After leaving the Hokage Building, Minato didn't look for Nawaki and the others immediately; instead, he first found Tsunade, who was busy at the hospital. The sterile scent of antiseptic filled the halls, a stark contrast to the fresh air of their training valley.
Learning that Minato was about to go on a mission to a combat zone, Tsunade felt a pang of reluctance. She looked at the young boy, her fingers tightening around a medical chart.
"Standby at the outpost? It seems you won't be back for a while."
"Yeah. Teacher, how is the antidote research going? Is there anything I should watch out for?"
"There's not much progress."
Speaking of this, Tsunade was also somewhat helpless, her shoulders sagging slightly from exhaustion: "The Salamander's poison is a neurotoxin. There's no so-called 'proper' medicine for it yet. We can only target the toxin's characteristics to create an anti-toxin serum that works for a short time, but it's difficult to supply such serum to the front lines on a large scale."
"Not just Hanzou, those Puppet Masters from the Hidden Sand Village are also extremely skilled with poison, especially that old woman Chiyo. If you encounter those types of poison users, don't get tangled up with them. Speed is your advantage; use it to stay away."
"Understood, I'll be careful. I have no intention of letting them touch me."
Minato nodded and took out a bag of clone seeds to give to Tsunade. These were special biological seeds he had cultivated using his unique abilities.
"Have you given some of these to the Third? They could be useful for village defense."
Remembering the utility of the clone seeds for surveillance and support, Tsunade's eyes lit up with professional interest.
Minato shook his head, his expression becoming serious: "No, these were spawned from my cellular mutation. I don't feel comfortable giving them to others. I only trust you with them."
Wood Release didn't matter much to the higher-ups, but the key was that he also possessed the Uchiha bloodline. If the researchers got a hold of his biological material, they might find more than they bargained for.
Furthermore, Devil Fruits change a person's lineage factor. From the description of lineage factor in other worlds, it's very likely that this thing is synonymous with genes.
Although the Ninja World's technology cannot yet confirm the existence of genes as a formal science, cloning isn't a very difficult technology for the likes of Orochimaru. It would be bad if something were exposed through a simple seed sample.
An important person... Tsunade was slightly stunned by the weight of his trust. Noticing Minato looking directly into her eyes with an uncharacteristic intensity, a blush rose to her cheeks.
Minato looked at Tsunade composedly, his tone carrying a hint of inexplicable meaning that made the air between them feel heavy: "Teacher, don't you have anything you want to say to me before I leave?"
"Say... say what?"
Tsunade's gaze was a bit flighty, not daring to look at the gaze Minato was casting her way. She felt like a student being put on the spot rather than a legendary Sannin.
"It's my first time going on a mission, and it's even to a battlefield. Doesn't Teacher have any words of encouragement for her favorite student?"
"Then... then work hard! Don't embarrass the name of the Sannin!"
Seeing Tsunade's guilty, flustered look, Minato found it amusing. The powerful medic was surprisingly easy to tease when caught off guard.
A smile curled at the corner of his mouth as he gently tugged on the hem of Tsunade's clothes, putting on a pure, innocent expression that hid his inner calculations: "I'll miss you, Teacher!"
"Mhm!"
Hearing this, Tsunade turned her body away and looked out the window at the village skyline. Her heart pounded violently, and the blush on her face spread all the way to the tips of her ears.
"Then—will Teacher miss me?"
Minato suddenly asked again. He shifted his steps, leaning in to get close to Tsunade once more, invading her personal space with the confidence of someone much older.
"...Yes!"
Tsunade gave Minato a resentful glare, a hint of bashful annoyance flashing in her eyes as she tried to regain her composure: "Are you leaving or not? You have a mission to attend to!"
The smile on Minato's lips deepened. Instead of letting go, he gently grasped the hem of Tsunade's clothes in his palm for a brief second longer.
"Teacher."
Minato's voice became even softer, a mere whisper: "Your ears are red."
"Shut up!"
The bashful annoyance on Tsunade's face intensified. She made a motion as if to punch Minato's shoulder, but in the end, she only rested her hand lightly on it, smoothing out his collar in the process with a surprisingly gentle touch.
"Go on, quickly. Don't keep the others waiting."
"Yeah."
Minato nodded, and his figure instantly vanished into a flash of yellow light.
Only then did Tsunade breathe a long sigh of relief, the tension leaving her body all at once. She leaned back weakly in her chair, looking up at the ceiling of the room, her eyes seemingly shimmering like water.
That brat, he's getting more and more aggressive... He's already so wicked now; what will happen when he grows up?
By then, she'd only be in her early thirties. Wouldn't she be tea... bullied into who knows what state by this boy?
