Enemy Attack!

The next morning, the sun had just begun to rise, yet it was obscured by thick clouds and mist. Night had not fully faded, and stars still flickered in half the sky. Uzumaki Kuming was jolted awake by a sudden movement. He struggled to open his eyes, only to find himself in total darkness. His attempt to shout turned into a wail, drawing the attention of Uzumaki Kushina and Hyuga Daiki, who were currently on the move.

"There, there~ be good~" Because of Kuming's squirming, Kushina had to slow her pace. She gently peeled back the thin veil covering his eyes, and a sudden burst of light flooded into Kuming's vision.

A baby only a few weeks old could not be exposed to harsh light. Young Kushina was already aware of this, which was why she covered his eyes with a thin veil to block the sun while he slept.

Kuming's crying forced the Konoha jonin squad to halt; after all, a child's voice was loud and easily attracted enemies. Hyuga Daiki's veins bulged around his eyes as he scanned the surroundings, then nodded to his comrades lurking in the shadows. He then walked over to Kushina with a relaxed expression, looking down at Kuming.

Once the veil was removed, Kuming stopped crying. He stared intently at Kushina, then shifted his gaze to Hyuga Daiki, who was currently using his Byakugan.

"Goo-goo, ga-ga~" An infant's vocal cords were underdeveloped, and to everyone else, all his sounds were just noise.

No one could understand Kuming's current state of mind. It was one thing to die suddenly, but to end up in the world of Naruto after death? Even that would be fine—he could just cling to Uzumaki Naruto's coattails and live a comfortable life in this world.

He might even get to eat hamburgers, drink soda, and use a laptop in the future.

But he had arrived in this era. Although he didn't know the exact year, seeing Uzumaki Kushina before him told him his life was going to be rocky. There was no other reason; Kushina's life was a bit turbulent, and she would die alongside the Fourth Hokage only a few years later.

As Kushina's younger brother, his life likely wouldn't be smooth sailing either.

Once he regained his senses, Kuming clearly felt a hunger pang in his stomach, which caused him to cry out involuntarily.

"Oh, oh~ there, there~" Kushina, who had been preparing to continue the journey with the team, was flustered by Kuming's sudden outburst. She could only rock her arms gently, trying to provide her little brother with a comfortable environment for sleep. However, Kushina's efforts were insufficient against the hunger of a child.

"Is he hungry?" Hyuga Daiki was a man in his thirties who had a teenage child of his own; he knew far more about childcare than the inexperienced Kushina.

"Hmm? Is he hungry?" Kushina placed her finger near Kuming's mouth to see if he was truly hungry. A hungry baby would instinctively suck—it was nature.

"..."

Do you take me for an idiot?

Kuming stared at Kushina's chubby face with wide eyes. At that moment, he seemed to forget his hunger, and his crying stopped abruptly.

"Looks like he's not hungry!" Kushina smiled, but no sooner had she finished speaking than the child in her arms began to wail again.

"He must be truly hungry. Let's make some rice paste."

Hyuga Daiki signaled, and the accompanying ninjas in the darkness began to disperse to stand guard. The team, which hadn't been moving for long since daybreak, had to stop once more. Although lighting a fire in such darkness increased the risk of exposure, the team had reached a point where they had no choice.

Traveling while carrying a wailing infant was too risky; calming the child was the best option before moving on.

Before long, Hyuga Daiki had started a campfire, surrounded by earthen walls created with Earth Style to prevent the light from spreading. The Konoha ninjas' rations didn't include rice, only hard crackers, but the crackers could be turned into a paste after being soaked in water and heated.

Hyuga Daiki put in a whole piece, thinking it could serve as a reserve if the child couldn't finish it.

Kushina blew on the paste to cool it down before feeding it to Kuming. As the warm food entered his stomach, it quickly warmed his body.

Kuming squinted slightly, and his own body appeared in his mind's eye. The blue chakra flowing within him began to circulate faster, growing just a tiny bit stronger, almost imperceptibly.

An infant's stamina was very low. After eating a few mouthfuls of paste unconsciously, Kuming could no longer keep his eyelids open and fell asleep. Though his body was in a deep slumber, his consciousness remained crystal clear, trapped in a state of sleep paralysis. The meridians in his mind became distinct, and the flowing chakra crackled with faint electric arcs, unconsciously stimulating the child's body.

I must be on the way to Konoha.

Judging by Kushina's age, she shouldn't have been sealed with the Nine-Tails yet.

Is this when Kushina first arrived at Konoha?

His body couldn't move, but his consciousness was quite sharp; this feeling was unpleasant for anyone. Bored, Kuming began to use the brain he hadn't touched since his college entrance exams to analyze his current situation.

Wait, did I die? Is this a cliché transmigration?

My parents must be heartbroken...

I was a well-paid sign language teacher, how did I end up in this godforsaken place where you don't know if you'll survive until tomorrow!

Coming to this realization, Kuming sank into grief. Yesterday's brief clarity hadn't allowed him to think much, but waking up today and reflecting on things brought a wave of sorrow. Just as he was immersed in his pain, a massive explosion erupted in the distance, the violent blast making his eardrums throb.

"Boom! Boom!! Boom!!!" The continuous explosions of paper bombs caused Kushina, who had been slightly relaxed, to tense up instantly, her arms tightening instinctively around Kuming.

"Whoosh!" Three figures leaped from the woods almost simultaneously. Hyuga Daiki, who had been sitting, stood up the moment the explosions sounded. Together with the three who had just arrived, they formed a defensive perimeter around Kushina and the child.

"Captain! Enemy attack! They're masked, we don't know who they are. The others are fighting—you take the two from the Uzumaki clan and leave first!"

A middle-aged ninja reported quickly, his grip on his kunai tightening. Although he tried his best to remain calm, ninjas feared surprise attacks above all else, and he was no exception. An attack meant the unknown, and the unknown was the most terrifying thing. In a ninja battle, intelligence determined life and death; the unknown meant immense danger.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!" The sound of air being pierced echoed.

"Watch out!"

Just as Hyuga Daiki was about to speak, his Byakugan vision caught seven or eight figures rushing toward them. Before the enemies even arrived, shuriken flew in from all directions.

"Earth Style: Earth Wall!"

The incoming kunai were blocked by an earthen wall that rose rapidly from the ground. Hyuga Daiki steadied his nerves, then quickly picked up Kushina to leave. Before departing, he cast a meaningful look at his teammates, his eyes filled with deep sorrow and reluctance, before accelerating his pace.

The fact that the enemy could break through his teammates' perimeter so quickly, with only that one wave of explosions, meant the enemy's strength and numbers far exceeded their own. Once he left, the brothers staying behind to cover their retreat were almost certainly doomed.

After all, the teammates on this mission were all jonin and chunin—there were no Konoha genin. As everyone knew, the higher the rank of a Konoha ninja, the weaker they were.

The other three Konoha ninjas remained in place, their eyes filled with resolve.

Relying on his Byakugan, Hyuga Daiki found the easiest path to break through and fled quickly. Not long after he took the Uzumaki siblings away, a thunderous explosion erupted from their original campsite.