Li Yu swiftly closed in and sensed that the enemy force consisted of two Jonin, one elite Jonin, and four elite Chunin.
"That enemy squad is strong."
"Minato, use Flying Thunder God to attack. I'll follow up with large-scale jutsu to scatter them."
"Pick off the weakest first. We'll deal with the three Jonin last."
By then, they had reached the enemy's vicinity.
Li Yu quickly formed Hand Seals.
"Wood Release: Wood Clone!"
Two identical copies of Li Yu split off to the side, then quickly moved some distance apart.
Namikaze Minato's attention was fixed on Kushina amid the crowd. Even his normally gentle demeanor gave way to impatience as he urged Li Yu on.
"How's it going? Are you ready?"
Especially when he saw a ninja draw a blade and walk toward Kushina, his grip tightened around the Specialized Kunai.
Seeing that the enemies were all focused on Kushina, Li Yu thought,
Now's our chance.
The three Li Yus used their masks to conceal themselves, activated their Sharingan again, and formed Hand Seals.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
"Earth Release: Rock Plate Coffin!"
"Water Release: Water Travel Wave!"
First, a gale swept toward the group, making everyone squint.
At the same time, a semicircular earthen wall rose on either side of Kushina, quickly enclosing her and shielding her from the gale and the incoming wave.
Next, a massive surge of water came from the other side, carrying a huge crest as it crashed toward the seven ninjas.
The gale had left them unable to steady themselves or use a defensive jutsu in time. The weaker ones were blown away, and when the massive wave hit, the others were forced apart.
Taking a direct hit from a C-rank Wind Release and a B-rank Water Release was no joke. One of the weaker elite Chunin was knocked unconscious by the impact.
Namikaze Minato exclaimed,
"Nice!"
He charged at the three remaining elite Chunin and hurled Specialized Kunai at them.
Li Yu's clones went to engage the two remaining Jonin, while he went straight for the elite Jonin.
"Not bad, kid. Those three jutsu just now managed to break up our formation."
"But you must be running low on chakra by now, right?"
The elite Jonin from Kumogakure drew the Ninja Blade from his back and swung it through the air several times, electricity crackling around it.
Li Yu thought, He's going to use his village's specialty, Taijutsu, to finish me off quickly.
Li Yu pulled out three Specialized Kunai and threw them in three directions. They struck several trees with dull thuds.
He formed a Rasengan in his left hand, gripped Namikaze Minato's Specialized Kunai in his right, and charged at the enemy.
The enemy brought his blade down on the Rasengan flying toward him, intending to cut Li Yu in two.
Midair, Li Yu tossed the Kunai in his hand toward the enemy's flank, a wicked grin on his face. Then his body suddenly flickered and vanished.
A golden flash appeared at the enemy's side. Namikaze Minato, who had just swiftly taken out the three elite Chunin, appeared and threw a Kunai at the enemy with one hand. With the other, he struck the enemy under the arm with a Rasengan.
The elite Jonin turned his head and barely dodged the Kunai. Suddenly, Li Yu appeared on the other side and struck him in the back with another Rasengan.
Hit by two Rasengan, the elite Jonin crashed into the ground like a cannonball.
As Li Yu used Flying Thunder God, his two clones activated it as well, appearing on two trees. They formed Hand Seals together and each took a deep breath.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!"
"Wind Release: Vacuum Wave!"
The elite Jonin had crashed into the ground and suffered serious injuries. He didn't even have time to react.
"Boom! Boom!" The blasts continued without pause. After several deafening explosions, the ground was left in ruins, and the elite Jonin from Kumogakure had been blown apart, his body reduced to a bloody mess.
Wind countered Lightning. It broke through the Lightning Release Chakra defense, and a coordinated series of moves, along with two B-rank jutsu, had concentrated the assault at just the right moment.
The elite Jonin hadn't even had time to react before Li Yu sent him straight to the grave.
Li Yu's two clones ran out of chakra and turned into wood.
Namikaze Minato, who had swiftly taken out the three elite Chunin, hurried over and stood beside him.
The two exchanged a knowing look and smiled. They swapped their Specialized Kunai, then swiftly charged at the two Jonin.
As they split up, Li Yu had a sudden thought and called out, "Let's see who can take down their opponent faster!"
As he charged at the Jonin, Li Yu suddenly noticed that his eyesight and ability to observe had improved considerably. His eyes—blood-red, with three Tomoe slowly turning in each—were now the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
Only battle could make him grow stronger faster. He had originally planned to test Senjutsu on the elite Jonin, but Li Yu had taken him out in one go.
