"ORA ORA ORA ORA...!"
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!
In the forest of the Land of Fire, amidst a continuous stream of "ORA" sounds, countless fists rained down like a storm from the arms extending behind a giant wooden statue of Senju Kannon.
The shadows of countless punches pounded the ground, causing it to crack and dent, with gravel flying everywhere!
After a long while, the noises finally subsided, and the entire forest returned to its tranquillity.
The giant Buddha statue of a thousand hands also gradually faded and eventually disappeared.
The area that had just been heavily attacked had now turned into a sizable pit.
At the bottom of the pit lay a bloody and mangled figure, with no part of his body left unscathed.
However, even in such a state, it was evident that his chest was still faintly rising and falling—he was not yet dead.
This made Natsuhiko, who was about to step forward and check, freeze in place, feeling a bit embarrassed.
Was this a case of "an intense operation as fierce as a tiger, but only dealing 0.5 damage"?
Was his output too low, or was this Cloud Ninja's defence too high?
While Natsuhiko silently complained in his heart, he pulled out a kunai, preparing to end the opponent's suffering.
But at that moment, Yawai suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood and regained some consciousness.
With swollen eyes, he vaguely saw Natsuhiko approaching with a kunai, knowing what the other intended to do, and a bitter smile formed in his heart.
So... this is my end?
Those who excel in swimming drown...
Although Brother Katai always reminded him not to rely too much on sensory ninjutsu, he never listened...
Unexpectedly, in the end, he really fell into his best field.
Even now, he still couldn't figure out how the other did it.
Or rather, the opponent's terrifying ability to create targeted traps quickly based on his sensory ninjutsu was the main reason for his defeat.
Yawai continued to lock his blurry gaze on Natsuhiko, who was still slowly approaching.
Indeed, if this guy continues to grow, he will undoubtedly bring great trouble to Hidden Cloud Village.
Even if he dies, he must drag him to hell!!!
Unfortunately, Yawai felt that he couldn't even move a finger now, let alone harm the other.
Fortunately, he still had one last resort...
Yawai suddenly coughed violently, spitting out blood from his throat, then laboriously said:
"Your name is..."
Natsuhiko's steps halted abruptly, warily watching Yawai, who was still lying on the ground.
Seeing that the other was struggling even to speak, he slightly relaxed but felt complicated inside.
After all, he knew that in terms of sheer strength, he couldn't match this battle-hardened opponent.
He was able to trounce him thanks to the significant intelligence gap between them.
After all, Natsuhiko had previously devised a plan to counter sensory ninjas based on information provided by Kushina, while the other knew nothing about him.
Therefore, Yawai's defeat was actually predestined from the start.
Intelligence is the life of a ninja.
Yawai had once again reminded Natsuhiko of this truth with his life.
For this alone, he deserved a response from Natsuhiko.
So Natsuhiko's lips parted as he softly said:
"Namikaze Minato."
"My name is Namikaze Minato."
As he spoke, Natsuhiko raised his left hand to his head, and his silver hair instantly became a spiky blond.
It seemed as though his left hand had been coated with hair gel and dye beforehand.
Upon hearing this, Yawai's chest heaved violently, letting out a harsh laugh.
"Such... such caution, even against a dying man."
He was dying, not stupid; he could tell that Natsuhiko was fooling him.
"Maybe only ninjas like you can live long."
"It's a pity; I really just wanted to know your name, nothing more."
"The real final move— is this!!!"
As he spoke, Yawai suddenly opened his eyes wide and shouted with all his might:
"Oniisan, this is my final chakra wave!!!"
BOOM!
A powerful chakra wave burst out from his body, forming visible ripples in the air that spread rapidly in all directions.
It was as if his life was the fuel for the greatest and final explosion of his life!
The chakra wave's ripples spread quickly, causing a large number of birds to fly away in fright, countless beasts to roar, and the entire forest to seem like it had exploded!
At the same time, at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Grass, a muscular Black man suddenly felt a sense of foreboding.
He instinctively raised his right hand to form a hand seal for sensing and was shocked to sense the chakra wave from his younger brother, Yawai. Tears streamed down his face.
Because the sensory ninjutsu he and his brother learned had the same root and their chakra traits were similar, they could receive each other's chakra waves.
