Sasuke procured a map of Iwa, examining the six locations on it, each marked with a red cross. They were the locations of Iwa's bases - strongholds for intelligence, and basically heaven for any spies looking to gain information. Unfortunately, they were practically impossible to get into. Just like heaven for ninja.
He sighed. Hiruzen really was working both of them like a dog.
"I detest this," he complained as they both took large, striding steps, walking up a mountain, "Why can't we use chakra?" He really wished he could see better in the dark by activating the Sharingan, but Minato activated the chakra-blocking seals on his abdomen again.
"Just because." Minato grunted. After a grueling 8 hour walk, the last thing he needed was a literal mountain to climb. "They'll sense us if we use chakra. Your seal is the only thing preventing you from getting ambushed."
Sasuke huffed. Summoning a sudden burst of energy, he shot up the mountain, followed by Minato. He couldn't be bothered waiting anymore.
"Don't you have flee-on-sight orders or something? You can just kill them all," he said to Minato.
"What's with the questions? Acting like a child," Minato paused, realising that, to him, Sasuke was a child. "No, I can't do that! This is an infiltration mission, not some senseless killing," Minato rolled his eyes. He didn't have the patience to deal with a borderline evil teenager.
"Fine," Sasuke also rolled his eyes, "Let's just get this over with," he tapped the first cross on the map.
"I have to be honest with you, Sasuke," Minato suddenly said. Sasuke turned to him nonchalantly, giving him a look that said 'spit it out'.
"They're trying to gauge your strength by forcing you into dangerous situations. We're gathering information on you," Minato admitted. Sasuke was calm. He found it amusing how Minato thought he didn't already know all of this stuff.
"Well, no shit. How much have you got?" Of course Sasuke knew - he knew how Konoha worked, since he did technically belong there. But he also knew his own abilities, and he knew that nobody in this world actually knew a damn thing about him, much to his satisfaction. Whatever he chooses to reveal was entirely his choice. It was almost cute watching Konoha think they were actually doing something.
"You knew? I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Your file is 9 words long. Kind of embarrassing, huh?" Minato chuckled. He could find humour in almost every situation.
Sasuke chuckled too, continuing to walk. Eventually, they neared Iwa's border. Sasuke stood in front of it, wary and looking out for any ninja that would ambush them.
"How do we bypass the border?" Sasuke asked.
"Oh, it's easy. Follow me," Minato led him. Infiltrating was laughably easy, the hard bit was not getting caught. Despite their strength, if they got caught, it was game over and they wouldn't be able to infiltrate Iwa's bases. Then, Iwa would tighten security accordingly, making it a lot more difficult.
Sasuke had never been amazing at stealth; he liked to make extravagant, boastful entrances too much. But a month in this time period taught him to be sneakier.
He stared at Minato's back, wondering where he was being led. Minato stopped and pointed at a hollow tree. Sasuke examined it, noticing that it had Minato's famous Hiraishin seal plastered on the inside of the bark. He had to admit that was pretty smart. The seal was almost imperceptible.
"You've got a seal on the inside too?" Sasuke asked, to which Minato nodded. Sasuke pondered for a second - this whole Hiraishin stuff seemed pretty useful. The only thing stopping him from being able to beat Minato in a fight was Sasuke's slowness. Once he could overcome Minato's speed, he'd be able to beat him - just in case they ever fought. Sasuke figured that he should spend some time learning sealing jutsu.
Minato grabbed Sasuke's shoulder, promptly teleporting them. By now, Sasuke had already gotten over the slight dizziness he felt, to Minato's surprise.
Sasuke glanced around, trying to sense if any enemy ninja were nearby. Crickets chirped in the deathly silence of the night. He batted away the dark green foliage and the mosquitoes, wishing he brought repellent.
"It's this way. Come on," Minato mumbled to Sasuke, motioning for him to follow. Clearly, he had experience with this sort of stuff. Sasuke followed, wishing that he wasn't here. The first base they needed to check out was nearby.
Soon, Minato left Sasuke for just one minute. Sasuke glanced at the supposed base - it was disguised as an abandoned, rugged-looking motel. The building looked dilapidated. On the outside was a sign posting some egregious prices. The prices were crossed out with red graffiti and said 'not in operation' below.
If he didn't know it was a base, he wouldn't have been inclined to go in, not suspecting it in the slightest. Sasuke wondered how whoever discovered the locations for them managed to do it.
He heard Minato's footsteps behind him, turning around to silently greet him.
"How come there aren't any ninja here?" He asked, genuinely curious. There was nobody for miles - well, there might have been somebody inside, but he couldn't sense anything, for some unknown reason.
"Why do you think?" Minato held up his bloody hands, wiping them on a tree - not very hygienic, but it's not like they were in any position to be picky.
"Inside, they've stuck chakra-blocking seals everywhere, except for chosen locations. So we can't use chakra." With that being said, Minato still bravely strided towards the building. Sasuke guessed that he either blocked his own chakra, or was suppressing it really well.
"Wait!" Minato whisper-shouted, stopping Sasuke from entering. He coated his hands in chakra, sending multiple chakra vibrations through the building, doing something that Sasuke didn't understand. "I deactivated the alarms, the motion and auditory sensors, as well as the cameras. We can go in."
Sasuke stepped in, glancing around. It was much bigger than it looked on the outside - in fact, they probably used a jutsu to make it seem smaller. It still looked like an abandoned building though. There were multiple rooms, which Sasuke and Minato both scoured thoroughly.
Sasuke made a 'come here' motion with his fingers, beckoning Minato to him. He held up a piece of paper, which he found in a safe.
Minato signed, using both hands, 'how did you open the safe?' He leant over, reading the paper, his eyes widening in shock. It was a file on one of Iwa's Jinchuuriki. Sasuke let Minato read it before quickly memorising it, tucking it in a storage seal.
He signed back, 'I just undid the auxiliary latch of the lock'. Minato watched him, mesmerised. It was something he learned to do back when Orochimaru was teaching him, he learned how to undo a lot of the locks in Orochimaru's hideouts - that was a strange chapter of his life, looking back.
They moved on, exploring the rest of the building. Sasuke paused as they were walking. Below him were numerous chakra signatures. The floor underneath him - they were on the first floor - gave a hollow sound when he lightly tapped his foot against it.
He gestured beneath them, drawing Minato's attention. Their eyes met as they communicated a silent message. They nodded at each other, and exactly 2 seconds later, they both penetrated the floor, landing in the basement, with dozens of Iwa ninja staring at them in fright.
Minato snapped his fingers, immediately deactivating Sasuke's chakra-blocking seal. Apparently, this was one of the locations where chakra worked - to the Iwa ninjas' disadvantage.
Almost instantaneously, dozens of dead bodies littered the floor - the Iwa ninja barely had time for a single breath, let alone enough time to press the emergency alarm to alert their comrades.
Sasuke, now able to explore without worrying, traipsed along the room, searching for any information. He sighed, overlooking a hatch. He forced it open, motioning for Minato to follow. He climbed the ladder down, and then even further down. It seemed to penetrate a kilometre underground.
He took a deep breath, letting go of his grip on the ladder. His feet hit solid ground. He turned around, gasping in awe.
The underground place was lit by geode lights. It was a pretty sight, but what really caught his attention weren't the lights.
"What the fuck?" Minato stepped down, looking awestruck at the sight before him.
Panning at least a football field in width and length, the mandala-like pattern stretched on. It was written on thick parchment with ink that was so dark that it shone blue. He instantly recognised what it was the second he saw it.
"This is..." Minato trailed off, apparently rendered speechless, "A space-time seal."