GSiN: Ch. 123

---Third POV---

"In other words, now I can also... become a help to you!" Obito clenched his fists, speaking with a tone of disbelief.

Ryouma and Minato had come all the way to invite him to join them on a mission, this felt like something out of a dream.

Thinking of this, he quickly pinched his thigh hard.

Ouch!

It really hurt! This wasn't some daydream from overtraining.

"What about Kakashi? Is he coming too?"

"No," Ryouma replied honestly. "This mission is very dangerous, it's not suitable for him."

"Ah~" Obito was overjoyed. A mission, dangerous, not suitable for Kakashi, but he was personally invited by Ryouma.

What a thrill!

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go already!"

With a grin on his face, he urged them repeatedly. He reached out and grabbed the arms of Minato and Ryouma. The black in his eyes faded away, replaced by a pair of crimson eyes with triangular pinwheel patterns.

The swirling space unique to Kamui distorted, swallowing up the three figures completely.

---

Obito, along with Minato-sensei and Ryouma, emerged from the Kamui space at Konoha's camp in the Land of Grass.

"Impressive. Your space-time ninjutsu has already surpassed mine." Minato observed their surroundings while continuously praising Obito, who wiped his nose, feeling smug inside.

"Hehe, it's nothing, really."

"But for the next part of the mission, Ryouma and I will handle it. You wait for us here at the camp, Obito."

"Huh?" Obito looked a bit disappointed. "Why?"

"This mission is too dangerous, we might face an enemy even my teacher couldn't defeat."

"But…" Obito wanted to say that he was strong enough now, but because of his past, he couldn't bring himself to say it. As much as he hated to admit it, he had always been the one holding the team back.

Ryouma glanced sideways slightly. Obito's disappointed expression was impossible to miss. With a helpless sigh, he spoke up, "Take him with us, Captain Minato. When it comes to survival skills, he is probably stronger than both of us. Don't underestimate him."

Minato looked at Ryouma, then turned to Obito and let out a light sigh.

"You're right. Sorry, Obito, I didn't mean to doubt your abilities just now, it's just…"

Just that Jiraiya's disappearance had left a deep impact on him. Though he always appeared decisive, he was actually a very thoughtful person, someone who valued his comrades more than anyone else.

"Don't worry. We will definitely rescue Jiraiya-sama." Obito was full of confidence. In his eyes, as long as his teacher and Ryouma were together, no mission was impossible.

With everyone in agreement, the mission officially began.

First, they needed to find Orochimaru to gather more specific intel. They stepped into the command center.

"You move fast, as expected of you two."

Although their speed was astonishing, Orochimaru didn't plan to question it. What mattered now was retrieving Jiraiya.

"Do you have any intel on Jiraiya-sensei?"

"Don't be so impatient." Orochimaru pulled out a scroll from behind and tossed it to him. "Take a look at this first."

Minato caught the scroll and opened it. Inside was a method for casting a sensory-type ninjutsu. Following the instructions, he formed the hand seals. A second later, a faint signal appeared within his sensory range.

"Heh, you sensed it?" Orochimaru said in his hoarse voice. "This is a technique I left on Jiraiya. The signal had been interrupted for a while, but just shortly before you three arrived, it resumed."

"What does that mean?" Obito nudged Ryouma with his elbow and whispered.

Ryouma didn't keep him guessing and replied directly, "It means the enemy is deliberately revealing their location, clearly trying to lure us into a trap."

"So what do we do?" Obito scratched his head. He hated these thinking-type problems the most. He wondered if people who played these mind games even schemed while using the bathroom.

Orochimaru had anticipated this concern. He pointed to a spot on the map of the Land of Grass laid out on the table and began explaining his plan.

