One Against Three

After several hours of running at full speed, the physical stamina of the Cloud Ninjas was nearing its limit.

Glancing at the silently weeping Kushina Uzumaki, the Cloud Ninja captain gritted his teeth and said, "Do not let your guard down. At our current pace, we will reach the border in just over an hour. Nothing can go wrong during this final stretch."

"Understood." Despite their dissatisfaction, the three Cloud Ninjas said nothing more.

Seeing that she was about to be taken out of the Land of Fire, Kushina Uzumaki's heart gradually sank into despair.

Am I really going to be taken away? Kushina Uzumaki thought, feeling deeply unwilling.

"Stop right there!!"

Suddenly, a voice rang out from behind the five of them.

"Minato?" A flicker of joy crossed Kushina Uzumaki's face as she turned to look back.

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

Needless to say, this yellow-haired boy was Minato Namikaze.

Following Uchiha Matsuri's advice, Minato Namikaze had indeed spotted red hair along the way. By tracking the direction of those red strands, Minato Namikaze had successfully caught up to the group of Cloud Ninjas abducting Kushina Uzumaki.

"A brat?"

Although they couldn't fathom how Minato Namikaze had caught up, the four Cloud Ninjas showed disdain upon seeing that he was just a child.

"Luo, go take care of this brat," the Cloud Ninja captain said indifferently.

"Understood."

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

"Damn it." Seeing the aggressive approach, Minato Namikaze clutched his chest and gasped for air.

For Minato Namikaze, whose chakra reserves were not high to begin with, seven consecutive hours of high-speed pursuit had left him with only half his chakra. Facing the enemy's attack, he could only prepare himself for the worst.

"Ninja Art: Flying Thunder God Technique!"

Minato Namikaze activated the Flying Thunder God Technique. After throwing a specially crafted kunai, he vanished, reappearing behind Luo in the next second.

Slash.

Caught completely off guard, a half-meter-long gash appeared on Luo's back.

"This brat... he can use the Body Flicker Technique?" Luo said, enduring the pain.

The Cloud Ninja captain nearby, witnessing this, also wore a look of shock.

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

After a moment of thought, the captain ordered the other two Cloud Ninjas to assist Luo, then continued toward the northeastern border while dragging Kushina Uzumaki along.

"Kushina!" Minato Namikaze shouted anxiously, watching her figure gradually move further away.

Just as Minato Namikaze tried to give chase, the three Cloud Ninjas blocked his path.

"Kid, we are your opponents," said a large, dark-skinned man.

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

"Get out of the way? You still don't realize your situation," Luo laughed.

"Luo, stop wasting time. Finish this brat off quickly," the shorter ninja reminded him.

After several failed attempts to bypass the three, Minato Namikaze abandoned the idea.

It seems I have to defeat these three before I can continue to rescue Kushina, Minato Namikaze gritted his teeth.

Seeing Minato Namikaze calm down, the three Cloud Ninjas exchanged glances and performed hand seals simultaneously:

"Lightning Release: Earth Crawl!"

Three streaks of blue electricity, crackling with sparks, surged along the ground toward Minato Namikaze, who was a dozen meters away.

By activating the Flying Thunder God Technique, Minato Namikaze easily dodged the lightning attack.

Seeing that the Lightning Release had failed to harm him, the three Cloud Ninjas did not lose heart; instead, they swarmed him, engaging in a war of attrition.

After all, the three Cloud Ninjas only needed to stall for time to ensure their captain could get Kushina Uzumaki out of the Land of Fire.

On the other hand, looking at the battle, Minato Namikaze's Flying Thunder God Technique prevented the three from landing a hit for the time being. Conversely, due to the overwhelming disadvantage in numbers and strength, Minato Namikaze could not break through their blockade.

For a moment, the battle reached a stalemate.

Just as the confrontation between Minato Namikaze and the three Cloud Ninjas reached a fever pitch, a voice drifted lazily from a tree in the distance: "Three against one—isn't that a bit of a bully move?"

"Who's there?"

Hearing a fifth voice nearby, the three Cloud Ninjas became alert in unison.

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

"Another brat?"

Seeing Uchiha Matsuri arrive as reinforcements, the three Cloud Ninjas curled their lips in contempt.

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

Without a moment's hesitation, Uchiha Matsuri signaled to Minato Namikaze with his eyes: "Minato, go save Kushina quickly. Leave this to me."

"Very well," Minato Namikaze agreed decisively.

Seeing Minato Namikaze attempt to break through their defensive line, the three Cloud Ninjas hurriedly formed a formation to block his path. However, just as they were about to intercept him, a "Lightning Release: Earth Crawl" from Uchiha Matsuri disrupted their formation.

At the same time, Minato Namikaze activated the Flying Thunder God Technique, "flying" toward the northeast.

"Damn it, that brat got away," the burly man with the dark complexion said resentfully, turning around to give chase.

"Stay put," Luo glanced at his impulsive companion and snapped.

"You won't be able to catch him," the short Cloud Ninja said gloomily.

Given Minato Namikaze's speed, it was impossible for the three of them to catch up. Since they could no longer pursue him, the top priority was to deal with Uchiha Matsuri standing before them.

Seeing the three of them fix their gazes on him, Uchiha Matsuri's lips curled upward, and he activated his Sharingan.

"Oh no, the Sharingan!" Luo was the first to react, shouting urgently, "Don't look into his eyes!"

"It's already too late," Uchiha Matsuri laughed.

Just a moment ago, the short ninja had fallen under Uchiha Matsuri's genjutsu. Although with his current level of skill, Uchiha Matsuri could only trap one person in a genjutsu at a time, it was better than nothing; having one person incapacitated was better than none.

Taking advantage of the short ninja being trapped in the genjutsu, Uchiha Matsuri sprinted toward him, shuriken in hand.

Squelch.

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

Seeing his companion killed so easily by the brat before him, the burly man flew into a rage:

"You brat, I'm going to slaughter you!"

As he spoke, wisps of lightning began to flicker across the burly man's arms.

What astonishing chakra. Sensing the chakra rapidly gathering on the burly man, Uchiha Matsuri couldn't help but marvel.

Although Uchiha Matsuri enjoyed using Lightning Release in battle, his ultimate move, "Thunderstorm Birth," could not be considered a truly authentic Lightning Release technique.