It Seems I'm a Genius~

Uzumaki Kushina was already fast asleep, yet her body remained curled up, her hands still tightly clutching Uzumaki Kuming without loosening their grip.

Uzumaki Kuming lay there, unable to make any movements. Since he had just woken up, his mind was still alert, but his eyes wouldn't open, so he could only inspect his own body.

This was his second day in this world, and it was the first time Uzumaki Kuming had properly observed the strange occurrences happening within his own mind.

Uzumaki Kuming was now certain that he had transmigrated into an infant, and it appeared he was Uzumaki Kushina's younger brother—a fact he had confirmed back on the first day. Despite being a newborn, Uzumaki Kuming could already sense the chakra flowing through his body.

When he looked inward, the silhouette of the infant was remarkably clear, and the blue lines flowing through the infant's meridians were circulating at a high speed. He didn't know if others were like this, but he felt a bit of surprise when he first witnessed it.

Unlike what he saw on the first day, the infant was no longer suspended in darkness but was being held by the figure of a young girl; judging by her appearance, it had to be Uzumaki Kushina. The colors of the surrounding environment were gray, yet the shapes of the trees and shrubs were clearly reflected within his inner world.

"Looking at this range, it shouldn't be considered small."

Kuming roughly estimated the distance he could perceive. He didn't know if a range of about five meters was large or small, but considering his current state, he was somewhat satisfied.

"If this is indeed the Naruto world, then this ability should be one of the innate talents of the Uzumaki Clan."

"I remember it being called the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, right? Let's just call it the Mind's Eye. I hope the range increases; I don't want it to be a 'narrow' mind."

"To have such an ability while still being an infant held by someone else, I think my talent must be quite good."

"Can I barely count as a genius?"

In this world of Naruto, to keep one's life, one needed at least genius-level talent. Otherwise, one might suffer an untimely death from encountering just about anything.

Look at Nawaki. As the only grandson of the First Hokage, he had the background and even had Orochimaru accompanying him on the battlefield, yet he fell early because he wasn't "genius" enough.

Then look at Obito. Despite being from the Uchiha Clan and a student of the Fourth Hokage, although he didn't die young, he suffered a massive transformation and became world-weary. To reach the state he did, one could say he was a complete failure.

Looking across the Naruto series, without a pedigree, talent, or background, wanting to live smoothly in this world probably requires relying on technology.

But Uzumaki Kuming knew what kind of person he was; being a scientist wasn't something you could just decide to be. Fortunately, he seemed to have passed the threshold of talent.

"My physical talent should be decent. I just hope I don't inexplicably turn into trash when I grow up."

"It's a pity I don't seem to have any golden finger. Compared to the vast crowd of transmigrators, I seem to lack a bit of status."

Just as Uzumaki Kuming was letting his imagination run wild, arcs of electricity suddenly appeared within the meridians of the infant's body, and a tingling, numb sensation spread across his skin.

"It seems I do have a golden finger after all!" Feeling the tingling sensation on his body, Uzumaki Kuming comfortably drifted off to sleep.

"Hahahaha! You made me search for quite a while!"

A middle-aged man's voice rang out beside Uzumaki Kuming and Uzumaki Kushina. Uzumaki Kushina jolted awake from her slumber, tightened her grip, and quickly darted out of the bushes. Not long after she left with Kuming, the bushes they had been hiding in were sliced into fragments by a Wind Style technique.

As shredded leaves drifted from the air, Uzumaki Kushina saw a masked man standing not far away, casually playing with a kunai in his hand, looking at her with a mocking expression.

Uzumaki Kushina only glanced at him before turning to run, but before she could take two steps, a kunai grazed her lower leg, drawing a line of blood.

The sudden, sharp pain caused Kushina to lose her balance, and she fell to the ground while holding Kuming. However, before hitting the ground, Uzumaki Kushina slightly tilted her body to let her arm land first, preventing her younger brother in her arms from being harmed.

"It's useless. Be obedient and come with me, and you'll suffer less."

"Don't worry, I won't kill you."

The masked man pulled another kunai from behind his back, spinning it with his finger through the ring at the end as he walked toward Kushina.

"We only need one person from the Uzumaki Clan!"

The man's face beneath the mask turned ferocious, and the kunai quickly left his hand, flying rapidly toward the child in Kushina's arms.

