Under the hazy night sky, several shadowy figures gathered together.
"Hayai, what's going on with your side? Why are there still people hanging around you this late?"
"Yeah, because of you we had to change our meeting spot at the last minute."
Hearing his companions' complaints, Hayai felt a lump in his throat and nearly burst into tears.
After being hounded all day by those two kids, almost to the point of becoming their personal chef instead of a ninja, he finally found his teammates' signal behind the shop after those two brats left. He practically ran all the way here without even getting a chance to take a bite.
Do you think it was easy for him?
Trying to calm his agitation, Hayai explained, "Sorry, I didn't expect to get stuck with those two annoying brats either."
"Stuck with them?" The others were startled and quickly asked, "Were you discovered?"
"How could that be?" Hayai waved his hand dismissively. "If I were compromised, the Konoha Anbu would've already burst out to capture us..."
"Woah woah, why are you saying such things?" One teammate interrupted, covering Hayai's mouth with his right hand and giving him a fierce glare. "I once had a comrade who always brought us bad luck whenever he spoke like that."
Hayai twitched his lips, murmuring softly, "That sort of thing just doesn't happen… It's totally against the Ninja Way."
"Enough," the leader ordered. "Now tell me exactly what happened."
"There were two little brats from Konoha trying to provoke me on purpose, hoping to draw patrol ninjas..." Seeing the alarmed expressions among the others, Hayai hastily added, "Don't get me wrong—they don't know my identity. They were just trying to stir up conflict, wanting to take revenge for the Second Hokage."
Upon hearing this, the other men began laughing.
"Didn't expect this—Konoha's higher-ups are all cowards, yet some of their brats have guts."
Hayai continued laughing as well. "Hehe, one of them even claimed himself the son of the Third Hokage..."
"Eh? Why aren't you guys laughing anymore?" Noticing his teammates' sudden loss of smiles, Hayai was first confused, then quickly 'realized' the problem and regretted bitterly. "I get it now—I should've captured that kid right there and then. After all, if we're going to kidnap someone, that brat would've obviously been worth more than our original target..."
"You fool!" The leader muttered angrily. "Didn't you ever hear how the Third Hokage loves using the Telescope Technique to spy?"
Hayai's eyes widened. "Spying?"
Another ninja nearby answered, "Lord Baimei once said the Third Hokage of Konoha is extremely controlling, which is why he specially improved this technique for surveillance purposes."
Hayai was shocked. "So what do we do now?"
"Thankfully, you idiot didn't make a move, or we'd all be finished by now." Suppressing his anger, the leader quietly demanded, "Now, tell me immediately—did you reveal anything suspicious earlier?"
"I think... probably not?" The more he tried to recall, the less sure he felt inside.
"You *think*?
"Wait a second," one of the nearby ninjas interrupted. "That Hokage's son didn't even return in time for dinner. You're telling me the Third Hokage wouldn't send someone to find him?"
The leader paused in thought before suddenly asking, "Earlier you said there were two brats from Konoha. Who's the other one?"
Hayai thought for a moment. That kid was practically invisible aside from being good-looking. "I don't know either... except that he's handsome."
However, the leader grinned ear to ear. "I get it! That brat must be Seiki Shimaseki I've been hearing about lately. They say the Third Hokage has high hopes for him. Maybe the Third used his [Telescope Technique] and saw they were together, so he wasn't worried enough to look further."
"Is that really it?" Hayai asked, puzzled. He clearly remembered an utterly useless kid who had nothing going for him but his looks. Could Konoha have really sunk so low as to pick people based purely on appearance?
"Captain, what do we do now?"
After briefly considering, the leader exhaled deeply. "No matter what, our risk of exposure has increased greatly now. We must act tonight!"
...
Worried about being discovered, Seiki and his companion followed their targets from a considerable distance. The drawback was they couldn't overhear any conversations.
"He~ When are they gonna make a move? Did they fall asleep or something?" Asuma yawned and whispered in a hushed tone. "Seiki, how about we inch closer?"
Seiki shook his head slightly. "These ninja might not necessarily be stronger than us, but they definitely have more experience handling missions. If we get any closer, the risk of being caught becomes too great."
"Fine." Asuma sighed helplessly, then clenched his fist angrily. "Just wait until we catch these bastards—I'll make sure they regret keeping me up all night."
"Here they come!"
"What do you mean 'here they come'? So they're finally moving?"
Seiki nodded slightly and murmured, "Get ready. Let's follow them."
Though maintaining a safe distance from their enemies, they still needed to stay alert—otherwise they could easily lose sight of their targets.
So without letting their guard down, the two quickly moved after the enemy once they started advancing.
After tracking for some time, Asuma quietly gasped. "Huh? In that direction?"
Seiki feigned ignorance as he asked, "What's wrong with that direction?"
"That area isn't really populated—only a scary older lady lives over there," Asuma explained before asking, "Seiki, have you heard of the Country of Whirlpools?"
Seiki nodded while answering, continuing his leap forward to keep tracking them. "It used to be an ally of Konoha. But it was destroyed in a war several years ago."
"Yeah, that lady is a survivor from the Country of Whirlpools," Asuma continued, sharing what he believed was true. "To protect the orphans from Whirlpool, the old man and others arranged for her to settle in our village—part of Konoha's tradition of sheltering those displaced by war. But since she was an outsider, she doesn't seem to get along very well with others here."
"But why would those Cloud Village ninjas target her?"
Upon hearing this, Seiki inwardly chuckled bitterly.
According to his past-life memories, only the Third Hokage and a few elders knew that Kushina Uzumaki had become the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki. Even the Sannin were unaware of this fact.
This led to an awkward situation. If they assigned someone to monitor her, spies from other villages would certainly sense something unusual. But if they didn't assign a watch, those village leaders couldn't possibly keep their eyes on a young girl all the time either.
In the end, they could only choose to trust Konoha's security defenses.
On the other hand, Cloud Village hadn't even considered capturing the Nine-Tails. Otherwise, they wouldn't have sent such low-level ninja. They were genuinely interested only in her unique chakra—who knew that with just a casual move, they'd land such a huge catch?
P.S.: According to the databook, this incident occurred twenty-seven years before the end of the Fourth Great Ninja War. Based on the timeline I initially mentioned, this would place it during Konoha Year 41. Originally, my outline was set for the event to happen near the end of the previous year. But a few days ago, out of some sudden impulse, I wrote it as happening in the next year instead. So now I'll just say the event spanned from the end of Konoha Year 41 to the beginning of Year 42. This was entirely my mistake—I messed up the timeline even after setting it clearly in the outline. Feel free to roast me for it (;′︿‵`).
Another point: many people believe this part of the story takes place during Minato Namikaze's school days because the previous section directly involved the academy storyline. However, when Minato rescued Kushina during that heroic scene, both of them were already wearing Konoha forehead protectors—meaning they had already graduated.
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!
<><><><><><><><>
~ 100+ Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
~ More *Free* Chapters and Books Available on Patreon!
patreon.com/Tansnovel
<><><><><><><><>