Kushina is Kidnapped

During my time in Konoha, I became good friends with Namikaze Minato, and we spent our time researching ninjutsu and sparring with each other.

I also knew that Namikaze Minato had long since joined the Anbu and frequently went out on missions, which had significantly improved his strength.

We even exchanged kunai marked with the Flying Raijin Jutsu formula.

"Minato, is there a girl you like?"

"I haven't seen you for a while; I heard you haven't been going on missions either," Namikaze Minato replied, his face looking a bit unnatural.

"It seems... I suppose there is."

"It seems?"

"Haha, it must be true then. I won't ask who she is, but you should give it your all."

Namikaze Minato's mind filled with the image of a red-haired girl, and he lowered his head involuntarily.

Coming to his senses, Namikaze Minato countered, "Nawaki, don't tell me you don't have someone you like either?"

At that moment, a girl with purple hair, fair skin, a tall figure, and alluring curves appeared in Li Yu's mind, causing his old face to flush red.

A lolicon, a creepy uncle—mentally, he was old enough to be her uncle.

Caught off guard by the question, Li Yu stammered, "Where would I get such a thing?"

"Ha, I knew it! You do have someone you like, you just won't admit it."

Realizing what had happened, Li Yu felt like he had been tricked.

He hadn't expected Namikaze Minato to have a side like this, and looking at his warm smile, he couldn't bring himself to punch him.

Yue Ying was in my squad, and we had gone on many missions together; I had even given her one of my Flying Raijin kunai.

I had long guessed that she was Uzuki Yuying's sister, Uzuki Yugao; both of them were skilled in Konoha-Style Kenjutsu.

Just then, Li Yu received an Anbu communication regarding a mission and waved goodbye to Namikaze Minato.

Li Yu quickly donned his mask and arrived at the Anbu base to report.

Returning meant patrol duty, so I gathered with the team members. It was just the three of us—Yue Ying, Shui Qi, and myself—patrolling, as Yan Xing had gone off to execute a mission alone.

Having just mentioned Yue Ying to Namikaze Minato, Li Yu couldn't help but look at her a few extra times, noticing that she was already sixteen and had developed quite well.

His direct gaze was fortunately hidden by the mask, sparing him from an awkward situation.

He shook his head, casting aside the distracting thoughts.

According to the plot, this was the year that the Cloud Village would attempt to kidnap the Nine-Tails jinchuriki, Uzumaki Kushina, but I didn't know the specific time or location.

I wondered if my presence would change the course of events.

The three of us continued our patrol, moving rapidly through the village.

Suddenly, I sensed from afar that the barrier was weak.

Li Yu quickly found the nearest tree, placed his hand on it to sense carefully, and felt someone rushing out of the barrier—the chakra was quite familiar.

"Namikaze Minato."

"This is bad, something might have happened to Uzumaki Kushina."

The three of us rushed toward Uzumaki Kushina's residence, only to find that she was gone. There were signs of a struggle, and the five Anbu members assigned to protect her were lying on the ground.

"Yue Ying, go to the Hokage Office Building immediately and report this to the Hokage."

"Shui Qi, stay here and treat the wounded, ensure their safety."

"I have a general idea of the direction the enemy took after leaving the barrier; I'm going after them."

Li Yu used a Body Flicker Technique, sprinting rapidly toward the direction where the barrier anomaly had occurred, and passed through it.

There were quite a few enemies this time; to take down five Anbu members in one go, there had to be at least three jonin among them.

After running for a distance, I realized I didn't know exactly which way the enemies had gone, but Li Yu didn't feel anxious. He closed his eyes and sensed the area.

"Found you."

He activated his chakra, and his body vanished from the spot.

"Flying Raijin Jutsu."

Under the moonlight, as Namikaze Minato was carefully searching the ground for traces of red hair, the space beside him distorted.

Li Yu appeared right next to him.

Namikaze Minato didn't even look up, continuing to search for hair as he said, "Nawaki, you're here."

"Help me look on the ground for the red hair Kushina left behind."

Namikaze Minato also knew the Flying Raijin; he had sensed the activation on the kunai I had exchanged with him and immediately knew I was coming.

Namikaze Minato was truly impressive; his perception of space was incredibly sharp. Perhaps he hadn't encountered the masked Obito yet, otherwise, he would be on high alert rather than having his entire focus on red hair.

"Ha, you're in quite a rush, aren't you, Minato?"

"Searching with your eyes by moonlight like this is far too slow."

"Watch me."

Li Yu placed his hands against the tree, fully mobilizing his sensory perception to share the senses of the surrounding forest.

"Twenty meters ahead on the rock, and thirty meters to the left in the grass."

Before Li Yu could even finish his sentence, Namikaze Minato had already dashed out.

"Minato, I've located the enemy. Eight people, seven of them are ninja, and their chakra attributes are primarily Lightning."

"They've stopped to rest three kilometers ahead."

"Minato, finding a few strands of hair will be enough—that should be plenty for you to woo your girl."

The seven Cloud Ninja were there.

Seeing that his team members were exhausted from the continuous, high-speed travel and the significant depletion of their chakra, the captain decided they were nearly out of Konoha's territory.

"Everyone, halt. Two minutes to rest, then we move out."

A burly, broad-shouldered ninja set down Uzumaki Kushina, whom he had been carrying over his shoulder.

After the long journey, Uzumaki Kushina's hair was disheveled, yet even so, her beautiful red hair was still striking.

"Captain, this Konoha jinchuriki has been struggling constantly. I suspect she's up to something."

"Why don't we take this break to cut off her hands? The mission only requires her to be alive, after all."

The captain, who carried a ninja sword on his back, replied, "Oh? Trying to pull something again on the road, are we?"

At these words, Uzumaki Kushina's face turned deathly pale, and she couldn't stop her entire body from trembling.

"Then don't hold back."