Minato could tell that Shindai was afraid of fighting, but Minato still wanted to confirm Shindai's Magnet Release.
Minato comforted him, saying, "Shindai, you don't need to be nervous. For now, I don't intend for you to fight. I just want to see your Magnet Release."
Shindai looked at Minato pitifully: "For now? So you'll still make me fight later?"
Minato said gently, "That depends on your performance. You just said you're a technical talent, right? If your skills are indeed what Konoha needs, then you won't need to fight. So, can you show me now?"
Shindai pouted and nodded, then slowly formed hand seals before pressing his palms together.
"Magnet Release: Sand Iron Prism!"
Shindai used magnetism to gather a large amount of Sand Iron from the ground, creating a triangular prism.
After maintaining it for a while, the prism disintegrated into a pile of Sand Iron that fell and accumulated on the ground.
Shindai began to pant heavily: "Phew, Lord Minato, this is my limit. I can't squeeze out another drop of Chakra. I'm exhausted."
Minato's eye twitched continuously.
He's fooling ghosts, isn't he?
Just panting like that, how weak could he possibly be?
Even if he's faking it, he should make it more convincing, right?
Who pants heavily without sweating at all, and still has a rosy, glowing complexion?
Minato was now very suspicious of one thing: how did Shindai manage to deceive the Third Kazekage into thinking he was a good-for-nothing?
Could it be that the Third Kazekage couldn't even see through such a clumsy act?
Minato sighed lightly and said, "Since you're tired, Shindai, take a rest. This tent will be your temporary resting place. It's getting late now, so get some good rest."
Seeing Minato leave the tent, Shindai let out a heavy sigh of relief.
Minato appeared approachable and spoke softly.
But just standing there, he gave Shindai an indescribable pressure, making Shindai incredibly nervous.
Fortunately, he was quick-witted and didn't expose his identity as an undercover agent, successfully fooling Minato.
However, the next problem was how to join Konoha.
Shindai didn't want to go to the battlefield, so he had to make Konoha value his skills.
But the Third Kazekage had told Shindai before that Konoha didn't care for Puppet Technique at all.
Moreover, Konoha now had Orochimaru, a top scientist, and there were probably other scientists to some extent.
Shindai's techniques might have been quite advanced in Sunagakure, but in Konoha, they might be outdated.
Shindai was a bit troubled, completely unsure of what to do.
"Forget it, I'll just lie down and get some sleep. I'm exhausted. Maybe I'll have a solution when I wake up."
The big-hearted Shindai lay directly on the bedding on the ground, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.
...
When Minato left the tent, he gestured with his eyes to the Shinobi guarding the tent entrance.
The two Shinobi guarding the tent understood and followed Minato to a dark spot.
Minato ordered these two Shinobi: "From now on, do not guard the tent entrance. Hide in the shadows and monitor him. If he makes any unusual moves, notify me immediately."
"Yes!"
Minato returned to his own tent.
Inside Minato's tent were Kakashi, Obito, and Rin Nohara.
When Obito saw Minato return, he immediately asked, "Sensei, how is that person? Is there a problem?"
Minato said seriously, "There's a problem, and it's not small. He's very likely not a sacrifice from Sunagakure. His goal is very likely to approach Konoha!"
Kakashi, Obito, and Rin Nohara were utterly shocked.
"Huh? To approach Konoha? Is the deal between Sunagakure and Iwagakure fake?"
Minato shook his head: "Currently, I'm just guessing, but that child definitely has a problem. There's a possibility that Sunagakure wants him to enter Iwagakure for some secret mission through the trade.
And there's a high probability that Sunagakure deliberately wants us to intercept him, thereby allowing that child to successfully approach our Konoha.
I'm now guessing that the scroll of alliance between Sunagakure and Iwagakure that our Konoha Ninja intercepted earlier might also have been something Sunagakure deliberately wanted us to obtain."
Rin Nohara was somewhat disbelieving: "Let a child about our age approach Konoha?"
Minato earnestly warned, "Rin, don't underestimate him just because he's around your age. For example, Kakashi graduated from the Ninja Academy at 5 and became a Chunin at 6. As long as they are Shinobi, even a three-year-old child cannot be underestimated, and that child's strength might even be stronger than yours."
Kakashi asked coldly, "Sensei, should we kill him?"
Minato recalled Shindai's completely inexperienced appearance and shook his head: "No, not yet. His objective is currently unclear. We need to do our best to find out what his objective is. Perhaps we can obtain useful intelligence.
Therefore, I had the Shinobi guarding him hide. If he truly has no problems, and he discovers that no one is guarding him, then he will definitely try to escape.
If he does have problems, and his objective is Konoha, then even if he has a chance to escape, he won't.
At the same time, I plan to arrange for a Shinobi to disguise himself as an Iwagakure Shinobi to test him in the middle of the night. If his objective is Iwagakure, then he will leave with the Iwagakure Shinobi."
Minato immediately set a plan to test Shindai's true objective.
Obito requested of Minato: "Sensei, can we observe when you test him? You said that guy is stronger than us, but I don't believe someone around my age could be stronger than me!"
Kakashi glanced sideways at Obito and said, "You don't talk, so you think I don't exist, right?"
Obito retorted unhappily, "You don't think you're my opponent, do you?"
Kakashi sneered, "Have you ever won against me?"
Obito's face immediately flushed red, and he stubbornly said, "That's because I was hiding my strength before! If I used my full strength, Kakashi, you would definitely not be my opponent!"
Rin Nohara saw signs of Obito and Kakashi arguing again and immediately interjected, "Alright, you two, stop arguing."
Obito and Kakashi exchanged glances, simultaneously 'hmph'-ed, and turned their heads away.
Minato smiled helplessly and said, "Since you want to watch, Obito, I'll take you along later. What about Kakashi and Rin?"
Kakashi nodded and replied, "Sensei, I want to see too."
With Kakashi and Obito both going, Rin Nohara also said, "I'll go too."
Minato agreed, "Okay, then the three of you can come with me later."