After Minato Namikaze had Obito moved to another tent for treatment, he and Tsunade did not leave immediately. They remained just outside the tent where Shindai was resting, speaking loudly enough for him to overhear clearly.
"Tsunade-sama," Minato began earnestly, "since Master Jiraiya is currently unconscious, there's something urgent I must report to you at once. We've received intelligence from Konoha—the village plans to strike first against the Sand ninja in the Land of Rivers, forcing them back into the Land of Wind."
"Oh? So they're going after the Sand ninja. When will they make their move?"
"In about half a month. Konoha is mobilizing ninja forces secretly to the Land of Rivers. Once our units arrive, we'll launch a surprise attack on the Sand forces. Depending on how things unfold, we might be dispatched for support operations there."
"Understood."
Inside the tent, Shindai listened to every word exchanged between Minato and Tsunade.
Then…he lazily scratched his butt, rolled over, and closed his eyes intending to take a nap.
Getting beaten up had worn him out, and arguing with Obito had drained what little energy he had left. He was utterly spent now.
To Shindai, the information discussed by Minato and Tsunade held absolutely no importance whatsoever.
In his opinion, Sunagakure stationing ninja in the Land of Rivers made no strategic sense whatsoever.
The Hidden Sand Village's strength simply couldn't compare with Konoha's.
Even the regular-level ninja stationed in the Land of Rivers were considered relatively ordinary within Konoha—nowhere near the level of a Sannin, let alone having one lead operations there.
Plainly put, Konoha didn't even consider Sunagakure worth serious attention.
Under these circumstances, even those regular-level Konoha ninja could easily put the Sand forces at a disadvantage in the Land of Rivers.
Therefore, Shindai felt that whether this intelligence was reported back to Sunagakure or not would inevitably lead to the same outcome.
Once Konoha dispatched reinforcements to fight the Sand forces in the Land of Rivers, those Sand ninja would surely retreat back to the Land of Wind.
If the final result would remain unchanged regardless of action taken, why bother making an effort?
Perhaps, if they saw that his intelligence remained consistently accurate even after the Third Kazekage's death, others who knew about his undercover identity might come to expect him to keep spying within Konoha indefinitely.
Now that he thought about it, the overall situation in the ninja world had recently become quite tense. The Third Kazekage would likely fall to Sasori's ambush soon enough.
He wondered exactly who else knew about his cover identity.
It was mainly the Third Kazekage's own fault for trusting too much in Sasori.
Actually, the Third Kazekage didn't really trust Sasori—he trusted Chiyo.
And Shindai had already given sufficient warnings; there wasn't much more he could do if the Third Kazekage refused to listen.
Thinking along these lines, Shindai gradually drifted off into deep sleep.
Outside the tent, Minato Namikaze and Tsunade waited patiently nearby.
They waited through the day and into the night, then through the night and into the next morning.
They waited for what felt like an eternity without seeing any sign of movement from Shindai at all.
But how could there be any reaction? After all, Shindai hadn't even been paying attention.
Tsunade frowned and asked, "Minato, did that kid really hear anything?"
Minato wasn't sure himself now: "Probably... didn't hear it. If he had heard, Shindai would've summoned the Ninja Hawk already to send reports back to Sunagakure."
Tsunade clicked her tongue: "Then go confirm the situation with that kid now, and I'll coordinate with you afterward."
Minato nodded, then entered Shindai's tent.
Seeing Shindai sprawled out on the bed, sleeping soundly like nothing in the world could bother him, Minato twitched his eye slightly.
Now Minato was certain—Shindai definitely hadn't heard yesterday.
How could someone sleep so peacefully if they had?
Minato shook the sleeping Shindai lightly.
Shindai mumbled drowsily as he woke up: "Oh, it's Lord Minato."
Minato asked, "I came to ask what you'd like to eat."
Shindai immediately perked up: "So I can actually choose my meal?"
Living at the Stationed Camp for so long, he had only ever eaten whatever was served. The idea of choosing food had never occurred to him before.
Perhaps this was one privilege of being strong.
Minato replied, "Hmm, I'll try my best. But it depends on whether the camp kitchen can make it or not."
Shindai raised his hand energetically: "Then I want Sukiyaki!" [Sukiyaki is a traditional Japanese hot pot dish.]
Minato's expression darkened: "This is a military camp! Where would we get Sukiyaki from?"
Shindai looked disappointed: "No way? Too bad. I've never even tasted Sukiyaki before. Well, how about tempura then? That should be possible, right?"
Minato agreed, "Tempura works. Just wait a moment while I have them prepare it, and I'll bring it back for you."
"Thank you, Lord Minato!"
Minato waved his hand: "No need to thank me. Actually, I should be thanking you instead. I've already heard what happened—you rescued Kakashi and the others when the Cloud Ninjas weren't looking. Otherwise, Kakashi and the rest wouldn't have made it out alive."
Shindai proudly lifted his head: "Haha, it's just what every citizen of Konoha should do!"
Minato smiled at him: "I'll be back soon."
Leaving the tent, Minato went to meet Tsunade again: "Lady Tsunade, I'm going to deliver the food to Shindai now. While he eats, let's execute our plan from yesterday again."
According to Minato's thinking, during the meal, surely Shindai wouldn't remain completely oblivious!
After arranging for someone to fry the tempura, Minato brought it directly to Shindai.
"Shindai, you enjoy your meal here slowly. Just leave the empty plates on the table; someone will come by later to clean up. I've got things to attend to, so I'll take my leave first."
Minato met with Tsunade at their previous spot from last night.
"Tsunade, Orochimaru has already learned about Konoha's plan to attack the Sand Ninja in the Land of Rivers. Orochimaru is currently taking stock of the Ninjas at our base. If things go wrong during the operation half a month from now, we'll need to dispatch some of our Ninjas to the Land of Rivers."
"At that time, if the situation in the Land of Rivers looks bad, we'll also need to send some Medical Ninja there, right?"
"Exactly. Once Tsunade finishes compiling the list of Medical Ninja, please hand it directly over to Orochimaru."
...
After Minato Namikaze and Tsunade finished speaking, they resumed hiding and kept watch on Shindai's tent, waiting for him to take action.
Inside the tent:
"He sighed. This tempura isn't even close to what they serve back in Konoha. But I guess it's barely acceptable since we're not in Konoha. If someone actually served me tempura like this in Konoha, I'd tear their entire shop apart."
"It's just about driving those Sand Ninjas from the Land of Rivers back to the Land of Wind. Why make such a huge deal out of it? Huh? What the heck is this? Is this... a dumpling tempura? That's going way too far!"
Looking at the dumpling tempura, Shindai angrily shoved it into his mouth, took two bites, and swallowed it whole.
"Phew, dodged a bullet there. One more chew and I'd have tasted just how awful it really was."
Outside the tent, Minato Namikaze and Tsunade were still 'patiently' waiting for Shindai to take action.
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