บท 132: Chapter 132 - Punishment.
[Chapter Size: 2300 Words.]
Third Person POV
Land of Fire, Year 38.
...
...
Minato arrived at the camp with Jiraiya, and it didn't take long for some ninjas to greet Jiraiya while Mikoto and Hanabi quickly approached, despite the latter having just left the infirmary.
"Minato, how are you?" Mikoto approached with some concern while Hanabi seemed to share the same look.
"I'm fine... but a bit exhausted from fighting for a few days in a row..." Minato commented.
"You went out alone to attack an enemy camp at the stone border... are you crazy?" Hanabi spoke with a tone mixed with anger and concern for Minato.
"I acted based on my emotions... I didn't think much... I just wanted to respond to the stone ninjas for what they did." Minato said, now with a cooler head, realizing he acted recklessly alone, but he doesn't regret anything, even though his hands are now dirtier with blood than ever before, but he wasn't a kind of Naruto, nor were they in a time of peace after the third war.
Minato quickly used his haki to check the medical tent and saw that he no longer felt a presence there, he turned to the girls with a somber look. "Where is Baik?" he asked.
The girls looked at each other, with hesitant and worried expressions, before one of them looked back at Minato. "He died yesterday. He couldn't bear his injuries anymore," Hanabi spoke with a sad tone while looking at Minato and his reaction.
Minato seemed to frown at this but nothing more while maintaining a poker face. "I understand..." he murmured, angry about it, but he also didn't see any hope of Baik surviving after seeing him in that state. So, it wasn't that surprising.
This was a real world and not the fictional story of Naruto or even his time a few decades from now. In these dark times, people died easily, companions you formed bonds with might not be here from one moment to the next, and even though Minato had thought about this, it was a shock to see one of his companions die every time it happened...
Anyway, Minato couldn't be kind in this war, he would fight and destroy all his enemies before they harmed his allies and friends.
Hearing Minato act indifferently after only saying one word upon hearing the news, the girls looked on knowing he was enraged again.
"Leave the conversation for later. Let's go to my tent, boy," Jiraiya appeared again, after talking to some jonins at the camp.
Minato nodded and left his companions while he followed his teacher. "We'll be waiting for you, Minato," Mikoto said as Minato walked away.
Jiraiya entered the tent with Minato behind and went to his desk, picking up a kettle, and pouring a cup of tea.
"Do you want some tea?" he offered.
Minato shook his head while Jiraiya closed the kettle and drank his tea before speaking to his student again. "Do you have any idea what you've done, Minato?" Jiraiya began with a more serious tone.
"I retaliated," Minato shrugged with a rebellious tone.
"I'm not going to deny that you gave a good response to those bastards from the north after what they did. You didn't just devastate one camp but two of them, according to the latest reports we've received. However, that doesn't change the fact that you acted recklessly. It could have cost dearly. We had to move resources to rescue you," Jiraiya said.
"Sensei, I acted on my own. The responsibility is mine. Even if you hadn't shown up, I could have escaped calmly. I only stayed because you appeared," Minato said in the same tone.
"Do you think this is a joke, Minato? I know you're angry. I'm angry too. Believe me, I wanted to kill that bastard as much as you did, but you can't put yourself at risk and move forward for revenge with such a hot head..." Jiraiya said.
"I don't know why you're all so worried. The responsibility is mine, sensei," Minato said stubbornly. He didn't understand why the village kept sending reinforcements just to rescue him when he could handle the situation.
"Because you are important to this village, Minato!" Jiraiya raised his voice, catching Minato by surprise. "You are the future of this village. No one would hesitate to sacrifice themselves to save you," Jiraiya responded.
"I'm not asking for that, sensei," Minato also raised his voice. "I don't want anyone to save me and no one to die for me. I can take care of myself," he said firmly.
"Do you think you're just an unknown kid now? Most people in this war have already heard of you and know your potential. People talk about you, Minato, a boy who masters not just one, but two jutsus that can devastate an entire camp." Jiraiya countered Minato's recklessness and continued before the boy could say anything.
"You've saved many people and they remember that. You're observed by everyone with your actions, and they are commented on by everyone with each act you perform. Even here in the north, while you were operating in the south, they know the Phantom Division because of you. Even here, when people wonder where you went, many already know you operate under the codename Lumia. What I want to say, Minato," Jiraiya spoke while the boy remained silent this time, "is that you shouldn't act impulsively anymore, fighting out of anger..."
"...No matter how strong you are, there will be thousands of enemies after you. Maybe you can escape, yes, but the Leaf Village won't spare any efforts to rescue you. And if they have to sacrifice a thousand people for you to survive, our ninjas will do that. What I want is for you to be more analytical. Don't go around destroying everything alone. You will be a future leader in Konoha. You will have a team in the future and will be a teacher to genins just as I am to you. You will also be a commander of a camp like I am, and possibly someone even beyond that, someone who will have the most important role of protecting not just a team or a camp, but the entire village. I want you to be prepared for that..." Jiraiya said in a lighter tone, while Minato seemed to think.
"..." Minato said nothing, with his sensei's words echoing in his mind.
"You will be out of the field for a few months," Jiraiya resumed speaking to his now calmer student. "This will be your punishment." He gave his sentence.
Minato immediately looked as if he was being wronged. "But my team needs me," Minato quickly replied. He didn't want to be away from the Phantom Division while they were managing to change the war in the south a bit.
