Unexpected

"See? It's just the two of them!"

After leaving the school, the clone and Kushina walked down the street, chatting and laughing.

At the corner of the street, Kotai and his two companions peeked out, terrified of accidentally running into Tsunade.

Upon discovering that it was only Minato and Kushina, the three of them rushed out impatiently, blocking their path.

"Hmph, finally, I've caught you!"

Kotai laughed triumphantly: "Minato Namikaze! Let's see how you act so smug now!"

"You guys again!"

Seeing the three blocking the way, Kushina frowned and instinctively rolled up her sleeves, ready to fight, but the clone raised a hand to stop her.

"Leave it to me."

The clone smiled gently, saying nothing more.

Yet, this feeling of being protected made Kushina's cheeks flush.

She waved her small fist: "Then good luck, Minato! Beat them up for me!"

The clone stepped forward, looking at the three with a calm gaze: "So, you're here to cause trouble?"

"What? Isn't it obvious enough?"

Tetsuo smiled maliciously. Kotai's sturdier-than-average build gave him a sense of security, and he was currently acting like a fox borrowing the tiger's might.

"I wouldn't call it trouble..."

Shio raised his hand in the Seal of Confrontation: "It's just some friendly interaction between classmates. After all, if you keep acting so arrogant, you might end up offending people you shouldn't."

"Ah... is that so?"

The clone nodded in realization, his peripheral vision sweeping toward a nearby bush as he offered a peaceful smile.

"Although I don't know how I offended you, if you insist on fighting, please make it quick. I don't have much chakra left."

"Don't worry, we won't waste much of your time!"

As Kotai spoke, he pointed at the clone, unable to hide the satisfaction in his tone: "Teach him a lesson!"

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

The three scattered, then lunged at the clone from three different directions.

"Kushina, stay back a little."

The clone pushed Kushina away, his eyes quickly scanning the three, feeling slightly satisfied.

It seemed these three at least possessed the basic training of a ninja; they didn't just charge in blindly.

In this way, if he—lacking experience in dealing with a group attack—were to be caught off guard and leave an opening, it would seem perfectly reasonable.

From the back right, Shio reached out to grab Minato's waist, but the clone caught his wrist and threw him toward Tetsuo, who was lunging from the back left.

Thud!

The two collided heads, both letting out cries of pain.

At the same time, the clone twisted his body and whipped a kick into Kotai's face.

"Pfft..."

Kotai's head snapped to the side, and he stumbled from the kick, falling to the ground.

"With only this much strength, you dare to try and ambush people?"

Looking at the three who had been floored in an instant, the clone sighed slightly: "If there's nothing else, I still need to go buy groceries..."

"Damn it, don't get too cocky!"

Kotai lunged up, throwing a punch at the clone's cheek.

The clone was about to dodge, but was suddenly grabbed by the ankle by Shio, who was still on the ground.

At the same time, Tetsuo grabbed the clone's waist, shouting with boiling blood: "Got you!"

"Oh no, Minato!"

Kushina, watching from nearby, exclaimed, instinctively wanting to rush over to help.

"Kushina, don't come over!"

The clone's expression changed, and he shouted: "Stop it, Kotai!"

However, Kotai had no intention of stopping, swinging his fist toward his face!

Seeing this, the clone looked anxious: "This is a Wood Clone, if it gets destroyed..."

Poof!

The fist slammed heavily into the clone's face, cutting his words short.

A look of pure satisfaction appeared on Kotai's face.

Yet in the next instant, a dull thud echoed as a sharp branch pierced through his lower abdomen!

Noticing the strange sensation in his gut, Kotai instinctively looked down. As he stared at his impaled abdomen, the smile on his face gradually stiffened.

The Minato before his eyes slowly turned wood-colored, transforming into a large tree, his remaining face struggling to utter final words: "I... cannot control it... quick... run!"

As the last trace of human skin tone faded away, the clone completely transformed into a thick, sturdy tree.

Branches pierced the bodies of the three boys one after another, yet they subtly avoided any fatal wounds, as if this were the clone's final effort...

"Ahhh!!!"

"It hurts!"

"Help me!!"

Coming to their senses, Kotai and the others let out heart-wrenching screams, yet it was to no avail.

The tree before them grew rapidly, emitting a creaking sound as it hoisted the three boys several meters into the air; the scene looked incredibly cruel!

"Not good! Save them!"

A figure darted out from the bushes, Shinnosuke shouting at the stunned Kushina.

He then leaped into the air, drew a kunai, and slashed through the branches impaling Kotai.

Kushina, having snapped out of it, hurried forward as well. She jumped high, smashed the branches with two punches, and rescued Tetsuo and Shio.

"They've lost so much blood!"

Kushina looked at the three on the ground in a panic. Their bodies were soaked in blood, and their limbs showed varying degrees of atrophy, looking shriveled and terrifying.

"What should we do now?"

"You stay here and watch them; I'm going to get help. The teacher is still at the school."

With that, Shinnosuke hurried back to the school to find a teacher.

Soon, Shinnosuke returned with Ikkaku Umino and several other teachers, who rushed the three boys to the hospital and notified their parents.

"Doctor, how are they?"

After emergency measures were taken, Ikkaku Umino asked with an anxious expression.

"Their lives are not in danger, but..."

The doctor hesitated: "They are students at the school, right?"

"Yes."

Ikkaku Umino nodded.

"Although their lives are not in danger, the patients have suffered massive cell death, and their bodies show varying degrees of atrophy. This is the first time I have ever seen such injuries."

The doctor shook his head: "This is a severe case of life-force depletion. It will take at least several years to recover, and even if they do, I'm afraid they won't be able to be ninjas anymore."

"Is that so..."

Ikkaku Umino's expression was heavy: "I understand. Thank you for your trouble."

He turned and walked out of the room, arriving in the hallway, where he looked sternly at Shinnosuke and Kushina: "Tell me, what exactly happened just now?"

Kushina stood with her hands behind her back, looking at Ikkaku Umino with unease.

She worried that if she told the truth, Minato might be punished.

"Let me explain."

Shinnosuke sighed: "During the day, Kotai and the others had a verbal altercation with Minato... though, in truth, it was just Kotai picking a fight."

Ikkaku Umino's brows furrowed tightly. He had only just made the three of them copy lines as punishment yesterday; he hadn't expected these three brats to have learned nothing at all.

"After school, I saw them following Minato and Kushina, so I followed them..."

Shinnosuke recounted the events in detail, including how the three had harassed Minato, how Minato had instantly incapacitated them, and how they had pestered Minato as he tried to leave, leading to the accident.

His words, aside from his disdain for the trio, contained a subtle hint of protection for Minato.

Listening to Shinnosuke's account, Ikkaku Umino's tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly.