Judging purely from the slash that had just killed the Sunagakure shinobi, the actual combat effect of a seventy-five percent increase in destructive power was impressive. Ren could not deny that. The moment the buff activated, his blade had become heavy enough to shatter his opponent's weapon head-on and finish the fight in one clean strike. In a real battle, that kind of sudden power spike could decide life and death in an instant.
However, having to roll three times just to obtain a "Small Win" was hard to call profitable. Every use of Crazy Gamble consumed five percent of his chakra. Three attempts meant fifteen percent gone, enough to cast two proper ninjutsu if used carefully. In exchange, the lethality had not increased by an overwhelming amount. Sword techniques were faster than ninjutsu that required hand seals, but the uncertainty was still too high.
In an ordinary duel, gambling a little for fun was fine. Ren was confident he could win either way. But in a truly critical battle, staking his life on luck was a fool's choice. Of course, this was only the effect of Crazy Gamble at the Friendly stage. In theory, once its favorability increased, the technique would receive two upgrades and one rank-up. Whether those improvements reduced chakra consumption or raised the chance of a winning result, the technique's usefulness would rise dramatically.
Even if the chance of a "Big Win" was only twenty percent, after a dozen slashes, it should trigger at least once, right? And if he managed to roll the ten-percent "Clean Sweep," the effect would be terrifying: a two-hundred-and-twenty-five percent destructive power increase, plus critical-hit and penetration effects. Ren estimated that very few shinobi could withstand such a strike with their physical body alone.
By the time Ren finished thinking through the technique's potential, Kakashi and the others had also dealt with their opponents. Kakashi had originally wanted to leave one Sunagakure shinobi alive to interrogate him about the situation inside Ryūgetsu Outpost, but these enemies were stubborn. Even after being captured, they refused to speak. Since Ren's group had no Yamanaka clan specialist with them and no reliable interrogation methods, they could only give up.
After cleaning the battlefield again, the group rested for five minutes to recover their breathing and chakra. Then, without wasting any more time, they rushed toward Ryūgetsu Outpost.
Just as they approached the entrance of the town, another squad appeared in their field of vision. The distance was too great to make out the forehead protectors clearly, but the silhouette of a large black ninken running on all fours was impossible to mistake.
Rin's eyes lit up. "It's Senior Tsume and her team!"
On the opposite side, Tsume Inuzuka also noticed them. She guided Kuromaru toward Ren's group and stopped about a dozen meters away. When she saw the blood on Ren, Kakashi, Rin, and Obito, surprise flashed across her sharp eyes.
"Yo, you kids moved fast," Tsume said with a grin. "I thought it would take you a little longer to get here. So? How many Sunagakure shinobi did you handle?"
"Twelve," Kakashi answered simply. "Eight at the watchtower, four reinforcements on the road. All eliminated."
Tsume blinked. "How many?"
The Konoha chunin behind her stared at Team Minato with completely different eyes. Even Tsume's squad, which consisted entirely of chunin with a special jonin as captain, had needed some effort to deal with five or six enemies at the northwest watchtower. Yet these children had wiped out twelve.
At only ten years old, they were already this strong. In another two years, what would they become?
Tsume laughed and patted Kakashi on the shoulder. "Well done, kids of Team Minato. Follow me. There shouldn't be many Sunagakure shinobi left inside the stronghold. Minato should already be there by now. Let me show you the strength of a Konoha jonin!"
Soon, the group crossed the long street and arrived near the original Konoha camp inside Ryūgetsu Outpost. The main gates were shut tight, and several wooden barricades had been placed in front of the entrance. The camp looked silent from the outside, but the silence only made it more dangerous, like a beast holding its breath before pouncing.
Tsume jumped off Kuromaru and dropped to all fours beside him. Chakra gathered around her body as her movements became wild, sharp, and animal-like.
"Beast Mimicry Ninja Art: Four Legs Technique!"
A heartbeat later, both woman and dog launched forward.
"Fang Over Fang!"
Tsume and Kuromaru transformed into two terrifying spinning drills. Their rotation tore through the air with a piercing whistle before crashing straight into the heavy wooden gates.
Boom!
