The Roles of Kushina Uzumaki and Hyuga Rinka

Resting in the wilderness meant making do with what they had. Even with Tsunade's group taking turns on watch, none of them could count on a good night's sleep.

Fortunately, they were no ordinary people. They were ninja, and Tsunade had recently made them take on all sorts of strange missions. They had cleaned public restrooms, tidied up ranches, washed livestock, and cleared away manure. They had done plenty of it, too.

So Uchiha Yi and the others were used to hard, exhausting work.

Tsunade's missions had not noticeably improved their strength, but they had toughened them up.

Early the next morning, they washed up, ate a little, and hurried toward their destination. By noon, they had reached the outskirts of a valley.

"This is the place. Rest up, then deal with the enemies inside." Tsunade studied the valley for a moment before telling the three of them, "This time, you decide how to fight."

Uchiha Yi turned to Hyuga Rinka. "Sorry for the trouble."

Hyuga Rinka nodded slightly and formed a hand sign. "Byakugan, activate!"

The valley came into view through her Byakugan. "There are six Chakra signatures inside. Three aren't very strong, two are fairly strong, and one is very strong."

"Right. I'll take the strongest. Can you handle the other five?" Uchiha Yi drew the Sword of the Thunder God from behind his back. Tactics would do them little good here. The valley was easy to defend and hard to attack, with only one passage that offered a straightforward way in.

"Can you see any traps?" Uchiha Yi asked.

"The Byakugan can see a lot, but many traps won't show up." Hyuga Rinka shook her head slightly.

"Yi, why don't you let me do it? I can use the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique and set off every trap." Kushina Uzumaki was eager to try. She had thought of a way to help.

In strength, she was far behind Uchiha Yi. Even Hyuga Rinka was ahead of her for now, and Rinka's Byakugan made her more useful, too.

Kushina Uzumaki hated that. But this was different. She could use the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique to trigger the traps.

"No, I'll do it." Uchiha Yi's eyes instantly became the Three-Tomoe Sharingan. He expected plenty of traps inside; Explosive Tags, Kunai, and the like would be the most basic ones.

He trusted his speed. If he moved fast enough, those concealed weapons would never hit him. And if it came down to it, he still had the Flying Thunder God Technique.

His Flying Thunder God Technique was merely slow to activate and limited in range, making it unsuitable for a fight against a powerful opponent.

He could not match Minato Namikaze's performance in his fight against Uchiha Obito, but it was more than enough to handle ordinary ninja.

"Check for anything flammable," Uchiha Yi told Hyuga Rinka.

"Plenty. Their houses are all wooden, though there's a water source inside the valley." Hyuga Rinka's voice was subdued as she considered how they could get in.

Uchiha Yi hesitated for a moment, then asked Hyuga Rinka and Kushina Uzumaki, "How many Explosive Tags do you have?"

"Explosive Tags? Let me look!" Kushina Uzumaki rummaged through her gear, pulled out a stack of Explosive Tags, and handed them to Uchiha Yi.

Uchiha Yi took them and looked toward Hyuga Rinka. Without a word, she produced a Storage Scroll and handed it to him. "It's full of Explosive Tags."

What kind of teammates have I ended up with? Kushina Uzumaki had at least dozens of Explosive Tags, perhaps even a hundred.

And Hyuga Rinka carried hers in a Storage Scroll. They really had come prepared for this mission.

Meanwhile, he could not even manage to stockpile a few Explosive Tags. If he had this many to take into the Battle Space, he would have been tearing through it by now.

"Thanks. I'll drive them out. Wait at the valley entrance." Uchiha Yi gave them their instructions, then glanced at Tsunade. He did not ask her for help. He knew this was her test for them.

Uchiha Yi was hardly the timid sort. If anything, the Uchiha blood in his veins was beginning to boil.

"Be careful, Yi," Kushina Uzumaki urged.

"Don't worry. All it'll take is one fire." Uchiha Yi smiled confidently, then vanished from their sight in a blur.

"His Body Flicker Technique is so fast." Hyuga Rinka clenched her fists. She had thought she understood Uchiha Yi's strength well enough.

But she had never even forced him to use his Body Flicker Technique. The gap between them was far greater than she had realized.

Tsunade folded her arms and gave a soft snort. "That boy has plenty more up his sleeve."

As she spoke, Tsunade frowned slightly. For some reason, her chest seemed to have grown lately, and she was finding it hard to get used to. Bigger was not always better.

It got in the way during a fight.

Hyuga Rinka fell silent. Uchiha Yi really had hidden a great deal.

Uchiha Yi did not charge straight into the valley. Instead, he darted along its edge, rigging various small devices to the trees with Wire.

After a long while, Uchiha Yi took a deep breath and rushed into the valley.

With a burst of speed, Uchiha Yi broke through into the valley with ease.

His forceful entry triggered the traps inside. Countless Kunai and Shuriken shot toward him, but faint arcs of lightning shimmered around his body as he accelerated again, slipping through the trap-filled stretch with ease.

At the same time, he swung the Thunder God Sword again and again, knocking aside the concealed weapons flying at him.

"Who's there?" Uchiha Yi's sudden arrival quickly alerted everyone in the valley.

But what greeted them was a huge fireball.

Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!

A fireball roughly ten meters across hurtled toward them. They scattered to avoid it, and the houses behind them caught fire.

As the houses burned, explosions rang out along the valley's edge. Trees blazing with fire tumbled into the valley, followed by a rumble that shook the ground as countless rocks rolled down after them.

Uchiha Yi swiftly retreated toward the valley entrance.