They Were Still Children, After All

The three little members of Team 7 ran and ran.

Following the small river, they burrowed into another patch of woods. The main road was almost in sight, and Konoha Gate was not far away.

Yet Kushina did not seem to have caught up.

"That doesn't make sense," Hideki muttered, somewhat unable to believe it.

But the Shadow Clone he had sent out last had indeed held on for quite a while. It had already broken today's record.

"So what do we do now? Are we really leaving the village?" Kakashi looked toward the distant gate, his gaze filled with longing, but even more hesitation.

After becoming ninja, leaving the village without reporting it was a serious offense. They could be treated as rogue ninja.

But Hideki remained calm.

It did not matter whether they left the village or not. As long as he did not get beaten up, it was fine. Kushina never knew her own strength, and he did not want to hand Danzo a free kill for nothing.

Stealing the Bell was a minor matter. Giving Danzo a good-guy card was the serious one.

"Let's go. Sensei's wife might have gotten lost, but if she really wants to find us, it'll probably only take minutes," Hideki said.

This involved a bit of knowledge—the Uzumaki Clan's exclusive ability, Mind's Eye of the Kagura.

It was said that once she closed her eyes, everything within a ten-kilometer radius would become crystal clear.

Hideki was certain Kushina had gotten lost. Once she got anxious because she truly could not find the three of them, she would probably activate Mind's Eye of the Kagura in minutes.

This made Hideki sigh again and again. Still, Kushina had really taught him a lesson... Being weak felt awful.

I need to train twice as hard when I get back. Hideki secretly made up his mind. He could not set aside the development of Hydrogen Release, but he also needed to master that whole pile of ninjutsu as soon as possible.

Even if the development cycle for Hydrogen Release: Second Stage might not be so short, he still needed some ability to protect himself.

The three of them immediately headed toward Konoha Gate.

Although Kakashi was somewhat hesitant, he still walked with the group without a second thought.

Compared to him, Obito was far more reluctant. He wanted to wear his forehead protector even while bathing and sleeping, yet today...

"Damn it! When I get back, I'll train properly! This is the last time... From now on, I'll never let anyone force me to take off my forehead protector again!"

"Minato? You're awake? How are you? Is your head spinning?"

Minato opened his eyes, and Kushina's concerned expression made him forget his headache.

Perhaps this was the power of love. Minato forced out a smile and said, "I'm fine, Kushina."

Only then did Kushina sigh in relief. Her concerned expression immediately turned into a complaint. "It's all your fault. Why did you suddenly appear? I thought you were little Hideki's Shadow Clone..."

"It was my fault. I failed to dodge in time. It had nothing to do with you, Kushina."

A girlfriend was always right. The one at fault was forever the insufficiently outstanding self. Minato followed this principle thoroughly, but Kushina had also reminded him... His three students still seemed to be running away right now?

"Um... Kushina, how long was I out?" Minato asked.

"About half an hour. A little faster than last time." Kushina was somewhat embarrassed. Because she had thought it was a Shadow Clone, she had not held back much.

Try to understand. As the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Kushina was destined to be unable to leave the village freely.

She had nowhere to vent all that Chakra-Enhanced Strength, which was also why she never knew her own strength.

Of course, Minato's meek acceptance had also done plenty to encourage Kushina's arrogance.

"Half an hour..." Minato rubbed his brow, then gently touched the little bump on his head. His head was a little dizzy, yet the pain could still jolt him awake. The sensation was truly something else.

"They shouldn't have run too far. Kushina, can you try sensing their location?"

Minato did not want anything else right now. He only wanted to find his three students as soon as possible, then tell them that Kushina was actually a gentle person.

Otherwise, it would be troublesome if they had frightened the children too badly.

But Kushina shook her head. "I can't."

"Thanks for the trouble... Huh?" Minato was a little confused.

"They left my sensory range around ten minutes ago." Kushina sighed. Looking at the Bell in her palm, she seemed somewhat dejected. "The children must have been really scared of me..."

"..." Minato really wanted to tell Kushina, You're overthinking it. They just don't want to die. There's no other meaning behind it.

But his survival instincts made Minato choose different words. "You were just too anxious, Kushina... They were still children, after all. It's normal that they couldn't understand how you felt."

Minato transformed into a little sun, and the gloom in Kushina's eyes immediately faded quite a bit.

"Now, shall we go find them together?"

"Yeah!"

The process of Team 7 leaving through Konoha Gate was not exactly perilous, but it certainly was not brazen either.

No one questioned them, and no one registered them, but all three clearly sensed gaze after gaze sweeping over them.

It was not only the Byakugan. There were other sensory-type ninja as well. Konoha Gate was lax on the outside and tight within, far less simple than it looked.

Only after they had walked a considerable distance did Hideki finally let out a breath.

It was not as if he had never left through Konoha Gate before. The Ninja Academy had organized field trips, and that day he had even received plenty of homemade love sushi from his female classmates.

But that time had felt completely ordinary. He had even briefly thought, Konoha's defenses are really this lax?

Yet as his strength had grown, stepping out of Konoha Gate again gave him this feeling of having no secrets at all. He truly disliked it.

Starting with the Hyuga Clan doesn't seem too bad either, Hideki thought to himself.

But it was only a thought. In Hideki's Shinobi World value system, a Sage Body was greater than a Sharingan, which was greater than cataracts.

