Kushina: I'm Lying

Ying Shu's expression immediately darkened as he ran into the room.

He promptly moved away from the door—hiding behind it would only make him look suspicious.

Ying Shu refilled the boiled-dry kettle with cold water and lit the stove beneath it.

During that time, he never heard another knock, but he did not hear the Root agent's departing footsteps either.

First Orochimaru, and now Danzo. This is getting a little serious.

Ying Shu muttered to himself.

It was not thieves breaking in that scared people, but thieves keeping their eyes on them. Orochimaru's contact with him had at least been relatively benign, but Danzo was different.

To be honest, Ying Shu had already prepared to resist. If that Root agent tried to force his way in, Ying Shu would have made some kind of commotion nearby no matter what.

In broad daylight, he refused to believe Root would dare abduct someone in full view of everyone.

What, were they going to accuse him of being a spy?

Screech—

The water boiled.

Yet there was still no movement outside.

Remaining vigilant, Ying Shu took out cup after cup of instant noodles and soaked them in hot water. But even after he unknowingly finished every last one, the knocking never resumed.

Just as Ying Shu breathed a sigh of relief, thinking the Root agent had already gone far away, faint footsteps suddenly sounded from above the roof.

Without another word, Ying Shu formed two Rasengan!

With his ears pricked and his head tilted, Ying Shu knew Root would not be that easy to shake off. But if Root dared to use force today, Senju Ying Shu would turn hostile!

Come to think of it, Ying Shu had become increasingly proficient with the Rasengan, especially after last night.

The Senju Clan possessed a special constitution, as well as a special method of extracting chakra.

Before this, Ying Shu had always used the standard "civilian" version.

According to the old man, ordinary chakra extraction techniques simply could not fully activate the Senju Clan's special constitution. The amount of chakra possessed by the Senju Clan was on an entirely different level from ordinary people.

Ying Shu understood it too. This was the difference between a Sage Body and an ordinary mortal body.

Naruto had to suppress the Nine-Tails, yet he still had more than twice as much chakra as adult Kakashi.

After earning Kurama's recognition, he had over a hundred times Kakashi's chakra.

The chakra reserves of a Sage Body were always trustworthy.

And the Senju Clan's Sage Body was not merely impressive because of its massive reserves.

After Ying Shu began correcting his technique, he could mobilize chakra noticeably faster than before.

Hashirama could clap his hands and produce whatever jutsu he wanted, while Tobirama could raise a finger and enter instant-kill mode. Both benefited from this.

At that moment, Ying Shu held a Rasengan in each hand, his gaze cold and his ears pricked as he locked tightly onto the person on the roof.

The footsteps gradually moved from the roof to the eaves. Ying Shu fixed his eyes on the window, bent his knees slightly, and prepared to spring!

Ying Shu knew his own strength.

Genin might not have been enough to measure all of his abilities, but compared to those Root members who killed without blinking, the gap was still immense.

His Sage Body offered no advantage in the face of such overwhelming strength.

So he had to strike first, make a commotion, then flee amid the chaos!

Ying Shu had already mapped out an escape route in his mind.

From here, the nearest Konoha Police Force outpost was only three intersections and two streets away. With the cover provided by clones, shaking off Root would not be a problem!

But he had to cause this Root agent some trouble right from the start. Otherwise, no number of clones would be enough to evade capture.

Then, a bare foot suddenly appeared beside the window. It was not particularly large—bigger than Obito's or Kakashi's, but smaller than old man Minato's.

But how could Ying Shu care about that? What did the size of a Root agent's feet have to do with him?

Now!

His nerves stretched taut, Ying Shu charged forward. His Rasengan was not yet powerful enough to split mountains and shatter rocks, but it certainly could not have been much weaker than the imitation Rasengan made by the Copy Ninja.

But right in the middle of his dash—

The figure finally landed on the windowsill and met Ying Shu's eyes.

And Ying Shu finally saw the newcomer's face clearly.

It was a woman with red hair and a pretty face. She wore a bewildered expression and had a skewer of dango hanging from her mouth, making her look not particularly bright.

Not Root.

Of course she was not Root. Ying Shu had shared a bowl of ramen with this woman before. Wasn't she the little chili pepper, Kushina!?

Damn! Why was it Kushina!?

That was Ying Shu's first reaction. His second was that he could not stop!

Then...

Bang!!!

Five minutes later.

"Sorry. I thought you were taking an afternoon nap, and I was afraid knocking would disturb you, so..."

Kushina spoke with a guilty expression. Ying Shu sat obediently to one side, looking at the two nearly connected holes in the wall and feeling utterly dead inside.

He had been unable to stop in time, so he could only make a sharp turn. The price was that his cozy little home now had much better lighting.

"So... what did you need, Sister Kushina?" Ying Shu asked through gritted teeth.

Kushina coming over was not entirely a bad thing.

At least it proved Root had not continued pursuing him—or perhaps they had been scared off by Kushina.

Still, Ying Shu was curious. What was Kushina sneaking over here for?

"Actually... actually, it's because of Minato!" Kushina's gaze darted away as she scratched her head in an uncharacteristically sheepish manner. "He had something come up this afternoon, so your original... assessment, um, was entrusted to me."

"Really?" Ying Shu looked deeply suspicious. Kushina practically had the words "I'm lying" written across her face. Only a fool would believe her.

But then again, how did Kushina know where he lived?

"Of course it's true. He begged me for ages before I agreed." For some reason, Kushina suddenly found her confidence, but quickly realized something was wrong. Narrowing her eyes, she said, "Wait... little Ying Shu, are you doubting me?"

"No." Ying Shu spread his hands. "I'm just curious why you weren't waiting for us at the agreed location."

"Obviously, if I knew where you... huh?" The little chili pepper who had let something slip felt that something was off. When she looked at Ying Shu again, she saw his faintly amused expression.

For some reason, Kushina thought this little brat was absolutely infuriating!

"Sorry, Lord Hokage."

"Kushina, she..."

Inside the Hokage's office, Minato spoke with a face full of apology and guilt.

"It's nothing serious, Minato." Hiruzen Sarutobi waved his hand forgivingly. "Although you are Team 7's Jonin instructor, you will inevitably have to carry out special missions in the future. Having Kushina take your place occasionally is a good thing as well."

Minato quietly sighed in relief.

During the previous graduation assessment, Minato had returned in too much of a hurry and had not told Kushina.

This directly resulted in Kushina going berserk after Minato announced Team 7's debut at noon.

"Why didn't you call me for something as fun as being a Jonin instructor!?"

Whenever Minato recalled Kushina's wildly dancing red hair back then, his head began to ache. At the same time, he silently sympathized with the three little ones.

I hope Kushina doesn't do anything reckless...

Minato wore a bitter smile as he muttered inwardly.

Ying Shu: So this was why you sold my address to your girlfriend? Pay up, you bastard!