abandon your companions..."
"I told you once, Kakashi, that a long time ago I disobeyed Konoha to save one of the women I love and am married to today... If I hadn't intervened, she would be dead and I would have mourned her death for the rest of my life..."
Minato said, remembering that conversation very well when Kakashi's father had been marked for the village's ostracism by the elders. Kakashi also had some shame regarding Sakumo... Minato had talked about what he had done. He simply infected himself with the poison Tsuna had taken, to become someone disposable to the village, and that gave him an opening to avoid becoming a traitor when invading Suna in search of the antidote. After all, he would be a lost cause with poison in his body...
"I will do everything so that none of you have to go through what war pressures you to do. You have my word." Minato said with determination.
The children seemed to reflect for a moment. Minato observed the scenery a little longer: destroyed ground, uprooted trees, scattered kunai that had not been collected, some medical items also spread across the place.
Hidden further ahead, they would also find bodies that had been left behind.
This camp had belonged to Tsunade, but she had not been in a good state at the end of the war with Dan's death. She had not done a complete sweep of the terrain where the camp had been, after all she had been more interested in drowning her sorrows than demanding accountability from the ninjas who served her at that time...
"Anyway, let's go. I want to see one more place near here..." Minato said seriously, and the children nodded as he moved forward, crossing the more open terrain before entering the border forest.
He went to a corner where there was a stone wall further south. Minato stopped in front of it together with his students.
The wall's extension was quite large.
"Here are all the names of ninjas who died, honored for their bravery and service to Konoha. As long as you were not declared a traitor, your name is written here..." Minato said while observing some of the names, some that he had known.
'I don't want to die, Minato. I'm scared... I don't want to die...' Minato could still hear the young voice of a boy, not much older than his students at that time. Someone who liked to say that Minato was his idol and that he wanted to be like him.
He died in front of Minato in a surprise attack coming from Iwa, while Minato was working with the Phantom Squad in the south against Suna, also dealing with surprise attacks coming from Suna at the same moment that Iwa attacked...
That same night, he launched an attack on Iwa, massacring every ninja he could to avenge the boy who died in front of him and other members of Konoha. He understood very well what it meant to act with hatred that night.
"Did all of them die, sensei?" The children couldn't help but frown, while Obito stuttered as he looked at the gigantic list...
There were thousands of names. How could someone not be disturbed by that?
"Yes. Some of them were even your age," he revealed.
"I didn't bring you here to make you scared, but to teach that war is not a game," Minato said in a serious tone...
They remained silent for a few minutes, until Minato turned his attention back to the three.
"Now, let's go. We've already seen everything we needed here."
They didn't speak as they moved across the open area and finally headed toward the last layers of the border.
And, as expected, several bodies that had been left behind for not being identified were scattered there.
In the middle of this, some ANBU ninjas from Konoha appeared in front of them. It was the team that guarded the borders.
"Lord Minato!" They immediately recognized him, while Minato took a scroll and threw it to the ANBU who was leading the group of six. The rest should be around the area, since ANBU squads worked with twelve members.
"We are advancing into the Land of Rain." He said while the ANBU opened the scroll and carried out the identification process to authorize Minato and his team to pass the border limit.
"Everything is in order. You have authorization to enter. I only ask that you and your students respect the infiltration process," the ANBU said.
Minato nodded. He knew all the approach standards and the other procedures. Minato used to do the same type of work with the team that Danzō had placed for him to lead. He always watched the borders, while secretly preparing to deal with Danzō himself, who tried to find ways to get rid of Minato.
He watched him all the time with a full Root ANBU team prepared to kill him back then. In the end, Minato had killed all of them in Suna.
He followed to what should have been the advanced post of one of the camps that stood on the dividing line between the border and the Land of Rain... The place had clearly been looted by Ame's ninjas, obviously. Whatever could be dismantled or anything that had remained had already been taken, so there was nothing to do there.
"Well, remember: remove your headbands. We are acting as infiltrated ninjas. We cannot cause a diplomatic problem if we appear with Konoha's headband."
Minato explained, and the three nodded, removing them while storing them inside their backpacks.
