Think What Minato Would Do

That afternoon, at Konoha No. 2 Park.

"What's going on?"

Watching Kushina rummage endlessly through her little bag, seemingly searching for something, Obito quietly asked Hideki.

"She said Teacher Minato had something to do... Just go along with it. She's our teacher's wife, after all," Hideki quietly replied.

"Stay sharp." Kakashi looked serious. "I heard from my old man that our teacher's wife is no joke. They call her the most untouchable person in Konoha. When she gets angry, even the Hokage has to hide at home and refuse to come out."

"Anyway, don't make her angry."

Hideki, who deeply agreed, nodded. Obito, however, looked confused.

"Kushina... I mean, our teacher's wife is that scary? She seems pretty gentle to me. And generous, too."

Obito really was the kind of person who could say Orochimaru seemed kind and approachable.

His impression of Kushina was still stuck on that deluxe bowl of Ichiraku Ramen.

"Strange... I clearly remember bringing it. Ah! Found it, found it."

At last, Kushina found her "teaching tool" amid the pile of jingling treasures in her little bag—a delicate Bell.

She placed the Bell in her palm and gave it a shake, making it jingle. Narrowing her eyes, she smiled. "Kids, the test is about to begin."

"No matter what method you use, as long as you can snatch this Bell from my hand, you pass!"

As she spoke, Kushina kept shooting looks at Hideki, as though confirming something.

"..." Hideki had no idea how to respond.

I could help bring you to the meeting point, but I couldn't exactly tell you the contents of the test too, could I? Wouldn't that be openly admitting I leaked the questions?

Looking at the lone Bell in Kushina's hand, Hideki felt troubled.

There were supposed to be two of them, and the test was meant to examine the trust and bonds between teammates.

But Kushina clearly hadn't thought that far ahead. She had probably only heard "snatch the bells" from Minato.

"So then... the test begins?" Kushina announced in a questioning tone.

The three boys, Hideki included, froze for a moment. The first to react was actually Obito.

"Then excuse me, Kushina!" Obito charged straight at her!

What a joke. In the eyes of the Uchiha's number one genius, the meaning of life was to keep attacking!

"You should call me teacher's wife!"

Kushina merely gently placed her fist on top of Obito's head, and then...

Bam.

The Uchiha's number one genius had fallen.

Kakashi and Hideki: !!!!!

The two exchanged a glance and saw the signal to retreat in each other's eyes!

Damn, this test felt even harder than the graduation test!

Minato was strong. He would seriously test the three boys, holding back while still giving them the greatest pressure possible.

But Kushina was different!

Looking at the huge bump swelling on Obito's head, which even seemed to be faintly smoking.

The two instantly realized that this test was definitely not simple!

Hideki's head was buzzing. Snatching bells wasn't supposed to be like this! Looking at this, why did it feel like they had to risk their lives to get it?

"What do we do?" Kakashi swallowed and asked.

Perhaps even Kakashi himself had not noticed that, in certain situations—special situations like this one—he had already developed the habit of relying on Hideki.

"We can't fight her head-on. We can't confront her directly. We can't... Anyway, let's rescue Obito first! Cover me, Kakashi!"

Hideki said it through gritted teeth.

They probably would not need to use their ultimate moves just to snatch a Bell, but they couldn't just stand by and watch Obito die.

The two exchanged another look, nodded in perfect understanding, then charged at Kushina from the left and right!

"Hm?" Kushina, who had been wondering whether she had hit too hard, raised her pretty brows at the sight.

The two little ones were charging fiercely. One sentence kept echoing through Kushina's mind: Think what Minato would do.

Mm, she had to take the test seriously.

So Kushina raised both fists.

"Holy—!" Kakashi, who had charged the fastest, immediately slammed on the brakes. He reached into his ninja tool pouch, flicked his wrist, and chose to let shuriken charge in his place.

Then he witnessed a scene he would never forget for the rest of his life.

Chakra coated Kushina's hands. Without even moving her feet from where she stood, she casually demonstrated how to catch shuriken barehanded!

Kakashi fired five in total. Little Pepper caught two with one hand and three with the other. After catching them, she even had time to think for a moment before bringing her hands together and squeezing hard.

With a crack, all five shuriken became a pile of scrap metal!

Gulp—

Kakashi's throat bobbed, and his mouth instantly went dry.

If he hadn't managed to stop himself in time...

At that moment, Hideki had already rushed forward.

Kakashi panicked, but instinctively wanted to give Hideki a thumbs-up. What a warrior!

Hideki charged right in front of Kushina, looking as though he would repeat Obito's fate in the next second.

"Hello, teacher's wife! You look so beautiful today!" Hideki, having rushed in front of Kushina, displayed an unprecedented desire to survive.

And sure enough, the move worked. Kushina's fist turned into a delicate finger pose as she smiled and prepared to flick Hideki's forehead.

"What a sweet talker..." Kushina was preparing to go easier on him, while also sighing that educating children truly was not so simple.

But Hideki had no intention of fighting Kushina. He would rather fight Root to the death, the kind where whoever ran was a coward, than provoke Little Pepper.

Hideki suddenly dipped down—not with some ground technique, but to grab the seemingly dead Obito!

"Kakashi! Smoke bomb!"

Hideki shouted, and Kakashi did not let him down. The smoke bomb was ready almost the instant Hideki yelled.

Bang! Smoke instantly exploded outward.

Hideki immediately tried to drag Obito away under cover of the smoke, but a small hand on his shoulder—and the enormous force within it—made his heart jump!

"You can't run away, little Hideki."

Kushina's voice was so gentle, gentle like a demon from hell.

At that moment, a sentence suddenly popped into Hideki's mind: Angels made themselves hideous so demons would fear them. Demons took on the forms people loved most in order to tempt all living things.

This was not the time to pretend he was cultured!

Hideki gritted his teeth, released Obito with both hands, and kicked him flying before forming hand seals.

Kakashi decisively caught him, but his heart went cold.

Trading Obito for Hideki—how were they supposed to fight this one?

But soon, Hideki's voice appeared beside Kakashi again.

"Run, run, run!" Hideki, who had escaped with the Substitution Technique, frantically urged him on!

The three boys fled in utter disarray. They vaguely heard another crack behind them. There was no need to guess—the wooden log used as the substitute was probably doomed!

Kakashi and Hideki were on the verge of tears. What should have been a simple test, a simple bell-snatching exercise, had turned into hell difficulty!

"Lord Hokage! I'll go stop Kushina right away!"

Inside the Hokage's Office, Minato watched as the scene in the crystal ball was about to turn into a horror film. He hurriedly volunteered, cold sweat already covering his forehead.

"Uh..." Hiruzen Sarutobi stared blankly for a long while. He looked at the crystal ball, then at the beard in his hand.

His beard had been falling out a little quickly these past two days...

"Well... Minato, Kushina should know her limits. Don't worry too much just yet."

"If you spoil them too much, it could backfire."

Hiruzen Sarutobi truly was an old hand. With one sharp observation, he tossed the three boys of Team 7 straight into the frying pan.

Again and again, they were fried.

Minato's mouth fell open, and his shocked expression gradually turned vacant.

Watching the three boys flee desperately inside the crystal ball, Minato had something he did not know whether he should say...