Attack

"Could it be that Hui is unexpectedly a very capable woman?"

Yueshu watched Hui as she organized the village affairs in an orderly fashion before him, unable to help but ask his three teammates beside him.

Kushina and the others didn't speak, instead giving Yueshu a look.

Yueshu immediately felt the gazes of the three, as if he were the only one who had asked an idiotic question.

As this feeling welled up in his heart, Yueshu suddenly felt a slight sense of shame.

However, it was only for a fleeting moment before he extinguished the feeling.

After all, he had been a shut-in in his past life; while his skin might not be thick, he at least had a fair amount of immunity to the "gaze attacks" of others.

Just as they were still exchanging glances, Hui finally finished her arrangements.

Seeing Yueshu and the others gathered there, Hui walked over.

"What are you all doing?"

Hui asked, a soft smile on her face.

Yes, it was a typical big-sister-type smile—very gentle, giving off exactly that kind of vibe.

"Nothing. You go ahead and do your thing; for now, we're your bodyguards."

Kushina wore the expression of a bossy big sister.

With her Red Hot Habanero persona, paired with Yueshu and the other two beside her, she had quite the air of a gang leader.

Hui seemed to have noticed this as well, and she chuckled softly again.

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

Hui was unexpectedly down-to-earth, keeping up with Kushina's rhythm and playing along with her words.

Kushina was also excited, nodding heavily.

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

Well, for now, they would just follow Big Sister Kushina.

The bodyguard life of Yueshu and his group began just like that.

As the guardian of the Chakra Fruit, Hui was also the administrator of the village.

The people of Takigakure were isolated from the world and had not had much contact with the outside, so many of them still held primitive ways of thinking.

This required Hui to guide and teach them.

Two days passed slowly; Hui worked as usual, and Yueshu and his group stood guard nearby.

As her personal bodyguards, the four of them truly saw what Hui had been doing over these two days.

To use the words from Yueshu's past life:

Hui was truly worthy of the term "career woman."

However, these past two days had been a bit too calm, and the four of them felt vaguely strange about it.

They were there to protect Hui, the guardian, yet Kurohane, who coveted the Chakra Fruit, had been hidden for two full days.

Using common sense, one knew that he definitely wasn't just being a slacker like Yueshu; he was likely plotting something.

But Yueshu and the others had no way of knowing this, nor did they know when the enemy would strike.

Yueshu remembered a law from his past life called Murphy's Law.

The content was roughly: if there is a possibility of something bad happening, no matter how small the probability, it will eventually happen.

And in fact—

This law was correct.

Bang!

Billowing black smoke rose into the clouds, drawing everyone's attention.

It was at the entrance of the waterfall.

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

A strand of smooth black hair flashed before his eyes, and Yueshu realized that the big sister who smiled so gently had been the first to rush toward the waterfall.

"Wait."

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

"Let go! There are many villagers over there!"

Hui's voice was filled with deep worry, and Yueshu understood her concern.

But—

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

Yueshu said to Hui.

He knew that Kurohane, a meticulous person, would definitely not attack head-on so blatantly, especially since he had already tried a frontal assault before.

Ninjas are not berserkers who only know how to charge straight ahead.

"But—"

Before Hui could finish, the sound of wind whistled past his ears.

Whoosh. The sound of air being sliced was clearly audible right beside him.

Yueshu pulled Hui aside, shielding him behind his back, while Minato Namikaze, Kushina, and Mikoto also shifted into combat stances to protect Hui.

Dang.

The Kunai thrown by Minato Namikaze knocked a projectile away; the whistling sound Hui had just heard was the result of his intervention.

Black shadows emerged from every direction, and it was precisely because Minato Namikaze had spotted these shadows that he had decisively struck first.

As more and more shadows appeared, Yueshu and the other four were slowly surrounded.

"This is quite the grand gesture."

Yueshu offered a bitter smile, feeling quite helpless.

Without exception, those surrounding them were rogue ninjas; the scratched-out symbols on their headbands told that story clearly.

Fortunately, there was no one particularly strong among them. There likely wasn't even a single Jonin, as none of them felt the kind of overwhelming pressure that Jiraiya exerted.

The sound of an explosion echoed from the direction of the waterfall, and Yueshu and the others understood immediately.

The situation was simple: the enemy's high-level combatants were likely tied up with Jiraiya, who had disappeared from their side.

"Kid, hand over that woman obediently, and perhaps..."

"We might just give you a quick death."

The people on all sides closed in, their objective laid bare by their own words.

Unsurprisingly, their target was the Hero Water of Takigakure; the temptation of a tenfold increase in chakra was likely the cause.

Yueshu sighed. To be honest, he hated this kind of trouble, but there was no helping it.

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

In that silent exchange, the four of them understood each other's intentions.

Four sides, one person for each.

"Go."

Yueshu's voice was soft, and as the word fell, four figures lunged forward.

The Jiraiya Squad, move out!

As he had said before, Yueshu truly hated such trouble; it meant fighting, and the enemy held a significant numerical advantage.

It was such a massive pain.

"Multi-Shadow Clone Technique."

Yueshu formed a hand seal, and his chakra was instantly drawn out.

Puffs of smoke erupted all around him, and over a hundred Yueshu clones appeared in succession.

"Boys, let's go!"

Yueshu shouted, leading the hundred-plus clones as they charged toward the rogue ninjas in front of them.

The commotion on Yueshu's side was immense, and the activity all around was just as intense.

Minato Namikaze's excellent combat instincts allowed him to take on ten enemies at once, and with his impressive repertoire of ninjutsu, his side of the battle was equally spectacular.

As for Kushina and Mikoto, while the two women's strength wasn't top-tier, they were certainly not weak. Although they were struggling slightly, they managed to hold their ground well with the help of Yueshu's shadow clones.

Hui stood in the center, surrounded by the chaotic fray, watching as four kids fought for his sake.

Gritting his teeth, Hui felt a deep sense of resentment.

He did not want to be a burden, yet he possessed no talent for chakra.

How laughable—to be the guardian of the Chakra Fruit, yet lack any aptitude for chakra himself.

Hui stood rooted to the spot, feeling a profound sense of self-reproach for his own helplessness.

His hands were clenched tight, much like the fate of a mere mortal.