Their Respective Training Teachers

"Of course it was powerful."

Uchiha Jin looked at the path that had been cleaved open by a wind blade.

"Who do you think created it?"

Even he was surprised by its power. With this ninjutsu, defeating a stronger opponent as the weaker one would not be difficult.

But it definitely had not been this powerful last night.

"Hmph." Kushina dropped down from a tree and huffed arrogantly.

That power was not even one-tenth of her Tailed Beast Bomb.

Too bad she could not use it. Otherwise, she would scare this hateful Uchiha to death.

"Do you want to learn it?" Jin suddenly turned to Kushina with a wicked grin.

"I..."

Kushina did want to learn it. Her own Chakra reserves were not enough to use a Tailed Beast Bomb, and now that stinking fox had added another seal, she could not even steal its Chakra.

Naturally, she was interested in such a powerful ninjutsu.

"Hehe, call me Dad three times, and I'll teach you."

"I'll kill you!!"

Kushina charged at him. She rushed in! She really rushed in!!

The next moment—

Jin raised his leg and kicked Kushina in the chest at lightning speed.

Kushina saw only a black blur before she was sent flying. She lay on the ground with a shoeprint on her face, questioning her entire life.

Why could she never beat this guy?

She glared hatefully at Jin. In her heart, she had already transformed into Nine-Tails mode countless times and beaten this hateful Uchiha to a pulp.

Jin made a face at Kushina.

He always got revenge.

"Let's fight to the death, you hateful Uchiha!"

Kushina charged again. This time, Jin did not fight back. He simply stood there until she ran close, then used Soru to widen the distance.

Kushina gritted her teeth and used Soru as well, chasing after him.

Their figures darted back and forth through the dilapidated training ground.

Jin landed on the ground, and Kushina caught up.

But the instant she arrived, Jin was already standing atop a wooden post. She hurriedly used Soru to follow, only to find Jin hanging upside down from a tree, looking at her.

She simply could not catch him, and Kushina was furious.

Even Minato Namikaze could not keep up with Jin, much less Kushina.

Jin led her in circles around the entire training ground.

"Come catch me, little weakling."

Jin's taunt only made Kushina angrier, and she chased him even faster.

Unfortunately, she could not even grab the hem of his clothes, only rage helplessly behind him.

It was completely useless.

Minato Namikaze stood where he was and sighed helplessly. Wasn't Jin supposed to be teaching him ninjutsu? How had the two of them started fighting?

He could only use Soru to block Kushina.

"Alright, alright. Stop messing around."

As for Jin—

He could not catch him either. There was nothing he could do. After coaxing Kushina for quite a while, she finally stopped, still fuming.

Minato Namikaze let out a deep sigh.

Without him, this team would fall apart sooner or later.

Jin sat cross-legged atop a wooden post, looking down at them with a playful grin.

"Listen up, Minato. I'm going to teach you this technique now."

As Jin explained, Kushina finally stopped making trouble. Minato Namikaze took out a notebook and began recording everything seriously.

As Jin continued his explanation, Minato Namikaze had already reached a conclusion about this ninjutsu.

An A-rank ninjutsu.

Its principles were extremely complex, and it was highly adaptable. If one possessed other elemental affinities, it could even be enhanced to the level of an S-rank technique.

Unfortunately, he currently only had Wind Release. A ninja could develop a second or even third elemental affinity through long-term training.

But Minato Namikaze had not yet reached that level.

Rather than looking confused as expected, Kushina appeared deep in thought.

Even Jin found that surprising.

Had she been replaced by someone else?

Seeing Jin's expression, Kushina knew what he was thinking. She bared her teeth at him in warning.

Unfortunately, it did not do much.

But when Jin considered the Fūinjutsu Kushina practiced, much of which was extremely difficult, it made sense.

Besides, she also had Wind Release Chakra.

It was just that Fūinjutsu did not place particularly high demands on Chakra affinities.

"Steel Cutting Flash!"

The kunai in Minato Namikaze's hand released a wind blade that knocked down a branch.

Jin reclined against a tree stump nearby, yawning.

Kushina, who was providing Chakra for Minato Namikaze, held a kunai with a resentful expression.

She made Minato Namikaze too embarrassed to keep using her Chakra.

"Why is this damned ninjutsu so difficult?!"

Kushina had not come here to serve as a training partner. She was practicing too, yet she still could not release it even once.

This ninjutsu was simply too difficult for her.

"Has it occurred to you that Minato Namikaze might be abnormal?" Jin offered.

The moment Kushina heard that, it felt very reasonable. Her eyes nearly began spewing killing intent as she looked at Minato Namikaze.

Minato Namikaze gave a helpless smile. "That's not how you practice it."

Then he began explaining it to Kushina in detail.

Jin clicked his tongue and turned away.

He wanted a blonde, tsundere girl too—a mature beauty with long, straight black hair.

Yet he had not encountered either one around him.

Instead, he had to sit here and watch them flirt.

Kushina and Minato Namikaze were intimate as though no one else existed. One explained seriously while the other listened attentively.

But Jin could smell nothing but the thick stench of rotten hormones.

"So you're here."

Jiraiya suddenly leaped down from above, landing steadily without making the slightest sound.

