Red Hair Markers

Yet reality had a way of slapping people in the face.

After dodging Minato's shuriken, the Cloud Hidden Elite Shinobi actually chose to charge straight past Soji.

"Hmph, you really underestimate me." A faint sneer curled across Soji's lips.

He had thought this idiot of a shinobi would know better after suffering once. Apparently, a dog really couldn't stop eating shit.

As the man passed by Soji, Soji used his Byakugan to read his trajectory and grabbed one of his arms.

"What? Damn it, brat, if you want to die first, I'll grant your wish!" the stopped Cloud Hidden Elite Shinobi snarled.

With that, he slashed the kunai in his hand toward Soji's neck.

Under normal circumstances, Soji definitely would not have been able to keep up with the man's speed. But the man was injured now, and his speed had dropped drastically.

With the Byakugan's aid, Soji could barely keep pace with him.

Soji raised his other hand and caught the man's wrist. "It seems that after getting injured, not only has your speed dropped, but your strength has also fallen severely."

Gentle Fist—Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!

Having lost the initiative and suffered serious injuries, the Cloud Hidden Elite Shinobi failed to evade Soji's attack.

Bang bang bang bang!

Soji's hands moved rapidly. Once the opponent had been struck by the first two palms, it became extremely difficult to avoid the rest.

The more acupoints were struck by the Gentle Fist, the more restricted the Chakra flow within the body became. By the end, resistance was nearly impossible.

When the final palm landed, the Kumogakure elite shinobi was breathing more out than in.

First seriously wounded, then left without timely treatment or bandaging, and finally having all sixty-four acupoints sealed by Soji's Gentle Fist—surviving at all was already a stroke of luck.

Did he really think everyone was the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju?

"Let's keep chasing. We don't have time to wait for reinforcements."

Glancing at the Cloud Hidden Elite Shinobi, who was no longer moving much, Minato called out to Soji and took off in pursuit.

After leaving a marker for any reinforcements who might arrive later, Soji swiftly followed Minato.

Meanwhile, after separating from Soji and Minato, Uchiha Homura immediately ran to the school and told Teacher Kimura that Kushina Uzumaki had been kidnapped by unknown shinobi.

Teacher Kimura did not waste any time. He immediately led Uchiha Homura toward the Hokage's office.

At that moment, only the Third Hokage was in the Hokage's office, handling documents.

With the fall of the Land of Whirlpools, there were still many matters to deal with afterward. Most importantly, Konoha had brought back the new generation's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. That was the top priority.

As the most unique of the nine tailed beasts, the Nine-Tails' importance to Konoha went without saying.

Just as the Third Hokage was considering arrangements for Kushina Uzumaki's future, Teacher Kimura burst into the Hokage's office with Uchiha Homura.

Just like last time, they had not knocked. And just like last time, after recognizing the visitors, the Third Hokage waved a hand to stop the Anbu from appearing.

The Third Hokage was still quite tolerant of Teacher Kimura, who had brought him good news last time. Seeing how frantic the man was, there was probably something else going on.

Had the Ninja Academy discovered another promising talent?

The Third Hokage happily fantasized.

"Something terrible has happened, Lord Hokage! Kushina Uzumaki, a new student who transferred to the school today, has been kidnapped by three unknown shinobi!" Teacher Kimura quickly explained without beating around the bush.

"What?! Kushina Uzumaki has been kidnapped? When did this happen? Explain everything clearly, now!" The Third Hokage, who had been calm and composed moments ago, instantly put down his pipe and urgently demanded an explanation.

He gestured to Uchiha Homura, who then told the Third Hokage how, after school today, Soji had noticed someone following Kushina Uzumaki, after which she was kidnapped.

Uchiha Homura also played a small trick here. He did not directly mention that Soji had seen it through the Byakugan.

After all, except under special circumstances, it was forbidden to activate the Byakugan in the village. Although Soji had rendered a service today, it was better to avoid unnecessary trouble.

"That's what happened, Lord Hokage. Please send someone to rescue Kushina immediately. Soji and Minato may also be in danger right now."

After recounting the main events, Uchiha Homura made his request to the Third Hokage.

"Alright. I'll immediately have the Anbu lead a squad to pursue them. You two should go back and rest. Don't worry, everything will be fine." Though panic was already surging through him, the Third Hokage spoke calmly on the surface.

After all, these were all pillars of Konoha's future!

There was Kushina Uzumaki, the new generation's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

There was Minato Namikaze, the student of his prized disciple Jiraiya and thus his own grandstudent.

And there was Hyuga Soji, the genius of the Hyuga Clan Main Family.

"Lord Hokage, please let me go with the Anbu as well. I know the markers Soji and Minato left behind. If you take me, we'll be able to catch up to them quickly," Uchiha Homura hurriedly said as the Anbu squad prepared to depart.

After hesitating briefly, the Third Hokage nodded.

The Anbu could also find the markers that Soji and Minato might have left behind, but that would take time. Right now, time was what they lacked most.

"Alright. Then go with the Anbu squad."

Uchiha Homura nodded happily and left behind the Anbu squad.

Half an hour after Soji and Minato defeated the Cloud Hidden Elite Shinobi, the Anbu squad and Uchiha Homura arrived at the site.