"Damn it, I wondered why I didn't know Kushina had a brother when I watched the anime. So that's why—the stupid brother died early."

The enemy's movements were detected clearly by Uzumaki Kuming. Watching the kunai fly toward him, a massive sense of fear engulfed him.

Suddenly, a faint, almost imperceptible arc of electricity flashed in the path of the flying kunai, pulling it and causing it to change trajectory. The kunai, which had been flying straight toward Uzumaki Kuming, was affected by an external force and veered off course.

The kunai changed direction, grazed Kushina's thigh, and embedded itself into the ground.

"Who's there?"

The middle-aged man realized the kunai had changed direction due to an external force; he roared in vigilance and stood his ground, not daring to act rashly.

At this moment, Uzumaki Kuming felt his body go hollow. The chakra in his meridians suddenly depleted significantly, and a wave of immense exhaustion washed over him, causing him to fall into a deep sleep.

Am I going to die? Uzumaki Kuming's chakra was exhausted, and his consciousness sank into darkness.

"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"

Just as the middle-aged man felt there was no danger, a low shout rang out beside his ear, and then countless white pythons wrapped around his body, tightening continuously.

"Oro..."

The middle-aged man was submerged by the snakes, and red blood seeped out from between the bodies of the white pythons.

"Sorry, we're late."

Tsunade flashed into appearance before Kushina, reaching out to gently stroke Kushina's cheek. The warmth of her hand and the Konoha forehead protector on Tsunade's brow allowed Kushina to finally relax, and she slumped onto the ground.

The kunai that had been hidden in her arms fell to the ground as Kushina sat down.

"Whoosh!" Jiraiya flashed into appearance beside Tsunade, looking at Kushina with curiosity as he asked:

"Is this the person from the Uzumaki Clan? Still this small?"

"Jiraiya, are there any more enemies in the vicinity?"

Orochimaru asked in a raspy voice. As he spoke, he nonchalantly picked up the kunai Kushina had dropped and wiped away the seal inscribed upon it.

"There are no more. Those previous battlefields were likely the only clues left behind. Let's not rush to pursue the enemy for now; we should get these people back to Konoha first."

Jiraiya's expression was uncharacteristically solemn. The Konoha ninja on this mission had been wiped out entirely. If the three of them hadn't arrived in time, the members of the Uzumaki Clan might have been snatched away by the enemy. If that had truly happened, Konoha would have lost face, and losing face wasn't even the most critical issue—the loss of the Uzumaki clanspeople could potentially impact Konoha's development for the next thirty years.

The fact that Kushina was a candidate for the jinchuriki was considered a top-secret matter in Konoha, but now, it seemed this information had been leaked.

"I will stay behind to collect the bodies. You two take the people and go first; I will catch up with you shortly."

Ordinary ninja were simply not worth Orochimaru's time to collect their remains, but the Hyuga Clan did not fall into the category of "ordinary ninja." Even for members of the branch family, their bodies had to be kept from falling into the hands of others at all costs. Although the earlier explosion had left them shattered, there was still value and necessity in gathering what remained.

Furthermore, since the origin of the enemy had not yet been clearly investigated, the enemy's own corpse would actually serve as an excellent breakthrough point.

"Fine, let's go, Tsunade." Jiraiya glanced at the kunai Orochimaru had tucked away, feeling somewhat unsettled.

Tsunade checked Kushina's physical condition once more, and after confirming there were no issues, she looked at the infant in her arms. Once she confirmed the baby was also fine, she and Jiraiya departed first, leaving Orochimaru alone to clean up the battlefield.

After Jiraiya and Tsunade had left, Orochimaru walked over to the spot where Kushina had been standing and picked up the kunai that had been deflected away from Uzumaki Kuming.

"Lightning Style, is it..."

Examining the crack on the kunai closely, Orochimaru sensed the residual chakra and whispered to himself. He had been the first to arrive and had witnessed the kunai changing trajectory. He hadn't been fast enough to intervene, yet that kunai had shifted its path in a strange manner.

"To have such power at such a young age!"

"As expected of the Uzumaki Clan."

Orochimaru kept what he had seen to himself. He didn't even consider the possibility of anyone else being involved, subconsciously assuming that Kushina had done it.

After all, he had only discovered Uzumaki Kushina here; if there had been anyone else, he would have sensed them long ago. It wasn't as if the Lightning Style could have come from the child in Kushina's arms, could it?