Although they couldn't communicate words, Yawai's unwillingness and fear in this chakra wave were fully conveyed to his brother Katai.
This instantly made him understand that his brother was no longer alive.
BOOM!
Katai punched a nearby boulder, shattering it into pieces and startling the surrounding Cloud Ninja.
With blood-red eyes, he gritted his teeth and said:
"No matter who the other is, I will make them pay!!!"
...
The scene shifts back to Natsuhiko.
Before Natsuhiko could act, Yawai, who had overdrawn his life force to release the chakra wave, had become emaciated, like a dried corpse, clearly dead.
But his lips still curved into a mocking smile, seemingly proud of his final extraordinary performance.
"Never underestimate any ninja."
"Even if the other is barely breathing, completely unable to move..."
I'll have to eliminate the enemy directly in the future and avoid chatting with them.
Natsuhiko lightly shook his head.
Fortunately, he knew that in the ninja world, even dead people couldn't keep secrets.
Besides various secret techniques for reading memories from corpses, there were even techniques for summoning the dead from the pure land.
So Natsuhiko had always been very cautious about protecting his information.
The projection of the Senju Kannon just now and his random claim of being Namikaze Minato were not just for fun but also to hide his information.
He recalled feeling that he hadn't overexposed information earlier, and the chakra wave probably couldn't transmit specific details, so there was no need to worry too much for now.
However, Natsuhiko guessed that the chakra wave's primary function was to serve as a locator and alert the incoming support troops to continue pursuing them.
So it was clear that this place was not safe to stay. After destroying the corpse's head with an explosive tag, he prepared to leave with Kushina.
"We might have to take a detour to be safe," Natsuhiko thought as he walked behind a tree.
There, a weary Kushina was half-asleep in a duck-sitting position on the ground, with the rocket backpack beside her still smoking.
It seemed that Yawai's earlier move had burned out the chakra wave communicator inside.
"Natsuhiko, what was that chakra wave just now?" Kushina asked weakly.
Earlier, she didn't feel it, but now that the last enemy had been eliminated, she felt overwhelming fatigue.
"We'll discuss that later."
Natsuhiko stored the rocket backpack in a storage card and continued,
"It's still dangerous here; we need to leave immediately."
"But... but I'm out of strength," Kushina said bitterly.
Natsuhiko was not surprised.
After all, Kushina had been exhausted, and operating the chakra wave communicator earlier had drained her last bit of strength.
Seeing Kushina, who was usually as tireless as an ox, now too tired to move, Natsuhiko found it somewhat refreshing and smiled slightly.
"Can't be helped."
He bent down and picked Kushina up again.
"Ah..."
Kushina let out a soft cry and quickly wrapped her arms around Natsuhiko's neck, her face slightly red.
"Let's go home!"
Natsuhiko said with a smile, then leapt into the air...
The round moon hung high in the sky, its silver glow making the forest appear serene and peaceful.
Natsuhiko carried Kushina, leaping through the high forest.
The cold of the deep winter night made Kushina feel a bit chilly, so she leaned against Natsuhiko, her face blushing even more.
"Kushina, are you a bit cold? I have clothes in my storage card, or..."
"No need." Kushina buried her head in Natsuhiko's chest and whispered, "This is fine."
...
After a while, Kushina softly said, "Natsuhiko..."
"Yeah, what's up?"
"This time, thank you."
Natsuhiko smiled and said,
"It's nothing; I couldn't just watch my assistant get taken away."
Kushina's expression froze slightly, then she gathered her courage and said,
"To you, am I just an assistant?"
Natsuhiko laughed,
"Of course not... you're also a great card game partner!"
"And?"
"Umm... a tavern partner?"
"And?"
Kushina's gaze became increasingly dangerous.
"A sparring partner... wait, Kushina, why are you moving around? We're in midair!"
"Natsuhiko, you big idiot---!"
Afterwards, Natsuhiko comforted her for a while, finally calming Kushina down.
However, he occasionally looked back, puzzled by the complete lack of pursuers…
…
At the same time, elsewhere in the forests of the Land of Fire.
"Chase him!"
"He's over there!"
"Don't let Namikaze Minato escape!"
A large group of furious Kumogakure ninjas were leaping between the trees, occasionally throwing various ninja tools ahead.
