Hidden Cloud Village Rear · Supply Point
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The blazing explosions lit up the night sky. Granaries were blown apart, ammunition depots destroyed, and transport convoys turned into twisted wreckage amid the flames.
Hidden Cloud Village ninjas rushed out of their barracks, searching everywhere for that damned attacker. But aside from the burning ruins, there was nothing.
"It has to be that yellow rat again!" A captain drew his kunai and roared at the air.
"Search for him! He can't have gotten far!"
Dozens of Hidden Cloud Village ninjas scattered and searched the forest frantically. But they all knew it was futile.
That man came and went without a trace, leaving only devastation in his wake.
On a distant treetop, Minato Namikaze stood quietly.
Moonlight spilled across his golden hair as the night breeze stirred the hem of his clothes.
Watching the Hidden Cloud Village ninjas rage helplessly below, the corner of his mouth curled upward.
His master's words from a few days ago surfaced in his mind.
That day, his master had mysteriously pulled him aside, glanced around to make sure no one was eavesdropping, then lowered his voice.
"Minato, your strength is enough, but you're too honest at heart. You'll die young that way."
Minato froze for a moment. Before he could ask anything, his master leaned close to his ear and spoke as though imparting some peerless secret technique.
"I'll teach you a little mantra. It'll guarantee you live to ninety-nine."
Tianyi cleared his throat and recited each word distinctly.
"When the enemy advances, we retreat. When the enemy camps, we harass. When the enemy tires, we strike."
Minato's eyes widened more and more. Those twelve simple words were like lightning splitting apart the wall inside his mind.
He felt like a frog that had