The gates exploded inward. Thick wooden boards, iron fragments, and shattered barricades flew everywhere. A massive gap was torn open as if the entire entrance had been made of paper.
Rin covered her mouth in shock. "So amazing…"
Obito's eyes shone. "Wow! So this is the strength of a jonin? She can combine attacks with her ninken like that? That's so cool!"
Strictly speaking, Tsume was a special jonin because her clan's secret techniques allowed her to reach jonin-level ability in taijutsu and tracking, while other areas were still lacking. But to Obito and Rin, who did not yet have powerful finishing moves of their own, Fang Over Fang looked overwhelmingly impressive.
Once the gate was broken, Tsume and Kuromaru did not stop. They charged into the dust-filled camp with fierce momentum, while the other Konoha shinobi followed behind, ready to throw kunai or release ninjutsu at any moment.
But the fierce resistance they expected never came.
When Ren and the others entered, they found only a camp soaked in death. Sunagakure corpses lay scattered everywhere, at least a dozen of them. Most had thin wounds across their throats, so clean they looked like red lines drawn by a brush. Others had injuries in different places, but there were almost no signs of prolonged struggle. They had all died quickly, almost silently.
The smell of blood was suffocating.
Obito's earlier excitement faded. Rin's face paled slightly, though she forced herself to remain calm. Kakashi said nothing, but his gaze moved carefully across the bodies.
"Are we late?" Ren asked softly, already guessing the answer.
They followed Tsume deeper into the camp and soon arrived at a large tent near the center. Inside, several Sunagakure shinobi were tied to pillars, their hands and feet bound tightly. In front of them stood a blond figure with his back turned, calmly wiping blood from a kunai.
Obito's voice instantly shattered the silence.
"Minato-sensei!"
Minato Namikaze turned around with his usual gentle, harmless smile, as though the corpses outside had nothing to do with him. "Tsume. Ren, Obito, Kakashi, Rin. Sorry. I may have arrived a little too early. I originally wanted to wait for you."
Tsume had already separated from Kuromaru. She looked at Minato with a complicated expression before sighing. "Minato, you really are the same monster you were back in the Academy. But these disciples of yours are monsters too."
"Oh?" Minato looked curious.
"You probably don't know yet," Tsume said. "Before coming here tonight, they wiped out three full Sunagakure squads. They reached the outpost almost at the same time as my team."
As Tsume explained the situation, Kakashi quietly looked back toward the path they had taken, then turned his gaze to Ren. The scene before him was not exactly the same as the northeast watchtower, but the feeling was close. Ren's combat style and Minato's methods had a similar kind of efficiency.
Fast.
Clean.
Deadly.
A strange pressure settled in Kakashi's chest. Was Konoha about to produce a White Flash, only slightly beneath the famous Yellow Flash?
Minato and Tsume soon finished exchanging information. Minato handed the captured Sunagakure shinobi over to Tsume, who would handle interrogation and intelligence gathering. Then he came over to praise Team Minato. For a squad nominally consisting of one chunin and three genin, their results tonight were outstanding.
Unfortunately, the children's reactions were muted. Ren did not want to stand out too much. Kakashi was silently feeling pressure. Obito felt like he had simply been carried by the others and had contributed nothing meaningful. Only Rin smiled a few times, saving the atmosphere from becoming completely awkward.
Minato clapped his hands lightly. "Alright. It's already past midnight. Go rest. Even though we retook this stronghold from Sunagakure, they'll probably receive the news soon and may attempt to counterattack. Until Wildfire Outpost sends a replacement squad, we'll need to guard this place ourselves. You can't do that properly without sleep."
The team nodded. They found an empty tent nearby, tidied it up, washed off the blood and dust, and finally slept.
The next morning, Ren woke before sunrise because of his biological clock. Kakashi and the others were already stirring as well. After greeting them, he stepped outside to wash up.
Tsume had left early to bring the wounded and supplies from the southeast watchtower. Meanwhile, after sending the intelligence report, Minato brought Ren and the others to repair the defensive fortifications inside and outside the stronghold. The work was tiring, but useful. For Ren, tasks like moving timber, reinforcing barricades, and rebuilding traps were also a form of training. He could practice the Super Strength Technique, Shadow Clones, and physical control without wasting the day.
