When Ren stood before Minato again, the latter seemed to have finally finished revising his documents, with a cup of hot tea placed before him, looking incredibly relaxed.
"Not bad, Big Brother Minato, your speed at revising documents is getting faster and faster."
Ren came closer, found a chair, and sat down. As he spoke, he picked up the teapot nearby and poured himself some tea. After all, since he was already here, everyone should get a share.
"Mm, there are fewer documents today, so I can rest a bit once I finish writing them."
After Minato finished speaking, he picked up the teacup in front of him and took a small sip of the steaming tea, a look of contentment appearing on his face.
With various major battles and a continuous, large volume of documents every day, even he, the Yellow Flash, would feel mentally exhausted. He had very little time to rest each day, but at times like this, brewing a strong cup of tea helped him relax better.
"That's really tough, but it should be over soon, right?"
Ren felt a bit emotional. After all, strictly speaking, it had been more than half a year since the war began, with all Five Great Nations participating and fighting fiercely.
Hidden Mist Village was fighting against Hidden Sand Village and Konoha Village, a two-front war, but their individual combat ability was the strongest among the Five Great Villages, so the pressure wasn't particularly great.
Kumogakure was also fighting a two-front war, against Konoha Village and Iwagakure. Since they had the strongest overall strength among the Five Great Villages besides Konoha, they were also the side with the upper hand on the battlefield, slightly pushing back against the two. However, their material reserves were somewhat lacking, and problems were bound to arise sooner or later.
Hidden Sand Village, on the other hand, was fighting a three-front war, fiercely battling Konoha Village and Iwagakure on the Land of Rain battlefield, while also having to guard against sneak attacks from Hidden Mist Village at sea. Kumogakure, due to geographical reasons between them, couldn't engage in direct combat.
As for Iwagakure, they were also fighting a three-front war, in a fierce struggle with Konoha Village and Hidden Sand Village in the Land of Rain, while also being at odds with Kumogakure and fighting tooth and nail. Even Hidden Mist Village, far overseas, had been their long-standing enemy for years. Now that he thought about it, Iwagakure was arguably the most hated Village besides Konoha Village.
Finally, there was Konoha Village, undoubtedly the strongest among the Five Great Nations, directly fighting a four-front war. It had battled the Four Great Villages single-handedly until now without defeat, even subtly gaining the upper hand.
The unique geographical location of the Land of Fire brought talent and resources that the other Great Nations absolutely couldn't compare to. With the Sannin, White Fang, Minato, and others each holding down a front, if they continued like this, Konoha's reserve resources would definitely exhaust the Four Great Nations to death.
"It's alright. Speaking of which, how does it feel to lead a team for the first time?"
Minato put down his teacup and smiled as he looked at Ren.
"It's great. I think I'm starting to understand the joy you had leading Kakashi and the others."
Ren said with a chuckle.
Ren had been looking forward to leading a team for a long time. The three subordinates Hiruzen Sarutobi arranged for him, Ren couldn't be more satisfied.
If he taught them well, three Jonin would definitely emerge in the future.
"Those three children are all good. You must protect their safety."
At this point, Minato's expression turned serious as he gazed at Ren and said.
"Don't worry, Big Brother Minato. Since I'm leading a team, I'll definitely bring them back to the Village completely unharmed."
Ren's tone became serious. After putting down the teacup in his hand, he promised.
"Alright, let's not talk about that. For the next period of time, your mission will still be patrol. Any problems?"
"No problem at all."
Ren naturally had no objections. At this point in time, the war was still very intense, and since he was also leading a team, he had some concerns, so it was better to be cautious for now.
It was also a good time for him to settle down for a while and solidify his strength.
Things like Tailed Beast transformation and Tailed Beast Ball were still a bit unpolished to use. After all, it wasn't his own power, so he needed more practice.
Oh, it won't be long until the next time he hires Kakuzu. He should save up more money to make things easier.
"Lord Minato, please review these documents."
Just as the two were chatting, the tent flap was lifted, and two people walked into the tent carrying several stacks of documents. They then quickly approached the desk, put them down, and said respectfully.
"I understand. You've worked hard."
Looking at the documents in front of him, Minato instantly felt a headache coming on, but he couldn't refuse, so he could only say helplessly.
After the two left, Ren also stood up, looking at the other person with sympathy and saying.
"You've worked hard, Big Brother Minato. For the fire will, for the position of Hokage, keep it up."
"Mm, I will. Thank you, Ren."
Hearing this, Minato's spirits instantly lifted. He drank the remaining tea in his cup and pushed it aside, looking at Ren with gratitude.
"You're welcome. You do your best. I should go back and get some rest soon. I don't want to stop growing."
"..."
Minato's face instantly darkened. He then remembered that compared to himself, who was busy all day, Ren was much more relaxed.
Watching Ren lift the tent flap and leave, Minato could only sigh inwardly and pick up his pen to continue working hard.
It seemed he would have to pull another all-nighter today...
Meanwhile, Ren, after leaving the command tent, walked straight to the mess hall. After picking up a few bento boxes there, he headed towards his tent.
When he returned to the tent, the three were each doing their own thing. Suzuki was reading the Sealing Jutsu he had given her earlier, Yao was sitting alone on the bed bandaging her own wound, and as for Shio, he was practicing sword moves by himself nearby. Although it was difficult to fully perform them inside the tent, it was barely enough for a warm-up.
"Captain!"
Noticing Ren walking in, the few immediately put down what they were doing and gathered around, their gazes all fixed on the bento boxes in his hands.
"Let's eat first. You've all been hungry for half a day."
Ren handed over the food he was carrying. After distributing it, he unintentionally caught a glimpse of Yao's crudely bandaged wound. Ren couldn't help but frown and said.
"Yao, bandaging your wound like that isn't good for healing."
"Huh?"
Yao was startled at first. After glancing at the wound on her arm, which was hastily bandaged with a bandage, she said somewhat awkwardly.
"I haven't really bandaged wounds before, so I didn't pay too much attention. It should be fine, right?"
"That won't do."
Ren picked up a roll of bandage from nearby, placed it on the same spot on his own arm, and looked at her.
"Unwrap it and do it again. If a wound isn't bandaged properly, it can lead to infection and other problems like swelling. Not to mention, this is on the battlefield; you never know what your opponent might put on their weapons."
"Yes!"
Yao's face instantly turned a bit pale with fright. She quickly unwrapped the bandage and began to learn seriously from Ren.
She certainly didn't want to die from an infection due to poor wound bandaging instead of dying on the battlefield.