Kurenai Yuhi

"I'm back."

Lu Yan felt a flash of light and a dizzying sensation as he returned to the Naruto World.

Looking at the dense forest that had barely changed and the bright daylight, Lu Yan frowned. "I wonder how much time has passed in the Ninja World."

After a moment of contemplation, Lu Yan changed into the attire of a commoner from the Ninja World and hurried toward a small border town.

In the town, having just inquired about the date, Lu Yan arrived at a secluded alley and looked at a mark on an inconspicuous brick: Obito, if safe, return as soon as possible.

"Twelve days have passed in the Naruto World. It seems the time ratio between the Republic era world and the Naruto World is five to one."

"I wonder how Teacher Minato, Rin, and Kakashi are doing."

Lu Yan lowered his head in thought for a moment, left an "already safe" mark beneath the signal left by Namikaze Minato, and turned to sprint toward Konoha Village.

Because the natural energy in the Naruto World was extremely abundant, the trees grew to be incredibly tall.

High up in a tree that pierced the clouds, Kurenai Yuhi leaned against the trunk, gasping for breath while her hands and feet moved incessantly to set up traps with kunai and explosive tags.

The Third Ninja War had already begun, and friction between Sunagakure and Konoha ninjas at the border was frequent. The squad Kurenai belonged to had received a mission to head to the border and search for Sunagakure scouts who had infiltrated the area.

Unfortunately, Sunagakure had dispatched the elite jonin Arakawa for this infiltration mission. After encountering him, Kurenai's comrades had all died to cover her retreat, leaving only Kurenai to flee alone toward Konoha.

"Shiraishi-senpai, Kuribayashi-senpai..."

Kurenai gripped the kunai in her hand tightly, crystal-clear tears flowing from her large red eyes and tracing paths down her fair cheeks.

Kurenai was only nine years old and had graduated from the Ninja Academy just half a year ago. Her father, Shinku Yuhi, fearing that his daughter might encounter an accident, had specifically pulled strings to find two experienced chunin to serve as her companions.

No one expected this intelligence mission to be so perilous. Both of Kurenai's companions had fallen in battle, and she herself was trapped in a desperate situation, constantly pursued by Sunagakure ninjas.

"I can do this."

Hearing the sound of pursuers rapidly approaching, Kurenai gritted her teeth and counted silently in her heart.

"Three."

"Two."

"One."

"Now!"

Kurenai turned and threw a kunai. The leading Sunagakure ninja wore a playful smirk, easily dodging it as he mocked, "Little girl, is the quality of you Konoha ninjas really this low?"

What he didn't notice was that the kunai had struck a tripwire behind him, triggering the surrounding traps instantly.

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Kunai and shuriken that Kurenai had pre-positioned shot out from all directions, flying toward the Sunagakure ninja at high speed.

"Not good!"

The playful smile on the Sunagakure ninja's face stiffened, replaced by a flicker of panic. He retreated rapidly, his kunai blocking frantically, but the situation was too sudden; several kunai and shuriken he missed embedded themselves in his chest.

"You..."

The Sunagakure ninja pointed a trembling finger at Kurenai, who was wearing a triumphant smile, before his body suddenly collapsed to the ground.

Kurenai had just let out a sigh of relief when her expression tightened, and she quickly leaped backward.

"Quite alert, aren't you?"

A blade of light flashed past where Kurenai had been standing. Standing in her place was a gaunt, gloomy-faced middle-aged Sunagakure ninja.

Holding a specialized short blade in his left hand, Arakawa swept a cold glance at the Sunagakure ninja on the ground who hadn't quite died yet, sneering, "Trash."

With that, he swung his short blade, and the head of the fallen ninja flew high into the air, rolling to Kurenai's feet and staring at her with dull, lifeless eyes.

"He was your comrade!"

Kurenai's hand holding the kunai trembled, but she stood firm against Arakawa, shouting in anger.

Arakawa wore a mocking smile. "The weak are not worthy of being my comrades."

"Konoha genin, what is your relationship to Shinku Yuhi? Your eyes are just as nauseating as his."

With a look of determination on her face, Kurenai prepared to ignite the explosive tags on her body to fight to the death, when she heard a familiar voice. "Mister, what kind of look is that? She's clearly such a cute little girl."

"Obito!"

Kurenai looked at Lu Yan, who had suddenly appeared, with surprise, but her expression changed as she realized their current predicament. "Obito, run!"

Having said that, Kurenai gripped her kunai and charged toward Arakawa with a resolute expression.

"This silly girl."

Watching Kurenai charge forward without a second thought, Lu Yan shook his head with a complex expression. His figure flickered, and he pulled Kurenai back by her slender waist with his left arm while raising Ivory with his right, firing rapidly at the oncoming Arakawa.

Arakawa narrowed his eyes, dodging several ice-sealing bullets, and raised his blade to deflect the ones he couldn't avoid.

Bang!

A massive amount of freezing mist encased Arakawa's short blade along with his hands. Shocked, Arakawa hurriedly retreated.

"Ice Release? Are you from the Yuki Clan?"

Arakawa channeled his chakra toward his frozen hands, attempting to stall for time.

"I'm your daddy."

Lu Yan couldn't be bothered to waste breath on a perverted enemy ninja like this; he raised Ebony and fired three consecutive shots at Arakawa.

The three bullets streaked through the air in a triangular formation, glowing with orange light as they shot toward Arakawa with lightning speed.

Arakawa's pupils constricted rapidly. With a cold expression, he kicked the corpse of a Sand ninja toward the incoming bullets and rolled across the ground.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

A pillar of fire erupted from the ground. Using the corpse as a shield, Arakawa stood up not far away, his chest charred black and his head covered in blood.

"Kid, you've angered me."

Arakawa's face was grim. He licked the blood flowing to his lips, flexed his hands as they regained mobility, and quickly formed hand seals.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

Blades of wind spewed from Arakawa's mouth, shooting rapidly toward Kurenai Yuhi.

"Despicable."

Lu Yan frowned, formed a seal with one hand, and pressed it to the ground.

A sturdy rock wall rose in front of Kurenai Yuhi, shielding her completely.

"You fell for it!"

"Earth Flow River!"

Arakawa laughed heartily as his chakra surged, sending a torrential river of mud rushing toward Lu Yan and Kurenai Yuhi.

"Heh."

Lu Yan curled his lip, stepped back to wrap an arm around Kurenai Yuhi's waist, and soared into the air, firing Ivory at Arakawa in rapid succession.

Arakawa, already heavily injured, rolled across the ground to dodge the bullets, but he hadn't expected that as soon as the bullets struck the earth, the solid ground would turn into a swamp, causing his body to sink uncontrollably.

Lu Yan and Kurenai Yuhi landed on the branch of a large tree. Watching Arakawa struggle in the swamp, Lu Yan's expression remained unchanged as he continued to raise Ivory and fire several more shots.

In an instant, the swamp reverted to solid ground, with the only difference being that Arakawa was now trapped within it, with only his head exposed, gasping for air with great difficulty.

"Kid, who exactly are you?"

"How could a Konoha ninja be so bizarre?"

Lu Yan couldn't be bothered to answer him. Looking at the stunned, adorable expression on Kurenai Yuhi's face, he couldn't help but pinch her tender cheek and smile. "Kurenai, it's really been a long time."