"But," Minato said after agreeing to Kushina, changing the subject. This made her heart, which had just been relieved, lift up again, and a trace of uneasiness flashed in her eyes.
"After school, you have to follow my arrangements," Minato smiled gently. Kushina was slightly stunned but then nodded.
"I thought you didn't want to guide my practice," Kushina said, her voice ending with a strange intonation whenever she was nervous. On her fair face, it seemed there was sweat flowing down because she was worried Minato would go back on his word.
"Of course not, we are good friends," Minato smiled again. The reason he made this request to Kushina was to let her cooperate with him to get rid of the hidden Anbu. As for the method, he had already thought of it just now.
Kushina blushed when she heard this, then said, "Let's go back to the classroom. Mikoto should still be waiting for us to have lunch."
Usually, the three of them ate together, but their sudden departure surprised Mikoto a little.
"Yeah," Minato responded, and then he and Kushina returned to the classroom. The afternoon class involved some basic exercises, with no fixed pattern because everyone had just practiced in the morning and could identify their areas of improvement.
However, most of the students used this time to play, and there were not many who worked hard, including Mikoto.
Although Mikoto didn't say anything about being defeated by Yoruki, Kushina and Minato both knew she was extremely headstrong. But Minato could see that the gap between her and Uchiha Yoruki was not just speed. Due to the limitation of the venue, Yoruki could not show his full strength. Otherwise, Mikoto's Phoenix Flower Jutsu wouldn't have posed any obstacle to him. Knowing how to use geography is also part of Mikoto's strength.
When school was about to end, Kushina and Minato secretly went to a deserted place.
"Minato, what are you going to do?" Kushina asked, not knowing Minato's intention.
Minato smiled, then bit his fingertip, smeared the blood on his palm, and began making seals with his hands. "Summoning Jutsu!" Immediately, a half-human-high giant toad appeared out of thin air in front of them. Even though Kushina was very brave, she was frightened and took a few steps back.
"Minato, why did you call me out?" asked the giant toad.
Minato gave Kushina a reassuring look, signaling her to be at ease, and then said, "Brother Gamakai, I want to ask you to do me a favor."
This giant toad called Gamakai was a toad from Mount Myoboku.
"Well, tell me," Gamakai said. As a summoned beast, he didn't often come to the human world because he had no offensive power, and normally, no one would summon him.
"I want you to become her and then walk out of the front of the ninja school with my shadow clone," Minato explained as he made seals with his hands again, and another him appeared beside him.
The Multiple Shadow Clone Technique was also recorded in the scroll given by the Third Hokage. Minato had been fighting with Jiraiya's shadow clone for a whole year and knew the characteristics of this technique very well. It didn't take much effort to practice it.
Seeing this, Gamakai was surprised and said, "How old are you? You've even learned the Multiple Shadow Clone. I don't know how your stupid teacher received such a smart disciple." Although Gamakai wasn't strong in combat, he was in his fifties or sixties.
Minato smiled gently and said nothing.
"Okay then," Gamakai smiled, then stared at Kushina and said, "The little girl is quite pretty." Immediately, he made a seal and transformed into the appearance of Kushina. Although Gamakai wasn't good at fighting, he still knew the basic transformation technique. During the whole process, Kushina remained silent, hiding behind Minato. She seemed a little afraid of Gamakai.
"Then I'll leave it to you. You'll be picked up at the school gate in a while and separated from my shadow clone. You only need to hold on for ten minutes without being discovered," Minato said.
Gamakai, transformed into Kushina, nodded, and at that moment, the school bell rang.
"Okay, let's go," Minato's shadow clone said, leading Toad Kai away from there.
Minato and Kushina stayed temporarily. Because of Minato's request, Kushina was very quiet. Since the place was very remote, no one noticed their whereabouts even at a time when there were many people after school.
On the other hand, Minato's shadow clone, Gamakai, and Mikoto walked out of the school gate together. As usual, someone came to pick up Kushina. After Kushina left, Mikoto and Minato also separated, but Mikoto looked suspicious, as if she had noticed something.
Minato's shadow clone went and came back. After circling the ninja school, he chose a place where there was no one around and dissipated. In the ninja school, Minato, who was hiding in a hidden place, suddenly had a lot of information in his mind. According to the scrolls of the Third Hokage, everything the shadow clone experiences is fed back to the original body, so it is often used to spy on intelligence.
Minato learned and put it into practice, using it to observe the Anbu who protected Kushina. They would never dream that a student under the age of nine could use so many jutsu and see through their tracks. Minato, who had received a year of training from Jiraiya, couldn't say what level he was at now.
"Okay, let's go," Minato said, taking Kushina around to the back of the ninja school and jumping over the wall. After coming out, he dragged Kushina all the way because the time Gamakai could delay should not be too long. Although the transformation technique can change appearance, it cannot change the chakra feel.
Twenty minutes after the ninja school ended, an Anbu wearing a cat-faced mask rushed into the office of the Third Hokage and knelt down. Although he was wearing a mask and his expression couldn't be observed, his urgent words were enough to show his anxiety.
"Third Hokage, something bad has happened!"
The Third Hokage raised his face, unaffected by the Anbu's emotions, and asked, "Ninjas must remain calm at all times, otherwise it will affect their judgment and lead to mission failure." Then he asked, "What happened?"
The Anbu restrained his emotions slightly, but the urgency in his words did not decrease. "Uzumaki Kushina is gone!"
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[More Chapter available at p@treon.com/goldengaruda]
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