"This is a major Iwa base, and currently where Jiraiya is being held. Conservatively estimated, there are at least 6,000 Iwa ninjas stationed there. Even though the enemy is deliberately trying to lure us in, in the end it will come down to a clash of strength. To prevent a repeat of what happened with the Third Raikage, I want the two of you to perform a forward reconnaissance. Depending on the situation, we'll decide how to rescue Jiraiya. I'll lead the Konoha forces and move out as well, ready to provide support along the way."

Although it was just a rough outline, Orochimaru's plan sounded fairly reasonable.

"Take Obito with you too," Ryouma added. "If there's a large barrier around the base, we'll need his ability to silently infiltrate."

Orochimaru glanced at Obito with some surprise, it seemed this hot-blooded fool under Minato wasn't just there to fill out the team.

Minato and Orochimaru confirmed the signal relay protocols.

"Then, let's begin the operation."

---

The Land of Grass wasn't remarkable in size among the smaller nations, but its terrain was highly diverse, forests, grasslands, rivers, valleys, everything was there.

The target location of Ryouma's team stood in the middle of a vast grassland. The fortress had a yellowish-brown stone design, clearly an architectural style from Iwa. It was situated very close to the border between the Lands of Grass and Earth, but technically still within Grass' territory. In principle, Iwa had no legitimate reason to establish such a large war base there.

However, in the shinobi world, strength was everything. Faced with a giant like Iwa, the small Kusa didn't resist these thugs' demands. They barely put up a fight, in fact, they practically rolled out the red carpet for them.

This Iwa base was positioned very strategically. For over a hundred kilometers in all directions, the area was flat with low grass, making stealth nearly impossible. In the distance, tall watchtowers loomed, preventing Ryouma's team from getting close enough to scout the outer patrols.

None of them had suitable summoning animals. Ryouma and Obito hadn't signed any contracts at all, and although Minato had one, the idea of summoning a giant toad out in the open grassland was absurd.

"So what do we do? Should we force our way in? I think I can use Kamui to teleport us inside." Obito looked to Minato and Ryouma for their thoughts.

"The feasibility is low," Minato pondered. "The enemy has clearly made ample preparations and raised alerts. With the outside so tightly guarded, there must also be all sorts of detection methods inside. It's very likely we'll be discovered the moment we enter."

Considering that the enemy's goal was to actively lure them in, Jiraiya's life should be temporarily safe.

On the other hand, as the rescue team, they absolutely could not let their guard down. The shinobi world held too many strange and mysterious jutsu. Even though space-time ninjutsu was a high priority, overconfidence would be dangerous.

"My suggestion is not to alert the enemy prematurely. Let's wait for Orochimaru's forces to arrive and attack together, drawing the bulk of the enemy's attention and creating an opening for us to sneak in. What do you think?"

As he spoke, Minato turned to Ryouma, hoping to hear his thoughts.

Ryouma plucked a blade of wild grass from the ground, pinching it between his fingers as the strong wind blew.

"We might no longer have a choice. There's a faint chakra reaction in this wind, the enemy has discovered our position."

"What? From this far away?" Obito's eyes widened slightly in disbelief.

Minato's bright blue eyes narrowed, his brows furrowed tightly, a heavy expression settling on his face. Just as he was about to give an order, a chilling black light suddenly erupted from above the Iwa outpost, hundreds of miles away.

In an instant, a tremendous gust of wind surged forth like a raging flood, howling toward them with overwhelming force. The storm, filled with sand and debris, carried a massive Tailed Beast Ball, dragging a long trail of white vapor behind it, hurtling toward them!

Wherever it passed, the very air was torn apart, releasing sharp, ear-piercing detonations.

Now that their movements had been exposed, Ryouma abandoned all attempts at concealment.

Suddenly, he burst forth with a flash, leaping from behind the hill that had served as cover. Midair, he twisted his body and swiftly grabbed Lostvayne at his waist with his right hand.

Then, with a sweep of his arm, he slashed horizontally with it.

"Full Counter!"

An invisible domain rapidly expanded. The moment it touched the Tailed Beast Ball, it rebounded it at even greater speed.

