Now it was Obito's turn to be shocked.
He hadn't expected things could be done like that.
To Obito, this sounded like absolute genius.
Under Kakashi's "you're an idiot" stare, Obito actually took the advice seriously and memorized it.
What he didn't realize was—
Did he really think he could ever grab hold of Minato's weakness?
In fact, Minato and Kushina had heard every word of the conversation behind them.
Minato simply smiled knowingly.
Kushina, on the other hand, looked slightly irritated.
Hey, hey… what kind of reaction is that?!
Seeing Minato's students react like that made Kushina blush with embarrassment.
What were they implying?
That she wasn't good enough for Minato?
"Ahem."
At that moment, Hagoromo cleared his throat.
Then, with great seriousness, he pulled a small notebook out of his ninja pouch.
Glancing down at the notebook, he began reading dramatically.
"According to my intelligence…"
"Minato-senpai fell in love with Kushina-sensei at first sight back when they were in the Ninja Academy."
"As for their ages at the time… I'll refrain from giving exact details."
"If I explain too clearly, Minato-senpai's intentions might start sounding criminal."
"Anyway, the important point is that Minato-senpai was very fond of Kushina-sensei."
"Especially her red hair."
"Well, I'll admit it too—red hair is definitely one of Sensei's charms."
"However, considering that Sensei was widely known back then as the Red-Hot Habanero due to her violent temper…"
"We may have to question Minato-senpai's taste in women."
Listening to her own student mix thirty percent truth with seventy percent nonsense, Kushina finally snapped.
She suddenly turned around and shouted—
"Hagoromo! Where did you hear all that?!"
She was so embarrassed she nearly jumped.
Because what Hagoromo said was… actually not far from the truth.
Kushina immediately snatched the notebook from Hagoromo's hand.
She intended to destroy the evidence.
But when she opened it—
The pages were completely blank.
Not a single word was written.
Hagoromo calmly raised a finger and tapped his temple.
The message was obvious.
All that "intelligence" was stored in his head.
Realizing she had just been teased, Kushina smacked him hard on the back of the head.
Then, blushing furiously, she warned him,
"Stop digging into your teacher's private life!"
As for Minato—
He didn't seem upset at all.
Instead, he gave Hagoromo a wide smile.
And then he did something even more surprising.
He raised his thumb in approval.
"You must be Hagoromo."
"Your intelligence-gathering skills are impressive."
"Thank you for the compliment, Minato-senpai," Hagoromo replied politely.
"If you'd like to hear more, I have plenty of stories like that."
"That's enough from both of you!" Kushina snapped.
A person could have many sides.
Seeing their normally carefree teacher react like this was honestly quite amusing to Hagoromo.
But he also knew when to stop.
If he pushed things too far, he might end up bleeding on the ground five steps away.
After all—
The nickname Red-Hot Habanero wasn't just for show.
…
Since both of them had their students tagging along, Minato and Kushina simply walked side by side.
There was no overly intimate behavior.
See?
Teachers were considerate.
They knew how to spare the feelings of all the single people around them.
This was Hagoromo's second time seeing Minato Namikaze.
And the first time he had truly interacted with him.
The previous time had been during the Ninja Academy graduation.
Back then, he had only caught a brief glimpse of Minato.
The legendary Yellow Flash truly lived up to the rumors.
Despite his immense strength and incredible war achievements, Minato carried no arrogance whatsoever.
Instead, he felt like an approachable older brother from next door.
Hagoromo couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
Powerful.
Kind.
Respected.
And deeply devoted to the village.
If someone like him didn't become Hokage…
Who else possibly could?
Minato looked no different from when Hagoromo had seen him three months earlier.
Hagoromo wasn't particularly familiar with Kakashi during this period.
Obito was still the same loud idiot as before.
But if there was someone who had changed the most among them—
It was Rin.
Hagoromo glanced at the girl walking beside him.
Compared to three months ago, Rin seemed slightly taller.
But more than that, something about her temperament had changed.
The lively cheerfulness she had in the Ninja Academy had faded slightly.
In its place was a gentler, calmer presence.
She seemed more gentle and composed now.
Soon, Rin noticed that Hagoromo was looking at her.
Although she didn't understand what he was thinking, she gave him a sweet smile.
"Kushina," Minato said from the front.
"How long will you be staying this time?" she asked.
"About a week," Minato replied.
"I only managed to get this much leave because I needed to escort these kids back."
Minato had been fighting continuously on the front lines for an entire year.
This return to Konoha was simply a scheduled rest period.
Even so, the time he could stay was limited.
Every battlefield Konoha held was short on manpower.
And someone like Minato—
A top-tier combat asset capable of rapidly moving between battlefronts—
Was someone the village could hardly afford to pull away from war.
After a short silence, Hagoromo spoke again.
"What's the front line like, Rin?"
Rin thought for a moment before answering.
"It's… very different from the Ninja Academy or the village."
"Some of the Genin who graduated with us have already been killed."
Hagoromo nodded.
That didn't surprise him.
Konoha might still appear peaceful on the surface.
But every day, Shinobi were dying on the battlefield.
Most of them would die without anyone ever remembering their names.
"There's a severe shortage of medical Shinobi on the front lines," Rin continued.
"I heard the village leadership regrets not agreeing to Lady Tsunade's proposal to establish a medical-ninja system before the war."
"So now some female Shinobi are volunteering to train in medical ninjutsu whenever they aren't assigned combat missions."
"I've started studying medical ninjutsu more seriously too."
Rin spoke about the front lines in fragments.
But after just three months of war, her growth and change were obvious.
So obvious that Hagoromo felt slightly uncomfortable.
The Rin he remembered had been a bright and cheerful girl.
Not someone this calm and composed.
It felt… unfamiliar.
…
After walking for a while, Hagoromo suddenly spoke again.
"Sensei… Minato-senpai…"
"If there's nothing else today, I'll take my leave."
He had already realized something.
At this point, the rest of them had clearly become giant third wheels.
The war had forced this couple apart.
Now that they had finally reunited, Hagoromo had no intention of interrupting.
Kushina naturally understood what her student was thinking.
Hagoromo might be young, but he had always been unusually perceptive.
That made her feel both annoyed and slightly amused.
Did she really need her student worrying about her love life?