After a brief discussion, Fugaku and Enma stood up, preparing to leave.
During their absence, Akimichi Dōton and Inuzuka Gaku were on duty at the Border Line.
Now that Minato and Ren had returned, they could rest assured and head back.
"Then, Minato-san I'll head back too."
Ren stood up, raised a hand, and yawned, a hint of fatigue in his eyes.
From yesterday morning when they were caught in the battle, he had led the three little ones and the Third Raikage and others in a desperate dash through the mountains.
Immediately after, there was a cooperative breakout by both sides.
After a slaughter, they successfully covered the retreat of the three little ones from the Land of Earth and brought back crucial intelligence.
Meanwhile, Ren had started a new round of fighting, this time from noon until night, only managing to escape with Minato's help.
Under such high-intensity combat, although Ren still had most of his Chakra left, he was mentally exhausted.
At this moment, he only wanted to sleep soundly.
"Alright, then you go rest."
Minato nodded, then sat back at his desk, picked up the pen Fugaku had left earlier, and began to review documents.
"Yes!"
Ren walked two steps out before suddenly stopping.
After a moment of thought, he began to form hand signs.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
"Hmm?"
Under Minato's puzzled gaze, Numbers One and Two emerged from the white mist.
They first rolled their eyes at Ren behind them in unison, then turned and came to the desk.
Each picked up a stack of documents and took them to the nearby conference table, setting them down.
Immediately after, they each took a pen from the table and began to review.
"This…"
Minato, who had just realized what was happening, was about to say something when he saw Ren had already lifted the curtain and walked out, his voice drifting back from afar.
"Anyway, I'm idle, so it's good to do more work and get some exercise."
Hearing this, Minato was suddenly surprised and chuckled, while Numbers One and Two beside him instantly turned dark, their entire bodies beginning to tremble slightly with anger.
Why did other main bodies use Shadow Clone for intelligence gathering and combat, but their own main body was so keen on making them do such brain-intensive things?
It was simply…inhumane.
"Honestly."
Seeing this, Minato immediately pressed one hand to his forehead, a helpless smile on his face.
"Alright, you two rest."
"Eh?"
Just as Numbers One and Two were bewildered, Minato also formed hand signs, then chuckled softly.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
Two more bursts of white mist exploded in the tent, and two Minatos emerged from them.
They came to the conference table, moved the documents in front of Numbers One and Two to their own fronts, and then, before the two could react, pulled the pens from their hands, sat down, and began to review.
"Uh… X2"
The two looked at each other for a long time, then stood up and again took half of the documents from the two Minatos' piles, placing them in front of themselves, saying in unison:
"Minato, we'll help you X2"
The two Minatos were startled at first, then a smile appeared on both their faces in unison.
"Good! X2"
Minato, who had originally wanted Ren to rest well, no longer tried to dissuade him after seeing this scene.
Just like that, five figures were writing furiously in the tent, while on the other side, Ren had returned to his tent.
The three little ones were also resting in the tent at this time.
Upon seeing their captain return safely, they immediately rushed over.
After a few words, the three little ones fell silent to let Ren rest.
The latter, as soon as he touched the bed, instantly closed his eyes and lost consciousness, a faint snore sounding in sync.
Ren slept soundly, completely oblivious to time.
When he opened his eyes again, dozens of Chakra teams were instantly within his Perception range, moving back and forth within the Konoha Camp.
Night patrol team, it seemed it was already night.
Ren leaped off the bed, instinctively stretched, and immediately felt refreshed and in excellent condition.
"Hmm, those two guys aren't back yet?"
Ren suddenly remembered that he had left those two guys there in the morning to help and then returned himself.
But now, there were no extra memories in his mind.
Could it be that there were too many documents, and those two guys pulled an all-nighter?
As Ren pondered, he glanced around.
He saw that the three little ones were all sleeping on their respective beds, showing no signs of waking up.
It was normal, after all, they didn't have Ren's vast amount of Chakra to sustain them.
A day of life-and-death escape had already pushed their bodies to their limits, and then they had stayed awake all night worrying about his safety, only falling asleep peacefully after he returned at dawn.
Ren didn't disturb them, just gently lifted the curtain and walked out.
Although there were patrol teams, this posed no threat to Ren, who knew the Konoha Camp's defensive layout like the back of his hand.
Ten minutes later, he stood in front of the main tent.
The two guards at the entrance were a bit surprised to see Ren suddenly appear at this hour, but Minato had given them a heads-up earlier, so they didn't question him and let him in directly.
Upon entering the tent, Ren saw a strange sight.
The Shadow Clones, Numbers One and Two, whom he had been thinking about, were sleeping on a bed in the corner of the tent, hugging each other, seemingly in a very deep sleep.
Minato, on the other hand, was sitting alone at his desk, one hand holding a teacup, the other setting down the document in his hand, looking up towards him.
"Looks like you've recovered well."
Minato sized up Ren, then put down his teacup and smiled.
"Mm."
Ren nodded, then formed hand signs to release the technique.
As white smoke burst forth, two segments of memories appeared in Ren's mind.
After finishing the memories, Ren was first startled, then raised a hand to rub his ear, smiling helplessly.
"Honestly, I finally wanted to work overtime, and you still do this."
"Alright, stop joking around.
Tell me, what else is going on?"
Minato knew that Ren coming at this hour, risking a fine, must mean something important.
As for what it was, he wasn't sure, but it certainly couldn't be because of these two Shadow Clones who hadn't returned.
"Minato-san, I need to request leave for three to five days."
"Hmm?"
Minato's eyes widened in surprise, as he said, "What did you say? Leave? And for five days?"
At this time, if Ren requested one or two days, Minato could understand, perhaps to exchange for some money or something.
But five days? What was he going to do?
Cross the sea again to the Hidden Mist Village and take the remaining Six-Tails?
"Ahem, of course, I have a legitimate reason for requesting leave."
Ren chuckled, leaning behind Minato and massaging his shoulders, whispering, "Isobu said he wants to teach me a secret technique.
I need to find a place to cultivate for about two days."
"Hmm?"
Hearing this, Minato immediately turned his head, looking at him in astonishment, and asked in confusion, "Really?"
"Of course, it's true.
I wouldn't lie to anyone, especially not you, Minato-san!"
Hearing that there was a chance, Ren quickly straightened his body and said with a serious expression, "Hmm…"