It was a scorching summer, and the heatwaves were overwhelming.
Yuto and Yukino intentionally controlled their speed ahead, making the two young ones have to give their all to catch up. This was to train their bodies and willpower.
This was also part of the plan.
Soon, Kaze's clothes were soaked with sweat. It was sticky, hot and extremely uncomfortable on his body.
He glanced at Minato beside him and noticed that although the other boy also looked exhausted, he was clearly in a much better state than himself.
"System, check Minato's attributes!" Kaze murmured in his heart.
Through the system, he could check the attributes of people whose strength was not far from his own.
[Minato Namikaze's current attributes are as follows:
Killing power: 12
Speed: 16
Defense: 11
Chakra: 14]
"Damn! No wonder Minato has been so fast since he was a kid!" Kaze sighed in his heart.
The system set the attributes of an ordinary Chunin at 15. That meant Minato's current speed had already exceeded that of many Chunin!
"Damn it! Is he really just eight years old?"
Kaze thought to himself that an ordinary person simply couldn't compare with such a freak... Fortunately, he now had a cheat.
After a long journey, the group finally arrived at the Base required by the mission.
Although it was called a Base, it was actually just an unremarkable small cottage hidden in an abandoned village.
"It doesn't seem very important. I guess it was really a false report before," Kaze muttered under his breath.
Minato beside him recalled what he had learned in the past few days and nodded in agreement.
"Further north, at the border between the Wind and Fire countries, there's a strategic stronghold. This Base here is a non - essential stronghold, with only two regular squads stationed."
Yuto smiled and patted Minato on the shoulder: "Flash is right. Alright, let's go and make contact with the guys in the Base first, and then decide on the next plan."
At this time, all four of them had put on their masks and referred to each other by their codenames.
Minato's codename was "Flash", given by Kaze. Kaze gave himself the codename "Zhongli".
Yuto and Yukino already had their own codenames, which were "Murasame" and "Butterfly" respectively.
"Okay, Murasame," the three of them replied in a low voice.
Yuto, the strongest among them, placed his hand on the hilt of his katana at his waist and walked at the front of the four.
Yukino, Minato, and Kaze formed a triangle behind Yuto. They advanced slowly to prevent enemies from suddenly attacking from the side or rear.
Before the four of them reached the Base, a Ninja wearing long - sleeved clothes and a Chunin vest jumped out of the Base. After carefully scrutinizing the four of them with a wary look, he asked suspiciously.
"Are you comrades from Konoha? We haven't received any notice from the village about a team being sent here."
Yukino said in a cold voice: "We belong to the Anbu. This operation was specially approved by Lord Tanzō. It's not strange that you didn't receive the notice. Cut the crap and exchange the secret passwords!"
"Well... Yes!"
The ninja boldly stepped forward two steps and exchanged a series of extremely complex codes with Yukino.
Yuto murmured as he rubbed his stubbly chin, "Something feels off..."
Kaze, who was standing beside him, leaned in and asked in a hushed voice, "What do you mean, Uncle Yuto?"
Yuto grinned mischievously. "This guy is just an ordinary Chunin, but he didn't even bat an eyelid when he heard your father's name. Don't you think it's strange?"
Kaze: "..."
He suspected that Yuto was subtly dissing his dad, but he had no proof.
"Moreover..." Yuto squinted his eyes. "There's just something about his actions that seems so out of place."
Out of place?
Kaze stared at the ninja for a long while but couldn't figure out what was wrong with him.
Just then, Yukino in front finished exchanging the codes with the ninja and waved at them.
"Confirmed. Murasame, bring them over."
Yuto scratched his head awkwardly. "Uh, maybe I was just overthinking it. Hahaha."
The ninja also heaved a sigh of relief and signaled to the base behind him that there was no danger.
"Phew, they're our own people. Don't worry, everyone."
Hearing this, several ninjas in the base put down their weapons like kunai and tantō and slowly emerged from the shadows.
They were all dressed similarly to the guy before, nothing special.
A ninja in a Jonin vest stepped out, sheathed his tantō, and smiled as he bowed to Kaze and the others.
"I'm Kisuke Urahara. I assume you've read my information on your way here. Hehe, may I ask what mission you're here for this time?"
"We're here for the intelligence you sent a few days ago," Yuto said seriously, looking all business.
"Oh, it's still about this matter," Kisuke said, suddenly realizing, and then smiled wryly.
"It's our fault. We made too much of a fuss before. Nothing has happened these days. Sorry to trouble you to come all the way here."
Kaze glanced at Kisuke and murmured to Minato, "This guy's smile seems so fake. I really want to punch him."
"Maybe he's just unhappy about having an extra task for no reason," Minato replied in a low voice.
Yuto waved his hand. "Alright, show us around. I have a few questions to ask you."
"No problem," Kisuke patted his chest and readily agreed.
Led by Kisuke and the others, Kaze's group inspected the base and patrolled the surrounding area. There was indeed no sign of anything unusual.
Kisuke answered the questions that Yuto and Yukino asked without hesitation. The two exchanged glances and nodded silently.
It seemed that everything here was normal. They could get ready to go back and report.
Yukino gave a slight nod to Kisuke and said, "Sorry to bother you, Captain Urahara. Thank you and your team members for your cooperation."
Kisuke smiled nonchalantly and said, "It's okay. We're all working for Konoha."
Kaze watched the people exchanging polite greetings boredly. He thought this mission was really boring. He'd just listened to their chitchat the whole time, nothing like he'd imagined.
However, thinking that he'd completed a first - class mission and could return soon, he regained a bit of energy and casually asked.
"Captain Urahara, it's so hot in summer. Why are you all dressed so thickly? Aren't you hot?"
Hearing Kaze's question, Kisuke's body suddenly stiffened. And Yuto beside him seemed to think of something, and a look of horror flashed across his eyes.
The two subconsciously glanced at each other and saw unease on each other's faces.
The next moment —
"Puff!"
There was a sound like cloth being torn. Kisuke's skin all over his body suddenly burst and scattered everywhere, but not a single drop of blood splashed out.
At the same time, two puppet arms with talismans on them shot out. One arm smashed violently towards Yuto and Yukino nearby, while the other instantly extended several meters and hurtled towards Kaze and Minato who were a bit farther away.
"Puppet Ultimate Art: Hundred - Handed Weapon Manipulation!" Kisuke's cold voice rang out.
With the appearance and disappearance of a puff of white mist, hundreds of puppet arms were summoned, among which there were also hidden projectiles such as poison needles, senbon, and poison mist. Just one look was enough to make one shudder.
"Whirlwind Slash of Doom!"
Yuto's face changed drastically. He let out a loud roar and swung his sword to meet the attack.
What he was worried about was not himself, but Kaze's safety beside him!
Countless sharp wind blades were cut out with the sword, forming an invisible sword net in front of Yuto, blocking all the incoming puppet arms and projectiles.
Behind Yuto.
The moment Yuto made his move, Yukino leaped up and rushed towards Kaze.
But being caught off - guard, she was still a step too late...
She could only watch helplessly as the dense puppet arms submerged Kaze and Minato!