Jiraiya was gone in a flash, leaving Shindai standing there, his mind a bit muddled.
Obito said sarcastically, "Some people aren't very good at sucking up, huh?"
Shindai scoffed and looked at Rin Nohara: "Rin, let me tell you, Obito just wanted me to…"
"Ah!!!"
Realizing what Shindai was about to say, Obito shrieked, rushing to Shindai and covering his mouth: "Don't you dare say it! If you do, I'll fight you!"
Rin Nohara looked at Shindai and Obito in confusion, not knowing what those two were up to.
Rin Nohara looked at Kakashi questioningly, and Kakashi shrugged; he also didn't know what kind of trick Shindai and Obito were playing.
The clever Shindai thought of another good idea.
Shindai suddenly rolled his Byakugan, and his entire body went limp, falling to the ground.
Obito was startled: "Why did he suddenly faint? No, it's not my fault!"
Rin Nohara was also surprised and was about to go over to check on Shindai, but Kakashi stopped her.
Kakashi's dead-fish eyes looked at Shindai and he said to Obito: "Obito, carry him on your back, we're going to execute the mission."
Obito was shocked: "Huh? He's fainted, do we still have to take him with us?"
Shindai, who was in a 'coma', felt a surge of excitement!
Obito was really cooperative!
However, Kakashi, who had already seen through everything, didn't give Shindai any chance: "Yes! He might wake up on the way. Anyway, for this mission, even if he dies, we have to take him. There's no room for discussion!"
Obito remembered Minato Namikaze's instructions, and Shindai's identity as an undercover agent, so he nodded: "Alright then…"
Just as Obito was about to carry Shindai, Shindai sprang up, pointing at Kakashi and indignantly saying: "You! Do you have any humanity? I fainted!"
Kakashi rolled his Byakugan at Shindai: "Since you're awake, let's depart immediately!"
Obito and Rin Nohara stared blankly at the lively Shindai; they knew then that Shindai had been faking it.
Obito didn't know what to say to Shindai, and after a long silence, he managed to blurt out: "Shindai, you really are… persistent."
Rin Nohara shook her head helplessly, looking as if she was truly exasperated.
All of Shindai's plans failed, so he could only dejectedly follow Kakashi and the others out of the Konoha Garrison.
Led by Kakashi, Obito, Rin, and the reluctant Shindai headed 15 kilometers southwest of the Konoha Garrison.
...
After some travel, Squad Kakashi arrived at their destination.
However, the surroundings were empty; no one was in sight.
Shindai's heart immediately rejoiced at this sight: "It seems Lord Jiraiya's intelligence was wrong. There's no one here at all, much less any Cloud Ninja. Can we go back now?"
Kakashi ignored Shindai and instead jumped down from a tree trunk, landing on the grass.
Then Kakashi crouched on the grass, doing something unclear.
Obito, Rin Nohara, and Shindai also jumped down.
Rin Nohara asked: "Kakashi, did you find something?"
Kakashi pointed at the grass on the ground and analyzed: "Look, the grass here is bent, and there are very clear footprints. That means this grass was trampled by people.
And these grasses are bent in several sections, and the footprints on the ground vary in size, which means many people have been here before. Also, these footprints are very fresh, so they have been here recently."
Shindai said with a strange expression: "Fresh footprints? Did you smell their foot odor?"
Kakashi's mouth under his mask twitched, too lazy to bother with Shindai.
Obito speculated: "Kakashi, you think these footprints were left by Cloud Ninja, right?"
Kakashi nodded seriously: "That's right. This is a desolate wilderness, and it's at the location Lord Jiraiya told us for the mission. It can almost be confirmed that these footprints were left by Cloud Ninja.
If the Cloud Ninja really are stationed here, then they should be somewhere nearby."
Shindai listened, stunned. He had to admit, Kakashi was really sharp. His observation skills were keen, and his analysis was spot-on. No wonder he was the squad leader.
Kakashi began to form hand seals, then pressed his hands to the ground.
"Summoning Technique!"
A puff of smoke appeared, and after it dissipated, a Ninja hound emerged.
"Grukku, sniff out the scent here and lead us to them!"
This Ninja hound, named Grukku, lowered its head and sniffed the scent on the grass, then barked at Kakashi and ran in one direction.
Kakashi told the three of them: "Follow him!"
The four of them followed Grukku, and after a short while, Grukku stopped and barked twice forward.
Kakashi stared ahead: "Found them!"
Ahead was a small hill, and at the bottom of the hill was a cave entrance, with a Ninja wearing a Cloud Village forehead protector guarding the entrance.
"Good work, Grukku."
Kakashi scratched Grukku's head, Grukku barked, and a puff of smoke appeared, disappearing from the spot.
Shindai was a bit incredulous. Was the mission really completed just like that? It was too easy! There was no difficulty at all.
Shindai immediately beamed with joy: "Alright, our mission is complete. Let's go quickly."
But Kakashi, Obito, and Rin Nohara didn't move, remaining in place.
Shindai's right eyelid twitched fiercely, and a bad premonition welled up in his heart: "You three… you're not thinking of causing trouble, are you? Hey, don't! Our mission is just to confirm the veracity of the intelligence, and we don't know how many Cloud Ninja there are, or their strength. Wouldn't going in be like serving ourselves up?"
Kakashi said seriously: "Our mission is not yet complete. Our mission is to ascertain the truth of the intelligence and confirm whether Cloud Ninja are stationed here. But we've only seen one Cloud Ninja so far, and one person doesn't fit the concept of being 'stationed'.
Because this could be a diversion, a trap intentionally set to lure us Konoha Ninja. If we report such unclear intelligence, and something goes wrong, then we would be held accountable.
So we need to confirm their numbers, at least to confirm that there are multiple people!"
Obito excitedly echoed: "Kakashi is right! Since we're already here, let's figure it out before we leave!"
Rin Nohara didn't speak, but it was clear she supported Kakashi and Obito.
Shindai scratched his head in distress; it was truly a headache.