They Were Still Just Kids

The three kids of Team 7 ran and ran.

They followed a small river, slipped into another patch of woods, and were just about to reach the main road. Konoha Gate was not far away now.

Yet Kushina still had not caught up.

"That doesn't make sense," Ying Shu muttered, unable to believe it.

But the Shadow Clone he had sent out last had indeed held on for a long time. 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 eyes filled with longing, but even more hesitation.

After becoming ninja, leaving the village without reporting it was a serious offense. In severe cases, they could even be treated as rogue ninja.

Ying Shu, however, remained calm.

Whether they left the village or not did not matter. As long as he did not get beaten up, it was fine. Kushina had no sense of restraint when she struck. He had no desire to hand Danzo a free kill.

Stealing the bells was a small matter. Giving Danzo a good guy card was the real problem.

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

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

It was said that once she closed her eyes, everything within ten kilometers would become crystal clear.

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

Ying Shu could not help sighing. Sure enough, Kushina had taught him a lesson... Being weak felt awful.

I need to train twice as hard when I get back. Ying Shu quietly made up his mind. He could not put aside the development of Hydrogen Release, but he also needed to master that huge pile of ninjutsu as soon as possible.

Even if the second stage of Hydrogen Release would not be completed anytime soon, he still needed some ability to protect himself.

The three immediately headed toward Konoha Gate.

Though Kakashi was somewhat hesitant, he still joined the group without a second thought.

Obito, on the other hand, was reluctant to leave. He wished he could wear his forehead protector even while bathing and sleeping, but today...

"Damn it! I'll train hard when I get back! This is the last time... 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. Kushina's concerned expression made him forget about the headache.

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

Only then did Kushina let out a breath of relief. Her worried expression immediately turned into a complaint. "It's all your fault. Why did you suddenly appear? I thought you were one of little Ying Shu's Shadow Clones..."

"It was my fault. I couldn't dodge in time. It had nothing to do with you, Kushina."

A girlfriend was never wrong. The one at fault was always the insufficiently outstanding boyfriend. Minato followed this principle thoroughly, but Kushina's words also reminded him... His three students still seemed to be running away?

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

"About half an hour. A little faster than last time." Kushina was somewhat embarrassed. Since she had thought he 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.

With all that monstrous strength having nowhere to go, it was only natural that Kushina had no sense of restraint when she attacked.

Of course, Minato's habit of simply accepting everything had also done plenty to fuel Kushina's arrogance.

"Half an hour..." Minato rubbed his brow, then gently touched the small bump on his head. The feeling of being slightly dizzy yet jolted awake by pain was truly something else.

"They shouldn't have gone 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 quickly as possible and tell them that Kushina was actually a gentle person.

Otherwise, it would be troublesome if the children were scared out of their wits.

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

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

"They left my sensing range about ten minutes ago." Kushina sighed and looked dejectedly at the bells in her palm. "The kids must be 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 reason.

But his survival instincts made Minato choose a different way of putting it. "You were just too anxious, Kushina... They're still just kids, after all. It's normal that they can't understand how you feel."

Minato became a little sun, and much of the gloom in Kushina's eyes immediately dispersed.

"Now, shall we go find them together?"

"Yeah!"

Team 7's process of walking out through Konoha Gate could not exactly be called thrilling, but it certainly was not carefree either.

There was no questioning and no registration, but all three could clearly feel gaze after gaze sweeping over them.

There were not only Byakugan users, but other sensory ninja as well. Konoha Gate was lax on the outside and tight on the inside, far less simple than it appeared.

Only after walking a considerable distance did Ying Shu finally let out a breath.

It was not as though he had never left Konoha Gate before. The Ninja Academy had organized spring outings, and on one of those days, he had even received plenty of homemade love sushi from his female classmates.

But that time had felt ordinary. He had even briefly thought, Konoha's defenses are so lax.

Yet now that he had grown stronger and stepped beyond Konoha Gate again, this feeling of having no secrets was truly unpleasant.

Starting out as a Hyuga might not have been so bad either, Ying Shu thought.

But it was only a thought. In Ying Shu's Shinobi World values, the Sage Body ranked above the Sharingan, which ranked above cataracts.

