After the shout, the silhouettes of the crowd came into Minato's view. The ninja leading the team seemed to have noticed his presence long before. It was Hyuga Tenki, the head of the Hyuga family. With his Byakugan, which could detect things up to a kilometer away and see through objects, no one could escape his sensor within that range.
Swish! Minato flashed and appeared in the woods just as the front troops of the reinforcements arrived.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Hundreds of figures landed directly in front of Minato, and he immediately stepped forward to greet them. Many eyes focused on him at that moment. After observing him for a while, a trace of surprise flashed across the eyes of hundreds of people.
Minato noticed the look in their eyes and was slightly puzzled.
"You are Namikaze Minato, correct?" Hyuga Tenki asked. He had a sharp face, and his calm expression carried an intimidating presence, embodying the demeanor of a patriarch of a large family. Most ninjas would typically be submissive when facing such a powerful aura.
However, Minato's eyes remained as calm as a still pond, unperturbed by Hyuga Tenki's presence. After all, Minato had once been the Fourth Hokage, a position that created a significant gap between their identities, so he wasn't fazed by Hyuga Tenki's aura.
Though they had never met before, Hyuga Tenki recognized him. Minato was taken aback but then smiled. "Yes, that's me."
As they spoke, more people gathered behind Hyuga Tenki. After about a minute, the crowd had grown to thousands, with more still arriving. Minato had felt some familiar auras at the end of the group, which had surprised him earlier.
Finally, dozens of shorter figures appeared in Minato's sight. Among them were Hyuga Hiashi and Hizashi, the two brothers, Aburame Shibi, Nara Shikaku, Yamanaka Inoichi, Nawaki's teammates, Suki, who was a year older than Minato, and another of Sarutobi Ao's teammates whom Minato had met during the Ninja Trials.
Finally, a girl with black hair and black eyes appeared. When she saw Minato standing before Hyuga Tenki, a smile spread across her pretty face.
Mikoto is here too! Minato thought.
For this battle with the Sand Ninja, Konoha Village had gathered over 2,000 people, led by Hyuga Tenki, to reinforce Tsunade and the other Konoha frontline troops.
"I'll take you to see Lady Tsunade," Minato said with a smile before turning around and rushing ahead.
Swish! Over 2,000 people followed Minato, and the dense forest quickly became lively with the movement.
While leading them, Minato could feel the many scrutinizing eyes on him from behind.
What's going on? he wondered.
After walking for a few minutes, the crowd halted as dozens of people rushed toward them from the opposite direction. Leading them were Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Hatake Sakumo.
"Thank you all for your hard work," Tsunade said, her pretty face beaming as she looked at the crowd behind Hyuga Tenki. She was thrilled because, with this force, she could finally begin her work in the Land of Wind. After all, the opponent was one of the five major ninja villages, and she couldn't afford to underestimate them. Although she was angry with Chiyo, she didn't let it cloud her judgment.
"I'm just following orders. You've been fighting all the way through the Land of Rain until now; that must have been incredibly tough," Hyuga Tenki replied with a slight smile and a gentle tone. Despite his imposing demeanor, he wasn't difficult to get along with.
Minato hadn't seen the head of the Hyuga family many times in his previous life, as Hyuga Tenki had died during the Second Ninja War. After his death, the Hyuga family was managed by several elders until Hyuga Hiashi, at fifteen years old, became the new head of the Hyuga clan.
"Let everyone rest first. Given the current situation, what we have in abundance is time," Tsunade said to Hyuga Tenki with a smile.
He nodded and instructed everyone to settle around Konoha's gathering site in the dense forest. Hyuga Tenki himself followed Tsunade and the other two leaders to discuss the situation further. Although Sandaime had informed him of the details reported by Tsunade and the others before he left the village, it was still necessary to familiarize himself with it again.
He arranged for a few people to take charge, and then the 2,000-strong force dispersed.
Minato turned around and found Suki standing in front of him, looking at him with a very strange expression that made him a little uncomfortable.
Not just her—many other ninjas nearby were also glancing at Minato.
"Senior Suki, what's going on?" Minato was about to ask, but Suki interrupted him.
With a slightly frustrated voice, she said, "I didn't expect a junior to take the Chunin outfit."
Minato was wearing a vest that was only for those of Chunin rank and above. But then, she shifted the conversation. "I heard you're now a Special Jonin. Is that true?"
"Uh..." Minato was stunned, then asked in confusion, "How did you know?"
Suki smiled and replied, "How did I know? Not only do I know, but there are probably very few people in Konoha now who don't know about your performance on the battlefield. You've killed dozens of enemy ninjas, including Jonin. You graduated from the Ninja Academy just six months ago and have been on the battlefield for only three months. You've already made remarkable achievements—a genius at only ten years old!"
Her long speech left Minato momentarily at a loss, but after a moment, he finally understood why everyone had been looking at him with such strange eyes earlier.
This is the reason.
"Everyone knows?" Minato asked tentatively.
"Yes, you're now famous throughout Konoha. I'm afraid even Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Hatake Sakumo aren't as famous as you in the village," Suki said with a hint of surprise. She had known Minato for quite some time, but she had never realized that this handsome junior was so powerful.
"Haha." Minato laughed awkwardly. He didn't think that being famous was a big deal. What he had done was far from achieving his true goal.
But he could guess the intention behind Sandaime and the village leaders publicizing his achievements. They wanted to use him as a role model and set a goal for the younger generation.
Suki looked at Minato with a little admiration in her eyes, but Minato chose to ignore this look and turned his gaze in another direction. Mikoto was approaching.
She walked up to Minato, then smiled and said, "Minato, long time no see."
=========================
[Read up to 160+ chapter ahead and more Weakly Chapter Update at p@treon.com/goldengaruda]
=========================