At this moment, Minato Namikaze was in the battlefield command room reporting to Orochimaru.
"Tsunade."
Tsunade spoke hurriedly. "Minato, you're back just in time. The Third Hokage sent an urgent letter for you."
Tsunade handed the letter to Minato Namikaze.
Minato immediately opened and began reading the letter.
Upon reading its contents, Minato's expression instantly turned serious.
Seeing Minato's solemn expression, Tsunade furrowed her brows too, asking anxiously, "Could something have happened in Konoha?"
Minato nodded. "This isn't the place to talk. Lady Tsunade, where is Master Jiraiya?"
"Eh…" Tsunade answered somewhat awkwardly, turning her head slightly. "Jiraiya is unconscious right now, and Medical Ninjas are treating him."
Minato asked in disbelief, "Huh? Treatment? Master Jiraiya got injured? By whom? But those famous Cloud Ninja were still at their base, weren't they? Could Kumogakure have dispatched powerful ninja to Hot Water Country again?"
Tsunade evaded eye contact guiltily. "Minato, it was me. Don't ask for details now. Come with me to see Jiraiya. Since you have urgent matters to discuss, I'll personally handle his treatment to wake him up as soon as possible."
Minato: ???
Did Jiraiya peek into a women's bathhouse again and get caught by Tsunade?
Seriously, didn't he learn his lesson the last time Tsunade cracked six of his ribs?
Helplessly, Minato followed Tsunade to see Jiraiya.
Inside the tent where Jiraiya lay, Minato was startled by how pale his face looked.
Judging from his injuries, it seemed about as severe as when he'd had broken ribs before.
Wait—did he sneak into a communal bathhouse this time instead of just peeping on one girl?
Tsunade said to the medical ninjas currently treating Jiraiya, "Alright, you can rest now. I'll take over his treatment from here."
"
Yes."
The medical ninja stopped their work. Tsunade rolled up her sleeves and directly began treating Jiraiya with the Mystical Palm Technique.
The Mystical Palm Technique wasn't just a simple Medical Ninjutsu—it was an advanced medical technique capable of remarkably rapid healing of both internal and external injuries through chakra-infused energy.
Half an hour later, Tsunade ceased her treatment.
Minato Namikaze asked, "Tsunade, how is Master Jiraiya?"
"Don't worry, he'll come around soon."
No sooner had Tsunade finished than she slapped Jiraiya across the face.
"Ah~"
Minato Namikaze instinctively sucked in a sharp breath, his own cheek flinching as if *he* had been the one hit.
Under Tsunade's slap, Jiraiya regained consciousness, gradually opening his eyelids. Upon seeing Tsunade standing before him, he immediately perked up.
Jiraiya reflexively tried to dodge but strained his wounds, sending a jolt of pain through his body.
Tsunade snorted coldly before saying to Minato Namikaze, "He's awake now. You can speak to him if you have anything to say."
Jiraiya looked at Minato Namikaze in surprise and said, "Huh? You're back already, Minato?"
Minato Namikaze helplessly replied, "Master Jiraiya, you're getting so old—shouldn't you act more properly by now? Stop peeping into women's bathhouses!"
Jiraiya asked in confusion, "Peeping into a women's bathhouse? Which time are you talking about? I definitely didn't do it this time!"
"If not, why would you get hit by Lady Tsunade..."
Minato Namikaze abruptly stopped mid-sentence, glancing uncomfortably at Tsunade.
Jiraiya immediately understood he'd been mistaken for something else, yet couldn't explain himself.
Because being accused of peeping into a women's bath sounded far better than admitting he'd been fooling around with puppets that resembled Tsunade too closely.
Tsunade gave Jiraiya a sharp glare before saying to Minato Namikaze, "Then I'll take my leave first."
Minato Namikaze called her back, "Please stay and listen, Lady Tsunade."
Minato Namikaze spoke solemnly, "The Third sent us a message—Iwagakure is pressuring Konoha now. We either hand over Shindai… or face war."
Upon hearing Minato's words, Jiraiya and Tsunade grew serious-faced as well.
Jiraiya muttered gravely, "If Iwagakure joins the fight, then the Third Great Ninja World War will truly begin."
Minato nodded, "Exactly. In the letter, The Third said we cannot hand over Shindai. But we also mustn't allow Iwagakure to wage war against us. If they decide to attack us as well, Konoha will be facing simultaneous assaults from three great ninja villages: Cloud, Rock, and Sand. Our pressure will intensify greatly. And the key to preventing it..."
Jiraiya picked up where Minato left off, "The key lies with Shindai, right?"
Tsunade questioned in confusion, "That perverted brat is the key? How could he possibly influence Iwagakure's decision?"
Minato Namikaze raised an eyebrow.
A pervert? Shindai?
How come when he was away for just a moment, Tsunade started calling Shindai a pervert?
Jiraiya explained to Tsunade, "Shindai has a Ninja Hawk. That Ninja Hawk can fly directly to Kaito, the Third Kazekage of Sunagakure. I think the old man's plan is to use Shindai's Ninja Hawk to send false intelligence reports to Kaito, tricking him into helping us resolve this crisis."
After speaking, Jiraiya asked Minato Namikaze, "Minato, I'm right, aren't I?"
Minato nodded. "Exactly. The Third said we have one month. If we fail, we'll have to cut ties with Shindai."
Jiraiya said uncomfortably, "One month. We're in the Hot Water Country now. With Konoha between us and Sunagakure in the Land of Wind, even a Ninja Hawk will take several days to fly there. And we also need to account for the time it takes for messages to travel back and forth from Konoha."
We don't have much time left.
Minato agreed. "Exactly. I just did the math. Within a week, we need to get Shindai to summon his Ninja Hawk, intercept it, and swap the reports with fake ones."
After a moment of silence, Minato and Jiraiya went over everything Shindai had done...
This mission seemed simple enough.
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