A One-on-Three

After several hours of running at full speed, the Cloud Ninja were nearing their physical limits.

Glancing at Kushina Uzumaki, who was silently crying, the Cloud Ninja captain gritted his teeth. "Stay alert. At our current speed, we'll reach the border in just over an hour. We can't afford any mishaps during that time."

"Yes." Though they were unhappy about it, the three Cloud Ninja said nothing.

As she realized she was about to be taken out of the Land of Fire, despair began to creep into Kushina Uzumaki's heart.

Am I really going to be taken away? Kushina Uzumaki thought unwillingly.

"Stop!!"

Suddenly, a voice came from behind the five of them.

"Minato?" A glimmer of joy flashed across Kushina Uzumaki's face as she turned to look back.

"Hm?" Hearing the voice, the four Cloud Ninja stopped in unison and looked behind them. Ten meters away stood a boy with yellow hair.

There was no need to say it: the yellow-haired boy was Minato Namikaze.

Heeding Uchiha Matsuri's advice, Minato Namikaze had indeed spotted red hair along the way. Following its trail, he had successfully caught up with the Cloud Ninja who had abducted Kushina Uzumaki.

"A kid?"

Though they couldn't figure out how Minato Namikaze had caught up, the four Cloud Ninja looked at him with disdain when they saw he was just a child.

"Luo, take care of the kid," the Cloud Ninja captain said calmly.

"Yes."

At the order, the Cloud Ninja named Luo ran toward Minato Namikaze with a Shuriken in hand.

"Damn it." Seeing his opponent charge at him, Minato Namikaze clutched his chest and gasped for breath.

Minato Namikaze's chakra reserves had never been high to begin with, and after seven hours of chasing at full speed, he had only half of his chakra left. Facing an attack from an enemy ninja, he could only steel himself for the worst.

"Ninja Art—Flying Thunder God Technique!"

Minato Namikaze activated the Flying Thunder God Technique. He threw a specially made Kunai, vanished, and appeared behind Luo the next second.

Slice!

Before Luo could react, a half-meter-long gash appeared across his back.

"That kid can use the Body Flicker Technique?" Luo said through the pain.

The Cloud Ninja captain, watching nearby, looked just as shocked.

"I didn't expect that kid to know the Body Flicker Technique too." The captain's expression grew more serious.

After a moment's thought, the captain left the other two Cloud Ninja to support Luo, then ran northeast toward the border with Kushina Uzumaki in tow.

"Kushina!" Minato Namikaze cried anxiously as he watched her grow farther away.

But just as Minato Namikaze started to chase after her, the three Cloud Ninja blocked his path.

"Kid, the three of us are your opponents," said a big man with a dark complexion.

"Get out of my way!" Minato Namikaze roared.

"Get out of your way? You still don't understand your situation?" Luo said with a grin.

"Luo, enough talk. Take care of the kid, quickly," the short ninja warned.

After several failed attempts to get around the three of them, Minato Namikaze gave up on the idea.

"Looks like I'll have to beat the three of them before I can keep rescuing Kushina," Minato Namikaze said through gritted teeth.

Seeing Minato Namikaze calm down, the three Cloud Ninja exchanged glances, then formed Hand Seals in unison.

"Lightning Release—Earth Crawl!"

Three blue bolts of electricity, crackling with fine threads of lightning, shot across the ground toward Minato Namikaze, who was more than ten meters away.

Minato Namikaze activated the Flying Thunder God Technique and easily dodged the Lightning Release attack.

Seeing that their Lightning Release had failed to hurt Minato Namikaze, the three Cloud Ninja weren't discouraged. Instead, they rushed him together and started wearing him down.

After all, all the three Cloud Ninja had to do was stall for time and make sure their captain got Kushina Uzumaki out of the Land of Fire.

As for the battle itself, Minato Namikaze's Flying Thunder God Technique meant the three Cloud Ninja couldn't hurt him anytime soon. But with the overwhelming disadvantage in numbers and strength, Minato Namikaze couldn't break through their blockade either.

For a while, the battle was at a stalemate.

Just as the standoff between Minato Namikaze and the three Cloud Ninja reached its peak, a voice drifted lazily from a tree in the distance. "A three-on-one? That's just bullying."

"Who's there?"

Hearing a fifth voice nearby, the three Cloud Ninja grew wary in unison.

"Heh." Uchiha Matsuri jumped down from the tree.

"Another kid."

Seeing Uchiha Matsuri arrive as backup, the three Cloud Ninja pursed their lips.

"Matsuri!" Seeing Uchiha Matsuri arrive, Minato Namikaze finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Without hesitation, Uchiha Matsuri gave Minato Namikaze a look. "Minato, hurry and rescue Kushina. Leave things here to me."

"Okay." Minato Namikaze readily agreed.

Seeing Minato Namikaze trying to break through their line, the three Cloud Ninja quickly formed up to block him. But just as they were about to intercept him, Uchiha Matsuri's Lightning Release—Earth Crawl disrupted their formation.

At the same time, Minato Namikaze activated the Flying Thunder God Technique and "flew" northeast.

"Damn it, that kid got away," the big man with the dark complexion grumbled. He turned to chase after him.

"Stop." Luo glanced at his thoughtless comrade and scolded him.

"You won't catch him," the short Cloud Ninja said quietly.

With Minato Namikaze's speed, the three of them had no chance of catching him. Since they couldn't catch up to Minato Namikaze, their immediate priority was to deal with Uchiha Matsuri.

As the three of them turned their eyes toward him, Uchiha Matsuri's lips curled slightly, and he activated his Sharingan.

"Damn, the Sharingan!" Luo was the first to react. "Don't look into his eyes!"

"It's too late," Uchiha Matsuri said with a smile.

Just moments earlier, Uchiha Matsuri had caught the short ninja in a genjutsu. With his current skill, he could only place one person under a genjutsu at a time, but one was better than none.

Taking advantage of the short ninja being caught in the genjutsu, Uchiha Matsuri rushed at him with a Shuriken in hand.

Stab!

Caught off guard, the short ninja fell into a pool of blood.

Seeing their companion easily killed by the kid in front of them, the big man flew into a rage.

"You brat, I'll kill you!"

As he spoke, streaks of lightning flickered across his arm.

"What incredible chakra." Feeling the chakra rapidly gathering in the big man's body, Uchiha Matsuri couldn't help but exclaim.

Though Uchiha Matsuri liked using Lightning Release in battle, his ultimate move, "Thunderstorm Birth," had never been the most orthodox form of Lightning Release.