Minato Namikaze

Watching his last companion die miserably, and now having fallen more than fifty meters behind the enemy again because he had checked on his wounded companion, with the enemy attacking from within the smoke and dust, he could not even determine the enemy's position, much less predict their movements.

The mission has completely failed!

Without his companions' coordination and cover, without the advantage of distance, without the initiative of predicting the enemy, with his Scorch Release countered and no knowledge of Earth Style, Yakura knew that unless a large number of Sand Shinobi reinforcements arrived now, along with powerful Sand Shinobi, she would have no chance of killing the enemy hidden in the smoke today.

After weighing the pros and cons, Yakura gritted her teeth. Using the Earth Style: Earth Wall for cover and the tornado hurricane as interference, she turned and rushed into the forest. Her companions had sacrificed their lives to buy her this chance to escape. She had to bring back detailed intelligence on this enemy.

Whether it was the severely wounded Sand Shinobi who had cast Earth Style: Earth Wall or the Sand Shinobi who had used Hurricane Assault, they had all chosen to sacrifice their lives to cover Yakura's escape.

Watching Yakura flee, Yueguang Han neither continued firing nor gave chase.

When Yueguang Han had first told them that the Third Kazekage had been killed by Sasori, he had actually wanted them to bring that intelligence back. But only one person was needed to deliver the information, and the strongest among them, Yakura, was undoubtedly the most suitable person for the task.

"Captain Minato, there's only one person in the smoke."

"He actually killed so many Sand Shinobi. There are definitely more than a hundred bodies!"

"The one who escaped was Sand Shinobi Elite Jonin Yakura, right? The guy in the smoke is insanely fierce! So many Sand Shinobi surrounded him, yet he counter-killed over a hundred of them, and only the famous Yakura managed to escape."

"But we've never heard of anyone in the village who's this fierce, have we?"

Minato Namikaze and the other Konoha Shinobi who had just arrived hid at the edge of the forest diagonally across from Dahe. They stared in shock at the more than one hundred Sand Shinobi corpses scattered across the riverbank on the other side, discussing in low voices as their gazes inevitably turned toward Minato Namikaze, their leader, comparing him in their hearts.

"This is an expert even stronger than I am." Seeing the looks from the other shinobi, Minato Namikaze said solemnly, "But Konoha has no expert with such bizarre methods of attack. Be careful—the person in the smoke is probably not a Konoha Shinobi."

They had heard the bizarre noises and explosions from here all along. By the time they arrived, the smoke and dust from the explosions had already concealed Yueguang Han. They had only seen the last few Sand Shinobi die strangely and Yakura fleeing. But the limited intelligence did not prevent them from making deductions.

(The distance was too great, the bullets too small, and their speed too fast. Even Minato Namikaze could not see them clearly.)

"The person in the smoke is coming out," said Ino Yamanaka, who was responsible for sensing, interrupting the others' quiet discussion.

"He's actually a child!"

The next moment, everyone's eyes widened, including Minato Namikaze.

Is he a Sand Shinobi? Or a Konoha Shinobi?

Yueguang Han walked out of the smoke, thinking to himself, but he did not attack directly.

After stripping another set of clothes from a Sand Shinobi corpse and putting them on, Yueguang Han pulled out a Kunai and walked toward the severely wounded Sand Shinobi lying on the ground. At the same time, he discreetly glanced toward the distant forest from the corner of his eye.

"Heh... heh...!" Seeing Yueguang Han approach with a Kunai in hand, the Sand Shinobi let out wheezing breaths through his mouth. He stared at Yueguang Han with hatred, seemingly smiling. His lung had been pierced, which was why he kept making those wheezing sounds, but he truly was smiling.

"Pfft!" Yueguang Han frowned at the sight. He crouched down and drove the Kunai into the Sand Shinobi's forehead, completely ending his life. Once again, he secretly glanced at the heat source in the distant forest from the corner of his eye.

