Once You Come, You Are a Konoha Ninja

Watching Akashi Uchiha in action, Danzo felt his wariness growing.

Although he was only twelve, Akashi already possessed a certain level of mastery over chakra nature transformation.

This could no longer be explained away by the benefits of awakening his Sharingan; he was clearly another genius of the Uchiha Clan!

Moreover, unlike most of the Uchiha—whose chakra transformations were typically reflected in "range enhancement"—Akashi's Fire Style, while broad in scope, was most strikingly powerful in its "temperature"!

Facing the sweltering heat of the Great Fireball Technique, the Kumogakure ninja barely managed to dodge the fireball itself, yet his pale skin was still scorched red by the heat wave.

"Lightning Style: Scattering Strike!"

Hope, his skin flushed red from the heat, had lightning flickering across his fists as he circled around the Great Fireball, preparing to launch an attack on Akashi.

Feeling the stinging pain on his skin, Hope's heart sank even further.

Great Fireball Technique...

The Uchiha Clan was very fond of this jutsu, and ninjas from every village were naturally well-acquainted with it.

Generally speaking, because the attack path of this jutsu was too "straightforward," it was usually only good for forcing movement and rarely capable of actually injuring anyone!

But now...

The unexpected intensity of the heat had still left Hope burned by the residual energy.

At the same time, Hope saw that Akashi was already prepared...

Seeing Akashi adopt the common starting stance used by the Uchiha Clan for taijutsu, Hope thought viciously, Damn Uchiha brat, don't look down on me!

He certainly knew that while Uchiha Style Taijutsu was strong, its flaw was a low margin for error; it could be said that the strong only grew stronger.

In Hope's view, it was one thing for a brat to refine one type of ninjutsu, but surely in taijutsu...

The next moment, just as his lightning-flickering fist was about to make contact with Akashi, Akashi leaped upward to dodge. The perfect timing of the evasion gave Akashi ample room for a counterattack—this was the essence of a "counter-dodge"!

At the same time, Akashi brought down his right hand, which had been resting at his lower back during his starting stance, now coated in a layer of rock and earth...

Earth Style: Super Lightweight Rock Technique!

His fist, reinforced by Earth Style, smashed directly into the back of Hope's head, knocking him unconscious in a single blow.

As Akashi landed with a nimble somersault, he looked toward Minato's side, intending to offer support, only to find that Minato had already finished off his opponent as well.

After the two exchanged a glance, Minato immediately ran toward Kushina, while Akashi pulled out a kunai...

Although Kushina was still bound, she had already struggled to her feet on her own.

"Kushina, are you hurt? Akashi and I are here to save you..." Minato said.

The dazed Kushina finally snapped back to reality, realizing that her companions from the village had arrived.

The dark clouds dispersed, and under the moonlight, Minato Namikaze looked even more golden.

Just then...

Squelch—

Ah—

A sound that ruined the atmosphere broke out. The two turned their heads to see Akashi calmly using his kunai to finish off his recently defeated opponent, blood splattering across his face.

"Leaving one alive is enough; it'll be hard for us to carry two back," Akashi said calmly as he noticed them looking over.

Kushina Uzumaki, Minato Namikaze: ...

Both of them were still just "children," but having graduated from the Ninja Academy, while they felt a bit uncomfortable with their first time killing, they didn't have any excessive emotional baggage.

Minato immediately untied the ropes binding Kushina and tied up the only survivor.

Although Kushina had been released, her steps were still unsteady. Seeing this, Minato scooped her up in his arms. Akashi, meanwhile, took charge of the lone Kumogakure captive—ever since the coup in Kumogakure that led to the death of the Second Hokage, the relationship between Kumogakure and Konoha had been the most treacherous. To think they had actually sent people to Konoha to kidnap a survivor of the Uzumaki Clan...

Capturing this prisoner was a great merit!

Seeing Minato act with such high moral character by carrying the young girl, Akashi held his head high and proudly accepted the credit.

"I..." Kushina was still a bit embarrassed.

"We're too close to the border of Konoha; there must be Kumogakure jonin waiting for them outside. Let's head back quickly," Akashi reminded them.

"Only... the two of you chased after me?" Kushina asked, puzzled.

"Yeah, I clearly left a warning signal, why were they so slow..." Akashi complained as well.

"I mean... the two of you actually chased after me all by yourselves to save me?" Kushina said, feeling somewhat touched.

"Of course. You're an important companion in the village, and I don't want to lose you," Minato said with a calm, gentle smile.

Akashi glanced at him—How can you say something so cheesy?

"But usually, when you see others bullying me, you never react..." Kushina whispered.

Clearly, she was referring to the incidents at the Ninja Academy, specifically when Kushina had fought back against the bullies.

"Because I believe that you are a strong and resilient person, both in power and in spirit." Minato paused before adding, "But this time is different. This isn't just a squabble between children; this is a conflict between villages."

"So... even for an outsider like me, you were willing to risk your lives to rescue me?" Kushina Uzumaki felt a sense of relief wash over her.

"What kind of silly talk is that? You live in Konoha, you go to school here, you graduated here... you are a comrade of Konoha!" Minato Namikaze said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Exactly, exactly! Once you're here, you're a Konoha person! If we really want to be that pedantic, then besides us Uchiha Clan and Senju Clan, aren't you all outsiders?" Akaseki added, even more matter-of-factly.

Kushina Uzumaki, Minato Namikaze: ...

"Our Uchiha Clan and Senju Clan called upon everyone to form this village, so we never considered you outsiders! Hahaha..."

Akaseki. Fire Style range +1.jpg.

Faced with Akaseki's explosive statement that nearly stripped Minato of his village citizenship, Kushina tilted her head slightly, pressing a bit closer to Minato.

"Akaseki, thank you," Minato said gratefully.

"Hm?"

"I mean, it's a good thing you were nearby, otherwise I might have lost the trail..."

On the other side, the few high-ranking Konoha officials tailing the trio were also left nearly speechless.

"Hahaha, honestly, what is that kid saying?" Lanyu spoke in a tone suggesting a child was just babbling nonsense, while simultaneously...

Lanyu. Fire Style range +1.jpg.

"Though, he isn't wrong. Whether it's the other ninja clans or the civilian ninjas, everyone is an important comrade of the village. For instance, if we didn't have Lord Hokage Sarutobi right now, what would we do? Hahaha..." Although Jiancheng emphasized that "Lord Hokage is important," his pride was overflowing in every word.

Jiancheng. Fire Style range +1.jpg.

"Indeed, what would we do? Hahaha..." Lanyu chimed in.

Kagami: ...

Kagami. Fire Style extinguishing difficulty +1.jpg.

Regarding the Uchiha Clan's daily bouts of insanity, Sarutobi merely smiled without saying a word, though Danzo, standing to the side, frowned deeply.

The trackers did not reveal themselves. It wasn't until Akaseki and Minato were about to leave the Forest of Death that the Anbu sent by the village appeared to take custody of the prisoner Akaseki had brought back and to take Kushina away for medical treatment.

Naturally, Akaseki and Minato had to be interrogated as well, since on the surface, this was a case of a "candidate jinchuriki nearly being abducted."

In reality, however, it was just a formality; given the current situation, Lord Hokage knew exactly what had happened...