Chapter 85: Setting Off on Their Respective Missions

"The Third Hokage is looking for me?" Mikoto was startled. Although she had never seen the ninja standing before her, based on his distinctive attire which directly conveyed the Hokage's orders, she could guess he must be from the Anbu Black Ops.

But why would the Hokage be looking for her?

Seeing Mikoto's suspicious expression, the Anbu realized this young girl would not easily follow him. No matter how young or that she was a girl, she was still from the Uchiha clan after all.

"Your outstanding performance in the Ninja Registration Test is why the Hokage wishes to see you," the Anbu stated the reason the Third had instructed him to give.

Mikoto was momentarily dazed upon hearing this. She had clearly lost to Hiashi Hyuga in the finals and failed to pass the test.

"If you still have doubts, come with me to see the Hokage," the Anbu said again. Without waiting for Mikoto's agreement, he swiftly departed, though his movements seemed deliberately slowed compared to before.

"Wait!" Mikoto quickly followed. The Anbu had purposely reduced his speed to allow her to keep up. Otherwise, with an Anbu's prowess, she would be unable to catch up at her current level.

After bidding farewell to Kushina, Minato swiftly returned home. There were only two and a half hours left until the departure time Sakumo had mentioned. 

This sudden mission left him feeling somewhat unprepared, as Minato had no prior experience carrying out missions. He wasn't even sure what he should bring for this covert assassination operation that would last for an extended period. Considering the mission's secrecy, he would need to minimize his belongings as much as possible.

After hesitating for a while, Minato realized there wasn't much preparation needed before undertaking a mission. For others, they might need to bid farewell to parents and loved ones. But he was an orphan and even had to hide the truth from the person he cared about most - Kushina.

Minato truly disliked this feeling of emptiness. However, his heart was not completely devoid of attachments. Mikoto, Kushina, and even Uchiha Homura were precious to him, as was his teacher Jiraiya whom he hadn't seen in a while.

"I wonder what sensei is doing now?" Minato thought to himself. The missions undertaken by shinobi of his teacher's caliber were probably even more perilous than the one to the Land of Hot Water.

At that moment, he recalled the question his teacher had posed to him before leaving, and its answer - an answer Minato was currently unqualified to give. 

Unsure of the exact departure time, Minato entered the room where his parents had once lived. Although unoccupied, he had kept the room spotlessly clean. Hanging above the headboard of the double bed was a wedding photograph.

In the photo, a handsome blond man had his arm around the slender waist of a beautiful woman with long, straight brown hair who was smiling happily.

This was Minato's parents' wedding photo. They had died during a bandit attack while traveling for business. As civilians, no one had held a proper funeral for them, and even their remains and photograph were never recovered.

The only memento Minato had of his parents were these few photographs. On the bedside table was a family photo taken when Minato was very young, his big blue eyes seeming to wander away from the camera.

Gazing upon the empty room, Minato's heart gradually became calm. Grieving and crying could only prove his own weakness. His dream of becoming Hokage was to change all of this, to prevent further casualties of war that would leave more children with fates similar to his own.

"You seem quite at ease," a melodious feminine voice suddenly came from beside him, yet Minato could not immediately locate its source.

To his surprise, Jun Toriumi was now seated on the still-closed windowsill, a sword sheathed on her back with the end resting just above her waist, not hindering her seated position.

Unlike their earlier encounter that morning, her voice now sounded extremely clear to Minato despite the closed window that should have muffled it to some degree. For Jun to achieve this was already a testament to her skill, albeit likely not on par with Sakumo's, but at least at the jonin level.

"Has it reached the departure time already?" Minato asked, though it was still nearly an hour and a half until 5 o'clock. 

Jun simply shrugged at him.

"Father, Mother, I'm off," Minato said, clasping his hands together and bowing towards his parents' photograph before exiting the room through the door instead of jumping out the window.

Jun didn't find his actions strange. She was somewhat aware of Minato's background, and this was his way of respecting his parents.

Meanwhile, at Konoha's main gate, a squad had already set out. 

"Never thought you and I would end up on the same team for a mission," Nawaki said with a laugh, hands behind his head as he glanced at the handsome youth beside him.

"Haha, actually I've been looking forward to this day for a while," Nawaki's teammate Sarutobi Ao replied with a smile. Behind them followed a rather large figure, another Konoha jonin.

In addition to him was Sunao, the female genin who had also passed the Ninja Registration Test.

Mikoto was led into the Hokage's office by the Anbu, and as soon as she stepped inside, she was momentarily stunned to see that Hiashi and Hizashi Hyuga were already present. 

Not only them, but at another location, Shikaku Nara, Choza Akimichi and Inoichi Yamanaka - childhood friends who were inseparable - also had an Anbu suddenly appear before them, giving them quite a fright.

At Konoha's gate, Jun Toriumi and the now Konoha forehead protector-wearing Minato arrived to find Sakumo Hatake and Uchiha Homura were already there ahead of them.

"Alright, now that everyone is present, let's depart," Sakumo said with a faint smile.

There were two chunin-level gate guards, but based on the secrecy level of this mission to the Land of Hot Water, they clearly had no authority to know the details. However, they seemed to be discussing who the two young ninja following Sakumo were.

Though not particularly short, Minato and Uchiha Homura were genin the guards had never seen before.

Sakumo glanced sideways at the two before immediately dashing out through the gates, with Jun Toriumi following right behind. 

The two remaining genin, despite being prepared, were inevitably slower to start moving compared to the jonin. 

Swish! Swish! They exerted their full speed to catch up, like two streaks of light - one black and one golden yellow - leaving the gate guards momentarily dumbfounded.

(End of chapter)