The setting sun sank in the west, and dusk gradually settled over the border of the Land of Fire, weighing down on it like a stone statue.
Kushina, usually as fiery and energetic as ever, had been worn down by the ropes binding her and the Cloud Village shinobi dragging her along. She had none of her usual vigor left.
The footsteps of the three Cloud Village shinobi seemed to fall straight into Kushina's heart. With every step, she felt another measure of despair.
She couldn't help remembering the days before she left the Land of Whirlpools. Her people had suffered terrible losses under attacks from four sides, and one by one, the older brothers and sisters who had protected her had disappeared behind her.
Even after crying until her eyes were swollen and she passed out, when she opened them again, all she saw was devastation.
At first, Kushina had thought that coming to Konoha would let her begin a new life.
But things rarely went as she hoped. Her classmates' rejection and the adults' critical looks made her feel as if she had fallen into a deep abyss.
There had been times when Kushina had thought she might as well die.
She didn't want to be a Jinchūriki, and she didn't want to be a princess from a fallen country.
Whenever thoughts of ending her life rose in her heart, that dazzling head of yellow hair would appear before her eyes.
Though she claimed she couldn't stand that little blond boy, she had already begun to feel a tiny bit attached to him.
She still remembered how, whenever the delinquent boys in class made fun of her red hair, that little blond boy would step in front of her and tell her, almost as if he were confessing his love, how beautiful her hair was.
Kushina wished so badly that the little blond boy would appear before her again. Even if it was only one last time, she didn't care what happened to her afterward!
She quietly pulled out a strand of her red hair and casually tied it around a bush she passed. Even if no one ever found it, at least she'd feel as though she had left something behind on this land.
Just as Kushina's desire to die surged, several sharp whooshes sounded in quick succession beside her.
The next second, that dazzling head of yellow hair, bright as the sun on the horizon, appeared before her once more.
Seeing that familiar figure standing in front of her, Kushina could no longer hold back her tears. They poured out like a flood bursting through a dam!
Little blond Namikaze Minato was fast. In the time it took to get here, more than a dozen agility-related traits had already appeared before Touma's eyes.
The most striking among them was [Super Reflex (Red)]. For the system to call it "super" clearly meant it wasn't something one could attain through training alone. Only an inborn talent could earn a red rating from the system!
Minato showed no fear in the face of the three Cloud Village shinobi. Instead, he raised the Kunai in his hand toward them, looking ready to make the first move.
Of course, Minato wasn't yet the man who would develop an A-rank technique and be hailed throughout the Shinobi World as the Yellow Flash—the Fourth Hokage.
His strength wasn't far from Touma's before Touma awakened his cheat. After all, they were both shinobi from ordinary families; no matter how talented they were, they lacked the resources to learn more.
However, Minato's movements made Touma's eyes light up.
This third-year prodigy had actually figured out how to perform Hand Seals with one hand without being taught. He had already prepared his Substitution Technique.
The three Cloud Village shinobi could no longer stand the standoff. They all drew their Ninja Blades and slashed at Minato.
The blade flashes of Cloud Style Swordsmanship flowed like clouds and water, leaving no trace. Minato could barely fend them off thanks to his extraordinary reflexes, but his lack of combat experience left him with a glaring opening.
"Cloud Style: Reverse Slash!"
The dark-skinned Cloud Village shinobi closest to Minato suddenly changed the angle of his blade, turned its edge inward, and thrust it back toward Minato's neck.
The attack came so swiftly that even Touma, whose Yang Release Chakra had awakened on its own, wouldn't have dared take it head-on.
Minato obviously couldn't block the attack head-on either. The Substitution Technique he'd prepared sprang into action, and a cloud of white smoke rose where he stood.
In Touma's eyes, Minato had already used the cover of the smoke to escape with Kushina on his back.
The Cloud Village shinobi realized something was wrong when his blade met an unexpected resistance. He hurriedly dispersed the smoke, only to find an Explosive Tag attached to the substitution log.
Most terrifying of all, the Explosive Tag had almost completely burned down.
The next second, an explosion boomed through the woods, startling the birds and beasts resting in the treetops.
The dark-skinned Cloud Village shinobi closest to it took the brunt of the blast. Much of his skin was badly burned, and he was barely clinging to life.
His two companions didn't waste time fretting over him. When they saw there was no hope of saving their comrade, they abandoned him and chased after Minato.
The two Cloud Village shinobi were quite strong.
By Touma's reckoning, they were at least on the level of Special Jōnin. Both of them could use Lightning Release Chakra to stimulate the acupoints in their legs, giving them bursts of speed far beyond an ordinary Body Flicker Technique.
Touma was already fast in his Kestrel state, but he still couldn't match the Cloud Village shinobi.
Only in his Kestrel state, by instinctively using Wind Release Chakra to control the air currents and wind resistance, had he managed to catch up at the crucial moment.
Only a few minutes had passed, yet Minato and Kushina were already covered in wounds.
Seeing Minato's pale lips, Touma realized that his chakra was almost depleted.
Support from the village still hadn't arrived, and Touma didn't dare wait any longer. He swooped down from above the four of them, dispelled his Transformation Technique in midair, and landed on the ground.
He hadn't wanted to interfere with the story. After all, this part of it was closely tied to the protagonists of what came later.
If he really disrupted the story and lost his advantage of knowing what was to come, wouldn't that be a terrible trade-off?
But plans never kept pace with change.
Touma couldn't let the little blond boy and the little red pepper get killed just to keep the story on track.
"Ah! Y-you're Touma-senpai from Team Ise!"
Noticing the short, deep-blue hair fluttering in the breeze, Minato blurted out the name.
At his words, Touma froze for a moment. Even Kushina looked at Minato in confusion and asked, "Little Sun, do you know this big brother?"
"Of course! He's Touma-senpai from Team Ise, in the fifth year at our school. He got perfect scores in politics and history three years in a row, from first through third year!"
"He's also really close with Aburame-senpai and Haruno-senpai!"
Hearing Namikaze Minato's praise, Touma could only nod awkwardly in greeting.
The "top student" Minato was talking about really was him—but the him from before.
Perhaps influenced by the books his late father had left behind, the boy had read extensively about the History of the Ninja World and the Will of Fire.
Touma hadn't come to this world yet when those first-, second-, and third-year exams took place. His original self hadn't known how to hide his abilities, so he'd earned perfect scores in history and politics for three years straight.
What Touma hadn't expected was that Minato would know such an obscure fact. Clearly, his nickname, "Little Sun," hadn't come out of nowhere. He really could warm others with his personality anywhere, anytime!
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