Bang!
An explosive tag flew past the baby's cheek and detonated beside the man in front of him. The blast sent the man tumbling away, but he held on tightly to the baby beside him.
Ugh...
He pulled the baby into his arms from behind, then slammed into a large tree, groaning in pain.
"Konoha is almost here. I have to hold on!"
Cough... cough.
He coughed up a mouthful of blood, leaped to his feet, then sprang onto a tree and raced forward. Four masked shinobi rapidly closed in behind him.
He strapped the baby onto his back again, quickly formed Hand Seals, then turned and leaped backward.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
A massive fireball shot toward the four Masked Men behind him. They hurriedly dodged, and while they were distracted, the man carrying the baby raced onward.
After passing through a dense forest, he finally saw Konoha's gates.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow River." Behind him, one of the Masked Men formed Hand Seals. The ground beneath the man carrying the baby turned to mud and surged like a river, sweeping him toward the four Masked Men.
"Damn it!" he cursed, nearly losing his balance and falling.
"Lightning Release: Earth Flow!" Lightning flashed in his hand as he plunged it into the mud beneath his feet. The mud stopped flowing, and he leaped free, his feet already bloodied by his own attack.
Ugh...
He endured the pain and kept running toward Konoha's gates.
"We can't catch him." The four Masked Men stopped in the woods, watching the man run toward the gates.
The four exchanged glances. "Retreat," one of them said. With a Body Flicker Technique, all four disappeared.
"Who are you?" The man carrying the baby reached Konoha's gates, where four shinobi who looked like Chunin blocked their path.
"Help..." Seeing them, the man finally couldn't hold on any longer and collapsed.
The baby behind him stared at Konoha's gates, eyes slightly open and utterly still. He hadn't cried once, from beginning to end.