Her Aunt...

Kushina Uzumaki was a popular character in the original story, the mother of its protagonist, Naruto Uzumaki, and the wife of Minato Namikaze. She was the second Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and existed only in history and memories.

But the Kushina Uzumaki standing before Li Tong now looked to be only ** years old—a little girl.

The morning breeze was chilly. Standing in the water, Li Tong shivered. He was close to the shore, and the lake only came up to his knees. In his right hand, he still held the katana he had just picked up from the bottom of the lake.

Shinsuke stood behind Kushina Uzumaki, his sword drawn halfway, but he didn't attack at once. He was supposed to protect Kushina, but this strange boy who'd suddenly appeared from the lake didn't seem threatening at all. His weak presence and bewildered expression made it clear that this was probably an accident.

Kushina had screamed that he was a perverted killer because he was holding a sword, but Shinsuke didn't see it that way. It was true that an assassin might sneak into the lake and lie in wait, but no assassin would do so without even wearing clothes.

Shinsuke stamped his foot, and his figure blurred. As if teleporting, he moved from behind Kushina Uzumaki to stand in front of her, blocking their line of sight.

The bewildered Li Tong finally snapped out of it. He quickly retreated five or six meters and crouched down in the water. At the same time, he saw Shinsuke's identity information.

Name: Shinsuke (Shinnosuke Sarutobi).

Identity: Assistant to the captain of the Land of Fire's Konohagakure Anbu Special Assassination and Tactical Squad.

Reputation: 195 points.

Relationship: Wary.

Assistant captain, the second-in-command of Konoha Anbu, second only to the Anbu Captain, White Fang... This guy... The thought flashed through Li Tong's mind. He breathed a sigh of relief. They weren't enemies. There'd been a misunderstanding, but he could explain.

"Who are you?" Shinsuke asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Me? Li Tong!" Li Tong spoke quickly. "I used to be a ninja from Amegakure. I came to Konoha on a mission, then you caught me and beat me up, and I lost my memory. Lord White Fang said I could join Konoha, and I agreed. So now I'm a Konoha Ninja. We're not enemies—we're on the same side, hey!"

Shinsuke's eyelid twitched. He'd never met someone so shameless. Li Tong had declared his betrayal and defection so casually, without a hint of hesitation.

"Oh, I know you. The captain mentioned you last night. What are you doing here?" Shinsuke asked.

"I just joined Konoha and was about to leave this forest. I came by this lake and thought I'd take a bath..."

"Are you alone?"

"Lord Chen He is with me, but I didn't bring my clothes. He went to get them..."

"Mm." After questioning him, Shinsuke sheathed his half-drawn sword. Li Tong's relationship status changed from wary to neutral.

A chubby-cheeked little girl with bright red hair peeked out from behind Shinsuke. She glanced at Li Tong very quickly, then ducked back. She peeked out again, and, seeing that Li Tong had submerged himself completely, couldn't make out anything through the glare on the water.

"Pervert! You big pervert! Jerk! Why aren't you wearing clothes?" Kushina Uzumaki burst out, pointing at Li Tong and yelling furiously.

"Uh... I think this is a misunderstanding."

"Jerk! Disgusting!"

"I just wanted to take a bath."

"Why don't you bathe at home? Pervert!"

"I—I don't even know where my home is. I was just passing by, and happened to..."

"Pervert! Exhibitionist! This is a wild lake. Who bathes like that? Jerk!"

Kushina Uzumaki seemed furious, her fists clenched tight. That last sight had apparently dealt a huge blow to her young heart. She really had seen something she shouldn't have, but Li Tong was genuinely innocent.

"You big pervert! You're disgusting! You're taking a bath and you don't even wear, you don't even wear that?"

"What do you mean, 'that'? What are you talking about?"

"You—you're a big pervert..."

"Hey, hey, you little brat, that's too much! What's it to you if I'm taking a bath?"

Li Tong was getting angry too. It was so unfair—he'd taken a bath and got berated for it.

"You! Who are you calling a little brat? Jerk!" Kushina Uzumaki had a fiery temper. Though she was young, she looked especially fierce. Shouting at him, she rolled up her sleeves and strode into the lake, apparently ready to teach Li Tong a lesson.

"Hey! You, little brat!" Li Tong suddenly stood up in the water again.

"Ah!!! Pervert! Lecher!" Kushina let out another piercing shriek and covered her eyes.

Shinsuke's eyelid twitched again. He glanced at Li Tong with pity. Knowing Kushina as he did, he knew the boy was in for trouble after calling her a little brat.

"Let's go." Shinsuke quickly tugged Kushina along and led her up the grassy slope.

"Jerk! You've made me so mad! You pervert! I..." Kushina was still fuming and looked ready to go back and argue with Li Tong, but Shinsuke held her back.

Whoosh—

The rush of turbulent wind drew closer.

Chen He, moving like a shadow, returned and sped toward the lakeshore.

Shinsuke glanced over and stopped.

Chen He spotted Shinsuke and Kushina from a distance, ran straight up to him, and dropped to one knee. "Greetings, Lord Shenzhu!"

"Mm." Shinsuke nodded.

"Jerk! You called me a little brat? You're dead! You perverted exhibitionist! Don't let me catch you again!" Kushina was still fuming.

"Come and get me, then!" Li Tong stood in the water, having completely given up on being embarrassed.

"What's going on here...?" Chen He took in the scene and asked hesitantly.

"Just a misunderstanding. The kids had a fight," Shinsuke said.

"Lord Shenzhu, that ghost is..."

"I know. He told me."

After exchanging a few brief words with Chen He, Shinsuke forcibly led Kushina away. Even when they were far off, she was still grumbling indignantly.

Chen He had brought a change of clothes for Li Tong: a Konoha ninja uniform.

"Where'd you get the sword?"

"Found it at the bottom of the lake."

"Mm. Then you can keep it."

Li Tong climbed ashore and took the clothes Chen He handed him. There were both inner and outer layers, the fabric was soft, and they were brand new. Li Tong was quite pleased. As he hurriedly got dressed, Chen He kept giving him strange looks—almost pitying ones.

"What's wrong?" Li Tong noticed Chen He's expression.

"You shouldn't have offended her."

"Who?"

"That girl just now, Kushina Uzumaki."

"Why?"

"She has a very scary aunt. If she tells on you, your situation will get even worse. It might be more frightening than being assassinated by Amegakure's ninjas. Her aunt always takes her family's side, whether they're right or wrong. And if she decides to act, no one can stop her—even if she does it openly. If your chance of surviving before was %, now it's less than 5%."

"That scary?" Li Tong was startled, his brow furrowing.

Her aunt?

Kushina had an aunt?

Since when did she have an aunt? The original story never mentioned one!

"What's her aunt's name?" Li Tong asked.

Chen He looked at Li Tong. He seemed very wary of even saying that person's name, and hesitated before answering.

"Her aunt is Tsunade!"