With a Kage-level shinobi like Minato stationed there, the defense of Ryūgetsu Outpost was already equivalent to having dozens of ordinary shinobi. Unless Sunagakure sent a large elite force, they could not easily threaten the position. However, Team Minato could not stay forever. For the Konoha shinobi who would arrive later, the outpost still needed proper repairs.
The news of Ryūgetsu Outpost being retaken was quickly sent back to Wildfire Outpost by messenger pigeon.
At Konoha's southwestern front headquarters, Jiraiya read the intelligence scroll and grinned. "Oh? Minato and the others did a fine job. In one night, they retook the stronghold and cost Sunagakure five or six squads. That nail in the northwest has been completely pulled out."
Beside him, Nara Kashima nodded calmly. "It is good news. Minato's title as the Yellow Flash will spread quickly among Sunagakure now. His students also played an important role in the assault and the interception of reinforcements."
Jiraiya laughed proudly. "Of course! Minato learned how to pick disciples from me. How else could he find such geniuses?"
Kashima ignored the self-praise and continued, "Ryūgetsu Outpost is important and cannot be left empty. I suggest sending two experienced elite chunin squads to take over. Until then, Team Minato and Tsume's squad should remain there as temporary garrison."
"Good," Jiraiya said. "Choose the candidates. The sooner, the better."
Meanwhile, the atmosphere in Sunagakure's front camp was heavy.
"What? Ryūgetsu Outpost was retaken by Konoha overnight? And the outer watchtowers were wiped out too?"
Ishikawa Tetsuiwa slammed his fist onto the table, his face turning ashen. "How could this happen?"
A survivor lowered his head, his voice trembling. "Minato Namikaze personally acted. He killed more than a dozen of our people almost instantly. Even Lord Kuroda, a jonin, was like a rookie in front of him. He barely blocked a few attacks before being defeated. It was terrifying."
Ishikawa felt a chill crawl up his spine. He had once believed Minato's achievements were exaggerated, tricks born from Space-Time Ninjutsu. But now, it seemed the man was a threat no weaker than Konoha's White Fang.
Then his eyes sharpened.
"If the Yellow Flash is there, his disciples should be there too, right?" Ishikawa turned to his advisor. "Go invite Elder Chiyo immediately. Tell her we've found the whereabouts of Hatake Ren. This is a golden opportunity to wash away Sunagakure's disgrace."
While dangerous currents gathered outside, life inside Ryūgetsu Outpost temporarily relaxed. Once the Konoha shinobi from the southeast watchtower arrived, the stronghold became livelier. There were still fewer people than before Sunagakure's attack, but at least they could form several squads and arrange basic patrols.
Since the pressure on manpower had eased, Team Minato was finally given half a day off.
The weather was clear, so Obito immediately declared that they should go out and "inspect local conditions." Rin agreed with a smile, and Ren went along as well. Kakashi claimed he wanted to train, but in reality, he found a quiet corner inside the stronghold and curled up with an orange-covered book, completely uninterested in shopping.
Although it was called Ryūgetsu Outpost, the place was more like a large town built around an important road. Bluestone streets ran between wooden and stone houses, and shops lined both sides. Even under the shadow of war, civilians still had to live. Most people hurried past with lowered heads, instinctively avoiding eye contact whenever they saw Konoha forehead protectors.
Then Obito suddenly stopped at a roadside stall.
"Wow, Rin, look at this!"
The stall was filled with masks of all kinds: animal masks, festival masks, and old Noh-style masks painted in strange colors. Obito searched through them eagerly before picking up a white mask marked with a spiral pattern.
He placed it over his face and turned toward Ren and Rin.
"Ren! Rin! Look at me! Am I handsome?"
The moment Ren saw him, his expression froze.
White mask.
Spiral pattern.
Obito.
For a brief instant, the noisy street seemed to fall silent around him.
His heart skipped.
White-masked Obito?!
Ren stared at the boy laughing proudly in front of him, and one terrifying thought flashed through his mind.
When the hell did this guy arrive early?
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