Not far in front of them, Minato was evading the attacks while shouting:
"There must be some misunderstanding between us!"
"The war between Konoha and Kumogakure has ended. There's no need for us to fight anymore!"
"I was just on my way to find a comrade and stumbled upon that corpse; I am not the culprit!"
Minato felt helpless and frustrated by this unjust situation.
He had simply gone to the location where he sensed a strong chakra wave and was checking the corpse when he was discovered by these Kumogakure ninjas, leading to the current predicament.
At this moment, the furious Katai, at the forefront of the Kumogakure ninja, shouted:
"If you didn't kill him, why were you there!?"
The Kumogakure ninja behind him nodded in agreement, feeling his words were reasonable.
Not to mention, Namikaze Minato had always been Kumogakure's primary target, someone they were eager to eliminate.
Now that they had caught him alone, even if he wasn't the killer, they wouldn't miss this opportunity.
Minato obviously understood this logic as well.
His previous words were just a test to see if Kushina was in the enemy's hands.
From their response, he deduced that Kushina was not with them.
Did Konoha comrades rescue her?
He hoped she was safe.
Minato felt a bit relieved, thinking about the next steps.
Now, he needed to find a way to shake off these pursuers.
He pulled out a few three-pronged kunai from his pouch, his expression becoming more serious.
It was the perfect chance to test the jutsu he learned from the Hokage in a real fight…
…
It was already past three in the morning, but the lights in the Hokage's office were still on.
As Natsuhiko had initially thought, Kushina was the most suitable candidate for the next Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
So, this kidnapping incident was undoubtedly a severe matter for Konoha.
This night was destined to be a sleepless one for Konoha's leadership.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was sitting in his seat, not in the mood to deal with paperwork, his face heavy as he kept smoking his pipe.
Meanwhile, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane were standing by the bookshelf, whispering to each other.
Mito Uzumaki was standing by the door, staring at a photo of Hashirama Senju, lost in thought.
Danzo Shimura was by the window, gazing at the Hokage Rock in the dark with a grim expression.
His Root ninja hadn't reported back yet, indicating they hadn't succeeded in taking Kushina from the Kumogakure ninja.
Yes, "taking," not "rescuing."
After all, Danzo was actually the mastermind behind this kidnapping.
He planned to lure the Kumogakure delegation into kidnapping Kushina, then have his Root ninja intercept and take her.
That way, he could secretly bring Kushina, the future Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, into Root.
Naturally, Kumogakure would take the blame.
Then, he would use Root's methods to brainwash Kushina into absolute loyalty, making her a backup Jinchuriki.
Finally, when Mito couldn't control the Nine-Tails anymore, he would heroically rescue Kushina from "Kumogakure."
Even if people suspected something, they would have no choice but to accept Kushina as the new Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
In this way, he would easily control the Nine-Tails.
With the Nine-Tails in his grasp, becoming Hokage would be a piece of cake.
What a perfect plan!
But the plan hinged on his Root ninja successfully taking Kushina. Without that, the plan couldn't proceed.
From the lack of news, it seemed they had failed.
Danzo's eyes darkened.
What he didn't know was that Natsuhiko, with his sensing abilities, had already bypassed his many traps and was heading towards the Land of Grass, giving his Root ninja no chance.
But Danzo was satisfied, as he had a Plan B.
This time, apart from taking Kushina, his shadow clone did everything else, ensuring no leaks.
Bringing the Kumogakure delegation was Hiruzen's idea, the Anbu protecting Kushina was arranged by Hiruzen, and Hiruzen's Yamanaka clan managed the barrier around Konoha.
No matter how you looked at it, this was all Hiruzen's responsibility.
Danzo, who felt Hiruzen had blamed him for years, had become a master at avoiding blame.
If he couldn't benefit, he would ensure others suffered.
This was Shimura "shit-stirrer" Danzo's life philosophy!
He glanced at Mito, thinking that having her beloved Kushina kidnapped would make her very displeased with Hiruzen.
Perhaps he could use this.
Just as he cleared his throat, ready to question Hiruzen, an Anbu appeared at the door.
Everyone's attention shifted to him, making the Anbu a bit nervous.
But he quickly regained composure and reported:
"Lord Hokage, Uzumaki Kushina has been brought back to Konoha by Natsuhiko Amou and is on the way here now!"
(End of chapter)
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