Chapter 71

Kazuo's eyes were fixed on Shikaru for a few seconds before he removed his gaze only after the man gave a nod in acknowledgment which he returned.

"Minato, you're here." Shikaku Nara said as he gave Minato a nod who similarly returned it with a smile on his face.

"Its been a while Shikaku, as much as i would love to have a nice chat, it seems we dont have a lot of time on our hands." Minato said as the smile on his face dissaperead and his expression regained its serious look.

"That's right," Shikaku said before motioning for the group to come to the table where a large map of the surroundings was placed.

"Minato will be the head of this operation and he will also be the one to assasinate Arasoi Yotsuki. The three of you will be tasked with causing a large distraction whilst all of this happends. Even Minato will have a hard time infiltarting on his own." Shikaku said as his eyes turned to Kakashi, Kazuo and Rin who quickly nodded their heads.

"Nohara Rin will be staying back though not at the base. Her job is to wait out and if anyone returns injured then to heal them back so that they are atleast able to run away." Shikaku said before pointing at a small clearing on the map, clearly showing Rin where she would be stationed at.

A quick nod from the young kunoichi later, Shikaku continued his explanation.

"I've seen that Kazuo has possibly the greatest affinity to the hiding like a mole technique in the entire hidden leaf village, that was also the reason as to why i asked for him to come to this misison." Shikaku said as he turned to look at Kazuo.

'It was Shikaru, that fucker.' Kazuo thought for a brief split second before nodding his head toward the commander.

"Yes sir," 

"Good, I like your confidence, your job will be similar to your past escapades," Shikaru said as he pointed to a location encircled in red.

"Head to the edges of the enemy camp and plant as many explosion tags as you can before running away."

At his words, Team Seven's beside Kazuo's eyes widened.

"That..." Rin however chose not to continue her words because she knew that she wouldn't be able to change anything.

Kakashi's expression had dimmed aswell whilst Minato's remained the same, clearly having more experience in holding a poker face than Kakashi did.

"I know that what we are asking you is practiclly a suicide mission Kazuo, however currently you are the only one with the capabilities to do it." Shikaku said as he continued looking at Kazuo's expression.

However contrary to what he expected, Kazuo had a slight smile on his face as he nodded.

"It's allright sir, if my acts can help in ending this miserable war in any way, then i will gladly do the mission." Kazuo said, his voice was tinged with a pang of sadness however his conviction clearly shined through.

Inside his mind, however, Kazuo's thoughts were drastically different.

'Fuck you, you fucking bastard, what do you mean that im the only one, you just mean to say that im the cheapest in the base, and you would rather sacrifice me alone rather than an entire team of Jonin?' Kazuo thought to himself however he didn't show any outward malice, in fact showing the complete opposite of his thoughts.

Inwardly however he knew that what Shikaku had chosen was the correct decision. It was better to sacrifice a single chunnin.

"Good, next is you Kakashi, you will be stationed next to Nohara Rin and protecting her from any harm during the mission." Shikaku said.

The mission plan wasn't complicated.

After all, Kazuo already knew it was a complete sham.

'Kakashi and Rin aren't needed at all. They only wanted Minato and me in the mission.' Kazuo thought feeling like releasing a long sigh however his expression remained hardened.

"The mission begins immideatly." Shikaku said as he straightened his back whilst still looking at team seven.

"Yes," Minato immediately replied before motioning with his eyes for the rest of team seven to follow after him.

The team headed out of the commander's tent without another word.

However, as soon as they were out, Rin turned to Kazuo.

"Kazuo, you..." 

"It's alright Rin, I'll come back alive," Kazuo said, his voice sounding wrong, it sounded too carefree considering the situation that he was in.

Tears seemed to well up in her eyes however they didnt drop, the young kunoichi knew that she couldnt show weakness, for fear that it might affect Kazuo in any way.

"All right, don't die. It's a promise." Rin said, causing even Kakashi to nod toward Kazuo.

Minato meanwhile was simply looking at the interaction with a look in his eyes.

'Pity toward me wont change the fact that you are allowing your student to head off toward their death. This conviction of yours toward the village. Its annoying.' Kazuo thought before Minato finally spoke up.

"Let's head off." 

*Fsh* *Fsh* *Fsh* *Fsh*

A split second later, all four of them disappeared from their spots, appearing tens of meters away before their figures flickered once more.

A few minutes later, Rin and Kakashi split off, and finally a while later. Kazuo stopped.

"I'll be heading off Sensei." 

Minato stopped before handing Kazuo a kunai, it was his signature three-pronged one.

"As soon as I complete the assassination, I'll be there to save you Kazuo."

"Don't worry about it Sensei. Im not that easy to kill." Kazuo said with a light smile before vanishing from his spot, already flickering away.

His speed was much higher than when he was running with team seven.

Minato's eyes widened slightly before a soft smile appeared on his face.

"Little Rascal."

A moment later, his figure vanished as well, his speed multiple folds that of Kazuo.

It was like he had turned into a yellow flash of lighting as he passed through the forest toward his destination.

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