The ground beneath Minato's feet suddenly caved in and cracked apart. Though he reacted instantly and leaped into the air, his movement still suffered an unavoidable moment of hesitation. In that split-second opening, the other two chains, already poised to strike, latched onto him like a persistent disease, binding him tightly from head to toe.
"Got you!" Uncontainable delight flashed in Kushina's eyes.
The golden chains tightened rapidly, their runes blazing as they began forcefully sealing off and suppressing the flow of his chakra.
An uproar swept through the stands. No one had expected Minato, with his overwhelming advantage in speed, to be caught like this.
"Is it over?" Choza's eyes widened. He even forgot to put down the bag of chips in his hand.
Shikaku merely shook his head, his sharp gaze sweeping over the standard-issue kunai scattered seemingly at random across the field. "It's not that simple."
On the field, the "Minato" bound tightly in chains showed no trace of panic. Instead, he remained unusually composed. His gaze flicked almost imperceptibly over the kunai he had positioned beforehand, and the faintest knowing smile curved his lips.
"That's an impressive sealing jutsu," he even remarked calmly. "But..."
Before he finished speaking, the bound "Minato" vanished into a puff of white smoke-a shadow clone!
"When?!" The delight on Kushina's face froze, giving way to disbelief.
Almost simultaneously, she felt the faintest stir of air behind her. At some point, the real Minato had appeared at her back as though he had become part of the wind. The cold tip of his kunai rested lightly against the vital spot behind her heart.
"You..." Kushina whipped her head around, finding Minato's face slightly breathless but still gentle.
During that dizzying display of high-speed movement, he had not only controlled his real body flawlessly but also created and maintained a convincing shadow clone to draw her attention, while his real body slipped out of sight behind the dancing chains and into her blind spots. It had been an extreme test of his chakra reserves, control, and ability to execute a strategy.
"At the last moment," he explained softly, answering Kushina's unfinished question. "I made the switch at the exact instant the chains actually wrapped around the shadow clone, when the sensation of contact felt most convincing."
Kushina froze. She lowered her gaze to the golden chains, which gradually grew translucent and finally vanished as their chakra supply was cut off. A powerful sense of loss, mixed with a little resentment, welled up inside her. She had lost-beaten by tactics and attention to detail.
"I surrender." Her voice was quiet, tinged with defeat.
The instructor refereeing the match announced loudly, "The winner, Minato Namikaze!"
Minato immediately put away his kunai and offered Kushina his hand, his voice sincere. "Your chains are incredible. They're one of the strongest jutsu I've ever seen. Without that trick, I wouldn't have stood a chance."
Kushina looked at the clean, slender hand before her, its knuckles clearly defined. Rather than take it right away, she asked with a hint of reproach and hurt, "Were you and that Shinji guy working together to fool me? He said your speed was nothing special! Why didn't you use this move against Tsume Inuzuka in your last match?"
A loud voice suddenly rang out from the stands. "I'm innocent! If Minato's speed is 'nothing special,' then I'm a crawling turtle! Kushina, you can't just slander an innocent man!" It was Shinji Uchiha, raising his hand in protest and gleefully stirring the pot, drawing a ripple of quiet laughter.
Minato gave a helpless smile, open and gentle, with a touch of apology. "We really weren't lying to you. This tactic is very risky, especially when I'm already tired. In my last match against Tsume, her sense of smell and animal instincts could easily have exposed the shadow clone. If it failed, I could have been injured. But against you..." He paused, his gaze frank. "I trusted that even if I made a mistake, you would hold back in time and wouldn't really hurt me."
In the stands, Shikaku rubbed his chin and clicked his tongue. "Man... is this guy just oblivious, or was he born knowing how to do this? He makes it sound like an explanation, but it's actually a straight-up declaration of trust. That hits harder than any ninjutsu. Incredible!"
Choza finally stuffed another chip into his mouth and agreed indistinctly, "Still, Kushina really is ridiculously strong. Just looking at those golden chains made me nervous."
On the field, Kushina looked into Minato's clear blue eyes. The sincerity in them seemed genuine, and the lingering resentment in her chest suddenly dissolved. At last, she reached out, took his hand, and used it to pull herself to her feet. Her gaze remained stubborn, but now it also held unmistakable admiration.
"Next time, I'll definitely win," she declared firmly, as though making a vow.
"I look forward to it." Minato's reply was as gentle and sincere as ever.
Following the rules, the two formed the Seal of Confrontation. Just as their fingers were about to part, Minato seemed to remember something and added softly, in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Also, your hair looks like burning flames. It's beautiful, and so full of life."
Kushina stood utterly stunned. A blush swept uncontrollably across her cheeks and spread all the way to her ears. All the countless taunts she had endured because of her red hair, along with the nickname "Tomato," seemed to melt away before that simple, direct compliment, replaced by a warm tide.
She opened her mouth, wanting to argue or at least preserve her image. In the end, she merely lifted her chin a little, forced out a quiet "Hmph" in an attempt to look composed, and quickly averted her gaze. But she could not hide the bright red tips of her ears.
As Minato turned and walked toward his cheering classmates, Kushina watched his golden figure, dazzling in the sunlight. Unconsciously, she raised a hand and gently touched her fiery hair, her fingertips feeling a little hot.
The wind swept across the training ground, carrying a few fresh green leaves and brushing past the private feelings of the young boy and girl. At that moment, no one could have foreseen that this youthful match, filled with calculation, strength, speed, and a few hidden feelings, would become the opening of the legend of the future Fourth Hokage and his wife-one of its most important slides.
As the crowd gradually dispersed, Kushina quietly bent down in an unnoticed corner and quickly picked up one of the standard-issue kunai Minato had used. She carefully wiped the dirt from it with her sleeve, then tucked it into the deepest compartment of her ninja tool pouch, treating it like a precious treasure.
Shinji Uchiha, pretending to tie his shoelaces in a corner, caught every bit of it out of the corner of his eye-or rather, with his gossip-loving soul. The little version of himself in his mind was already typing furiously: "Log entry: key item [Future token of love: kunai] has been picked up by target B. Deviation from the historical timeline... hmm, currently impossible to calculate, but the plot's power to pull everything back into place is astonishing. Also, this romance is so sweet." He stood, brushed the dust from his knees, and strolled out of the training ground, keeping his deeds and fame to himself.
Before you continue