The Attack

"Could Hui actually be a very capable woman?"

Watching Hui manage the village's affairs in an orderly fashion, Yueshu couldn't help asking his three teammates beside him.

Kushina and the others said nothing, only giving Yueshu a look.

Yueshu immediately noticed the looks all three of them were giving him. It was as if he were the only one who'd asked a stupid question.

The feeling washed over him, and Yueshu suddenly felt a little embarrassed.

But only for a moment. He quickly suppressed it.

After all, in his previous life he'd been a shut-in. He wouldn't say he had particularly thick skin, but he was at least somewhat immune to people's judgmental looks.

While they were still exchanging glances, Hui finally finished making arrangements.

Noticing Yueshu and the others gathered together, Hui came over.

"What are you doing?"

Hui asked, her face lit by a gentle smile.

Yes, it was the typical smile of a big sister—very gentle, and it gave off exactly that impression.

"Nothing. Go on with your work. We're your bodyguards now."

Kushina put on the air of a big sister.

She looked just like the Red Hot Habanero, with Yueshu and the others beside her, giving her the air of a gang leader.

Hui seemed to notice that, too, and smiled softly again.

"Then I'll leave it to you, little bodyguards."

Hui was unexpectedly down-to-earth. She matched Kushina's mood and went along with her words.

Kushina perked up and nodded emphatically.

Yueshu and the other two glanced at each other and shrugged.

Well, for now, they'd just follow Big Sis Kushina's lead.

And so began the bodyguard life of Yueshu and the others.

Besides being the Guardian of the Chakra Fruit, Hui was also the village's administrator.

The people of Takigakure lived isolated from the outside world and had little contact with it. Many of them still had rather primitive ways of thinking.

That meant Hui had to guide and teach them.

Two days passed. Hui continued working as usual, while Yueshu and the others stood guard nearby.

As her personal bodyguards, Yueshu and the others had seen exactly what Hui had been doing over the past two days.

To put it in the words Yueshu had used in his previous life:

Hui really did deserve to be called a career woman.

Still, things had been a little too peaceful over the past two days, which left Yueshu and the others feeling vaguely uneasy.

They were bodyguards protecting Hui, the Guardian, yet Kurohane, who coveted the Chakra Fruit, had been lying low for two whole days.

By any reasonable guess, he certainly hadn't spent those two days lazing around like Yueshu. He must have been plotting something.

But Yueshu and the others had no way of knowing what, or even when their opponent would attack.

Yueshu remembered a principle from his previous life called Murphy's law.

It basically said that no matter how unlikely something bad was, it would still happen at just the wrong moment.

And in fact—

The principle was right.

A loud bang rang out.

A wisp of black smoke rose into the sky, drawing everyone's attention.

It came from the waterfall entrance.

Before Yueshu and the others could react, Hui had already moved, rushing toward it.

A long sweep of smooth black hair flashed past his eyes. Only then did Yueshu realize that the gentle big sister had rushed toward the waterfall at the first opportunity.

"Wait."

Yueshu grabbed Hui's hand. Minato, Kushina, and Mikoto also reacted.

"Let go! There are a lot of villagers over there."

Hui's voice brimmed with worry, and Yueshu understood what she was concerned about.

But—

"The enemy's target is you. If you run off now, won't you be falling right into their trap?"

Yueshu said to Hui.

He knew Kurohane was a meticulous man. He wouldn't launch such an obvious frontal attack, especially after they had already tried to repel one.

Ninja weren't berserkers who only knew how to charge straight ahead.

"But—"

Hui had just begun to speak when a rush of wind swept past her ear.

Whoosh! The sound of something cutting through the air rang clearly beside her.

Yueshu pulled Hui behind him and shielded her. Minato, Kushina, and Mikoto also took up fighting stances to protect her.

Clang!

The Kunai Minato had thrown was knocked away. The rush of wind by Hui's ear had come from his attack.

Black figures appeared in every direction. Minato had seen them and struck first without hesitation.

One by one, the figures emerged. Before long, the five of them were surrounded.

"This is quite the welcoming party."

Yueshu gave a wry, helpless smile.

Every one of the people surrounding them was a rogue ninja. Their Forehead Protectors, marked with slashes through their symbols, made that clear.

Fortunately, none of them seemed especially strong. There probably wasn't even a Jonin among them, since Yueshu and the others felt nothing like the formidable pressure Jiraiya gave off.

Another explosion sounded from the waterfall. Now Yueshu and the others understood.

It was simple enough: the enemy's higher-level fighters had probably engaged Jiraiya, who had disappeared from their side.

"Kid, hand that woman over, and—"

"Maybe we'll even make your death quick."

The people surrounding them slowly closed in. They had made their intentions clear.

Unsurprisingly, their target was Takigakure's Hero Water. They were probably tempted by the promise of ten times more chakra.

Yueshu sighed. Honestly, he hated this kind of trouble, but there was no choice.

He shifted his gaze, meeting the eyes of his three teammates.

With those exchanged glances, all four understood what the others meant.

One person to each side.

"Go."

Yueshu's voice was soft. As soon as he spoke, four figures shot forward.

The Jiraiya Squad was on the move!

As he'd said, Yueshu really hated this kind of trouble. They had to fight, and their opponents had the advantage in numbers.

What a pain.

"Multi-Shadow Clone Technique!"

Yueshu formed a Hand Seal, and the chakra in his body surged out at once.

Clouds of smoke billowed around him as more than a hundred copies of Yueshu appeared.

"Let's go, everyone!"

Yueshu shouted, leading more than a hundred clones as they charged at the rogue ninjas in front of them.

There was a lot of commotion on Yueshu's side, and no less on the others'.

Minato's excellent combat instincts let him take on ten opponents at once. With a fine arsenal of ninjutsu, he put on quite a show.

As for Kushina and Mikoto, the two weren't especially powerful, but they were by no means weak. Though they were struggling, Yueshu's Shadow Clones helped them hold their ground against the attacks.

Hui stood in the middle, surrounded by people fighting on all sides. The four kids were battling for her sake.

She clenched her teeth, feeling an overwhelming sense of frustration.

She didn't want to be a burden, but she had no talent for chakra.

How ridiculous. As the Guardian of the Chakra Fruit, she herself had no talent for chakra.

Hui stood where she was, blaming herself bitterly for being powerless.

Her hands clenched tight, like the fate of an ordinary person.