Minato Namikaze's Help? No! Uzumaki Kushina's Help!

Sarutobi Hiruzen watched the scene within the crystal ball, a smile spreading across his face.

"It seems that child Asuma has finally found his own bonds."

Though he was the Hokage, even an honest official found it difficult to settle family matters.

The relationship between Sarutobi Asuma and himself was not particularly good.

He was well aware that Asuma had always wanted to break free from his influence.

While Sarutobi Asuma did have people to play with, it went without saying that most of them were only looking to curry favor with him.

But now, Asuma seemed to have found friends of his own.

"Yuki Yuichi..." Sarutobi Hiruzen murmured, picking up the file on his desk containing various information about Yuki Yuichi.

After a long silence, he suddenly spoke: "Tell Umino Ikkaku to ease up. For children with talent, we should allow them to grow freely."

"Understood!" A voice replied from the shadows, the Anbu operative heard but never seen.

On the other side, Yuki Yuichi led Yuhi Kurenai to the training ground, but upon seeing it, he halted his steps, staring ahead in shock.

The two following behind were still chasing, but upon seeing the training ground hidden within the forest, they too stopped, their mouths slightly agape.

They had expected the training ground to be nothing more than an empty clearing, but upon seeing it, they realized they were wrong.

It was indeed a clearing, but it was surrounded by trees and equipped with various training apparatus.

There were four or five wooden stakes, a locked ninja tool rack, and even a wooden structure built for resting, with a sizable medical kit sitting on the bench.

One had to understand that the training grounds in Konoha usually only had a few wooden stakes and nothing else.

Yet this place actually had all this!

Just then, Kakashi Hatake walked over, and upon seeing these items, he wore the same expression as Yuki Yuichi.

Yuhi Kurenai, however, felt nothing unusual about the setup and instead looked at the four shocked boys with confusion.

"What's wrong with you all?" Yuhi Kurenai asked curiously, then looked around nervously. "Is there something wrong with this place?"

Yuki Yuichi recovered from his shock and explained, "No, it's just that none of these things were here yesterday."

"Eh?" Yuhi Kurenai was bewildered; she had assumed these things were always here, especially since Yuki Yuichi had mentioned yesterday that this was a training ground cleared out by Minato Namikaze.

Yuki Yuichi did not continue speaking, instead looking toward Kakashi Hatake.

Kakashi Hatake was looking at him as well, both of them filled with confusion.

Logically speaking, not many people should have known about this place.

And even if they did, how could they have possibly arranged for these items to be placed here?

As the two stared at each other, Uchiha Obito suddenly spoke up: "Look, there seems to be something over there."

Uchiha Obito pointed to a note resting on top of the medical kit.

Hearing this, Yuki Yuichi turned his head and trotted over.

After picking up the note and reading it, Yuki Yuichi took a deep breath.

"Big Brother Minato really is a good man."

Kakashi Hatake walked over, glanced at the note, and asked, "What does it say?"

"See for yourself," Yuki Yuichi said, handing the note to Kakashi Hatake.

After a long moment, Kakashi Hatake also took a deep breath.

The note had been left by Minato Namikaze.

It didn't contain much, just a few brief sentences.

Yet these few sentences left both Yuki Yuichi and Kakashi Hatake feeling quite moved.

What Minato Namikaze had left was simple: he was turning this training ground over to the two of them, and he had renovated the area so they could use it with peace of mind.

Uchiha Obito and Sarutobi Asuma leaned over Kakashi Hatake's shoulders, one on each side, and read the contents of the note as well.

"The old man in my family once said that Jonin Minato is the kindest and most good-natured person in Konoha."

Sarutobi Asuma sighed as he said, "He even has the title of Little Sun; it seems the old man wasn't lying to me."

"Little Sun?" Uchiha Obito asked, puzzled and curious. "What does that mean?"

Glancing at Uchiha Obito, Kakashi Hatake explained, "It means Big Brother Minato is as warm as the sun."

"Sugoi!" Before Uchiha Obito could respond, Yuhi Kurenai had a sudden realization and struck her palm with her fist.

Uchiha Obito also realized, "So that's what Little Sun means."

"Sounds like a very kind big brother."

"A medical kit, a pavilion for resting, four wooden stakes, a ninja tool cabinet, and even some Military Ration Pills."

Yuki Yuichi muttered as he walked to the tool cabinet and opened it, revealing several unsharpened kunai, shuriken, and senbon.

Minato Namikaze was truly a sincere man.

Yuki Yuichi sighed inwardly.

Meanwhile, at Minato Namikaze's home, Uzumaki Kushina chased after him, asking, "Well? How was it? Did you deliver it?"

Seeing the expectant look on Uzumaki Kushina's face, Minato Namikaze smiled helplessly. "Kushina, rest assured, I have already delivered it."

"That's good." Uzumaki Kushina patted her chest and let out a sigh of relief.

Minato Namikaze looked on, puzzled. "Kushina, if you wanted to help Yuki Yuichi, you could have gone yourself. Why make me deliver it?"

Upon hearing this, Uzumaki Kushina snorted and crossed her arms. "You'll have to ask that old man, the Hokage, about that."

"Even though he didn't say it outright, since little Yuichi possesses the Sharingan, he certainly wouldn't let me get close to him."

As she spoke, she touched her lower abdomen, a look of disappointment in her eyes.

The Nine-Tails was power, but it was also a cage.

So, even though Sarutobi Hiruzen hadn't explicitly stated it, she was quite self-aware of her situation.

Minato Namikaze followed her gaze to her abdomen and sighed.

"Don't worry, I will take good care of Yuichi," Minato Namikaze said, smiling gently. "Besides, I quite like the kid myself."

Hearing his words, Uzumaki Kushina pounced on him. "Minato~ I knew you were the best!"

Holding Uzumaki Kushina, Minato Namikaze smiled helplessly, yet happily.

"I have to go on a mission. When I return, I will ask Lord Hokage to let you mentor Yuki Yuichi."

"You're going on a mission again?" Uzumaki Kushina was stunned, then looked at him with concern.

"Don't worry, with the Flying Thunder God technique, I won't be in any danger."

"Mm."

Yuki Yuichi was unaware at this moment that these things were not actually Minato Namikaze's doing.

Under normal circumstances, Minato Namikaze would not have sent these items.

After all, these things were quite expensive, and it took time and effort to procure them.

This was a gift from the Uzumaki; although he did not carry the Uzumaki name, he was still an Uzumaki Yuichi.

His father, Yuki Seisui, had adopted the alias Yuki Seisui to hide his identity, but he had never truly severed ties with the Uzumaki Clan, and this was the primary reason Uzumaki Kushina chose to help him.