Kushina kept running forward.
Her tiny body looked so frail at that moment.
It seemed even a stray breeze could knock her down.
Her little face was flushed, scratches marking her once delicate, adorable cheeks.
The bitter wind howled, and severed limbs occasionally flew past her eyes.
Kushina dared not stop. She ran and cried, tears and snot streaming down her face as she kept wiping them away with her little hands.
The sounds of fighting behind her slowly dwindled.
And... along with them, the old man's presence grew weaker and weaker.
She could clearly hear the clash of weapons behind her, as well as the old man's muffled grunts.
Each time, her body trembled, and she wanted to stop.
But the old man's stern reprimand always rang out.
She could only keep running...
Until... until something whistled through the air behind her... An overwhelming sense of mortal danger engulfed her.
Even though she sensed the danger approaching, at her age, she had no way to evade it.
She could only squeeze her eyes shut and keep running forward.
Several shuriken hurtled toward Kushina's tiny body, gleaming sharply beneath the cold, lifeless moonlight.
It was easy to imagine what would happen if all those attacks struck Kushina, who was only four or five years old.
Even with the Uzumaki Clan's constitution, she would not survive.
She was still too young...
But in the next instant, a figure forced his way through the encirclement and scooped Kushina up.
The old man used his already ravaged body to block the shuriken flying toward her.
At the same time, instinct drove him to twist in midair.
He sheltered Kushina in his arms, letting his own back hit the ground first.
"Second Grandpa..."
Kushina landed in Yuntian Uzumaki's arms, which cushioned the impact.
She