Minato Namikaze's Rescue

The Uzumaki clan was not only skilled in sealing techniques; nearly every member possessed an absurd amount of chakra and tremendous vitality. That was why they were the best candidates to serve as jinchuriki for the tailed beasts.

In other words, if she had truly been abducted to the Hidden Cloud Village, her fate would certainly not be a good one!

Kushina Uzumaki's clever little mind raced as she tried to figure out a way to save herself.

At the very least, she had to leave the Hidden Leaf Village some clues to find her!

As Kushina Uzumaki secretly opened her eyes to survey the situation, she suddenly noticed her vivid red hair, hanging down and drifting loose as she was carried at full speed by the Hidden Cloud ninja.

"Yes! My hair!"

Excitement surged within Kushina Uzumaki's heart.

Red hair was the most obvious trait of the Uzumaki clan. During all the time she had spent in the Hidden Leaf Village, she had never seen anyone else there with red hair.

So long as she secretly pulled out strands of her hair and continuously scattered them along the way—

Then, once the Hidden Leaf discovered her disappearance, they would surely be able to follow the trail she had left behind, quickly catch up, and rescue her!

So—

She immediately got to work.

Kushina Uzumaki promptly and carefully began making her little "moves" to save herself.

However, what drove Kushina Uzumaki to despair was that more than half a day had already passed. As she drew closer and closer to the border of the Land of Fire, no rescue from the Hidden Leaf had appeared from beginning to end.

Her heart sank completely, and deep down, she had even developed the will to die.

Because she knew that the Hidden Cloud Village had been one of the major forces behind the destruction of the Land of Whirlpools and Whirlpool Village.

Therefore, no matter what purpose the Hidden Cloud had in kidnapping her, even if she had to take her own life, she would never let them succeed!

On the other side, roughly an hour after Kushina Uzumaki vanished.

Minato Namikaze had long harbored feelings for Kushina Uzumaki but had never confessed them. After returning from a mission, he came to see Kushina Uzumaki in hopes of growing closer to her, and finally noticed that something was wrong.

At Kushina Uzumaki's doorstep, he found a hair clip lying on the ground!

It was one that Kushina Uzumaki often wore in her hair!

Minato Namikaze's gaze immediately sharpened.

But before he could figure out what had happened—

A faint scent of blood reached his nose, and his expression abruptly changed.

Following the scent of blood, Minato Namikaze quickly found two ANBU ninja not far from Kushina Uzumaki's home. Their throats had been slit from behind, and they had long since fallen silent.

He was not surprised that ANBU ninja had been "protecting" the area around Kushina's home. Through correspondence with his teacher, Jiraiya, he had already learned about the Uzumaki clan.

So how could he not realize that something had happened to Kushina Uzumaki?

He hurriedly created a shadow clone and sent it to report to the Hokage Building. Meanwhile, his original body and several more shadow clones he created began searching for any useful clues.

Yet finding nothing only made Minato Namikaze more frantic with worry. He feared that Kushina Uzumaki would disappear forever, never to be found again.

However, just as Minato Namikaze once again used the Body Flicker Technique to move, a familiar splash of vivid color suddenly entered his sight.

Minato Namikaze's eyes lit up. He stopped instantly, then moved closer to a tree trunk and stared intently at the red strand of hair.

"Found it!"

Minato Namikaze's heart leaped with joy. Back at the Ninja Academy, the very first time he saw Kushina Uzumaki, he had fallen for her red hair and left a deep impression of it in his mind.

How could he fail to recognize this as the "signpost" Kushina Uzumaki had left behind?

Without waiting for any reinforcements from the village, the highly skilled and bold Minato Namikaze swiftly pursued the trail Kushina Uzumaki had left behind.

Night.

Near the northeastern border of the Land of Fire.

After nearly half a day of high-intensity travel, the three Hidden Cloud ninja finally slowed down.

They led Kushina Uzumaki, whose hands had been bound behind her back and who had "woken up" some time ago, by a thick rope. As they proceeded unhurriedly through the dense forest, they recovered the greater part of the chakra they had expended.

Because in their eyes, this mission had already succeeded.

Moreover, the rendezvous point they had agreed upon with the comrades coming to meet them was just ahead.

More importantly, all three of them, as well as the comrade coming to meet them, were jonin.

Although the three of them were among the weakest tier of jonin, unsuited for head-on combat and instead skilled at infiltration and assassination, the one coming to meet them had been promoted to jonin only after gaining entry into the same Lightning Release Chakra Mode used by their Raikage.

And in their eyes, Lightning Release Chakra Mode was synonymous with "invincibility."

"Ah!"

Kushina Uzumaki suddenly cried out and fell face-first heavily onto the ground.

Exhausted in both body and mind, with despair wrapped around her, she could no longer hold on.

But the Hidden Cloud ninja holding her rope did not care about her feelings or thoughts. He merely yanked her roughly off the ground and forcibly dragged her onward.

But at that very moment—

A yellow streak of light cut through the pitch-black night, rapidly approaching from behind.

Then, with lightning speed, it silently swept across the throat of the Hidden Cloud jonin walking at the rear.

"Urgh..."

A pained cry suddenly rang out, jolting Kushina Uzumaki from her lifeless daze, along with the two Hidden Cloud jonin ahead.

Although the Hidden Cloud jonin at the rear had sensed something before the attack and reacted as a jonin should, the opponent was simply too fast. A single strike had completely extinguished his life.

The newcomer was none other than Minato Namikaze, who had followed the "signposts" all the way here.

He had actually arrived a short while ago. The reason he had not acted was that he had wanted to find the best opportunity to strike, taking advantage of his speed to kill two of them at once.

But plans could not keep up with changes.

When he saw those damned Hidden Cloud ninja treating his beloved Kushina Uzumaki like that, he could no longer restrain the fury in his heart. He exploded with his maximum speed and instantly killed one of the jonin on the spot.