"This village's location... is really good."
Uchiha Jin and the others stood on the mountain peak, looking at the village below.
This village's location was truly critical. It was situated at the tri-border junction of the Land of Fire, the Land of Waterfalls, and the Land of Grass.
Moreover, even if Iwagakure wanted to come over, they would definitely have to pass through this village.
Although the ninjas of the Land of Grass and the Land of Waterfalls were weak, they were still nations.
Although ninjas and nobles shared the world...
Nobles naturally had a higher status than ninjas.
If the Daimyos of Grass and Waterfall complained to the Daimyo of Earth, the Daimyo of Earth cutting off funding or something similar would be enough for Iwagakure to suffer.
Naturally, if Iwa-nin wanted to enter Konoha on a large scale, the route would definitely be at the border of the two countries.
The border of the two countries was a lawless zone. Although it counted as national territory, it wasn't actually under the jurisdiction of either country.
In such a situation, the Daimyos of Grass and Waterfall couldn't say anything.
If the numbers were small, as long as they weren't caught on the spot, they could come and go freely.
Although it was prohibited on the surface, ninjas leaped high and flew low. It wasn't something they could easily prohibit.
This wouldn't count as invading the two countries.
This route was also the main place where Konoha and Iwagakure fought.
In the future, Kannabi Bridge, where Minato Namikaze would resolve the conflict with Iwagakure, was on this route.
"They are quite lucky."
Anyone passing through this place could potentially get stuck full of shuriken.
For this village to still exist on this route, one had to marvel at their luck.
"Let's go."
Minato and the others ran quickly towards the village. The smoke rising from the village and the figures they saw proved it was safe for the time being.
The three soon arrived at the village entrance.
An elderly man guarding the entrance was dozing off.
Snore... snore...
The snoring was deafening. Jin felt his eardrums vibrating.
Those who didn't know would think a fight had broken out somewhere.
And a Kage-level battle at that.
"Hss." Jin suddenly thought of something and sucked in a breath of cold air.
"Could it be that this old man's snoring scared the Iwa-nin away?"
"Hss!" Minato also looked shocked.
Terrifying indeed.
"You guys! Use your brains!!"
Bam! Bam!
Jin and Minato touched the bumps growing on their heads, looking at the steam rising from Kushina's fist.
The brainless one hit the two with brains.
Was there any justice left in the world?
"Just saying."
"Just saying?"
Minato looked at Jin in amazement.
This made faint veins pop on Kushina's forehead.
The noise of the three fighting woke the sleeping old man. He looked at the three in confusion.
"Where did you kids come from? Go play somewhere else."
He waved his hand, driving them away with disgust, closing his eyes to sleep some more.
"Can't you see I'm guarding the gate?"
Didn't see it at all!
It was simply against the laws of nature that this village could still exist like this.
"Hello, Grandpa. We are from Konoha, here to understand the situation." Minato asked with a smile.
Only then did the old man wake up completely. Seeing the forehead protectors worn by the three, he stood up abruptly and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Lord Ninjas are here!"
This sentence seemed to activate some incredible button. Instantly, countless figures rushed out from the village.
A dark mass of people.
The three immediately went on alert, taking out kunai and aiming at the crowd.
Fortunately, these figures stopped at a distance.
The shabbily dressed villagers were looking at the three with glowing eyes.
It was... quite scary.
A man with an honest face who looked like a simple peasant walked out, his face piled with smiles.
"Three Little Lord Ninjas, I am the village head of this village. Feel free to ask me any questions."
Faint discussions came from behind him.
"Lord Ninjas are so small! They look so cute!"
"Those two little boys are also very handsome. They will definitely be handsome men in the future."
"That girl is the cutest. I really want to hold her in my arms."
The last one who spoke was a burly man.
It made Kushina shudder.
This is definitely a pervert!!
So scary! This village!
The honest village head scratched his head, looking quite embarrassed.
"Because the Lord Ninjas of Konoha have always taken care of our village, everyone is very enthusiastic towards Lord Ninjas."
This enthusiasm is probably too much.
Jin looked helplessly at these villagers with fiery eyes. Even he couldn't help but take a few steps back.
He was afraid that if he wasn't careful, he would be dismembered by these villagers.
Why didn't they mention this when issuing the mission!?
As the captain, Minato couldn't retreat. He could only bite the bullet and talk to the village head to collect intelligence.
"Mr. Village Head, I received intelligence that rogue ninjas often appear here."
"There is such a thing." The village head also became serious and nodded, as it concerned the village's safety.
"A few months ago, rogue ninjas did often appear nearby. But after Lord Ninjas came to investigate a few times, those rogue ninjas disappeared."
The village head's words could only be taken as pending intelligence. The rest needed to be scouted by themselves.
"We are here to confirm again. We might trouble you for a few days."