"Now we are entering a territory where any patrol may see us as enemies. That's why we must stay alert. Until now you have only encountered my clones, who could have been enemies with murderous intentions. Now we have the possibility of encountering real enemies, so I ask that you know what you are doing." Minato said, while everyone already nodded without using their headbands. Even Minato's uniform had changed so he wouldn't look like he was from Konoha; he wore a black infiltration outfit.
"Let's go." With that, they went deeper in. As they advanced, the rays of sunlight became increasingly rare, until they entered an almost total darkness, a direct characteristic of Ame.
Soon it began to rain heavily. Although there was no lightning in the sky, the rain was persistent and thick, making movement and visibility difficult.
"Keep going!" Minato demanded loudly.
He used Observation Haki to monitor the entire region. He found several patrols from Amegakure, but he never allowed them to find him.
Even so, Minato doubted that Hanzo would really try to interfere with them, even if he found them... Clearly, he should know about the meeting of the Kages and would not interfere with the escort of a Kage. Here and there there would be some patrol, but they probably only wanted to identify who had entered their country and keep an eye on them.
Minato only imagined the Kazekage passing through the Land of Rain, though it was very likely that he should be going by the other side... of the continent as well.
In any case, the patrol activity was far more intense than normal, and Minato quickly began tracing routes, always moving, sometimes even retreating when he saw some force advancing toward the region where he was passing.
The children obeyed all his orders while he tried to teach them about infiltration, in the same way Jiraiya had taught him one day, even getting close to patrols while making them observe how the ninjas of the Land of Rain patrolled, showing periods and patterns.
"You will face all types of ninjas, and they do not act under a single pattern, but each village works with its own type. I want you to always pay attention when you have the opportunity to check the patterns of how each country acts."
"Just like Suna, Iwa, Kumo, and Kiri. Each acts in its own way and has its own strategies." Minato said to them at one point.
They observed the ninjas of Ame, who hid inside the water with pipes to breathe, remaining there vigilant while searching for any outsider entering their country.
Minato couldn't help but wonder where Nagato and the others were at that moment. He searched the region with his haki, but he found nothing of them in the area, even though he could reach dozens of kilometers.
Maybe they weren't even in this country or were very far away...
Despite that, he had also asked Hanabi to help search for them in the last month, since she might be able to find them with her eyes.
He wanted to check and see if it was the moment to go and remove Nagato and the others from there. He couldn't leave them there. The only problem was Black Zetsu and Madara, and Minato would have to see how to deal with him.
But this meeting should determine the path he should follow.
Anyway, they advanced for two days through the Land of Rain.
They found a cave to camp in. Minato didn't even need to leave ninjas at the entrance; he could feel, kilometers away with his haki, the movement of Amegakure's ninjas.
Even White Zetsu would be detected by Minato. He himself had already encountered some, which he avoided so as not to alert Madara that he was advancing to the west, at least not yet...
"Well, that's enough military rations. Since we brought plenty of food, I'll prepare something decent." Minato then said to the children, who expected to eat the same rations they had been eating over the past few days.
"S-sensei... you're going to cook?" Obito asked, surprised.
"Ah, you still haven't eaten my cooking? Well, they say I cook very well, so let me do it today." Minato spoke calmly, while beginning to take out his tools.
He set up a small portable stove that he kept with him, using fire chakra as fuel, and began to cook with his pots. They had hunted a moose along the way and placed it inside one of the storage scrolls. So he made a meat stew with plenty of seasoning.
"This is so good!" Obito couldn't help but shout when he tasted Minato's food for the first time.
He was already praising the smell while Minato was cooking. Rin looked like she wanted to scream while moaning in pleasure as she tasted the food, while Kakashi couldn't help but feel satisfied, even though he didn't want to show that expression.
"Eat as much as you like," Minato said in the end. "Just don't overdo it. We still have to continue for one more day before finishing the border."
Minato finally said, while taking his own plate as well to join them.
------
Raccoon Here ->
I made a bad mistake. I placed the Land of Iron in the west because I followed a map here that is probably wrong. In most maps it is in the north, so I will change the previous chapter so that they should head north after the Land of Bears mission. I won't remove this mission since I already included it. I will only remove the details that the Land of Iron is on the side of the Land of Bears and say that Minato will head to the Land of Iron after finishing the mission in the west.
Wrong Map ->
Map Generally Used (Which I should use as well...) ->
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