"So where are we going now?"

After walking for a while longer, Obito suddenly asked.

Kakashi also looked at Hideki. Clearly, Hideki had taken over the dirty, tiring work of making decisions.

Hideki hesitated for a moment. "How about we go to where we had our field trip? I remember there was a river nearby. We can blow up a few fish to eat. I'm starving..."

The proposal was unanimously approved.

After being "hunted down" by Kushina for half the day, they had expended a tremendous amount of stamina.

The three immediately found their direction and set off again, soon arriving at their destination.

The lush green grass was fresh and soft, and a clear little stream ran nearby. The sun shone brightly, and a gentle breeze brushed their faces. All three boys felt much better.

The Ninja Academy's field-trip location was not too far from Konoha. If anything sudden happened, Konoha could provide support immediately.

But no matter what, it was certainly beyond the barrier and surveillance.

Team 7, having taken refuge there, planned to replenish themselves and return when the sun was close to setting. They would definitely be scolded for leaving the village without permission, but that was still better than getting beaten up.

"Obito, go find some branches and start a fire. Kakashi and I will catch fish."

Hideki assigned the tasks, and Obito immediately dashed toward the nearby woods.

Kakashi, meanwhile, went into the water to catch fish.

Speaking of which, although Hideki had caught plenty of fish to eat over the past half year, when it came to fishing skills, Kakashi was still the best.

Kakashi casually pulled out a kunai, aimed at a huge fish in the clear stream, and thrust it down with a swish!

"Here." Kakashi tossed the fish to Hideki.

"Not bad!" Hideki gave him a thumbs-up. His job was to gut the fish.

But at that very moment, a sudden change occurred!

A shuriken sliced through the air with a sharp whistle, shooting straight toward Hideki's throat!

"Huh!?" Hideki's pupils contracted. Instinctively, he grabbed the fish with both hands and swung it at the shuriken. The shuriken was sharp, but fortunately, the fish had plenty of fat.

Hideki's strength worked a miracle. The fat fish was nearly split in half, but the shuriken was knocked to the ground as well.

"ENEMY ATTACK!!!!!"

Hideki shouted at the top of his lungs, not to warn Kakashi, who had already begun taking cover, but to warn Obito.

The shuriken had come from Obito's direction!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Two more shuriken flew out, both aimed at Hideki. This time, the angles were trickier, but they came from the same direction.

Hideki did not dare be careless. He pulled out a kunai and knocked them down with two clangs, while his mind raced.

He underestimated us. It must be because we aren't wearing forehead protectors. Looks like it isn't Root... A ninja from an enemy village?

The enemy was hidden while they were exposed, but that was not what worried Hideki most. Obito had only run off a short while ago, and he was probably in even greater danger now!

"I'll circle around. Cover me, Hideki!" Kakashi clearly understood this as well and shouted in a low voice.

Hideki did not waste words. He immediately pulled a smoke bomb from his pocket and threw it along Kakashi's route.

At the same time, Hideki simply tore off his ninja tool pouch, holding it in one hand while using the other to pull out shuriken. He unleashed a barrage toward the enemy's direction!

Hideki's shuriken technique was actually quite good. The old man had taught him plenty. Against a target within ten meters, he could hit ninety-nine times out of a hundred.

But the enemy was now over a hundred meters away, so Hideki could only become Zhou Yu and look for Huang Gai online.

"Damn it! Did I misjudge them?" A figure cursed under his breath in the woods. He had underestimated the strength of these two brats!

Whoosh—

A shuriken sliced through the air. Hideki's blind throw had actually found its mark, and that shuriken arrived right in front of the man.

"They're just two Konoha brats. They're courting death!" The man's gaze turned cold. He drew his blade and cut down the shuriken, then lowered his body and moved like the wind. Dodging those stray shuriken, he charged toward the little white-haired one!

Hideki and Kakashi soon saw the attacker's appearance.

He wore no mask over his face, but he had a Kumogakure forehead protector. Tall and lean, he moved extremely fast, and the sharp long blade in his hand gleamed brilliantly beneath the sunlight.

He was a ninja, a Kumogakure ninja!

"Kakashi, hold steady!"

Hideki shouted and rushed to support Kakashi. To infiltrate so close to Konoha, this Kumogakure ninja was clearly no ordinary opponent. He might even be a Jonin!

A month ago, when Hideki and the others faced Uchiha Retsu, they had nearly been wiped out in a single exchange.

Uchiha Retsu had only been a Chunin, and even if he had been ruthless, he would not have truly killed the three of them.

But the situation now was different!

Not only was the enemy very likely a Jonin, he would absolutely strike to kill. Konoha's front lines were still fighting Kumogakure!

The situation was urgent and incomparably dangerous.

Yet the more it was like this, the less nervous Hideki felt. Instead... he was somewhat excited!

Before others, he could say that he trained hard to serve Konoha and bring glory to the village.

When the old man had asked why he wanted to become a ninja, he could even pretend that it was for nuclear peace in the Shinobi World.

But only Hideki himself knew...

He had always been a practical man, a simple and unadorned man, a man who had risen above base tastes.

He trained hard not to preserve his life, nor did he have any lofty ideals.

He simply wanted, whenever he encountered an enemy, to use his strength to make that enemy kneel and sing of conquest!

At this moment, there was only battle!