He could only test it on this Jonin from Kumogakure instead.
At that moment, Li Yu's clone in the woods turned into a chunk of wood.
A green dot appeared at the center of Li Yu's forehead, with circular green markings spreading around it. Green markings appeared at the corners of his eyes, and his blood-red eyes, each with three Tomoe, made him look strangely unsettling.
Not wanting the enemy to see his current appearance, he formed Hand Seals first.
"Bringer-of-Darkness Technique!"
This A-rank genjutsu had been used by the First. It robbed the enemy of all light. Cast with the enhanced Three-Tomoe Sharingan, it could probably even blind someone with the Mangekyo Sharingan for a short time.
He formed Hand Seals again, interlaced his fingers, and shouted,
"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"
Using Sage Mode to unleash Deep Forest Emergence increased its range, growth speed, the trees' toughness, and the rate at which they absorbed the enemy's chakra several times over.
Caught completely off guard, the Jonin was bound up like a pretzel in an instant. As if his body had been drained, he closed his eyes and passed out.
Li Yu deactivated his Sharingan and dispelled the Natural Energy around him. The markings on his face vanished at once.
The Kunai on his body grew warm, and space shifted. Minato appeared beside him and glanced at the ninja, who was bound up like a pretzel with only his head exposed.
"Nawaki, you were pretty quick."
"Let's go find Kushina."
Li Yu took off his mask and replied, "I'll pass."
"Release the Earth Release from a distance. I'll clean up the battlefield. You can handle the flirting afterward." He gave Minato a look that said, You know what I mean.
Someone with Namikaze Minato's talent for winning women over should understand.
Li Yu urged him to leave, then released the Earth Release jutsu from a distance.
Just like in the original story, Namikaze Minato swept Kushina into a princess carry and ran through the trees with her.
Minato flirted under the moon; his son would flirt under the sun.
Watching them disappear into the distance, Li Yu shook his head. "Win over the hottest girl, raise the toughest kid."
Li Yu gathered the bodies, placing them together. One had been knocked unconscious by the water, and the other had been tied up.
He fired an Anbu signal flare into the sky, then sat down by a big tree and hummed to himself.
"If only I had something to eat right now. Carrying supplies around is such a pain. I'm starving. I'll make Minato treat me when we get back."
Yue Ying arrived with more than a dozen Anbu.
She greeted him respectfully. "Lord Zi Yu."
Seeing that Li Yu was unharmed, Yue Ying let out a breath of relief and asked,
"How did the battle go?"
"Perfectly. We captured two enemy ninjas."
Li Yu directed the Anbu to take the bodies back. The two survivors were sent to the Torture and Interrogation Force.
Li Yu returned to the village and reported the mission's outcome to the Third Hokage.
"Zi Yu, well done. You rescued the village's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and thwarted Kumogakure's scheme."
"Take some time off. I'd like you to consider whether you're willing to lead a class of Ninja Academy graduates."
"I don't see a problem with teaching the graduates, Lord Hokage."
"Think it over. There's still some time before this class graduates from the Ninja Academy."
Li Yu left the Hokage's office with questions on his mind, unsure what Sarutobi Hiruzen was getting at.
During his time off, Li Yu went to see Namikaze Minato again. This time, he found Minato and Kushina together, looking very much in love.
"Nawaki, it's you."
"I haven't even had a chance to thank you for what happened last time."
Li Yu had come to see the Hokage, and this was his first time meeting Kushina. Although they had been in the same Ninja Academy class, they had never spoken.
Kushina greeted him warmly.
"Nawaki, Minato told me about what happened last time."
"Thank you so much."
Li Yu smiled. "As a Konoha Ninja and Minato's friend, it was only right."
"I came to see Minato to discuss Flying Raijin Jutsu and Sealing Jutsu."
For a while, Li Yu often visited Namikaze Minato to study Flying Raijin and see if he could use the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Jutsu to develop Flying Raijin: Level 2 and Flying Raijin: Guiding Thunder.
Flying Raijin: Guiding Thunder could transport the Nine-Tails' Tailed Beast Bomb outside the village, but it consumed a huge amount of chakra.
Knowing that Li Yu wanted to learn Sealing Jutsu, Kushina gave him scrolls for the Four Symbols Seal and the Eight Trigrams Seal as thanks.
The Senju Clan and the Uzumaki Clan were distant relatives, and the Senju family had collected quite a few of the Uzumaki Clan's jutsu in their scrolls. With Kushina's help, Li Yu cleared up many of his questions about Sealing Jutsu.