"What is this?" One of the Anbu looked at the Cloud Hidden Elite Shinobi lying dead at his feet and asked in confusion.

"This is one of the shinobi who kidnapped Kushina," Uchiha Homura said with certainty after seeing the dead man's clothing and appearance.

"Did your two classmates really do this?" Another Anbu member's voice was filled with disbelief.

"Th-this... probably? I'm not completely sure," Uchiha Homura stammered as he explained to the Anbu squad.

Several Anbu squad members could not help but suck in cold breaths, making a negligible contribution to warming the entire shinobi world.

"Those two brats are only second-year Ninja Academy students, right? They can actually do something like this?" Even though there seemed to be no other possibility, the Anbu member still found it impossible to believe.

"Alright, this isn't the time to discuss that. Let's pursue the remaining two unknown kidnappers first. This place can be dealt with later," said the suspected Anbu squad captain.

Uchiha Homura searched around the area and found a marker beneath a large tree. After informing the Anbu squad members, they all chased forward together.

"Mm... where am I?"

As Kushina Uzumaki slowly woke up, that question surfaced in her mind.

She only remembered two strangers suddenly appearing before her and saying they wanted to ask for directions. Then she smelled a pungent odor, and after that, she lost consciousness.

"Kidnapping?"

Kushina Uzumaki truly was a child who had survived the fall of the Land of Whirlpools. She instantly understood what had happened.

Combined with the swaying sensation she felt now, she was probably being carried over someone's shoulder.

The kidnappers had likely been overly confident in their anesthetic. As the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Kushina Uzumaki could not be affected by the drug for long. Waking up at this point was perfectly normal.

However, the two Cloud Hidden Elite Shinobi who had kidnapped her did not notice that Kushina Uzumaki was awake.

In their minds, anesthetic would be enough to make a little girl her age sleep for at least three days and nights.

Thus, the two kidnappers did not avoid speaking in front of Kushina Uzumaki, whom they believed was still unconscious.

From their conversation, Kushina Uzumaki learned that they were elite shinobi from Kumogakure in the Land of Lightning.

They had targeted her because, on the day the Land of Whirlpools fell, Cloud Hidden Ninja among the allied forces had discovered the unusual Chakra fluctuations on her body.

They had placed a marker on her at the time. Although the entire allied force had been wiped out by Danzo, the marker on her body had remained.

That was why the Kumogakure spies in the village had taken the risk of abducting her when she was alone on her way home after school in Konoha.

Kushina Uzumaki had overheard all of this from the conversation between the two Cloud Hidden Elite Shinobi.

No, I have to leave information for Konoha. Otherwise, once we leave the Land of Fire, I'll really be finished.

Kushina Uzumaki anxiously thought to herself.

Her mind raced as she considered how to notify the Konoha Ninja pursuing her. What was special about her body?

Since she was being carried over a Kumogakure shinobi's shoulder, strands of red hair suddenly drifted down before her eyes, making Kushina Uzumaki's eyes light up.

That's right, my hair!

As a member of the Uzumaki Clan, the most eye-catching thing about her was undoubtedly her fiery red hair!

Therefore, taking advantage of the fact that the two Cloud Hidden Elite Shinobi had not noticed she was awake, Kushina Uzumaki secretly plucked out her hair and tossed it into conspicuous places along the way.

She only hoped someone would notice the inconspicuous red hair scattered along the path and come rescue her quickly.

The fall of the Land of Whirlpools and the deaths of her fellow clansmen had made Kushina Uzumaki deeply hate the culprits behind it all—the four great nations other than the Land of Fire.

After learning that the people who had kidnapped her were once again shinobi from Kumogakure, Kushina Uzumaki silently swore that no matter what their goal was, she would rather die than let them succeed!

Of course, if she could be rescued alive, she would certainly be more than willing.

The vengeance of her clansmen, along with the image of the Clan Head sacrificing himself to protect her, had made her understand that her life no longer belonged to her alone. She carried the hopes of the entire Uzumaki Clan!

Meanwhile, after dealing with the shinobi blocking their path, Soji and Minato pursued the remaining two without stopping.

Yet after chasing for more than half an hour, they still had not caught even a glimpse of the people ahead. Both of their expressions gradually darkened.

Finally, the two stopped chasing.

"If I'm not mistaken, we chased in the wrong direction. Otherwise, they're carrying Kushina, so they can't be moving too fast. We should have caught up by now." Soji kept his Byakugan activated, his expression grim.

"You have the Byakugan. How did they hide from you?" Minato also found it unbelievable.

After all, when it came to tracking, the Byakugan was no less capable than the Inuzuka Clan or the Aburame Clan. For the enemy to fool the Byakugan was truly strange.

"They probably used the Shadow Clone Jutsu while one person stayed behind to stop us. Then they had the Shadow Clone keep running forward to mislead us while they changed their escape route," Soji answered after thinking for a moment.

That was the only explanation.

Otherwise, the fleeing enemies would never have had the chance to erase every trace ahead so thoroughly, especially with so little time.

The Shadow Clone's time must have run out. That was why his Byakugan could no longer see even a trace of them.

"We're going back!" Soji said to Minato.

Their long time together had not only made their coordination exceptionally seamless, but had also built unquestionable trust between them.

Thus, Minato did not hesitate. He immediately turned around and followed Hyuga Soji.