Minato forced a smile because as soon as he finished speaking, cheers came from the crowd behind.
He hadn't seen this kind of posture before.
It made one's scalp numb.
"It's only right, it's only right."
The village head nodded repeatedly, looking afraid they would run away.
If the three hadn't kept their kunai up, the village head might have come up to hug them.
The village head began to enthusiastically lead the way for the three, but the others were still following. That oppressive gaze was really a bit unbearable for the three.
Seeing the three's discomfort, the village head put on a stern face and roared at the crowd.
"What are you looking at! Go do what you need to do!"
Amidst his shouting, the others left unwillingly.
After all, Konoha ninjas didn't appear often.
Who knew when they would see them next?
Jin watched the crowd leaving without looking back, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
Something felt wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
The village head brought the three to a house.
"This is a residence built specifically for Lord Ninjas. I live right next door. If there's anything, just shout and I'll be there."
"Sorry to trouble you."
The village head's enthusiasm made Minato feel embarrassed.
"Not at all, not at all. How could we be so peaceful without you?"
The village head waved his hand repeatedly, with a very grateful attitude.
After expressing gratitude for a while, the village head finally left, leaving only the three in the room.
"Very strange." Jin felt strange about the state of this village.
Minato nodded in agreement.
"Indeed."
"What riddles are you two speaking in!" Kushina didn't understand anything.
"I think the people in the village are very enthusiastic. What's strange about it?"
Kushina, receiving this treatment for the first time, even enjoyed it a little. It was for this kind of support that she definitely wanted to become Hokage.
"Too enthusiastic."
Jin shook his head.
"Is being enthusiastic bad?"
Kushina didn't understand, but only received a look from Jin like he was looking at a fool.
This made Kushina very angry.
"What's with that look? Duel me if you have the guts!"
She hadn't settled the score with him for the last time.
Jin turned his head away.
"My family said not to let me play with fools!?"
"Family?" Kushina looked at Jin in confusion. Wasn't he the only one left in his family? Where did family come from?
Wait!!? Jin is calling me a fool!!?
"I'll fight you!"
Kushina rose up again. Possessing Monster Strength, she was completely different from before.
But before she could rush up.
"Little White, bite her."
A small white snake darted out from Jin's collar. Familiar creature, familiar action, familiar place.
"My nose! Let go of my nose!!"
Kushina covered her nose and ran back and forth, wanting to pull the white snake off forcefully, but afraid of leaving a hole in her nose.
Bam!
Running back and forth without looking at the road, she slammed into a pillar. Only then did Little White let go, crawling to Jin's feet and up his leg.
Doesn't learn.
Kushina looked at the ceiling, touching the wound appearing on her nose again. She wanted to cry a little. She was actually bullied by a white snake.
"Alright, Kushina." Minato came up to mediate. When these two fought, he had no room to intervene.
Incidentally, he explained to Kushina.
"Generally, ordinary civilians fear ninjas more. Villages like this rarely respect ninjas so much."
They were the villages most likely to witness the cruelty of ninjas.
This confused Kushina.
"But didn't they say it was because Konoha ninjas always took care of them?"
"Idiot." Jin mocked mercilessly.
"The ultimate goal of an outpost is concealment and intelligence gathering. How could they spend time and effort to maintain a village, unless this village is full of their own people?"
But the person issuing the mission didn't say the other party was their own people.
"So this village..."
Jin and Minato revealed serious expressions simultaneously.
"Is definitely not as simple as it looks on the surface."
Late at night in the silent, deserted village.
Relying on the cover of night, Jin and the others merged into the darkness, leaping quickly across the rooftops.
The three were looking for the strange aspects of this village.
But the entire village was extremely normal. The three searched for half the night and found nothing?
"If only we had a sensory ninjutsu."
Jin sighed. Although he had deduced another new jutsu, unfortunately, it wasn't a sensory type.
"Sensory ninjutsu? I have one!?"
Kushina looked at Jin strangely.
"You have a sensory ninjutsu?!"
Jin and Minato looked at Kushina in amazement simultaneously.
"Why didn't you say so earlier!!"
Kushina scratched her face. "Didn't I say it?"
She remembered saying it.
"You probably said it in your dream."
Jin rolled his dead-fish eyes.
Kushina hummed and raised her fist.
"Use it quickly. Dawdling here like a sissy."
"I am a girl!"
"If you didn't say it, I wouldn't even know."
"I'm going to kill you!"
"Alright, alright."
Minato hurriedly stopped the two from fighting again. Being this captain was really not easy.
"Kushina, please scout for us."
Kushina snorted coldly at Jin before forming hand seals.
"Mind's Eye of the Kagura!" (Kagura Shingan)
Instantly, her eyes widened.
"There are ninjas!!"
"Where?"
"Under our feet!!"