What?
Why not join forces with Orochimaru and kill Minato Namikaze?
Impossible. Absolutely impossible!
Leaving aside whether Orochimaru would even do that—even if he did, Akashō would never lightly make a move against Minato Namikaze. Over the past six months, his wariness of him had been etched deep into his bones. He had always approached him with the mindset that a head-on fight meant death.
Scheming behind the scenes to trip him up was one thing, but facing him directly? Unless there was a method that completely countered Flying Thunder God or absolute overwhelming strength, Akashō would never do it.
As for Orochimaru, if he wanted to court death, that was his business. What did it have to do with Akashō?
And just as Akashō was silently encouraging Orochimaru in his heart to kill Minato Namikaze, Kakashi—who had left earlier—finally returned, pulling open the tent flap with two others.
"Minato-sensei, everyone's here."
"Oh."
The moment Kakashi and the others appeared, Minato Namikaze put away the coldness on his face and turned around with a gentle smile.
"All here, then."
He glanced at the three of them before beckoning Akashō over.
"Come here."
Akashō glanced silently at Orochimaru, who simply turned away expressionlessly.
Tch, figures. Can't rely on that guy. But if we're heading to the Earth–Fire battlefield, then so be it. I can use this chance to test whether what I've been researching works.
With that, Akashō followed Minato Namikaze and Kakashi's group, quickly leaving the Hidden Leaf Village camp and setting off toward the Earth–Fire battlefield.
By the time night fell, the five of them finally stopped, set up some traps, and rested in place.
"By the way…"
Uchiha Runtu—no, Uchiha Obito—pointed at Akashō and questioned,
"We're heading out on a mission, so why are we bringing this brat along?"
"Because this mission is important, and we're short on manpower. So I'll make use of every bit of available strength," Minato Namikaze explained.
"Strength? What strength could he possibly have? Is he going to throw rocks at people on the battlefield?"
Obito looked at Akashō in confusion. Akashō rolled his eyes at him.
"Obito, don't underestimate anyone," Minato Namikaze said with a smile, shaking his head.
Kakashi glanced at Obito. "He's stronger than you."
"What kind of joke is that!?"
Obito's eyes widened in disbelief.
"That brat is stronger than me? I'm a Chūnin, you know! You two are seriously looking down on me!"
"Heh."
Akashō let out a cold laugh and drew the White Fang short blade from Kakashi's back.
"Not convinced? Let's spar."
"Fine, let's spar!"
Obito rolled up his sleeves. No way he'd lose to a six-year-old kid.
Minato Namikaze quickly stood up and grabbed him.
"Calm down, Obito. And you too, Akashō. You know what Moon Breathing is like—if you land a hit, at the very least someone ends up crippled. You really want to attack Obito?"
Akashō clicked his tongue, sheathing the White Fang blade back onto Kakashi's back, earning an eye roll from him.
"Who said you could just use my blade whenever you want?"
On the other side, after hearing Minato's words, Obito hesitated.
"At the very least… crippled?"
"Yeah."
Minato Namikaze explained, "You probably don't know where Akashō's swordsmanship comes from. To put it simply, he learned it from Kokushibo. You should recognize that name."
"Kokushibo!?"
Hearing that name, Obito and Rin cried out in shock, while Kakashi—who already knew—barely reacted.
"You mean that Moon Sword Demon Kokushibo… the one who attacked the camps of the three great villages and later joined forces with the Third Raikage to repel ten thousand Hidden Stone Village ninja, earning even the Raikage's respect…?"
Minato Namikaze nodded.
"Holy—!?"
Obito dropped to the ground with a thud, trembling as he looked at Akashō and scooted backward.
"No sparring, no sparring. I definitely can't beat him. No way."
Akashō looked at him speechlessly as Obito hugged his head and turned his back. Is this guy really a ninja? He's never even met Kokushibo, yet he's this scared? His mental fortitude is that weak?
And he's a Chūnin? Akashō even wondered if Obito had ever contributed any reputation points to him. Look at Rin—she was surprised, sure, but not nearly this shaken.
This is just embarrassing. And he's trying to date someone like this? No wonder he acts like a useless simp all the time and still hasn't gotten anywhere. What girl would like a guy who's not strong and is this cowardly? Sigh… someone like this probably won't amount to anything in life unless he goes dark at least once.
Akashō felt utterly speechless. He even had the urge to give Obito some "stimulus" to push him into going dark and speed things up. Then again, if a normal person went dark, they probably wouldn't be thinking about girls anymore either.
Putting those irrelevant thoughts aside, judging from Obito's reaction, not all ninja had strong mental resilience. Some were no better than ordinary people—some even worse.
If that's the case, once my plan succeeds, the results might exceed my expectations.
Just as Akashō was immersed in refining his future plans to eliminate any flaws, Minato Namikaze suddenly spoke.
"Akashō, come with me for a moment."