What Exactly Were You Protecting?

"Phew, he almost got away.

Minato-sensei, counting Narita Daisaku, that makes five Kumogakure shinobi killed in total, right?"

Namikaze Minato: "..."

Almost? It was more like a billionth away!

Narita Daisaku was already gravely wounded and on the verge of death, and he'd lost an arm. If he tried to escape, there was no way he could properly stop the bleeding from the stump.

Even if he were fast enough to escape Master Minato's pursuit for a little while, he'd grow increasingly dazed and weak from blood loss, only to be caught and cut down.

And if he tried to stop the bleeding while running, he definitely wouldn't escape Minato.

Master Minato was certain he could catch up to Narita Daisaku within ten seconds and kill him on the spot. This time, he'd simply had the kill stolen from him.

Of course, one could also say Uchiha Mai cared deeply about his mentor and had a strong sense of teamwork.

Come on, they were all on the same team. Why split hairs over one kill?

Either way, Minato was happy that Uchiha Mai had taken care of his opponent.

Minato had originally only expected Uchiha Mai to hold off one enemy Chunin, making his own fight a little easier.

Uchiha Mai had far exceeded expectations. He'd not only killed a Kumogakure Chunin, but had still had enough time to loot a body.

His strength was already no worse than Kakashi's.

Once the battle was over, the two gathered the enemy corpses, searched them, and cleaned up the battlefield.

Searching the bodies was a good habit. They might find mission records, intelligence, a codebook, or something else.

Those things were worth more to the village than many A-Rank ninjutsu scrolls.

"By the way, Mai, did you just call that move 100th Style: Oniyaki?" Master Minato asked, rummaging through a corpse, when a very important question suddenly occurred to him.

Oh no!

Uchiha Mai jolted. He'd gotten so caught up in the fight that he'd forgotten Master Minato was right beside him, and had blurted out the move's real name.

Minato's eyes turned a little reproachful as he muttered, "I remember the name you gave that move was much cooler."

Mai, you've really disappointed me. I never thought you'd be this kind of person. You broke your promise to me.

"It was just an abbreviation. Just an abbreviation." Uchiha Mai wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

With Master Minato's "help," he'd developed 100th Style: Oniyaki. At the time, Master Minato had gotten carried away and couldn't wait to give it an awkward, embarrassingly edgy name.

Fortunately, Uchiha Mai had been prepared. He'd come up with an even longer, even more embarrassingly edgy name in advance, and that had been enough to placate Master Minato.

To be honest, Minato's name had no real flaws beyond being a billion times too edgy and a billion times too awkward to say. It was actually pretty cool.

Still, research into the study of ninjutsu had shown that a ninja's power came from chakra, which was a combination of spiritual and physical energy.

Calling out a move's name in battle, or yelling a few "ha!"s and "yah!"s, could noticeably boost morale and strengthen one's resolve, giving one a small increase in combat power.

Uchiha Mai didn't want to be calling out some damn long, damn awkward name while cutting someone down one day, then crack himself up before he could finish.

I'm not really an edgelord. My edginess is just a protective disguise.

"An abbreviation? Then recite the full name. If you can't, I'll give your move a really cool name myself."

Master Minato continued muttering. He was deeply attached to the cool name Uchiha Mai had come up with that day and had never forgotten it.

"Mai Style Ancient Martial Arts: Scorching Crimson: Super Fiery Wrathful Tide: Rising Dragon Finisher—100th Style: Oniyaki." Uchiha Mai rattled it off. Thankfully, he still remembered.

Only then was Minato satisfied. He patted Uchiha Mai on the shoulder and encouraged him. "Looks like you weren't lying to me.

"Mai, a cool, murderous-sounding name like that should always be shouted in full when you use the move. You might scare the enemy out of their wits before you even get the chance to use it."

Or make them laugh first.

Huh, that might actually work. Stand-up comedy combined with sound-based ninjutsu or genjutsu. Could that be a thing?

"Yes, yes." Uchiha Mai nodded repeatedly.

After they'd searched the bodies and finished cleaning up the battlefield, Master Minato took out a Storage Scroll and put all five corpses inside.

Konoha had shinobi skilled in secret techniques that could read the memories of the dead. After the brain died, they could only recover tiny fragments of information, but something was better than nothing.

Besides, the corpses of dead shinobi were more valuable for research than civilian corpses, and could still be put to use.

Only after everything was done did Master Minato lead Uchiha Mai back the way they'd come. With Tsunade's safety weighing on their minds, they returned almost as quickly as they'd pursued the enemy.

And, worried that Tsunade's Hemophobia might flare up again, they deliberately found a small river along the way. They scrubbed the blood off each other and changed into fresh clothes.

When they got back to where they'd started, they saw Tsunade and the others beside the road. The two of them froze in unison.

Tsunade, Might Guy, Kakashi, and Toad Takumi—three people and a toad—were sitting in a circle playing cards. Each person (and toad) had black circles drawn all over their face.

Tsunade had the most, probably forty or fifty. There wasn't enough room on her small face, so some had been drawn down her neck.

Might Guy and Toad Takumi had the next most, around twenty each, while Kakashi had the fewest, only four or five.

"Kakashi, Guy, Takumi!"

Minato's expression changed. He scolded them sharply, "Wasn't I clear that you were supposed to protect Lady Tsunade? What exactly were you protecting? You failed to protect anything at all!

"If anything had happened to Lady Tsunade, we'd have to atone with our lives."

"Please forgive us, Minato-sensei!"

"I failed in my duty. Please punish me, Lord Minato."

The two men and the toad were overcome with shame. They lowered their heads and admitted their fault.

"Minato, I was the one who asked them to play cards with me."

Tsunade tossed her terrible hand onto the pile, stood up with one hand on her hip, and scolded Minato with her pretty face covered in black circles. "Don't blame them too much.

"I've been resting for a long time, and my Hemophobia has subsided. My senses are completely back to normal. I'd know if any enemies came near me.

"Besides, I could've taken them all out with one move just now. If you hadn't suddenly stepped in and killed one of the enemy shinobi, little Minato, none of this trouble would've happened."

Minato: "..."

I was the unnecessary one. I'll just leave.

"Ahem. In any case, don't let this happen again." Master Minato's face reddened slightly. He cleared his throat to hide his embarrassment.

"Now that Lord Minato has returned, I can head back to Mount Myoboku without worry. I'll take my leave."

Toad Takumi gave a respectful salute with his sword, then released the Summoning Jutsu and returned to Mount Myoboku.

"Little Minato, why did you get back so quickly? Have you already dealt with the enemies?" Only then did Tsunade remember the important matter.

For all her dejection, Tsunade knew how badly the news of her Hemophobia would damage Konoha if it got out.