Escape from Konoha.

Like the three of them, he was a student who entered the ninja academy at the same time, so they could be considered classmates.

However, the other person skipped a grade in their fourth year and became a genin earlier than the three of them, thus participating in missions.

I never expected to meet under these circumstances.

Shiraishi greeted Minato in a friendly manner, and Minato returned the greeting with a smile.

"Sorry, sorry, I was held up by some things. I hope I didn't cause any problems, Sakumo?"

The white-haired ninja chuckled and scratched his head; he was a talkative and cheerful person.

"No. But I didn't expect you to have returned to the village, Jiraiya. It's been several years since we last met."

Sakumo called out the name of the white-haired ninja.

Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha and a disciple of the Third Hokage.

Upon hearing the name, Shiraishi glanced at Jiraiya briefly.

Judging from his outward aura, he is indeed a Jonin with considerable strength. There are no obvious flaws in his every move, which shows that his taijutsu is definitely not weak.

That alone wouldn't make Shiraishi pay any attention to him.

Instead, he is the prime suspect because a lot of toads suddenly appeared in Konoha a while ago.

The other party quickly became friendly with Sakumo, chatting and laughing together, and Shiraishi nodded secretly.

This kind of guy is troublesome. He's thick-skinned and has excellent social skills, so when talking to him, you should avoid the important points and focus on the trivial ones. Even in casual conversation, he has a very strong ulterior motive.

Putting aside his strength for the moment, his personality is definitely the type that Shiraishi least wants to encounter.

After catching up for a short while, Sakumo and Jiraiya led the way, heading towards the front lines.

On the way, Jiraiya sighed inwardly.

Although he had placed some toads from Mount Myōboku in Konoha, Jiraiya wasn't confident that he would be able to find anything.

Besides, he has to go to the front lines now and has no time to think about this.

If only the Great Toad Sage's prophetic abilities were a little more accurate.

Seriously... are there really such powerful ninjas in Konoha?

However, he had close relationships with all the powerful ninjas he knew in Konoha. While they might not know him inside and out, their loyalty to Konoha was absolutely unquestionable.

So, who was the one who prophesied the endless war that would destroy the ninja world?

And in which corner of Konoha is it?

Chapter 54 Root Ninja

Starting from the entrance of Konoha Village around noon, it would take at least a dozen hours to reach the front lines of the Land of Fire.

By evening, Shiraishi and his group of six found a strategically advantageous location to rest for the night, planning to set off again at dawn the next day. They expected to reach the Konoha camp at the front line by evening.

The border between Sunagakure and Konoha in this ninja war was located at the junction of the Land of Rivers and the Land of Fire.

This is a small country located between the two great nations of the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind, bordering the Land of Rain to the north. It has a certain number of ninjas, but the organized ninja villages are too weak and it is unknown in the ninja world.

Therefore, the ninja force of the Land of Rivers was almost negligible in this war.

The six people were resting in the open space, but they didn't seem to have a strong desire to talk to each other.

Firstly, after traveling for most of the day, everyone was exhausted and wanted to get some rest.

Secondly, the two teams were not very familiar with each other.

Jiraiya and Sakumo may have had a good relationship, but there was no connection between Shiraishi, the three of them, and Minato.

Even if we know each other, it's only by chance that we've heard each other's names. We're just nodding acquaintances, not even ordinary friends.

"He is very strong."

Bai Shi, who was leaning against a big tree, was frowning and deep in thought about the energy of nature when Liu Li suddenly said something like this.

"what?"

Shiraishi finished thinking and subconsciously looked up.

"This guy has no weaknesses whatsoever. Even when he's resting, he chooses to defend in terrain that's easy to defend and difficult to attack, and he judges this immediately, which shows that his analytical ability is top-notch. When facing Mr. Sakumo, he also appears calm and composed, and is not intimidated by Mr. Sakumo's aura. He is very confident in his own strength."

Shiraishi understood who Ruri was referring to: Minato Namikaze on the other side.

Shiraishi nodded in agreement with Ruri's assessment.

How could a ninja who could be taken by the Sannin be simple?

Moreover, he had already distinguished himself at the Ninja Academy and was a well-known genius.

According to Shiraishi's estimation, Minato's current strength has likely reached the level of a Jonin.

"But compared to you, Liuli, I'm probably still a bit lacking."

