Chapter 33 - Leaving the village (Edited) (1/2)
The next day, Minato was summoned again to the Hokage office, with the order to be prepared. Knowing that it will be his first mission, and he doubts that it will be a foolish D-rank, he was excited to finally have a chance to leave the village and explore the world by himself and not through memories...Well with a perverted uncle in tow. He attached his new forehead protector on his left arm and prepared some sealing scrolls that he put in a backpack, not willing to let others know that his tattoo is a sealing matrix. He will only use this one if he is in a pinch and must defend himself without the time to take his weapons out of the scrolls.
He first went to Kushina's next door and said goodbye to her, Mikoto and Tsume. The latter two ended up staying the night here, knowing that he will go on a mission tomorrow and not willing to let him go without seeing him off. It was a good feeling to Minato, like having wives sending him off and taking care of the house while he went away.
Arriving at the Hokage office, the Sandaime had Jiraya explain to him the basics of the mission. Jiraya has recently begun a spy network, and he must go to a small settlement in the Land of Stone to receive some news from his informant of the small hidden village of Ishi (Ishigakure no Sato). It would have been better for him to be alone, but the Hokage decided that because it was not super confidential nor dangerous, that it would be a good thing for Minato to see the outside world before the war.
”I see, so we will go by the Land of Rain?”
The Sandaime was surprised that Minato knew of the location of the Stone Country, it was not in the program of the academy. It shows that he went to the public library to learn some information on his own, a good quality for a ninja. But then, he showed a grave face. ”Yes, but you must do exactly what Jiraya tells you to, a shinobi even stronger than I live in Amegakure, not even speaking of the fact that Iwa and Suna shinobi began to monitor this country that is between the three of us.”
Minato made a thoughtful face and nodded. Jiraya and Hiruzen thought that he was thinking about who could be even stronger than the Hokage, but he was not even bothered about that. After all, he knew Hanzo will not be foolish enough to attack one of the Hokage disciples and start the war ahead of time with Konoha's full revenge focused on his country. 'Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato. It's during this period that they begun to become orphan and form their small group, I wonder how I could infiltrate the Akatsuki before even its formation, I can never be too cautious. Madara and the Rinnegan can't be underestimated'
”Let's get going gaki. We have a week's journey ahead of us.” Sensing the doubts of Minato, Jiraya continued ”If we were to go at full speed, we will be there in three days. But if we do that, we will be seen by the enemy forces. And I don't want to deal with that during the travel”
Minato made an 'Oh' sound, having forgotten that this Jiraya was not yet the renown Sannin that was unafraid of anything.
Jiraya and Minato set off directly, hoping to reach the border before night falls.
The whole journey to Konoha's border went by without a hitch. They arrived at a Konoha outpost, a preparation for the war to come, with spies of all nations stationed in Amegakure.
”We will stop here tonight, from tomorrow onwards we will travel more stealthily so be sure to be in top form” Jiraya was surprised that Minato seems fine, but he thought that it was just him playing the tough guy like he did small (and even now) to impress Tsunade. He was unaware that Minato was a stamina freak, with blood that possesses a phenomenal resilience inside of him that gave him energy each time he tires.
Minato just nodded and began to explore the surroundings. There was not really anything apart from some tents and stands, with shinobi running to and fro appearing very busy. 'It's the fate of the weak. The higher-ups control everything while sitting comfortably while others must do all the menial work. I don't anticipate the war to come, living here every day with bȧrėly edible food' Just thinking about it made him frown, but it's not like he can go rogue and abandon everything that he constructed in Konoha because of some discomfort. Not willing to spend any more time thinking about that, he went to sleep in a small tent that Jiraya reserved him. At least thanks to Jiraya there is some comfort, the others all sleep together in a cramped space.