Thinking of this, Tsunade gave a light spit, inwardly cursing Minato for making her so restless and distracted from her work.
Meanwhile, Minato, the protagonist of her inner theater, had already used the Flying Thunder God to return to the valley entrance where his team waited.
Gathering the three of them together, Minato got straight to the point, his voice crisp and authoritative: "There's a mission. We need to set out as soon as possible and head to the border outpost near the Land of Rain."
"Are we going to the battlefield? Finally!"
Nawaki's eyes lit up with excitement. His eager look perfectly exemplified the saying: young ninjas yearn to achieve great deeds before they understand the cost.
"Yes, but let me give you a fair warning first..."
Minato gave him a serious look, his blue eyes cold and uncompromising: "In the upcoming mission, without my command, no one! Is absolutely! Allowed to act on their own! This is not a game."
Nawaki nodded repeatedly, caught up in the moment: "I promise! I'll follow your lead!"
"Without any hesitation..."
Minato chuckled, testing the boy's resolve: "If, while we are in hiding, an innocent person is about to be killed by the enemy, but I don't allow you to intervene, what would you do?"
"I—"
Nawaki opened his mouth, the smile on his face freezing as the moral dilemma hit him. He then said with a conflicted expression, "I can't just sit by and watch an innocent person get killed, can I? That's not what a ninja of Konoha does."
Minato didn't indulge him at all, his logic cutting through the sentiment: "But acting rashly could very likely reveal our position and get me and Sister Mikoto killed. Is one stranger's life worth both of ours?"
"..."
Nawaki looked a bit unhappy, his youthful idealism clashing with the harsh reality of war: "Then what should I do?"
"I'm not against helping the weak, but it cannot come at the cost of sacrificing our own safety. Acting on your own is being irresponsible with your teammates' lives. I hope you can understand this principle," Minato advised seriously.
He had to advise him; Nawaki was just like Naruto, both having the personality of a hot-blooded idiot who prioritized feelings over mission parameters.
In the original work, Naruto more than once led his teammates into dangerous situations because of acting on his own impulses.
If not for the protagonist halo, who knows how many times he would have died. Minato had no such halo to rely on for his subordinates.
"Of course, I will do my best not to let you violate your own beliefs. You just need to trust me to find a better way," Minato said earnestly, softening his tone to regain Nawaki's loyalty.
"...I understand! I'll trust your judgment, Minato!"
Hearing this, Nawaki nodded heavily.
He had absolute trust in Minato's strength; if it was something Minato couldn't solve, then he definitely couldn't either.
And precisely because he could recognize the massive $50\%$ gap in their current power levels, Nawaki wasn't as impulsive as Naruto in this regard.
Minato looked at Mikoto: "Sister Mikoto, I'll be leading the team for this mission. Is that okay with you?"
"No problem."
Mikoto shook her head. Although she was technically the Chunin team leader on paper, she knew very well who the real powerhouse and strategist was.
"As for Kushina..."
Minato turned to look at Kushina. She pursed her lips, a hint of deep worry on her face. She felt the weight of being left behind.
She no longer cared about things like whether she could go on missions to prove herself; she only wanted Minato and the others to return safely to her.
Seeing the worry in her eyes, Minato's tone was gentle yet firm as he reached out to pat her shoulder.
"Wait for me to return. I'll be back before you know it."
"Mhm!"
As if injected with a shot of adrenaline, Kushina nodded heavily, her resolve hardening.
"Then, assemble at the village entrance in $1$ hour! Bring only the essentials."
...An hour later, Kushina stood at the village entrance, watching the backs of the three as they departed, her eyes full of reluctance until they disappeared into the treeline.
Minato and the other two rushed quickly toward the border in a front-middle-back formation, moving at a steady $80\%$ of their maximum travel speed.
Minato led the way at the very front, scouting with his heightened senses. Mikoto was in the middle, keeping a steady pace, and Nawaki was at the very back of the team to cover their rear.
After advancing for about $20$ minutes, while passing through a deserted valley, Minato, at the very front of the team, suddenly raised his hand to signal a sharp stop.
"What's wrong? Are there enemies? I don't smell anything," the two behind him stopped, and Nawaki asked in a low voice, his hand moving toward a kunai.
"No. We are clear."
Minato shook his head. He closed his eyes and sensed for a while to ensure no observers were nearby, then clapped his hands, spawning a large tree several people thick using a subtle application of Wood Release.
Minato pressed his hand against the trunk, and a crack opened in the solid wood. Then, he took out a special Hiraishin kunai, placed it inside the trunk, and closed it up again, making the bark look undisturbed.
A Flying Thunder God Base Station was complete! This would allow him to return to this point in an instant if things went south.
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