Kyōichi, Konoha’s Life Mentor

"Sensei, it seems there are indeed hostile ninjas, but they don't appear to want to fight." 

Kyōichi was very confused. 

These hostile ninjas seemed to have no intention of engaging with Konoha.

As team seven moved forward, they would retreat a few steps, constantly avoiding them, and clearly did not want to encounter them. 

"You have kunai and intelligence scrolls." 

Kyōichi handed the Flying Thunder God kunai to Asuma, "This is the Flying Thunder God technique from Minato. You'll find Minato and hand over the intelligence scroll to him. I'll go ahead and take a look." 

"Sensei, why don't you take it? At least it could help Minato-sensei support you..." 

Asuma was a bit worried. 

What if Kyōichi encountered danger alone? 

"It's fine. I'm just going to gather intelligence. If I can't fight, I can run." 

Kyōichi patted his shoulder and then used Body Flicker Technique to rush forward. 

Ahead. 

Minato naturally also sensed the existence of those ninjas. If only he and Kakashi were present, he would definitely have rushed up to investigate. 

But at the scene, besides the two of them, there were also Obito and Rin. 

Obito and Rin were newcomers, unable to handle complex battlefield environments. After weighing his options, he ultimately did not go to investigate alone. 

"Sensei, let me go check." 

Kakashi asked in a low voice. 

He was a Chunin. 

In terms of strength, besides Minato, he was the strongest in the squad. 

"Our mission is to help the village eliminate bandits. These ninjas have nothing to do with us, so let's not create unnecessary trouble." 

Minato shook his head. 

At this moment. 

A look of shock appeared on his face. 

What was this? 

His own Flying Thunder God technique. 

He landed, used sensing technique to explore the surroundings, and then a look of joy appeared on his face. 

"Sensei, what happened?" 

Rin also noticed something was wrong. 

Since earlier, Minato and Kakashi seemed to have particularly solemn expressions. 

"Nothing, another squad is approaching us. If I'm not mistaken, it should be the Team one. They have my special kunai, so they should be here to support us." 

Minato breathed a sigh of relief. 

Kyōichi was coming! 

Moreover. 

From kyōichi and the other three's positions, they had made a decision to split up, with one person going to investigate the ninja situation, while the others would come to explain the situation to them. 

This way, he didn't have to worry about whether to investigate or not. 

"Ah? Why are they coming to support us? Does that mean our mission is of high difficulty?" 

Obito looked bewildered. 

"We'll know when they arrive." 

Minato didn't explain, because he didn't know the origin of these ninjas, otherwise he wouldn't have been so cautious about moving forward. 

Soon. 

Asuma and two others arrived. 

"Minato sensei, we've been sent by the village to provide support and inform you about the situation in the River Country. This is the intelligence scroll." 

Asuma handed over the scroll sealed with a sealing technique. 

Minato didn't say much. This type of seal implied that the intelligence was very important and could potentially affect Konoha's battle situation. 

He immediately opened the seal with a release technique. 

With just one glance, Minato's face became heavy. 

"Amegakure!"

….

Without lower ninjas dragging him down, Kyōichi's speed was extremely fast. 

He soon caught up to those ninjas.

These ninjas were very characteristic of the Hidden Rain.

There was basically no doubt about their identities.

Kyōichi pursued them, and they retreated. Both sides were fast - meaning they had discovered Kyōichi's tracks.

This group had encountered a tough opponent!

He became even more cautious.

"I wonder who's leading them, with two people staying behind, are they planning to stall?"

Kyōichi frowned.

While chasing from behind, he carefully probed the surroundings with chakra sensory, avoiding falling into traps.

He got closer to their position, and discovered the two chakra presences were by a very unremarkable tree, but on closer look, you could tell this tree was an illusion created by Ninjutsu.

Konan!

Kyōichi instantly understood.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, pretending he didn't see it.

He leapt forward a few steps.

Suddenly, countless scraps of paper swirled all around, like waves surging 

towards him from all directions.

Kyōichi discovered. Although these paper shurikens were numerous and sharp, there were no explosive tags mixed in- Konan was holding back.

However.

Even holding back, at most she would injure him, not take his life.

Kyōichi swiftly formed hand seals.

In a flash, water walls rose up all around.

"Jonin, use the explosive tags to cover our retreat!"

Seeing the situation was bad, Yahiko immediately brought Konan away.

A Konoha ninja.

Moreover.

Judging by this Water Release power, he was at least an elite jonin!

While they weren't overly afraid, they didn't want to clash with Kyōichi either.

This was also why Yahiko didn't let Nagato stay behind instead - Nagato couldn't judge the situation. 

If he accidentally injured a Konoha ninja, it would be hard to explain.

However.

The next moment, a water dragon roared forth, directly dispersing the explosive tags and bringing them swirling towards Konan and Yahiko.

Water Dragon Bullet!

"So fast!"

Yahiko's expression changed.

He was also a Water Release user, and knew very clearly how difficult the hand seals for Water Dragon Bullet were. 

Yet Kyōichi had formed them in the blink of an eye.

This was an improved Jutsu!

"I'll block it."

The tree Konan was in shattered into countless paper scraps, finally forming a paper shield.

The Water Dragon Bullet was incredibly powerful, but with layers of paper shields, its impact was gradually negated.

But.

A flash of a sword swept by.

The paper shield was instantly slashed apart, and next they saw a shadow land before them, holding a sword crackling with lightning - his silver hair extremely eye-catching.

"Minato Namikaze? No, Minato Namikaze has blonde hair, who are you?"

So fast!

Yahiko was shocked for the second time.

The first time was at Kyōichi's seal speed, but this time, it was shock at the speed of the Body Flicker Technique.

Besides Minato Namikaze, Konoha actually had another Jonin this fast.

"Konoha jonin, Kanda Kyōichi. Who are you all, and why have you entered the Land of Rivers?"

Kyōichi pretended to be stern.

He naturally knew their identities, but the formalities still had to be observed.

Yahiko's hands were sweating. 

With his and Konan's speed, they definitely couldn't outrun the opponent. 

And the opponent had only revealed a bit of his strength - to be honest, even if he and Konan joined forces, he wasn't completely sure of winning.

Unless Nagato was called back.

But actually fighting an all out battle would benefit neither side.

He quickly turned over thoughts in his mind, and finally spoke, "We are Amegakure ninja. We came to the Land of Rivers with no intention of offending Konoha, only wishing to purge the bandits wreaking havoc in the Land of Rivers."