Naruto : Minato back to the past

After successfully leaving the vicinity of Sand Village, Minato and his party removed all disguises and hurried on their way. When they approached the exit of the hard sand wall, Sakumo sensed that his summoning jutsu had been lifted, but the Sand Ninja discovered it too late. As long as a few ninjas hid in the desert, even if the number of ninjas in Sand Village doubled, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. What's more, all of them—except Mikoto—were far from weak.

Thus, their journey proceeded exceptionally smoothly.

In a valley at the border of the Land of Wind, the Konoha troops had established a new camp. It was clear that after Minato and his group left, the war had shifted. As Minato and the others entered the valley, several Konoha ninjas emerged from various positions, landing in front of them. They seemed to have known of Minato's group's arrival for some time.

"Lord Sakumo, everyone, thank you for your hard work," one of the Konoha ninjas greeted them with a smile.

The group nodded, and Minato and Suzuka focused on a Konoha ninja wearing a large windbreaker. They could sense the presence of tiny chakra fluctuations within the person's body, as well as numerous similar fluctuations throughout the valley. Even from several kilometers away, they had detected this subtle chakra signature.

This was a unique ability of the Konoha Aburame clan, experts in using chakra to nurture insects and perform secret techniques. Their strength lay in detecting enemies from a long distance, a skill even superior to the Byakugan of the Hyuga clan.

Although there had been Aburame clan ninjas in the Konoha army before, their numbers had been small. Based on the current situation, it appeared that Konoha had sent reinforcements to deal with the Sand Ninja army.

"Where are Tsunade and the others?" Sakumo asked.

Upon hearing this, the Konoha ninja pointed in a direction.

"Thank you. We'll go report the mission." Sakumo smiled, leading Minato and the others to a corner of the valley.

Under the cover of trees, the Konoha army had set up numerous temporary camps. A few meters away from the group, a tent stood. As they landed in front of it, the occupants of the tent emerged, and the two groups met.

"You're finally back." Tsunade smiled and looked at the six exhausted figures. "Thank you for your hard work." She didn't immediately ask about the mission's outcome but instead greeted them, a tactic commanders use to win the hearts of their subordinates.

The group smiled lightly—this was their duty as ninjas, and they didn't expect praise.

"Was it successful?" Tsunade inquired about the mission's result.

Sakumo nodded, smiling. "Yes."

He then took out a scroll from his ninja bag and handed it to Tsunade. "The two Desert Sorrows from Sand Village are here."

"Great!"

Tsunade couldn't help but express her excitement, but she quickly regained her composure. With a team that included Sakumo and Minato, there was always a sense of reassurance that failure was never an option.

"After running around for so long, go rest. We're in the middle of a meeting, so join us." Tsunade put the scroll away and added, "Sakumo, come with me. Minato, you should join us too."

Minato paused for a moment before responding, while the other four looked surprised but then made their way into the camp.

Moments later, a burst of laughter came from the tent where Tsunade and the others were gathered. Sakumo and Minato's successful infiltration into Sand Village had significant implications for the war. Upon learning that the Desert Sorrow was now in their possession, the group naturally felt elated. Not only that, the operation had been executed right under the Third Kazekage's nose, likely causing an uproar among the Sand Village leadership.

In addition to Tsunade, Orochimaru, Hyuga Tenki, and Sakumo, there was another person in the tent. He wore a loose windbreaker and remained completely silent. Even as the others laughed, there was no emotion on his face, partially obscured by his high collar. He was the patriarch of the Konoha Aburame clan, Aburame Shiki.

After the laughter died down, Sakumo turned to Tsunade and the others. "When we left the hard sand wall, we saw the Sand Ninja's communication eagle. Did any fighting occur between our troops and the Sand Ninja while we were away?"

Tsunade nodded. "Three days ago, the Sand Ninja troops attacked our camp. However, because we had taken precautions, only small skirmishes occurred during our retreat."

The Konoha army, which included ninjas from clans like the Hyuga and Uchiha, had unmatched preparation abilities among the five great ninja nations. Unless Konoha intended to engage in a full-blown battle, the Sand Ninja couldn't force a decisive fight.

"How did the battle go?" Sakumo and Minato asked eagerly. After all, Konoha had previously suffered significant losses due to the Sand Ninja's puppeteer forces and Chiyo's poison. Before Tsunade developed an antidote, Konoha had been at a disadvantage.

"While the casualty ratio is still slightly higher than the Sand Ninja's, their puppeteer forces didn't gain any advantage this time. We killed over 20 of them. I imagine Chiyo is still mourning her losses," Hyuga Tenki smiled.

Minato and Sakumo's eyes lit up. For the small number of puppeteer troops, this was indeed a major blow. When they glanced at Aburame Shiki, they understood the reason for their success.

"It seems you've figured it out," Tsunade said with a smile, then turned her gaze to Minato. "To be honest, I was inspired by you."

"By combining the abilities of the Hyuga clan and the Aburame clan, we could see through the mechanisms of the Sand Ninja puppets. One clan can see through all traps, while the other uses parasites to invade the puppets and destroy them. It's an excellent strategy," Minato said slowly. Tsunade's approach mirrored a tactic he had used before, combining the abilities of Hyuga Kyusugi, Yamanaka Kanha, and his own sealing techniques.

With the Hyuga's Byakugan, the puppeteer's carefully crafted mechanisms held no secrets, while the tiny parasites could either consume chakra or destroy the puppets' internal mechanisms. The combined abilities of these two clans made them the nemesis of Sand Ninja's puppet forces.

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