"Don't worry, others will need you while you will have another role within the border, Minato. I will take you out of the Phantom Division for this time, and meanwhile, I want you to take command of the forward post at the end of the border. After all, now the Stone ninjas are enraged and have launched attacks all the time. I want you to organize the forward post to ensure no one crosses into our border. You won't be out of combat, but you will be responsible for organizing the defense of the border and the lives of your comrades," Jiraiya began to speak.
"You can't be serious. I'll be in charge of a camp, even if not the 12 officers, how can I, a boy, command one of these places!? No one will want to listen to a child. Especially adult Jonins... it's hard to believe..." Minato couldn't believe what he heard and spoke with a skeptical tone.
"Of course, I won't leave you alone. There will be a Jonin from the Nara clan to assist you as your assistant. He has the authority to act if you make a wrong decision. Do you understand? Besides, you will surely gain the respect of most ninjas in this war after hearing that a boy alone attacked two camps of the Stone village, fought the Four-Tails Jinchuuriki alone, and faced Hanzo, also alone, in the last two days," Jiraiya asked and then quickly gave his answer.
"If you say so..." Minato listened in silence but nodded at his teacher's reasoning.
"Remember, you are not authorized to enter the Land of Rain without my permission or until the punishment is over. Understood?" Jiraiya said, and Minato ended up nodding to this.
"And in case of an emergency? You know I can act faster than any other ninja in Konoha. Besides, no matter what you say, I won't let Konoha ninjas die if their lives can be saved," Minato said with a stubborn tone.
"Well, that's an exception, and your jonin will be aware of it. But yes, in case of an emergency, you have the authority to act on your own," Jiraiya nodded and began writing on a scroll while explaining a few more things to Minato.
In the end, the teenager sighed and left the tent, heading to another tent that Jiraiya had assigned to him, picking one of the available ones, while trying to rest a bit. However, he didn't rest for long, as there were two presences near the tent the entire time, and Minato went to see them. Hanabi and Mikoto were still looking at him with concern as he came out to talk to them.
"How are you?" he asked, trying to maintain a more pleasant atmosphere, better than before.
"We're fine, but are you okay too?" Mikoto asked, concerned.
"I am. But where is Baik's body?" he asked, wanting to say goodbye to the boy who called Minato his big brother.
"He was taken away. All the dead are stored in a scroll and sent to the village, where their families hold the burial," Mikoto said.
"I see. I hope his family will be alright then. Let's go somewhere else. It's been a long time since we've had time to talk," Minato said.
They nodded and walked to a small training area near the camp, where there was a stream. Sitting by the river, Minato tried to have a more pleasant moment with his companions, starting to spend time while the kids shared some of their training from the past year.
Mikoto could create electricity in her hand, showing she had started to master the lightning element. Meanwhile, Hanabi demonstrated her palm, making a cut in a tree. She was at the same level as Mikoto regarding her second element.
"That's good. Maybe in a year or two, you will start doing first jutsus missions. I'm sure I can help you with my arsenal; you'll be powerful with these jutsus of mine," Minato said, while the girls nodded gratefully.
He ended up sharing some of his experiences over the past few months with the Phantom Division, and it seemed that this might have come to an end at this point.
"You will be the supervisor of the forward post?!" They were surprised by Minato's new task of taking care of the small camp, which served as a primary defense against invaders and organized attacks in the Land of Rain. Minato was not authorized to attack the foreign country; instead, he would be taking care of the strategies and organizing the defense.
"That's good, Minato. Jiraiya-sensei sees a lot of potential in you," Mikoto gave her opinion.
"Yes, he is preparing you to become a great leader," Hanabi shared her opinion as well.
"I hope I do well... I learned a lot by assisting camp leaders across the borders... let's see if I can handle this," Minato said. After all, until now, he only knew how to be a weapon of destruction... this leadership role was a bit different from what he had been doing.
While Minato reflected on the strange events, Jiraiya had to write a report for his sensei. He began to write everything that had happened, except for one thing: the strange power that emanated from Minato, causing many in the camp to faint without knowing how he had done it. It seemed to be something Minato created without realizing it... attacking anyone before disappearing. 'Boy... what was that? What kind of powers do you still possess in your strange body...?' Jiraiya had long noticed that Minato's body was strange; he had abilities that no one else could have, and the strangest thing of all was that he had never seen the boy hurt. This was extremely shocking to Jiraiya, but he left none of this information in the report. After all, to Jiraiya, Minato was his precious student, and that was all that mattered.
The events carried out by Minato began to circulate first along the border of the Land of Fire, and Kitsuchi's scroll reached the Stone Village. The Tsuchikage received the report. Although he had not made any moves in the war yet, with the only active Kage in the world ninja war being the Raikage at the border against the Land of Fire dealing with the famous White Fang, he was prepared to act at any moment if needed. Despite his country being at war with the Land of Clouds, he had to focus not only on the southern border.
The Tsuchikage looked at the reports and couldn't be more surprised. He read the reports of how his village had just lost many soldiers to a single Konoha ninja, which indicated how much potential this child had. Even more so, this boy was not fully developed and already demonstrated having three S-rank jutsus along with other strange abilities, something that was frightening even to him.
"I will have to act..." he murmured, as he closed the report and called his council to discuss the next steps the village would take.
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