Saying goodbye to Hiruzen and Danzo, Masahiko pondered for a moment, then decided to go to Amegakure.
Masahiko has four disciples there, with two being too old and two being too young, which made him feel somehow at ease.
"I'll practice my space skill on the way."
As for Kirigakure, since it was revealed that the Akatsuki has been controlling the Third Mizukage, and they've already ignited the Third Shinobi World War, Masahiko felt that ti was unlikely for them to say there and wait for him to come and find them.
Even if they were really there, Masahiko was really weak now; even the fat cat can beat him…
"Wait, wait, they might do it again with the next Mizukage and control him. I might need to go there when I get my strength back. But for now, let's go and see my disciples first."
Before he took off, Masahiko went to the Senju Station and found Kushina.
"How is your training? Did you manage to control the Kyuubi's Chakra?"
"Grandpa, you're finally here!" Kushina greeted him first, then nodded, "I have almost controlled it. But I don't know if the little fox will resist after his resurrection."
"It's okay, come to find me when that happens. Grandpa will make sure to warn him. I've already given him the Uzumaki surname out of compassion. If he doesn't know how to be grateful for that, I will cut some time off to teach him."
"Grandpa, stop saying that."
Masahiko smiled, "I have a task for you. Minato has joined the battlefield. It's boring to say in Konoha alone, right?"
Kushina was taken aback, "What mission?"
Masahiko bit his finger and summoned a small Katsuyu.
"Take this little slug and return to the Uzumaki. If anyone dares to attack our land, let me know immediately."
The current situation of the Land of Whirlpool can be said to be dangerous. With only Yuriko there, if Iwagakure or Kirigakure decided to attack, or even the Akatsuki, they will get destroyed.
And after becoming a Jinchuriki, Kushina has officially become an S-Ranked Shinobi. With here there, Masahiko can be much at ease.
"I see, but Hokage-Sama…" Kushina hesitated.
"It's okay, don't worry about him." Konoha doesn't need Kyuubi's Jinchuriki in this war.
"Wait for Nanako and Kenichiro to return, then you can come back again."
This time Kushina nodded decisively and then began packing up.
"Then, I should start too," Masahiko murmured, his figure disappeared, and he entered the Eight Trigrams Dimension.
The fact cat was still sleeping, but Masahiko didn't mind that.
"Which vortex is near Amegakure?"
According to Masahiko's calculations, there are 256 vortexes in total. This number is a bit random, and it doesn't seem to have any meaning.
Although he didn't want to admit, Masahiko couldn't remember every single one of them.
"It should be this one, right."
Instantly, Masahiko saw the endless ocean all around him, and a flush rushed on his old face.
"Damn it, I'll just use this one."
This one was connected to the mountain forest in the northwest of the Land of Fire. Although it's not the closest to Amegakure, it wasn't far away.
Instantly Masahiko appeared there. In order to practice his Space Ninjutsu, Masahiko didn't fly to the village. Instead, he used the Flash Ninjutsu (Space Jumping) to flash every time 50 meters ahead. Though he was slowing down for a second every time, so he can be seen by the naked eye…
Masahiko wanted to see if people will get shocked and think he's a god or something. Unfortunately, there were no villages or towns along the way.
"The Space Attribute has granted me this ability to flash and also enhanced my Medical Ninjutsu. With these two skills, I'm an ADC equipped with…" Masahiko was very bored on the way.
(T/N: ADC: Attack Damage Carry.)
The speed of flashing is about the same as flying, and the distance of about fifty kilometers took him only ten minutes, but it consumes too much Chakra. About a thousand flashes used nearly a quarter of his Chakra.
(T/N: His speed is about 300 km/h, maybe more considering that he kept messing around.)
"I shouldn't use this technique for traveling." Masahiko shook his head, sensing the Chakra fluctuations in the distance.
He's now at the junction of the Land of Rain and the Land of Fire, and Konoha's camp isn't far away.
Many investigative ninjas are nearby, but Masahiko is hidden in his dimension, and no one can detect him.
Many people were in the camp, and they mostly should be medical and logistics ninjas. The only familiar one was Tsunade… There was also two or three familiar Chakra, but Masahiko couldn't remember to whom it belonged.
Masahiko wasn't ready to show up for the time being, so hidden in his dimension, he slowly "crept" forward.
He didn't use flashing, as if the dimension itself was moving. He slowly moved forward.
After ten minutes, he reached the largest tent in the camp that was two kilometers away.
(T/N: his speed inside the dimension is about 12 km/h.)
Tsunade and the other medical ninjas looked really busy. To Masahiko's expectation, the biggest tent wasn't for the headquarters, but for the medical team.
Masahiko saw nearly a hundred wounded ninja, a few of them had piercing injuries, but most had bruises and cuts, but because of Sunagakure's poison, they had to lie there and get treatment.
The medical team was trying hard to keep them alive while Tsunade was working on the antidotes.
"There are a lot of casualties." Masahiko frowned. From the numbers of the injured people, Masahiko could tell that Konoha's loss wasn't small.
Masahiko hesitated to show up. Although his medical Ninjutsu improved, it was still not up to the standards.
Suddenly Sakumo's Chakra appeared not far away, so Masahiko decided to say hidden for the time being.
After leaving the camp, Masahiko "crept" into another relatively smaller camp.
In addition to Sakumo, there was also a slightly familiar Chakra that belonged to Shikaku Nara.
Unexpectedly, it's reasonable.
Konoha has many S-Rank ninjas here, from the strongest, Kagami and Sakumo, the Sannin, and to the weaker ones like Nawaki. The battlefield Chief Strategist was Nara Shikaku. He has just passed 20, and it only took him a few years to become a Jonin.
Sakumo had just completed an assassination mission, and he came to report back to Shikaku and accept the next mission.
Masahiko moved behind Shikaku and looked at the papers on his desk.
Battlefield missions are divided into a series of investigations, assassination, sabotaging, and siege. Rescuing missions are also divided carefully into urgently needed and no-urgent ones. When there is no qualitative difference between the two sides, the war strategy is the main factor affecting victory.
Masahiko observed for a while and had to admit that the times were indeed advancing. He remembered that even in the Warring States Period, where wars were frequent, they were only investigating, assassinating, and "fighting." Others worked differently, but there was really no such detailed division.
"If it weren't for my strength, this old fellow would have really fallen behind."