If that thing exploded, it would likely turn half of Iwa's base into rubble. Considering Jiraiya was still inside, he slightly adjusted the trajectory, launching the Tailed Beast Ball skyward instead.

BOOM!

A red explosion bloomed in the distant sky, sending shockwaves rippling across the grasslands, as if making up for the fireworks Obito had longed to see back in the Land of Hot Water, but never did.

"It seems that sensory jutsu relying on natural wind isn't very accurate, otherwise, they wouldn't have launched that kind of attack at you," Minato calmly analyzed the situation. Of course, it was also possible that the enemy felt emboldened knowing Jiraiya's importance to Konoha.

"Looks like we'll have to go in by force."

"Yes, that seems to be our only option."

Iwa's sensory techniques covered a vast range. While not very precise, they were more than sufficient to detect Konoha's reinforcements approaching. This completely killed off the earlier plan for a surprise attack. There was still a chance to rescue Jiraiya if they acted now, but if they waited until Orochimaru arrived with his ninja forces and all-out war broke out, there would be far too many unpredictable variables.

"Obito, teleport us directly into the enemy outpost ahead."

"Leave it to me!"

Kamui's space expanded, swallowing all three of them.

---

Atop the high walls of the Iwa outpost, a hundred miles away, Black Zetsu slowly released his hand seal.

"The chakra reaction has vanished."

Hearing this, Han withdrew from his tailed beast transformation, returning to his original towering, muscular human form. He turned to Ōnoki, who was floating nearby in midair, and asked, "What now, Tsuchikage-sama?"

Without hesitation, Ōnoki gave a series of firm commands to the surrounding Iwa ninjas. "Activate the wide-area sensory formation inside the base. Pay special attention to the area where Jiraiya is being held. Raise the barrier around the outer perimeter and initiate Level One wartime alert status."

"Yes!"

Black Zetsu gave a grim smile.

"Judging from that earlier disturbance, the Leaf's Gale is definitely among the enemy. Are you so certain he's already infiltrated the base?"

Ryouma could use space-time ninjutsu. What if, after all the trouble Iwa went through to lock things down, he had never entered at all and was already long gone?

Ōnoki glanced sideways at the half-black, eerie figure, but for the sake of their collaboration, offered a bit of explanation. "It seems that you don't understand how ninjas think."

"Oh?" Black Zetsu sounded intrigued. "Please, enlighten me."

"It's a kind of unspoken understanding among ninjas. Konoha surely knows by now that Jiraiya is nothing but bait, and the point of bait is to lure prey. If the prey doesn't bite, then the bait, having lost its scent…"

Ōnoki didn't finish the sentence, but everyone present understood what would happen to bait that no longer served a purpose.

"I see… So you're forcing Konoha to make a choice: either abandon Jiraiya's life and retreat to prepare for a flawless counterattack, or seize the moment and go all-in for a final gamble."

Black Zetsu found humans endlessly fascinating. The ways they schemed against their own kind never ceased to amaze him.

Still, this saved him the trouble of acting himself.

---

As Ōnoki's orders spread, the entire outpost began to operate like a well-oiled war machine. Dozens of massive sensory formations, pre-embedded deep underground, were activated. Invisible waves of detection swept over the entire facility.

These weren't the same imprecise wide-range sensory techniques from earlier. They could automatically identify intruders by chakra intensity, even detect how many enemies there were.

At the same time, Iwa's Barrier Division had taken their positions. Teams of five spread out to their assigned posts. Years of working together in coordinated battles allowed them to perform their hand seals in perfect unison.

Six dazzling, earthen-yellow beams of light erupted from the ground outside the outpost, surging skyward with overwhelming force as if the earth itself had roared to life. From each point of contact between beams, waves of churning earth chakra exploded forth. In the blink of an eye, a massive hexagonal barrier was formed.

Combat units inside the outpost were also deployed in full force, conducting a sweeping search of every corner, not even a single toad would escape detection.