"So where are we going now?"

After walking for a while longer, Obito suddenly asked.

Kakashi also looked at Ying Shu. Apparently, all the dirty work of making decisions had been handed over to Ying Shu.

Ying Shu hesitated for a moment. "How about we go to the place where we had our spring outing? I remember there's a river nearby. We can blow up a few fish and eat them. I'm starving..."

The suggestion was unanimously approved.

After being "hunted down" by Kushina for half the day, their stamina had been seriously drained.

The three immediately set off in the right direction and soon reached their destination.

The lush green grass was fresh and soft. A clear stream ran nearby. Under the bright sun and gentle breeze, the three boys felt much better.

The Ninja Academy's spring outing site was not too far from Konoha. If anything unexpected happened, Konoha could provide support immediately.

Still, no matter what, it was definitely outside the barrier and surveillance range.

Team 7, having escaped disaster, planned to replenish their strength and return around sunset. Leaving the village without permission would definitely earn them a scolding, but that was still better than getting beaten up.

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

Ying Shu divided up the work, and Obito immediately dashed toward the woods nearby.

Kakashi went into the water to catch fish.

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

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

"There." Kakashi tossed the fish to Ying Shu.

"Not bad!" Ying Shu gave him a thumbs-up. His task was to gut the fish.

But at that very moment, an unexpected change occurred!

A shuriken sliced through the air with a sharp whistle, flying straight for Ying Shu's throat!

"Huh!?" Ying Shu's pupils contracted. On instinct, 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.

Ying Shu pulled off a miracle with brute force. The fat fish was nearly split in half, but the shuriken was knocked to the ground.

"Enemy attack!!!!!"

Ying Shu shouted at the top of his lungs, not to warn Kakashi, who was already 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 Ying Shu. Their angles were trickier this time, but they came from the same direction.

Ying Shu did not dare let his guard down. He pulled out a kunai and knocked them away with two clangs, while his mind raced.

He underestimated us. Probably because we aren't wearing forehead protectors. So he's not Root... An enemy village ninja?

The enemy was hidden while they were exposed, but that was not what worried Ying Shu the most. Obito had only just run off, and he was probably in even greater danger!

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

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

At the same time, Ying Shu simply tore off his ninja tool pouch. He held it in one hand and kept pulling out shuriken with the other, unleashing a barrage toward the enemy's direction!

Ying Shu's shurikenjutsu was actually quite good. The old man had taught him plenty. Against targets within ten meters, he could hit ninety-nine times out of a hundred.

But the enemy was now over a hundred meters away. Ying Shu could only become Zhou Yu and search online for Huang Gai.

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

Swish—

A shuriken cut through the air. Ying Shu's blind shot had actually hit the mark, and this shuriken arrived right in front of the man.

"They're just two Konoha brats. Courting death!" The man's eyes turned cold. He drew his blade and chopped the shuriken aside, then lowered his body and moved like the wind. Dodging the stray shuriken, he charged straight toward the white-haired brat!

Ying Shu and Kakashi quickly caught sight of the attacker's appearance.

He wore no mask, but he had a Kumogakure forehead protector. Tall and thin, he moved with incredible speed, and the sharp long blade in his hand gleamed beneath the sunlight.

He was a ninja. A Kumogakure ninja!

"Kakashi, hold steady!"

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

A month ago, when Ying Shu's group had faced Uchiha Retsu, they had nearly been wiped out in a single exchange.

Uchiha Retsu had only been a Chunin, and even though he had struck ruthlessly, he would not truly kill the three of them.

But this situation was different!

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

The situation was urgent and incredibly dangerous.

Yet the more dangerous it became, the less nervous Ying Shu felt. Instead... he was somewhat excited!

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

When the old man asked why he wanted to become a ninja, he could also pretend to be profound and say it was for nuclear peace in the Shinobi World.

But only Ying Shu himself knew...

He had always been a practical person, a simple and unpretentious person, a person free from vulgar interests.

He did not train hard to save his own life, nor did he possess any lofty ideals.

He only wanted to use his strength, when facing an enemy, to make that enemy kneel and sing of conquest!

At this moment, there was only battle!