As time passed, the border line gradually came into view. The Cloud Village ninjas, who had been on edge the entire journey, finally relaxed.
"Phew, tonight was pretty intense!"
"Yeah! But at least we made it without real trouble."
"When we get back to the village, I'm gonna get drunk for a whole day and night!"
Hayai, seeing their relief, began justifying himself smugly, "I told you there's no way we'd be discovered! Look, not even a trace of pursuers!"
The ninja who had covered his mouth earlier snapped angrily, "We told you not to say things like that..."
Before he could finish his sentence, however, his eyes rolled back lifelessly.
Still dazed, Kushina Uzumaki didn't have time to react before Asuma grabbed her and flung her aside.
Meanwhile, Seiki took advantage of that brief distraction, hurling a shuriken with perfect accuracy—severing the ropes binding Kushina's hands.
"So... someone actually came to save me!" Kushina crashed onto the ground, pain jolting through her as she finally regained her senses.
Though she'd fought hard to free herself, part of her believed no one would ever come.
Yet now, imagination had somehow turned into reality.
Lifting her head, what entered her vision were two little boys.
"Was it really these children who saved me?"
By now, the Cloud Village ninjas had started regaining consciousness too.
"We fell for a genjutsu!" The team leader felt a chill run down his spine upon realizing what had happened—"Good thing they prioritized rescue over attack, or we wouldn't even know how we died today!"
"You mean it worked?!" Hayai, just waking up, looked puzzled. When he spotted the attackers, disbelief filled his voice—"It's you brats!"
At his shout, the others quickly calmed themselves, scanning the surroundings—and immediately feeling immense joy.
"Just these two kids? Where's Konoha Anbu?"
Kushina also caught on, asking hesitantly, "Only the two of you?"
But soon she gave a bitter smile, adding bitterly,
"Of course. Someone like me—an outsider everyone dislikes—only kids like you would even care."
"How can a kind person ever be hated?" Seiki, busy applying basic treatment to Kushina's wounds, murmured softly.
"Kind?" Kushina froze—she couldn't recall ever being called that before.
Seiki nodded, "While treating you, Onee-san, I sensed terrifying power inside you. If you weren't holding yourself back to suppress it, you would have easily defeated them all.
"Even at great personal cost, protecting those around you… That must mean you're very kind, right?"
Something tightened in Kushina's chest; tears nearly spilled out.
Growing up meant witnessing her homeland destroyed, enduring bullying from classmates, discrimination from strangers, and in the end—being taken to Konoha only as a vessel. This was the first time anyone truly understood her.
Right then, she made up her mind—
This little brother… I claim him! (Smashing your hopes there, Pure-and-Innocent IdolQueen, totally not some cliché older brother complex thing (~_~)
Seeing Seiki and their mission target chatting as if no one else was around, the Cloud Village ninja felt deeply insulted.
Adding new grudges to old ones, Hayai twisted his wrist with a sinister grin. "You two annoying brats—finally fallen into my hands!"
Startled, Kushina stepped forward to shield Seiki. "You want me, right? I won't resist—but you have to let them go."
Hayai shouted impatiently, "Captain, that kid is the Third Hokage's son! Now that we're already at the border, we don't need to worry about retaliation from Konoha anymore!"
Upon hearing this, Kushina couldn't help but glance sideways in surprise. "He's…Sarutobi old man's son?"
The lead ninja hesitated. If they captured the Third Hokage's son, wouldn't that trigger the Third Great Ninja War?
As a mere chunin, how could he possibly make a decision capable of shifting the world's balance?
After several deep breaths, the innate madness within Cloud ninja eventually took over. "Do it!"
At those words, the other Cloud ninja cheered excitedly. This was the Hokage's son! His worth was unimaginably greater than that orphaned descendant of the Uzumaki clan!
Asuma put on an innocent face. "I haven't even opened my mouth—why did I suddenly get dragged into this too?"
Yet he wasn't scared at all—he actually seemed thrilled. "Hmph! You really think these weaklings can handle the mighty Asuma?"
"Seiki, let's show these guys our strength!"
"He's called Seiki?" Kushina turned toward him with concern, her eyes full of obvious worry.
As they spoke, several Cloud ninja had already rushed forward.
In their eyes, just how powerful could two kids be? They just needed to watch out for those previous genjutsu tricks.
Meanwhile, Seiki and his companion acted in perfect coordination.
Seiki's hands rapidly formed hand seals while Asuma simultaneously launched a shower of shuriken like falling stars.
"Why are there so many shuriken?"
"Damn it! That kid must be loaded with money!"
The group of Cloud ninja grew frustrated. Although the opponent's throwing technique appeared rather immature, its force wasn't weak at all—they certainly weren't strong enough yet to ignore such attacks.
Clang—clang—
Following a series of metallic collisions, the shuriken soon littered the ground. Yet this distraction had been sufficient!
[Genjutsu: Fox's Heart Jutsu]
"Huh? Where'd everyone go?" Suddenly, the lead ninja found himself facing a cliffside out of nowhere, instinctively halting his steps in fear.
Right then, however, years of ninja training kicked in, raising an alarm in his mind.
Genjutsu—Break!
Forcibly disrupting his chakra flow brought the captain back to clarity.
Just as he did, a hot gust of wind suddenly blew directly into his face.
Looking carefully, he saw an enormous fireball roaring toward him with crackling flames.
"F***!" Without time to curse properly, the leader rolled hastily aside.
"Phew! Phew!" Spitting out a mouthful of grass seeds, the now disheveled captain stared blankly at the scorched mark left on the ground.
Wasn't the Grand Fireball Jutsu supposed to be a Chunin-level technique?
How can a kid barely six or seven already be this skilled?
What kind of world lets a kid this young be this good?!
"Wait, he's even using a C-rank Genjutsu — Fox's Inner Mind jutsu!" The leading ninja glanced at his comrades stumbling around like headless flies, cursing inwardly once more. "And that other kid is an absolute monster! She actually cast a mass-area Genjutsu!"
"If every kid from Konoha is this monstrous, how on earth did Cloud Village last for years before finally losing the war?"
Even Kushina felt secretly shocked. This little brother she'd claimed for herself seemed unusually strong.
At the very least, she hadn't had this level of skill when she was his age.
[A note to avoid unnecessary comments: Why not kill the enemies first? Reason one: Unless you can wipe them all out at once, the hostage stays in danger. Reason two: Seiki's here to win her over, and his main goal is to make her feel how much she means to him.]
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