Trouble

When Kushina saw that Qianye Lan had accepted her invitation, her eyes curved into crescents as she smiled.

She had only been testing the waters and had not held out much hope. She had never expected Qianye Lan to actually agree.

Grandma Mito had told her to make more friends at the Ninja Academy. Did Qianye Lan count as a friend, then?

She reached out with her soft little hand and took hold of Qianye Lan, and they walked along with one leading the other.

Kushina's gesture left Qianye Lan slightly startled, but he let her lead him by the hand.

They soon reached the school gates, and Kushina was still asking, "Lan, what do you like to eat?"

Then a few unwelcome visitors appeared.

The person leading them wore a ninja Forehead Protector and had Shomaru and several others with him. As soon as he saw Kushina and Qianye Lan, he blocked their way.

Looking at the clearly hostile group, Qianye Lan gently pulled Kushina behind him and asked, "Need something?"

The person wearing the ninja Forehead Protector was named Langgu. He was a newly graduated Genin and Shomaru's older cousin.

He spent his days boasting to Shomaru about how many missions he had completed and how he had even been to the front lines.

In reality, his trip to the front lines had consisted of a month working in logistics, without ever seeing an enemy ninja.

But with that big mouth of his, he still managed to leave Shomaru utterly taken in.

He was also the reason Shomaru dared to act so arrogantly at the Ninja Academy.

Of course, Shomaru himself knew how to read people. He only provoked and bullied civilian students without much talent.

He was downright deferential toward clan ninjas and talented civilian ninjas like Qianye Lan and Minato Namikaze.

With his knack for bullying those beneath him and flattering those above him, along with his constant boasts about having a cousin who was a ninja, Shomaru had also gathered a few lackeys.

It was just that his usual methods had failed against Kushina this time.

To save face, he and his lackeys had scraped together 500 ryo and sought out his cousin, Langgu.

Once Langgu heard that the other party was only a new student who had not even graduated, he readily agreed.

After all, a mission like catching a cat usually paid them 5,000 ryo.

Their supervising Jonin would take a share of that money.

Then the team would divide the rest, leaving him with only a little over 1,000 ryo.

To him, dealing with a student who had not graduated was practically free money.

Hearing Qianye Lan's question, Langgu stepped forward and said, "Kid, this has nothing to do with you today. Get lost unless you want a beating."

After speaking, he made sure to adjust the Forehead Protector on his forehead, showing off his status as a ninja.

Qianye Lan sneered at his words. "You block our way for no reason, and now you want to beat us up?"

Seeing how defiant Qianye Lan was, Langgu inexplicably grew a little nervous. He deliberately turned to exchange a look with Shomaru.

This was their signal for asking whether someone was safe to mess with.

Shomaru hesitated for a moment, then nodded. In his view, however strong Qianye Lan was, he was still only a student. No matter how strong he was, could he beat his cousin, who was already a Genin?

Seeing Shomaru's affirmative signal, Langgu grinned viciously and clasped his hands together, cracking his knuckles.

"Kid, since you don't know what's good for you, I'll beat you up too!"

At that moment, Kushina pulled Qianye Lan behind her to shield him.

Langgu sneered at the sight. "Don't worry. I'll beat both of you up."

Shomaru and the others cheered Langgu on as well.

Meanwhile, the Third Hokage watched from the shadows, curious to see how Qianye Lan would resolve this.

Qianye Lan gently rested a hand on Kushina's shoulder. "Just let me handle this."

He looked at Langgu and sneered. "Beat me up too? Let's see whether trash like you can actually pull that off!"

Hearing those words, Langgu felt that his dignity had been trampled on. He charged straight at Qianye Lan, intending to teach him a lesson.

The Third Hokage also ordered the Anbu to intervene promptly if Qianye Lan fell at a disadvantage, though he did not believe Qianye Lan would lose.

In his eyes, Kushina was the future Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and Qianye Lan's talent was no less than the Sannin's.

As for that Genin? He would be lucky to become a Chunin in his lifetime.

By then, Langgu's fist had reached Qianye Lan's face.

Looking at an opponent riddled with openings, Qianye Lan felt rather speechless.

In his eyes, Langgu was wide open all over.

After deftly dodging Langgu's attack, Qianye Lan formed his hand into a knife-hand and struck Langgu's chin.

The heavy blow to his chin sent Langgu's head spinning. Then his vision went black, and he collapsed unconscious on the ground.

Seeing this, the Third Hokage remarked, "Young people really are healthy. They fall asleep the moment they lie down."

Qianye Lan then turned his gaze toward Shomaru and the others, but before he could speak, they turned and fled.

Qianye Lan was left speechless. Seriously, you're not even going to bother with your companion?

Qianye Lan and Kushina exchanged a glance, clearly somewhat at a loss.

At the Third Hokage's instruction, the Anbu disguised themselves as members of the Konoha Military Police Force and appeared at just the right moment. "We'll take care of him."

Seeing that someone would handle it, Qianye Lan and Kushina breathed a sigh of relief.

Kushina took Qianye Lan's hand, and they continued toward her home.

Along the way, Kushina chattered away. "Lan, you're amazing! How did you do that?"

Kushina looked at Qianye Lan with open admiration, making him feel thoroughly appreciated.

After examining the unconscious Langgu, the Anbu found that his life was not in danger.

They simply dumped him by the roadside so he would not obstruct traffic.

The Third Hokage's opinion of Qianye Lan rose another notch.

Unafraid of powerful enemies and protective of his companions. What a fine person.

Qianye Lan and Kushina arrived at Kushina's home.

As soon as they entered, Kushina eagerly called out, "I'm home!"

Qianye Lan also saw an elderly woman with a kindly face.

Looking at Qianye Lan, she said to Kushina, "Well done, little Kushina. Made a friend on your very first day?"

Kushina nodded happily.

Mito Uzumaki glanced at Qianye Lan, then turned around. "I'll go prepare dinner. You two go play."

Looking at Qianye Lan, Kushina said eagerly, "Didn't you want to train? Let's do it together."

Qianye Lan hesitated for a moment, then nodded. His training methods were nothing he needed to hide.

He then brought Kushina to the pool in the courtyard and said, "This is the first part of my usual training."

Kushina looked down at the pool. "Are you going swimming?"

After saying that, Kushina's face turned red for no apparent reason.

Qianye Lan explained with a look of exasperation, "I'm going to practice Water Walking."

With that, under Kushina's astonished gaze, Qianye Lan gathered chakra in his feet and walked steadily across the water in the pool.

Seeing this, Kushina eagerly asked, "Lan, how did you do that?"