Bad News

On Konoha's main thoroughfare,

a cheerful atmosphere filled the air. Some people wore excited expressions, some looked emotional, and some even wept with joy.

"Come on, Boss Lady, can't you be a little more straightforward? My dad doesn't like people who act all timid and awkward."

Feng Xun rubbed his forehead and stared speechlessly at the girl behind Minato.

"W-What can I do? Those are Minato's family. Isn't it normal for me to feel embarrassed?" Kushina glared at Feng Xun as she defended herself.

"Heh, I'm practically Minato's family too, but I've never seen you act embarrassed around me. You've beaten me more times than even my dad has."

"You're my little brother. That's different!" Kushina lowered her head and spoke softly.

"Being your little brother really does me a disservice!" Feng Xun shrugged, too lazy to bother with her anymore.

"They're here! The troops are back!"

At that moment, a villager wearing a headscarf pointed excitedly toward the end of the street.

Then, wave after wave of cheers rang out across the skies above Konoha.

"Lady Tsunade! Long live Lord Orochimaru! Long live the Sannin!"

"Lady Tsunade, you've worked hard!"

"Look, that ninja in the middle of the formation is my family member!"

"Xingyan, I-I'm here!!!"

"Lord Orochimaru! I want to have your babies!!!"

"Damn, wasn't there something weird mixed into those cheers?"

Feng Xun, squeezed amid the crowd, shuddered and hastily cut off his own train of thought.

But weren't these people a little too enthusiastic? I couldn't even see what was happening in the ranks.

Glancing at Minato beside him, who looked equally troubled, Feng Xun's eyes shifted as an idea came to him. He leaned close to Minato's ear and whispered, "Big brother, in a moment, xx@$&..."

After listening, Minato looked somewhat hesitant. "Wouldn't that be a little inappropriate?"

"There's nothing inappropriate about it! Besides, this is all so Boss Lady can see Dad and the others sooner." Feng Xun continued to coax him.

Minato looked at Kushina behind them and made up his mind.

After having Kushina and Feng Xun step back some distance, Minato formed hand seals with both hands. "Transformation Technique!!!"

A burst of white smoke rose, and Minato transformed into a tree several meters tall.

The green tree that had suddenly appeared in the crowd caused a stir, and people instinctively cleared an open space around it.

Looking at the path Minato had "opened up," Feng Xun said smugly, "Brother Minato, let's take this chance and squeeze our way forward."

And so, a bizarre sight appeared among the crowd: a green tree several meters tall, sprouting legs from its roots and walking forward through the crowd as if no one else existed, with two half-grown children in tow.

Before long, the tree and the two children had squeezed their way to the very front of the crowd.

"Brother Minato, you can change back now," Feng Xun said to Minato.

"Poof!!!" Minato returned to his original form, though perhaps uncomfortable with all the gazes around him, his eyes darted away uneasily.

Seeing this, Feng Xun patted Minato on the shoulder and said carelessly, "All right, Brother Minato, stop being shy. The formation is almost here. Let's look for Dad and Mom. Since they're Elite Jōnin, they shouldn't be too far back."

At Feng Xun's words, Minato also set aside his embarrassment and began searching the ranks for their parents.

However, even after the vanguard passed before them, neither Minato nor Feng Xun saw any sign of their parents.

Feng Xun glanced at Minato, whose face had gone slightly pale, and forced out a laugh. "Even though Dad and Mom always say how brave and skilled they are, maybe they were just handling logistics this time. Brother, don't worry too much."

"That's right, they just haven't appeared yet." Feng Xun emphasized it again.

Kushina looked at Feng Xun's forced smile and Minato's worried expression. She opened her mouth, unsure how she could comfort them.

As the troops continued to pass before them, the smile on Feng Xun's face grew increasingly grim. He seemed like a keg of gunpowder ready to explode, needing only one final spark to set him off...

Gradually, after the last soldier passed the three of them, Feng Xun seemed to have all the strength drained from his body and collapsed to his knees beside the street.

Even Minato stood there blankly, looking utterly unable to believe it.

"Xun, Minato, you..."

Behind them, Kushina bit down on her lower lip. She wanted to comfort them, yet did not know where to begin. She had suffered the same pain before, and she knew that it hurt far more fiercely than any physical wound.

"Dad and Mom can't be dead. We already made a promise. They said they would come back. Right, they must have gone to carry out another mission. That's it, it has to be."

His pale lips parted as Feng Xun, on the verge of collapse, desperately searched for reasons that could make sense.

Right, the Sannin. As the leaders of this battle, they had to know where Dad and Mom had gone.

Feng Xun looked at the troops that had already moved far away, gritted his teeth, and then, amid everyone's astonished gazes, ran after the departing ninja force.

"Xun, come back!"

Minato snapped out of his daze and saw his younger brother charging toward the ninja troops. He could not help calling out anxiously.

But Feng Xun, whose mind was already in complete turmoil, had no intention of stopping. He simply lowered his head and ran forward.

He wanted to question the Sannin himself. He wanted to hear with his own ears that his parents were safe.

"Damn it!"

Seeing that his brother had no intention of stopping, Minato clenched his fists and, under Kushina's astonished gaze, rushed after him as well.

Their actions successfully drew the attention of the surrounding ninjas.

"Stop! You can't come any closer!"

The ninja trailing at the rear of the formation hurriedly moved to stop Feng Xun and Minato.

"Move!!!"

Consumed by grief and indignation, Feng Xun ignored the man's attempt to stop him. Instead, he burst forward with even greater speed and directly crossed the man's line of defense.

Then, amid a commotion, Feng Xun arrived before Tsunade and Orochimaru.

"Who are you? How dare you block my path?" Orochimaru, known as the Cold Lord, looked at the two children before him with displeasure.

At this point, Orochimaru had not yet become the bio-madman he would be in the future, but his reputation as the ruthless and merciless Cold Lord was no joke.

"Sorry, Lord Orochimaru. This is my younger brother. He's still too young and doesn't know any better. You..."

Before Minato could finish, Feng Xun interrupted his introduction and got straight to the point. "My name is Feng Xun, and I am Feng Changyou's son. I want to know where my parents are now."

After hearing Feng Xun's words, Orochimaru raised an eyebrow. He looked at the two of them, apparently pondering something.

"You said you're Sister Lianxiang's child?" Tsunade, who had remained silent until then, spoke up.

Feng Lianxiang was his and Minato's mother.

"That's right. Lady Tsunade, do you know where my parents are now?"

Faced with the expectant gazes of the two children, Tsunade hesitated before gradually lowering her head. "I'm sorry. When Sister Lianxiang and Feng Changyou infiltrated the Rain Ninja headquarters, they were discovered by Hanzo, and they already..."

Feng Xun did not hear the rest, because he fled. Under everyone's watchful eyes, he fled from the crowd.

The clear sky blazed with sunlight above his head, yet it could not warm the coldness in his heart. He could not believe that this family, which had made him feel so happy, had lasted only seven years.

(Some people might think that, despite clearly possessing an adult's soul, the protagonist was still so unable to remain calm.

But think about it carefully. He had no parents in his previous life, and after finally gaining parents in this life, they had only been with him for seven years. No matter who it was, they would probably react this way, right?)