Jiraiya listed the clan heads one by one. "For now, I've only spotted these clan heads. I don't rule out others, and the Kage-level reinforcements from the other villages should also be arriving soon. We can go pay them a visit tomorrow morning."
"Sounds good!" Minato agreed. Yahiko and Konan also nodded in acceptance.
As for Kushina, she was busy ranking up in her game and didn't have time for such matters. However, her hunger was making her controls slip, and she couldn't help but complain, "Jiraiya-senpai, why hasn't the food been bought yet!"
She put her phone down and turned around, spotting Jiraiya already in the room. "Oh, Jiraiya-senpai is back! Why didn't you call me? This is so awkward." She claimed to be embarrassed, but in reality, she wasn't at all. Kushina was naturally a straightforward person and never dwelled too much on small matters. After spending time with him, she found Jiraiya quite easy to get along with, and all of their personalities meshed well. Aside from Jiraiya being a pervert, everything else was fine.
"Kushina, Jiraiya-senpai didn't actually buy dinner. He ran into the reinforcements from Konoha and was chatting with them outside."
"Ah..." Kushina's face instantly fell into a pout. "But I'm really hungry."
Jiraiya patted his chest. "Don't worry, dinner will be delivered soon. I already spoke to Big Brother Torifu. It's just that there won't be any new varieties today."
Kushina could accept that. After eating a piece of beef jerky Minato handed her, she immediately went back to playing her ranking match.
Minato could only shake his head helplessly at this. "Let her play. We'll call her when we eat." Within this small team, not counting Jiraiya, Minato was undoubtedly the captain. He was conscientious and responsible, able to manage everyone's emotions and allocate tasks reasonably. Jiraiya was more like a bodyguard, watching over them from the side.
A short while later, the delivery person knocked on the door. After receiving the food, the group devoured it in a flash once again. With full stomachs, the day finally came to an end.
The next morning, Minato woke up, immediately noticing the loudness outside. It sounded as though many people were celebrating something. He pulled back the curtains and looked down, seeing two columns of troops entering the Central City. Judging by their attire, they belonged to the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth. Minato assumed they were the reinforcements.
There were about sixty-plus people in total, with a large portion being medical ninjas in neat, uniform clothing. He estimated that, combined, the two villages had sent around ten Kage-level ninjas, slightly fewer than Konoha had dispatched. Since he was already awake from the noise, he figured he might as well get up and go for a walk to clear his head.
After getting dressed, Minato carefully left the apartment, trying not to disturb the others' sleep.
The streets were packed with people, mostly ninjas from Sunagakure and Iwagakure, but quite a few Konoha ninjas were also out to see the excitement. Minato was one of them.
The leader of the Sunagakure team was a middle-aged man with a receding hairline, but his eyes were extremely sharp, giving Minato a feeling of slyness. Minato didn't recognize the person following him—a man whose only distinguishing feature was his lighter red hair. Minato didn't know him, but his presence there confirmed that he possessed Kage-level strength.
Minato did recognize the leader of the Iwagakure team: a ninja named Rōshi. He had previously come to Konoha for vacation and often sparred with people there during that time. Minato often went to watch and learned quite a bit from him.
Midway through their journey, the two teams halted. A cloud of smoke then flew out from the office building and condensed into a human form in front of the two teams.
"Ebizo, long time no see. What happened to all your hair?" Torifu immediately joked upon meeting him. He had some history with Ebizo. When he went to Sunagakure on a mission as a child, Ebizo was the first person he encountered. Back then, he was a handsome young man; now, he had become a balding, oily uncle.
Ebizo, however, seemed entirely unfazed by Torifu's teasing and maintained a smile. "Oh, Hokage-sama! I didn't expect you to greet us personally."
"Well, it's been a long time since we last met, and I missed you greatly," Torifu replied.
Torifu then turned to Rōshi. "I didn't expect the Tsuchikage to send you. But that's good; the enemy numbers are quite large this time, so you'll have plenty of people to fight." Rōshi seemed to have some form of manic depression, as his temper was always very volatile. During his sparring sessions in Konoha, he often injured his opponents. If not for the Ōnoki's repeated apologies, Torifu would have taken him down long ago.
Rōshi didn't say anything, merely cupping his fist towards Torifu. In fact, he genuinely had nothing to say. Ōnoki had warned him that if he caused trouble again this time, they were too far away, and Ōnoki might not be able to protect him. Thus, Rōshi was especially cautious this time, sticking to the principle of 'less talk, fewer mistakes.' As a man past fifty, he understood this much.
Behind him was a burly man wearing red armor. Although this man had never been to Konoha, Torifu recognized him: the original Five-Tails Jinchūriki, Han. The Five-Tails was currently being safeguarded by the Hyuga Clan, so Han had nothing to do with it anymore. But to maintain Kage-level strength without a Tailed Beast showed this person's talent.
Torifu's gaze returned to Ebizo. He had little to discuss with Rōshi, but plenty of topics with Ebizo, as they hadn't seen each other in a long time.
"Where is Chiyo-senpai? Why didn't she come this time?" Torifu had assumed the Kazekage would ask Chiyo to step out of retirement, but instead, he sent her younger brother. Still, it didn't matter; their strength was comparable, and as long as they could help, it was fine.
"Haha, my older sister is busy babysitting her grandson, so she sent me to resolve this troublesome matter, and she sent her son along as well."
Hearing Ebizo say this, Torifu finally noticed that the man behind him, with the red hair, looked exactly like Sasori.
The man stepped forward. "Greetings, Hokage-sama. I am Sasori's father, the son of Elder Chiyo."
"Sasori gained a lot during his trip to Konoha with the Kazekage-sama. I must thank Hokage-sama for your generosity."
Torifu nodded inwardly, noting that the young man was quite polite. He then waved his hand. "It's nothing. I was fond of the child Sasori, so I just gave him a few small gifts. There's no need to worry about it."
"This situation in the Rain Province involves our three nations and ninja villages. I hope we can all unite to completely resolve this troublesome matter."