Ayane then said with a smile.

Ruri's strength in Sakumo's team is second only to the captain, Sakumo. Coupled with the Uchiha clan's excellent bloodline abilities, it is difficult for ordinary Jonin to gain the upper hand against Ruri.

"You only know the answer to this kind of thing after you've fought it."

Although Ruri was arrogant, she felt that Minato, who was able to follow the Sannin, was not comparable to an ordinary Jonin.

However, Ruri is very confident in her own strength, especially after mastering natural energy. Her taijutsu skills alone would give even Jonin-level ninjas a real headache.

Moreover, during the battle, one must constantly be wary of her Sharingan.

Overall, if a battle were to actually occur, Ruri doesn't believe she has any chance of losing.

However, it is also true that the opponent is quite strong.

If circumstances allowed, I would really like to test it out, but in this situation and place, it would be better to exercise some restraint.

"Alright, it's almost time for patrol."

At this point, Shiraishi stood up, ending the conversation about Minato.

Even though the last mission wiped out an elite force of Sunagakure, and there have been no recent reports of damage within the Land of Fire, we cannot let our guard down.

Whenever you leave the village to carry out a mission, you must be 200% alert to prevent any accidents from happening.

The patrol missions of the Shuo Mao squad are always carried out in pairs.

Shiraishi and Ayane were in charge of the first half of the night, while Ruri and Sakumo were in charge of the second half.

It was almost dark, and Shiraishi and Ayane began their first night patrol, checking the surrounding area for any lurking enemies.

Nodding to Ruri, Shiraishi and Ayane disappeared from their spot and began their patrol.

Liuli glanced at their retreating figures but said nothing.

The patrol mission was relatively simple for Shiraishi's group, since they had Ayane's Byakugan. Within a five-kilometer radius, any enemy approaching the area would be exposed to the Byakugan's vision.

While it cannot compare to sensory ninjas in terms of range, sensory ninjutsu can only determine distance, direction, and number of targets, while the Byakugan's all-around surveillance ability can tell what moves the enemy will use to attack, and what means one's own side needs to use to gain the upper hand and quickly suppress the enemy's morale.

Thanks to the Byakugan, Konoha was able to avoid the enemy's carefully designed traps in every battle, rendering any of the enemy's schemes ineffective.

That's about enough.

In another forest, White Stone stopped.

Ayane has activated her Byakugan; anyone who approaches this place will be detected by her.

Next, all they need to do is periodically patrol the area to complete their first half of the night.

Shiraishi took a slip of paper from his ninja tool bag and placed it in Ayane's hand.

Ayane tilted her head, not quite understanding, but still held the note in her hand, looked it over, and only opened it after finding nothing unusual.

It says on it: "Are there any toads around?"

"..."

A toad?

Ayane didn't quite understand why Shiraishi was asking such a question, and simply shook her head slightly.

There were quite a few insects around, but the nearest toad was more than a hundred meters away, still in the river.

"Looks like there are no toads."

"Yes, no toads were found around. But why is Shiraishi-kun so concerned about toads?"

Ayane blinked and asked the question that had been bothering her.

"That's because a lot of toads have suddenly appeared in Konoha recently. I'm worried that someone is planting spies."

"Using toads as spies?"

"Hmm, the one who did this is most likely Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin. I heard he made a summoning contract with the toads of Mount Myōboku. And toads are such inconspicuous creatures that they are easily overlooked, making them very convenient for gathering information, aren't they?"

This is the same principle behind the cats that Ruri raised; it cannot be ruled out that someone is using the toad to gather intelligence.

"Are they looking for something?"

Ayane looked thoughtful.

"I'm not entirely sure. They might be spying on something. Anyway, the toad's business is none of our concern. We'll just have to be careful when exchanging information in the future."

"I see, indeed."

Ayane nodded knowingly.

There were no unusual occurrences around them, nor were they being monitored by secret agents, which meant that their secret had not been exposed.

Excessive actions can be counterproductive and attract unnecessary attention.

Even if something unexpected happens at this time, just maintain your normal pace.

"Oh, right, there's one more troublesome thing I need to explain to you."

Shiraishi scratched his head, sighed helplessly, and didn't know how to start the conversation.

"Troublesome matters?"

"Ah, it's related to glass."

Shiraishi's eyes darted away unnaturally.