Asuma and Shisui were sprawled out on the ground, exhausted.

  They were both frontline fighters.

  pared to Kurenai, their physical exertion and chakra ption were much higher.

  Kakashi, standing nearby, g them, then at Obito. And then…

  “What are you looking at, stupid Kakashi?! I fought just as hard as everyone else, okay?”

  “Hmph.”

  Kakashi turned away without a word.

  Obito wasly the smartest, but in direbat, he wasn’t half-bad—he had actually created a lot of opportunities.

  However…

  If it weren’t for Rin and Kurenai supp him, Obito would’ve been injured multiple times already.

  And ahing—no matter how hard he tried to coordih Obito, their teamwork was nothing like Team One’s.

  He had clearly made an effort to work with Obito, so why wasn’t it w?

  That was what fused him the most.

  —

  “Sensei…”

  Kurenai struggled to stand.

  Kyoichi g the bound bandits, then waved a hand. “o get up. Just rest.”

  “Is it all settled over there?”

  Minato’s shadow e hadn’t returned yet, so he wasn’t sure what had happened.

  “More or less. I’ll leave the up to you.”

  “…Huh?” Minato was stunned for a moment before realizing something wasn’t right.

  He was still thinking it over when, in the instant, the air distorted.

  A ripple of space, followed by the sudden arrival of his shadow e—with another person in tow.

  Yahiko looked disoriented.

  A moment ago, everything had been spinning. Now, he opened his eyes to the st of blood and the sight of eight Konoha shinobi surrounding him.

  The first person he spotted was Kyoichi Kanda.

  “What… what kind of jutsu was that?”

  His heart pounded.

  That was real teleportation!

  And…

  What shocked him even more was that Namikaze Minato’s teique could transport another person.

  As the leader of Akatsuki, he uood all too well the impact a jutsu like this could have otlefield.

  No exaggeration—this teique could ge the course of aire war!

  Konoha…

  Was terrifying.

  When he first met Kyoichi Kanda, he thought he had seerue power of the great vilges. But now, he realized he had still uimated them—especially Konoha.

  Kakashi tightened his grip on his short sword.

  He reized the forehead protector—this guy was from Amegakure.

  “My name is Yahiko. It’s an honor to meet you.”

  Yahiko gave a small bow.

  They were kids, sure. But their captain wasn’t.

  Kyoichi had already sehem from a distance.

  With his chakra perception, keeping track of Konan and Nagato’s movements was effortless. He had already figured out how Minato had hahe situation before arriving.

  Minato was Jiraiya’s student, a rising star among Konoha’s Jonin. This small matter wouldn’t cause any problems for him.

  Besides…

  Yahiko and the others were Jiraiya’s doing to begin with.

  If anyone had to take responsibility, it sure as hell wouldn’t be him.

  With that thought, Kyoichi let out a slow breath.

  No problem.

  “Jonin Kyoichi… about what you said earlier… could you… expin a little more?”

  After some hesitation, Yahiko finally spoke up.

  Kyoichi thought for a moment, then g his system panel.

  A reward notification had popped up earlier—he had assumed that was the end of it.

  He hadn’t expected Yahiko to e chasing after him for more.

  More expnation?

  After a pause, he replied, “I’m from Konoha. My way of solving things is different from yours. Why not take these questions and find the answers yourself? Think carefully—you're not a kid anymore. Even Asuma isn’t as naive as you.”

  Asuma blinked.

  Wait, do I seem naive?

  He g Shisui and Kurenai.

  His teammates nodded in unison.

  …Fine.

  Scratg his nose, Asuma chose to remain silent.

  Yahiko, meanwhile, felt like Kyoichi’s words made sense… but at the same time, he didn’t uand anything at all.

  He scratched his head, struggling to form a coherent thought.

  After a few seds, he said, “But I really don’t know what to do…”

  “If peace were as easy as you think, the First and Sed Hokage would have already achieved it. But think about it—why was there peace during the First Hokage’s era?”

  “…Because he was strong. No one dared to start trouble.”

  Yahiko had heard the legends of Hashirama Senju.

  That man was a myth.

  Hanzo only called himself ‘Demi-God’ because, pared to the ‘God of Shinobi,’ he wasn’t even close. He wouldn’t dare to make such a parison.

  Even though he wasn’t from Konoha, Yahiko deeply respected that man.

  “Exactly. If you eace, you rength first. Ideals and theories alone won’t vinyoo put it bluntly, having power doesn’t mean you have to bully others—it means you make them sit down and talk to you.”

  “Like you and me, right now.”

  Kyoichi started his speech.

  Or rather…

  It wasly a speech. What he was saying was just pure, unfiltered truth.

  “…I see… That does make sense.”

  Yahiko could tell that this was valuable insight.

  Especially the part about ‘power.’

  It was true.

  If Kyoichi hadn’t been strong enough to subdue Nagato instantly, he wouldn’t be standing here having this versation—he’d be on the run instead.

  After hearing those few sentences, it was as if a fog had been lifted from his mind.

  “If you want to reach yoal, you don’t always have to charge straight ahead. Sometimes, taking a detour makes things easier.”

  “…I uand now. I’ll never fet yuidance, Jonin Kyoichi!”

  Yahiko k on the ground, bowing deeply iraditional dogeza position.

  Minato was startled.

  But…

  After abs the memories from his shadow e, he now uood the full picture.

  Kyoichi’s words had left a deep impression on him, too.

  At first, they had seemed simple. But the more he thought about them, the more he realized how profound they were.

  He had a feeling—what Yahiko took from this versation would lead to a signifit transformation.

  And that…

  Was both reassuring and ing.

  “…I hope you uand, Yahiko. I won’t do anything that would bring shame to my teacher.”

  Yahiko spoke with utmost seriousness.

  He knew Minato might be wary of him.

  After all, Konoha was the stro of the Five Great Nations, and his aight threaten their is.

  Even Yahiko himself couldn’t guaraherwise.

  But…

  He could guarahat he wouldn’t put Jiraiya in a difficult position or do anything to disgrace him.

  From a distance, Kakashi and the others exged gnces.

  Was Minato-sensei… ected to this guy somehow?

  “…To be ho, I don’t know if you’ve actually uood anything. But you have a lot of people depending on you, and their needs won’t be easy to bance. Go home and think it through.”

  Kyoichi g Asuma and the others, signaling them to prepare to leave.

  But—

  “Kyoichi, don’t go just yet. There are too many surviving bandits over there. We ’t hahem all ourselves. Stick around and help out.”

  “…Ugh.”

  Fine…

  Mission plete, and he even picked up an ued reward.

  He had po just slip away quietly, but Minato caught him at the st sed.

  ing out of this now.

  Unfortunate.

  Kyoichi sighed.

  Minato smiled and turo Yahiko. “I’ll speak with my teacher about this. We’ll see what he decides—I hope you uand.”

  “…I do. Please send my regards to Jiraiya-sensei.”

  Yahiko bowed deeply once more.

  “I will.”

  Gcell