"I'm worried he'll make a mistake that leads to our entire team getting hurt," Kakashi emphasized.
"I just..." Obito wanted to argue with Kakashi but was interrupted by Minato.
"Since the mission is completed, let's take a rest at the camp," Namikaze Minato said with a warm smile.
Though Kakashi and Obito argue easily, Namikaze Minato could see that they have a good relationship, and arguing is a part of their daily interaction.
However, it is still the battlefield, and they have spent a lot of energy searching along the way; they need to rest to maintain energy.
"Camp? Aren't we going back to Konoha?" Obito asked in confusion.
"During wartime, Teacher Jiraiya, as the unit commander, has the right to issue missions, and we can perform tasks here for a while," Minato explained.
Since it's about reducing pressure on Konoha, Minato naturally wouldn't just finish one task and return; he'll stay for a while to eliminate more enemies.
Of course, to take care of Obito and the others, Minato wouldn't accept overly dangerous missions.
"Oh, so that's how it is, that's quite convenient," Obito had no objections and even found it reasonable.
If we have to go back and accept missions, then head out and return to the village again, just the travel would take a lot of time.
Then the three of them went with Minato to Konoha's camp in the Land of Grass.
"Haha, Minato, with you here, my workload is much lighter," Jiraiya said happily upon learning of Minato's arrival.
Namikaze Minato is really useful as a ninja, mowing down mid and low-level ninjas like grass and able to handle strong ones like the AB duo, and being an excellent support in battles against Jinchuriki.
"Toad uncle, I'm here too; do you have any difficult A-level missions? I'll take them all on for you," Obito portrayed himself as a mission fanatic.
"Hmm, Kakashi is here too, maybe he could become a well-known genius ninja on the battlefield," Jiraiya looked at Kakashi, nodding and smiling.
Obito's forehead wrinkled into a '井' character, feeling that Jiraiya was doing it on purpose.
"And there's little Rin; the battlefield really needs medical ninjas, such a big help," Jiraiya gave Nohara Rin a thumbs up.
"Damn toad uncle, I'm standing right in front of you and you can't see me, huh!" Obito anxiously asked as Jiraiya praised everyone in the squad except him.
"Goggles kid, show me some respect; either call me Toad Sage or Master Jiraiya," Jiraiya said, giving Obito a hand chop.
"Otherwise, upset me enough, and you won't even have C-Class missions, only D-Class ones to do every day."
"Alright then, Uncle Jiraiya," Obito changed the title reluctantly.
Calling him a sage is impossible, as Obito only considers two people as sages: Sage Mokgetsu and the Six Paths Sage.
"You little brat," Jiraiya laughed, amused by Obito's stubbornness.
"Teacher Jiraiya, stop teasing Obito, let me understand the current situation," Minato said helplessly.
Jiraiya being so laid-back would never actually get angry over someone not calling him 'Master,' he was just teasing Obito for fun, which Minato was very familiar with.
...
On Monday, Anko went to the training ground Mokgetsu had mentioned.
Anko thought she was early, but upon arrival, she found Mokgetsu and Shisui already there, leaving her as the last to arrive.
"Teacher Mokgetsu, and everyone, good morning!" Anko greeted with a broad smile, not bothered by such small matters.
"You all came really early, I arrived three minutes early."
"We all know each other, so let's skip the self-introductions and get straight to training," Mokgetsu nodded and said.
All three students nodded, having no objections.
Then Mokgetsu took out three bells from his ninja pouch and said, "The training is simple: get the bell from my hand, and whoever gets it, I'll teach them a powerful ninjutsu or taijutsu."
Although it's still about grabbing the bell, Mokgetsu wasn't using the old method of considering passing if you get it.
The old method of grabbing bells was to train cooperation and team awareness among ninjas, but due to the large gap in strength among Shisui, Anko, and the others, forcing cooperation might backfire, so Mokgetsu changed the rules from passing to rewarding. This kind of bell-grabbing is no longer a cooperation training project, but a project to test strength and stimulate cultivation interest.
"How strong is strong?" Anko asked curiously.
"Lightning Release: Pseudo-Darkness!"
Mokgetsu quickly formed seals with his hands and spat out a sharp lightning spear, splitting a small patch of trees, causing continuous loud thuds as the large trees fell.
"Rankyaku!"
Then Mokgetsu gathered chakra into his feet, swiftly kicking out several slashes that shattered rocks.
"Something like that," Mokgetsu said with a warm smile after retracting his leg.
He didn't lack powerful taijutsu or ninjutsu, though teaching too powerful ones now had no use because they couldn't be used.
"Wow, I want to learn that," Anko's eyes sparkled upon seeing Mokgetsu effortlessly kick out strikes strong enough to shatter rocks; it was way cooler than shooting small fireballs.
If she learned it and showed off in front of Hagane Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo, they'd be amazed to death.
"If you want to learn it, come and grab the bell; if you succeed, I'll teach you today," Mokgetsu said leisurely, hanging the bell on his waist.
"Mhm, mhm," Anko nodded excitedly.
"Teacher Mokgetsu, it seems like there are two bags of dango behind you on the ground that nobody wants," Anko said as she schemed, yelling to Mokgetsu before darting towards the bell hanging on his waist.
Bang!
Mokgetsu pinched his middle and index fingers together and flicked Anko on the forehead, sending her a few meters away.
"Damn, he didn't even look back at such a tempting offer!" Anko was frustrated by this.
"Normally, dango left on the ground unattended is probably spoiled, right?" Shizune couldn't help but remark.
Shizune is a relatively quiet person, but Anko's absurd ideas were just too much for her to handle quietly.
"That may not be the case, maybe someone just forgot to take it," Anko countered.
"Breath of Flame, Full Concentration!"
"Fire Release: Great Fire Continuous Balls!"
Shisui pushed the Breath of Flame to the limit and spat out two huge fireballs at Mokgetsu.
Shisui knew full well the extent of Anko's strength because every practical exam, he had to squash Anko once, and since he had been training with Shizune recently, he had a fair idea about her as well, so Shisui didn't count on fighting her and too to grab the bell.
It wasn't that he didn't want to cooperate with teammates in battle, it was just that the difference in power was too significant to be meaningful.
Aside from the Three-Body Jutsu, Anko's only other ninjutsu was a D-Class small fireball, whereas Shizune was a fully devoted healer, with all skills focused on recovery.
To put it bluntly, Shisui could manage them both with just a shadow clone, so there wasn't a need for cooperation.
Of course, this was just in training; in a real fight, Shizune, as a healer, would still be very useful and Shisui wouldn't be arrogant enough to think he'd never get hurt.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bomb Jutsu!"
Mokgetsu gathered a massive amount of chakra and spat out a thick water dragon to drown the oncoming fireballs, continuing its charge at Shisui.
Shisui immediately activated his Sharingan, his eyes turning a blood-red, greatly enhancing his perception.
Although Mokgetsu's Water Release had diluted a lot, it wasn't something Shisui could casually block at the moment. Shisui was only confident he could counter it using his most powerful Fire Dragon Flame Bomb, but the chakra consumption would be too much, so dodging was more practical.
Swish!
As Shisui swiftly evaded the Water Dragon Bomb, Mokgetsu instantly used concentrated breathing to burst his chakra, appearing in front of Shisui and pointing a finger.
Bang!
Shisui rapidly retreated, lying down as if admitting defeat, back to where Anko and Shizune were.
Seeing even Shisui 'collapse' at light-speed made Anko feel quite relieved.
If even someone like Shisui, who always crushed her, failed so quickly, then it wasn't that she was too weak—this training was just too hard.