Red Hair

"What?" the two cried out.

A sense of foreboding immediately rose in their hearts. An enemy had invaded? And killed someone?

But how had they gotten through the barrier and evaded the Konoha Military Police Force?

Without hesitation, Uchiha Matsuri and Minato Namikaze asked in unison, "Which direction did they go?"

"Southwest, about one and a half kilometers," Kiba Inuzuka said.

Without a moment's hesitation, Minato Namikaze and Uchiha Matsuri sprinted southwest.

"Hey, wait for me!" Kiba Inuzuka shouted, then ran after them.

About one and a half kilometers to the southwest.

Outside a remote house, Minato Namikaze couldn't help but freeze at the sight before him.

Several masked Konoha Ninja lay sprawled across the ground. The front door of the house stood open, and the wooden door bore marks of being forced open.

Thanks to the Flying Thunder God Technique, Minato Namikaze arrived a few seconds before Uchiha Matsuri.

"What happened?" A few seconds later, Uchiha Matsuri reached the house. Seeing the dead Anbu Ninja on the ground, he furrowed his brow.

After examining them, Uchiha Matsuri shook his head. "These Anbu Ninja are already dead."

"Who suddenly attacked this house, then killed these Anbu Ninja in broad daylight...?" Minato Namikaze muttered under his breath.

Half a minute later, Kiba Inuzuka came running up to them, panting. Just as he was about to complain that they'd left him behind, Minato Namikaze suddenly spoke.

"Matsuri, E, do you know what this place is?"

"No." Uchiha Matsuri shook his head. He'd never been to this extremely desolate, remote place.

"I think... I think I can smell Kushina's scent." Kiba Inuzuka held his Ninja Dog in his arms.

"What? Kushina?" Minato Namikaze and Uchiha Matsuri exclaimed at the same time.

"And Kushina's scent is mixed with the scents of four unfamiliar chakra signatures. They're heading northeast," Kiba Inuzuka said.

"Were they Cloud Ninja?" Uchiha Matsuri murmured.

If this was about Kushina Uzumaki, Uchiha Matsuri knew what had happened from reading the original Naruto story.

Apparently, because Kushina Uzumaki's chakra was not only powerful but also unique, Kumogakure in the Land of Lightning coveted her. They were having trouble controlling the Eight-Tails at the time, so the Cloud Ninja had infiltrated Konoha and kidnapped Kushina Uzumaki, who was under round-the-clock Anbu surveillance and had lost her freedom.

"Cloud Ninja?" Minato Namikaze asked, puzzled.

"Minato, E, let's hurry and rescue Kushina!" Uchiha Matsuri said urgently.

"Have you lost your mind, Matsuri?" Kiba Inuzuka exclaimed when he heard that Uchiha Matsuri wanted to rescue Kushina Uzumaki. "They were able to kill several Anbu Ninja. We're only Genin—how could we possibly beat them?"

"We won't know unless we try," Uchiha Matsuri retorted.

"Instead of risking a pursuit, we should report this to Lord Hokage immediately and let him send people after them," Kiba Inuzuka said indignantly.

"There's no time." With that, Uchiha Matsuri ran northeast.

"Minato..."

"E, hurry and notify Lord Hokage. Matsuri and I will go on ahead." Seeing Uchiha Matsuri take off, Minato Namikaze hurried after him.

More than ten kilometers away.

Four Cloud Ninja were carrying Kushina Uzumaki as they raced northeast.

Her chakra had been sealed, leaving her unable to use her own ninjutsu. All Kushina Uzumaki could do was watch helplessly as they kidnapped her.

"Someone... please, someone save me," Kushina Uzumaki whispered helplessly.

"Damn it, what do I do? Even if someone comes to rescue me, they won't know which direction I went..." Kushina Uzumaki thought. "It'll be terrible if they take me out of the Land of Fire."

As she thought this, Kushina Uzumaki happened to notice her red hair. "That's it! I have an idea."

While the Cloud Ninja weren't looking, Kushina Uzumaki pulled out a strand of hair and tossed it onto the road.

"I hope they notice my hair." Kushina Uzumaki gave a wan smile.

"Damn it, I can't sense their exact location at all." Even after activating his Two-Tomoe Sharingan, Uchiha Matsuri still couldn't detect the enemy.

Unlike the Byakugan, which excelled at scouting, the Sharingan wasn't a Kekkei Genkai suited to sensing and reconnaissance. Its ability to perceive chakra pathways only worked within a relatively small range.

A few seconds later, Minato Namikaze arrived using the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Seeing him arrive, Uchiha Matsuri asked anxiously, "Minato, where's E now?"

Since the Sharingan was useless, they could only rely on the Inuzuka Clan's nose.

"I sent E to notify Lord Hokage," Minato Namikaze replied without changing his expression.

"Huh?"

Hearing that, Uchiha Matsuri was so angry he nearly spat blood.

There was only one person among the three of them with a strong ability to track, and you sent him away?

"Then it's over." Uchiha Matsuri slapped his forehead and stopped chasing.

Seeing the dejection on Uchiha Matsuri's face, Minato Namikaze asked in confusion, "What's wrong, Matsuri?"

"Bro, we don't know where those people are. How are we supposed to chase them?" Uchiha Matsuri said despondently.

Come to think of it, when he'd watched the original Naruto story, he hadn't realized Minato Namikaze could be this dense.

"..." Uchiha Matsuri's words snapped Minato Namikaze out of the panic that had clouded his judgment. He hurriedly asked, "Should I go back and bring E here now...?"

"It's too late." Suddenly, Uchiha Matsuri seemed to remember something and ran northeast. "I remember now."

"What did you remember?" Minato Namikaze used the Flying Thunder God Technique to catch up.

"Red hair," Uchiha Matsuri said. "Let's follow this road and see if we can find any red hair."

"Red hair?" Minato Namikaze was puzzled, but with time running short, he didn't ask anything else.

"Minato," Uchiha Matsuri suddenly said. "You can run faster than me with the Flying Thunder God Technique. Go on ahead."

"Okay."

Watching Minato Namikaze's figure gradually disappear into the distance, Uchiha Matsuri murmured to himself, "I hope Minato can save Kushina just like he did in the original story."

In a forest in the northeast of the Land of Fire, four Cloud Ninja carried Kushina Uzumaki as they raced along, but they were already moving much more slowly than they had been several hours earlier.

The sun was setting, and the cawing of crows echoed from deep in the forest.

"Captain, we've been running at full speed for more than seven hours. If Konoha sent anyone after us, they should be far behind by now," one Cloud Ninja panted.