Kushina, This Little Brother Is Mine!

As time passed, the border gradually came into view, and the cloud ninja, who had been on edge the whole time, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Phew, tonight was really dangerous!"

"Yeah! But thankfully, it was a close call without any real danger."

"Once we get back to the village, I'm going to drink for a whole day and night!"

Seeing this, Hagyi began making excuses for himself. "See? I told you there was no way we'd be exposed! Look, there aren't even any pursuers now, are there?"

The ninja who had covered his mouth earlier snapped, "I told you not to say things like that..."

Before he could finish, the light vanished from his eyes.

Uzumaki Kushina, still dazed, had no time to react before Asuma grabbed her and hurled her away.

Meanwhile, Soseki took advantage of the opening to throw a shuriken, slicing through the rope binding Kushina's hands with perfect precision.

"Someone really came to save me!" Kushina hit the ground, and the sudden pain jolted her awake.

Although she had been trying to save herself all along, the estrangement in her heart had kept her from believing anyone would come for her.

Yet somehow, her fantasy had become reality.

When she looked up, she saw two little boys.

"Two children saved me?"

At that moment, the cloud ninja woke up one after another.

"We were caught in Genjutsu!" After noticing what had happened, the lead ninja felt a chill run down his spine, followed by lingering fear. "Fortunately, they rescued the hostage first. Otherwise, we might not even have known how we died!"

"Was it really that effective?" Hagyi woke with a confused look, but when he saw the two attackers, he cried out in disbelief, "It's you two little brats!"

At his shout, the others quickly calmed down and looked around. Then, they were overjoyed.

"Only these two little brats? Where are Leaf Village's Anbu?"

Kushina came to her senses as well and asked awkwardly, "Is it only you two?"

But she quickly mocked herself. "Of course. An annoying Outsider like me... only children like you wouldn't mind."

"How could a kind person be annoying?" Soseki said softly as he gave Kushina temporary treatment.

"Kind?" Kushina froze. It was the first time anyone had praised her that way.

Soseki nodded. "While treating you, I discovered a very frightening power inside you. If you weren't suppressing it, you probably could have defeated them."

"Willing to let yourself be hurt rather than let that power threaten those around you... someone like that must be kind, right?"

Kushina's nose stung, and tears nearly fell from her eyes.

Having experienced the destruction of her homeland, bullying from classmates, discrimination from others, and even being brought to Leaf Village only to serve as a vessel, this was the first time she had received such recognition.

In that instant, she made up her mind. This little brother is mine! (Stop getting any ideas, Ice-Pure High-Fever Fungus isn't some old pervert or anything (.))

Seeing Soseki chatting with their mission target as though no one else existed, the cloud ninja felt deeply humiliated.

With old grudges added to new ones, Hagyi rubbed his wrist and grinned viciously. "You two annoying little brats have finally fallen into my hands!"

Kushina jolted awake and stepped in front of Soseki. "Aren't you here to capture me? I won't resist, but you have to let those two go."

Hagyi said urgently, "Captain, that little brat is the Third Hokage's son! We're already at the border anyway, so we don't need to worry about Leaf Village retaliating!"

Hearing that, Kushina turned to look at him in surprise. "He's... that old Sarutobi's son?"

The lead ninja looked conflicted. If they captured the Third Hokage's son, wouldn't that directly ignite the Third Shinobi World War?

How was a mere chunin like him supposed to make a decision that might change the entire world's balance?

After taking several deep breaths, the madness in the cloud ninja's bones ultimately swayed him. "Do it!"

Upon hearing that, the other Cloud ninja shouted excitedly. This was the Third Hokage's son! His value was beyond comparison to that Uzumaki Clan orphan!

Asuma looked innocent. I didn't even say anything. How did they all suddenly come after me?

Still, he was not afraid. If anything, he became excited. "Hmph! You worthless ninja want to take on the great Asuma? You're still far too early for that!"

"Soseki, show these guys what we can do!"

"So his name is Soseki?" Kushina looked at Soseki with concern, her eyes full of worry.

As they spoke, several cloud ninja had already charged forward.

In their eyes, how strong could two little brats possibly be? They just had to be careful of that Genjutsu from before.

On the other side, Soseki and Asuma moved in perfect coordination.

Soseki rapidly formed hand seals while Asuma launched shuriken all at once, scattering them like a sky full of stars.

"Why are there so many shuriken?"

"Damn it, this little brat is too rich!"

The cloud ninja were deeply frustrated. Although the opponent's Throwing Techniques were crude, the force behind them was considerable. They were not strong enough to simply ignore them.

Clang! Clang!

Amid a series of metallic collisions, shuriken quickly littered the ground. But that was enough!

Illusion Technique: Fox Heart Illusion!

"Huh? Where did they go?" The lead ninja suddenly discovered a cliff appearing before him out of nowhere, startling him into an instant stop.

But at that moment, instincts honed through years as a ninja sent a warning screaming through his mind.

Genjutsu, release!

After forcibly disrupting the flow of Chakra within his body, the lead ninja finally regained his senses.

Then he felt a blast of hot wind rush toward him.

Focusing his eyes, the lead ninja saw a massive fireball crackling as it burned its way toward him.

"Damn it!" With no time to curse further, the lead ninja hurriedly rolled aside.

"Ptooey, ptooey!" After spitting out a mouthful of grass seeds, the dirty and disheveled lead ninja stared blankly at the scorched marks on the ground.

Wasn't the Great Fireball Technique a chunin-level ninjutsu? How could a six- or seven-year-old brat use it so skillfully?

Was there any justice left in the world?

"No, there's also the C-rank Illusion Technique: Fox Heart Illusion!" The lead ninja looked at his companions, who were running around like headless flies, and cursed inwardly again. "That other little brat is an even greater monster! He can even use a group-area Genjutsu!"

"If all of Leaf Village is filled with monsters like this, how did we Cloud ninja even manage to hold out for years before losing the war?"

Even Kushina was secretly shocked. This little brother she had unilaterally claimed seemed absurdly strong.

At least, when she had been Soseki's age, she absolutely had not possessed such strength.

Anti-argument PS: Why not kill the enemies first? Reason one: unless every enemy could be killed instantly, the hostage would still be in danger. Reason two: Soseki came to build goodwill, so his first priority was naturally making her feel how much he valued her.