Fugaku, though shocked, still stepped in to cover for Sho.
"Ruri, let him go for now. He's learned his lesson."
One way or another, the priority was pulling Sho out of this. Otherwise, as the Konoha Police Force, having an Uchiha openly breaking the law and initiating a group fight would be far too disgraceful.
Bam!
With a single kick, Ruri sent the collapsed Sho flying straight out of Naka Shrine.
Ruri couldn't be bothered with the clansmen who had no strength yet loved to shout nonsense. She gave a cold snort and walked out of the assembly hall.
This time, no one dared to provoke her again — after all, the previous idiot, Sho, was still embedded in the outer wall.
Couldn't afford to provoke her. Absolutely couldn't.
…
Two days later, at the very end of summer, Mitsuki set off toward the Land of Hot Water.
Since he was leading two thousand shinobi, Mitsuki had no choice but to obediently rely on his own two legs to travel.
Luckily, he could occasionally chat with Shisui and Ruri beside him, or the trip would've been unbearably dull.
"By the way, I keep getting this weird feeling… those Uchiha in the unit are looking at me strangely."
Mitsuki asked, puzzled.
Shisui had heard something from Fugaku, so upon hearing Mitsuki's question, he responded:
"It seems that during the Uchiha clan meeting two days ago, someone spoke rudely about you, and then Ruri, she…"
Ruri lightly coughed, cutting him off.
"I merely taught a lesson to a few weaklings who don't know their place."
So someone stood up for him.
Mitsuki wasn't the type to care deeply about how others viewed him, but having a good friend stick up for him still made him genuinely happy.
He was never the kind of person who killed the mood.
"Thank you, Ruri."
Between good friends, emotional support had to be given properly — never ignore these details just because you're close. That was a lesson Mitsuki carried through two lifetimes.
"Hmph. I just can't stand weaklings, that's all." Ruri flicked her long hair aside and looked away.
"I know, I know~"
…
Ninja travel was fast. In less than two days, Mitsuki's support forces reached the front lines of the Land of Hot Water.
The Land of Hot Water had a rather unique geography — it sat at the junction between the vast plains of the Land of Fire and the towering Valley of Clouds and Lightning.
The terrain was split almost cleanly in two: majestic mountains on one side and wide, open plains on the other.
Thanks to the volcanic ranges, the country naturally produced countless hot springs.
During peaceful times, people from all across the shinobi world would visit to enjoy the baths. Even now — despite the ongoing conflict between Konoha and Kumogakure —many nobles and officials still came to indulge in hot springs and various "services."
The Land of Hot Water had its own shinobi village: Yugakure, nominally an ally of Konoha.
Backed by the country's excellent finances, Yugakure's strength had once been respectable among small villages—well, for now, anyway.
Mitsuki knew the truth. After the Third Shinobi World War ended and the world entered a long era of relative peace, Yugakure's combat ability plummeted like a rock rolling downhill.
They were even labeled "the village that forgot war", which, for a shinobi village, was hardly a compliment.
Still, sandwiched between two giants — Konoha and Kumogakure — pretending to be harmless might've been their best survival strategy.
Walking through Yugakure's streets, they heard calls from hot-spring inns and smelled various local delicacies—like hot-spring eggs and hot-spring steamed bread.
"Whoa! They've got spring vents in the middle of the street?"
Mitsuki crouched down, marveling at a bubbling spring vent.
Ruri leaned in curiously as well.
Shisui, who had clearly done his homework beforehand, quickly warned:
"Mitsuki, be careful, that's—"
Before he could finish, the little vent suddenly surged, shooting out hot water and steam.
Naturally, someone like Mitsuki wouldn't get hit by such a slow attack. A slight tilt of his head and he avoided it easily.
"Oh? This little spring tried to ambush me?"
Ruri's curiosity was piqued. "Why does the hot water shoot out of the ground like that?"
"I'm a science student, not a geography major," Mitsuki replied with a shrug.
Shisui didn't understand what "science student" meant, but still explained:
"It's called a 'geyser' here. Unlike normal hot springs, it erupts suddenly like that. Still, if you're paying attention, even normal people can dodge it."
Just as he finished, a familiar scream sounded up ahead.
"Aah—hot! Too hot! My eyes! Uuuu—!"
Recognizing the voice, Mitsuki looked over, and sure enough — it was Obito, rolling on the ground helplessly.
Yes… he looked exactly as miserable as he sounded.
Kakashi stared at Obito with his dead-fish eyes, exasperated.
"Idiot… how many times have you been hit by these vents? No, even an idiot should've learned to walk around them. Don't tell me you walked into it on purpose?"
Kakashi reminded himself not to expect anything of this fool, but even he hadn't expected a human being could be this stupid.
"Get up. We still need to finish the mission Minato-sensei gave us."
He stepped forward to help Obito up — only to hear a familiar voice call out:
"Kakashi! Obito!"
Mitsuki flickered beside them with a Body Flicker. Obito squinted.
"Mitsuki? Is that you?"
"Idiot."
Ruri approached as well, giving her blunt assessment without mercy.
…
After the noise died down, Kakashi and Obito officially became their guides.
Minato had sent the two specifically to meet Mitsuki's forces and lead them to Konoha's new forward base in the Land of Hot Water.
On the way, Mitsuki casually asked Kakashi:
"I heard the situation here's not looking great. Does Kumo have someone particularly troublesome involved?"