After finishing him off, Yueguang Han first found his Konoha forehead protector and put it on. Then he began gathering the forehead protectors and supplies from the dead Sand Shinobi while slowly moving toward the forest. As he collected the supplies, his eyes repeatedly and inconspicuously flicked toward the forest where the heat sources were located.

"We've been discovered. Everyone, be careful," Minato Namikaze quietly told the others.

Once or twice, Minato Namikaze had not noticed. But as the number of times increased, and Yueguang Han seemed to be deliberately collecting spoils in the direction of the forest, Minato Namikaze knew that they had been discovered.

Hearing Minato Namikaze's words, the other Konoha Shinobi silently nodded. They truly had to be extremely cautious around someone fierce enough to counter-kill so many Sand Shinobi alone. Even though they were two hundred meters away from Yueguang Han, no one knew what methods he possessed. Perhaps he could cross two hundred meters in just a few seconds.

Yet the moment they finished nodding, Minato Namikaze was already gone. The Konoha Shinobi hurriedly looked up, only to find that Minato Namikaze was already flashing toward the other party at high speed, crossing a hundred meters in the span of a breath.

The remaining Konoha Shinobi were immediately speechless and hid themselves even more carefully.

"You are... Yueguang Han?" After rushing to within thirty meters of Yueguang Han, Minato Namikaze stopped. He looked at Yueguang Han in surprise and asked uncertainly.

Minato Namikaze knew Yueguang Han—he was even familiar with him. They had first met on the street, when Yueguang Han had been only nine years old and still attending the Shinobi Academy. Back then, Yueguang Han had complimented Kushina's red hair, saying it was beautiful and that he envied it, making Kushina very happy. That was how they got acquainted. After running into each other several more times, they gradually became familiar, occasionally chatting for a few words. Yueguang Han's manner of speaking had left a deep impression on him; he was like a little adult.

Yueguang Han usually trained frantically with Might Guy, who was four years younger than him, almost without regard for wind or rain. He was an extraordinarily hardworking person, and he and Might Guy, who trained madly every day, regarded each other as kindred spirits.

(Konoha had more than twenty thousand shinobi.)

When Yueguang Han was about to graduate, Minato Namikaze had even deliberately observed him for a time. The Third Hokage had asked him to lead a Genin team then, and Yueguang Han had been the first person he had wanted to take on as a disciple, since he was someone familiar and hardworking.

Unfortunately, although Yueguang Han was extremely diligent, his talent was simply too poor. He was not suited to becoming a shinobi at all, which made Minato Namikaze abandon the thought of taking him as a disciple. He had even wanted to advise him not to become a shinobi. Later, war broke out, and the matters of taking disciples and persuading him were left unresolved.

Yueguang Han was now twelve years old. He had just graduated from the Shinobi Academy this year and formed a Genin team with two other civilian Genin who had graduated in the same class. Their instructor was an experienced Chunin. It was precisely because of his frenzied efforts that his strength had barely kept pace with civilian shinobi of his own age, showing just how poor his talent was—and how strong his will and determination were.

"So it's Big Brother Minato. I thought you were Sand Shinobi!" Seeing Minato Namikaze before him, Yueguang Han relaxed and lowered the hand that had transformed into an M249 LMG. However, Yueguang Han's voice was extremely detached, even cold, because he was using a robotic voice.

"You killed all these people?" Minato Namikaze asked in astonishment as he looked at Yueguang Han.

At the same time, he cautiously glanced at Yueguang Han's hand, which had already become a strange weapon. It was because he had sensed danger when that weapon-like hand had been aimed at him that he had stopped thirty meters away from Yueguang Han.

The current Yueguang Han was truly difficult to connect with the Yueguang Han he knew. This level of strength could no longer be described merely as talent. Even Konoha's greatest genius, Kakashi, could not possibly have possessed such strength at Yueguang Han's age, much less Yueguang Han, whose talent had once been abysmal in every aspect—practically at the bottom among shinobi.

"Yes. I ambushed them here for five days," Yueguang Han replied flatly. "I awakened a Bloodline Limit. After news of my parents' deaths in battle came back, I sold our house a month later and applied to go to the battlefield."