He met the gazes of the three of them, especially one filled with gratitude.

After all, not everyone was willing to watch people flirt.

Jiraiya looked at Jin in confusion. He did not seem to have done anything, did he?

Business came first.

"Perfect, Minato. I need to talk to you about something."

Minato Namikaze was confused. What could he possibly have to do? Of the three of them, he was the least likely to have anything going on.

He looked at Kushina, then at the lazily lounging Uchiha Jin.

One teammate had something powerful inside her, while the other was an Uchiha of Konoha.

Uncertain, he pointed at himself.

"Jiraiya-sensei, what could you possibly need from me?"

Minato Namikaze was utterly puzzled.

Jiraiya explained, "Winter has arrived, so I'm taking you somewhere else to train."

"What about us?!" Kushina shouted in dissatisfaction.

The three of them were clearly one team, so why was Jiraiya-sensei only taking Minato with him?

"Jiraiya-sensei, you're playing favorites!"

"Alright, alright." Jiraiya rubbed Kushina's head.

They were still only ten-year-old children.

"I've found teachers for you two as well. I found the teachers most suitable for you."

"The teacher most suitable for me?" Kushina frowned, unable to think of anyone suited to teach her.

Actually, she did not particularly need instruction. She still had Fūinjutsu to practice.

It was just that Fūinjutsu did not have much offensive power.

Jin's Steel Cutting Flash, for example, was quite good, but it was not very suitable for her.

"Think carefully." Jiraiya patted Kushina's shoulder.

He beckoned Minato Namikaze and prepared to leave.

"Let's go, Minato."

Minato Namikaze hurried after him.

"Hey, Jiraiya-sensei, at least tell us when we're supposed to meet up again!"

Jin hurriedly called out to stop Jiraiya. He was just taking Minato Namikaze away like that.

Who knew when they would meet again?

Were they supposed to rely on fate!?

No wonder he could not get along with mystics.

Only then did Jiraiya remember, calling out awkwardly, "Sorry, sorry."

"After spring begins, we'll gather here again."

As he spoke, Jiraiya's expression turned extremely serious.

"You need to train hard. Once spring arrives, we'll be heading to the front lines."

"What?!" Jin cried out in disbelief.

He turned to look at Kushina, only to see delight on her face.

Jin looked at Jiraiya with black lines across his face.

"All of us?"

Jiraiya nodded.

"All of us."

"Gasp!" Jin sucked in a cold breath.

Was Hiruzen Sarutobi not even pretending to be human anymore?

They were still children.

Sending them to the battlefield just like that—was he not afraid that, if something went wrong, even the Nine-Tails would be gone?

As for what happened to Uchiha Jin, that old man probably thought it would be better if he died.

"So train hard." Jiraiya emphasized it once more.

Jin looked up at the sky in speechless frustration.

He had already guessed who the teachers Jiraiya had found for them would be.

But what use would that be?

The battlefield did not care about one's background.

If anything, that background might make the enemy kill them even more ruthlessly.

Kushina stepped on the snow, leaving a trail of footprints behind her.

She had completely forgotten the basic ninja training of leaving no tracks.

She raised her head and watched the sun slowly set. The light turned dim and yellow, and a cold wind swept past. At this hour, the temperature had begun to drop.

"Just who is going to be my teacher?!"

Kushina scratched her head in frustration. She had thought about it for a long time but still could not figure out who would be suitable to teach her.

If such a person really existed, they would probably have to be a Jinchūriki or a member of the Uzumaki Clan.

But at the thought of the Uzumaki Clan, she let out a helpless sigh.

She might be the only clan member left.

Still feeling sad, Kushina arrived at her doorstep and widened her eyes when she saw the door standing open.

"I remember closing the door when I left this morning."

Thinking of something, she hurried inside. When she saw the shoes placed in the entryway, delight appeared on her face.

She kicked off her own shoes in a rush, letting them scatter messily across the floor without caring, then ran into the house.

There, she saw a woman in loose clothing lying sprawled on the floor, dead drunk. Her unrestrained posture revealed quite a bit of skin.

Drinking in broad daylight, she had completely cast the three ninja prohibitions to the wind.

Kushina did not care much about that. What delighted her was the woman herself.

"Tsunade, you're back."

Tsunade opened her bleary eyes. Her body swayed twice before she sat up and beckoned to Kushina.

"I came back to stay for a while."

"Looks like the teacher Jiraiya found for Kushina was Tsunade."

Jin faced the iron fence separating them from the Forest of Death. With a light leap, he easily jumped over it and landed steadily on the ground.

"My teacher is Orochimaru. Why would I need to look?!"

Faced with such unfair allocation, Jin was indignant. He had clearly found Orochimaru long ago.

He headed toward Orochimaru's hidden laboratory.

He had not gone yesterday because he wanted to rest.

As he ventured deeper into the Forest of Death, the woods were utterly silent, without the slightest disturbance.

"But why is it so quiet?"

Jin let out a weary sigh.

He did not need to think to know what was going on.

Under normal circumstances, the Forest of Death was often filled with the roars of wild beasts, especially at this hour, when the sun was gradually setting.

"Everyone, may I ask what you want with me?"

His gaze locked directly onto a lush tree.

Visitors had come for him.

And they meant no good.