Malice

Ye Zi was quite strong. He grabbed the boy's hand without holding back, squeezing until the boy let out a miserable cry.

"You—what are you doing?!"

The boy whose hand Ye Zi had seized wore a slightly twisted expression and was too pained to speak. Seeing this, one of his companions snapped angrily.

"You were disturbing me." Ye Zi tilted his head and glanced at the speaker with a cold expression. After saying that, he flung away the boy who had tried to pull Kushina's hair. He had no wish to worsen their relationship, so he turned and walked back to his seat.

"That bastard." The buzz-cut boy rubbed his wrist and cursed under his breath, but he did not dare to pick a fight. At the instant his wrist had been seized, he had nearly imagined it breaking. One could imagine how intense the pain had been.

"Are you all right?" The others looked at the swelling and redness around the buzz-cut boy's wrist, a trace of fear flashing through their eyes as the impulse welling up inside them slowly receded.

Strength had always been a shield, whether used to attack or protect.

"I'm fine."

The buzz-cut boy clutched his wrist, sucking in a breath of cold air from time to time. He glared viciously at Ye Zi's profile, no longer interested in bullying Kushina, then turned and walked back to his seat. The others exchanged glances before returning listlessly to their own seats as well.

Seeing the classmates surrounding her leave, Kushina breathed a small sigh of relief. If Ye Zi had not grabbed that hand, her hair would definitely have suffered. By then, she surely would not have been able to resist beating that idiot.

"That person..."

She silently watched Ye Zi, who was propping up his chin and gazing out the window. Even though she could see only half of his profile, she could clearly make out the genuine coldness on his face. After watching him for a while, she slowly returned to her seat. At that moment, she noticed a gaze. Following it, she found the blond brat.

"What are you looking at?" Kushina snapped without courtesy.

Minato froze, then smiled sheepishly and looked away before continuing to chat with his friends. Although he was talking with them, he kept glancing at Kushina, who was sitting in her seat and brooding, and at Ye Zi, who was gazing at the scenery outside the window.

Time flew by, and before they knew it, half a year had passed.

Thud, thud, thud!

Three muffled impacts rang out almost in succession. Three kunai struck the bullseye in a straight line, with only a few centimeters between them.

Ye Zi withdrew his extended right hand and stamped his left foot against the ground. Borrowing the resulting force, he twisted his waist and spun, transferring the power to his left hand before forcefully throwing the three kunai clutched between his fingers.

Three black shadows shot from his hand. The next moment, three more muffled impacts rang out.

Thud, thud, thud!

Takagi first glanced at the six kunai embedded in the center of the target, then looked toward Ye Zi's cold expression. A trace of surprise flashed through his eyes as he said solemnly, "Ye Zi, full marks."

The test required them to throw three kunai, but Ye Zi had thrown three with each hand and struck the bullseye every time. Before the test began, Takagi had not paid close attention and thus had failed to notice the three kunai hidden beneath Ye Zi's left sleeve.

Regarding this act of exceeding the test's requirements, Takagi neither praised nor reprimanded him. However, he admired it greatly in his heart. Everyone had a dominant hand, and when using ninja tools or weapons, they generally used only that hand. Yet Ye Zi had understood at such a young age that he needed to keep both hands at the same level. That had genuinely exceeded his expectations.

For the past six months, all of Ye Zi's time had been occupied with practicing the use of ninja tools. He had not wasted a single spare moment. His current precision and strength were the results of his own efforts, and that was only natural. There was nothing to be proud of.

He quickly walked to the target, pulled the kunai from the bullseye, and returned them to the ninja-tool pouch hanging from his waist. Then he stepped back into the line of those who had already been tested.

Everyone, whether they had already taken the test or were still waiting, looked at him in astonishment.

Minato subconsciously raised his left hand. When it came to using ninja tools, he was confident that he was no worse than Ye Zi. However, he had indeed never deliberately trained his left hand to reach the same level as his right. Realizing its importance, he smiled faintly, having found something else he ought to do.

"Next, Minato Namikaze."

Hearing the teacher call his name, Minato stepped out of line and went to the assigned position. After standing still for several seconds, he raised his hand and threw three kunai, striking the bullseye with precision.

"Minato Namikaze, full marks. Next, Uzumaki Kushina." Takagi glanced at the bullseye before withdrawing his gaze and solemnly calling the next person's name.

There were only three outstanding students in this class: Ye Zi, Minato Namikaze, and Uzumaki Kushina. Unsurprisingly, Kushina also received full marks. The others were not lacking in skill either; what they lacked was consistency.

The end of the test also meant that class was over.

Takagi recorded the test results in his notebook, seriously writing an evaluation for each student. In the end, the evaluations accumulated over these six months would be compiled into a report and placed on the Hokage's desk.

It was spring, and pink cherry blossoms drifted through the air like countless fluttering butterflies. The sight was breathtaking.

There was a place in Konoha planted thickly with cherry trees, an excellent spot for flower viewing every year.

Whenever Kushina went home, she would deliberately take a detour just to walk along that cherry-blossom avenue. Today, she deliberately took the long way again.

She was not the only one who took a detour because she liked cherry blossoms. Ye Zi was one of them as well. Of course, there were also people who had come here for reasons unrelated to the flowers.

With a faint smile on her face, Kushina ran along the cherry-blossom avenue, her bright red hair dancing in the wind and radiating a unique charm.

She suddenly stopped because someone had appeared ahead.

"Hmph."

Matsuda looked at Kushina maliciously and snorted coldly.

Seeing that the newcomer was a classmate she had beaten several times, Kushina knitted her brows, clearly sensing his ill intentions. However, if it was only one person, she could simply beat him up again. Just as she was thinking this, her expression changed slightly when someone who looked somewhat like Matsuda stepped out.

"So you're the one who keeps making my little brother cry."

The person wearing a forehead protector folded his arms and walked toward Kushina with a slightly arrogant expression.

Kushina was not intimidated in the slightest. She pointed at Matsuda with one hand and planted the other on her waist as she said bluntly, "He's always picking on me. He's so weak."

"Uh..." Matsuda leaned his head back as if he had been struck by an arrow. Being unable to beat a girl had always been a source of pain for him. And it would have been bad enough if he alone could not beat her, but every time, several of them were thrashed by Kushina.

As an older brother standing up for his younger brother, Matsushita would not care whose fault it was. All he had to do was help his brother save face and teach the person who had bullied him a lesson.

Matsushita cracked his fingers with a series of sharp pops and said maliciously, "You bad girl who bullied my little brother—you're going to get a good lesson."

Kushina took a step back. Her opponent wore a forehead protector and was a Genin, while she had not yet graduated from the Ninja Academy. She made a decisive turn and ran.

Watching Kushina's fleeing back, Matsushita sneered and pursued her. Matsuda followed as well, though he was slower than both of them.

This entire scene was witnessed by two people from beginning to end. One was Minato, and the other was Ye Zi.