Naruto: Puppet Master Undercover in Konoha

Kakashi successfully unleashed Chidori for the first time, thanks to Shindai's monocle.

Seeing how much Kakashi, Obito, Rin Nohara, and Shindai had matured, Minato Namikaze truly felt joy.

Since Shindai's arrival, the entire squad's atmosphere had completely changed.

Obito used to rely entirely on his Sharingan for strength, believing that unlocking it would transform his abilities.

After Shindai joined though, Obito gradually abandoned this mindset. After awakening his Sharingan, his strength continued to rise steadily.

Previously, Kakashi had been emotionally closed off, obsessively focused on missions and rules, even willing to abandon teammates to complete tasks decisively.

Though Kakashi could sometimes come off as sharp-tongued (a trait Minato secretly blamed on Shindai), his personality had become noticeably warmer and more open. He no longer constantly emphasized missions and rules, having truly moved past that mindset.

To better support Obito, Kakashi, and Shindai, Rin trained harder than ever in Medical Ninjutsu, continuously improving her skills.

Moreover, the four-member squad's coordination had become incredibly seamless.

At first, Minato had been worried about letting Kakashi's squad handle the infiltration mission behind enemy lines to destroy Kannabi Bridge on their own. Now, however, he felt completely at ease.

Because each of them had grown into capable and dependable ninja.

Smiling, Minato said, "The most important thing for a ninja is teamwork. You've already done exceptionally well. Let's set up camp and rest tonight. Tomorrow I'll accompany you part of the way before we split up."

"All right!"

At night.

Shindai couldn't sleep at all, lying wide awake and scanning the surroundings restlessly.

Obito asked suspiciously, "Shindai, what are you doing? It's late—why aren't you sleeping?"

Shindai snapped back, clearly tense, "Sleeping? You'll have plenty of time for that when you're dead! I'm alive now, so I'd rather stay alert. Got a problem with that?"

Muttering 'Have you lost it?' under his breath, Obito just turned his back to Shindai and drifted off to sleep.

The reason Shindai felt so anxious was because there was a chance Madara Uchiha or Black Zetsu might be watching them from somewhere nearby.

And Shindai's guess wasn't far off—Black Zetsu was indeed watching them from nearby.

Using [Kagero no Jutsu], Black Zetsu could merge his physical form with the earth and plants, cutting off every trace of his presence during the technique's activation.

Even Minato, renowned for his exceptional sensory perception, couldn't detect him at all.

Hearing Minato say they'd begin separate operations starting tomorrow, Black Zetsu considered this an excellent opportunity.

However, seizing the right moment wouldn't be easy.

As Madara Uchiha had said, Black Zetsu lacked real combat strength—he excelled only in reconnaissance and intelligence gathering.

Moreover, with Kakashi and Shindai by Obito's side, Black Zetsu naturally took note of Kakashi and Shindai as he kept watch over Obito.

It could only be said that these three together would be tough to deal with—even several Jonin working in tandem might still struggle to take them down.

Black Zetsu found Shindai the most troublesome of all because of his utterly disgraceful combat style.

Back during the border clash with the Mist ninja, Shindai faced off against a Mist ninja who was already limping from an injured leg.

Once Shindai noticed the limp, he focused all his attacks solely on the injured leg and even targeted the healthy one. He broke the ninja's healthy leg clean through.

With the Mist ninja unable to get back up, Shindai finished him off without hesitation.

After witnessing this scene, Black Zetsu couldn't shake the feeling that Shindai would become the greatest obstacle to securing Obito.

Black Zetsu fell into deep thought for a moment.

The Demon Leech Kakashi had killed still had two companions waiting for him.

These two Rock ninja were also Jonin; if they met, battle was inevitable.

However, those two Rock ninja definitely wouldn't stand a chance against them. What should be done?

Black Zetsu's gaze shifted toward Rin Nohara, who was resting with her eyes closed. A dark, knowing smile crept across his face.

...

The next day.

Once everyone had rested sufficiently, Minato Namikaze accompanied Kakashi's squad through the forest until they reached a bamboo grove.

"From now on we will split into two groups. Everyone, do your best. Yesterday's ninja just happened to be scouting alone; from here on, we may likely encounter team battles. Be careful."

Shindai coughed dryly before speaking up: "As the team leader, I must say a few words. We must proceed cautiously. If you ever encounter danger beyond your ability to manage, activate the device on the necklace I gave you without hesitation. Understood?"

Kakashi stared at Shindai in disbelief: "Why are you leading again?"

Shindai replied matter-of-factly: "We rotate leadership. You had the last few shifts—it's my turn now!"

Obito eagerly spoke up: "So when will it be my turn to lead, Shindai?"

To everyone's surprise, Shindai responded completely seriously: "When I'm done having fun!"

Kakashi clenched both hands into fists. There were moments when Kakashi really felt like strangling those two.

Minato and Rin smiled helplessly.

Minato waved his hand: "Alright then, I'm off. Be careful, and see you later."

He left alone.

Taking a deep breath, Shindai turned serious: "Now listen carefully—I'm not kidding around this time. Kakashi, you're taking point!"

Kakashi finally snapped: "Hey! Enough already! I'm the officially appointed team leader—you two should be following my orders!"

"Shindai sneered, 'Didn't expect you to be so vain, Kakashi. Fine fine, you keep the title of squad leader, but orders will come from me. That's settled then. Move out!' 

Shindai concentrated and formed an Iron Sand Body into a Third Eye which floated midair.

Kakashi nearly had a heart attack from anger. Vain? Like hell he was!

He'd rather give Shindai the title if it shut him up, as long as they still followed his orders.

Obito sternly rebuked, 'Kakashi! What's wrong with you? Are you defying the captain's orders?'

Kakashi clenched his teeth in fury, but suddenly realized getting angry with these two idiots was pointless — since they were both idiots who wouldn't listen to anything he said anyway. So he shut up and marched forward in silence.

They discovered many traps within the bamboo grove.

However, Kakashi spotted all the traps in advance, either dismantling them or bypassing them completely, steadily advancing toward Kannabi Bridge.

While passing a pond area, two Rock ninja were hiding behind boulders.

These two Rock ninjas were companions of Demon Leech — Hikaru and Taiseki.

Hikaru narrowed his eyes at Shindai's group. 'Hey, Demon Leech went scouting and never came back. Could it be those punk kids actually got him?'

'Heh, let's find out then.'

After Taiseki formed hand seals with both hands,

[Ninjutsu: Camouflage Hiding!]

Taiseki's body began turning transparent until completely disappearing, then quietly approached Kakashi's squad.

Something dark and ominous clung to the inside of Taiseki's clothing.

That dark mass was none other than Black Zetsu."

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