As Jiraiya got closer and closer.
The hidden ninjas tensed up, their hearts filled with panic. After all, the tall man in front of them wasn't their target, but it looked like they were about to be exposed.
The three exchanged a quick glance, each seeing a resolute and ruthless resolve in the other's eyes.
Suddenly.
Just as Jiraiya stepped onto the grass...
Three dark figures simultaneously sprang out of the bushes, each wielding Shuriken, and hurled them at Jiraiya at extremely close range.
Chapter 21 The Calmest Person
"Careful!"
Jiraiya, with a calm expression, immediately spoke loudly. Faced with this unexpected situation, his first thought was still to notify his three disciples.
To some extent.
He genuinely wanted these three disciples to be the first to undergo training.
Furthermore, judging from the demeanor of these three disciples, they were unaware that there was an ambush here. After all, this place was too close to the gate of Konoha, and they would never have imagined that someone could set up an ambush here.
Especially after the group discussed it Jiraiya took the lead, he realized that there would be many more opportunities for these people to hone their skills on the road ahead, and there was no need to make them experience the dangers of the ninja world right now.
After Jiraiya figured this out, he decided to move forward on his own. So when he saw a bunch of Shuriken flying out in front of him, he immediately notified his three disciples behind him.
certainly...
Jiraiya didn't care at all about this level of attack.
The main reason he wanted to tell his three disciples behind him was that there were nine people hiding in another grove of trees who could attack at any moment.
Kushina clearly hadn't expected this scene. When she saw the countless Kunai flying towards her, her face paled instantly, completely beyond her expectations.
After all, she was just a recent graduate of the Ninja Academy. She could indeed be a sensory ninja, but she hadn't yet started to sense the movements around her.
Faced with this sudden attack, she hadn't fully reacted yet, and was instantly enveloped by fear, completely stunned and not knowing what to do.
On the other side.
Minato's azure eyes were filled with seriousness. He instinctively wanted to go forward to help Kushina, but he sensed an even sharper movement behind him.
Immediately afterward, in that instant, Minato quickly turned his head and saw several other ninjas charging towards them.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye. Minato didn't have time to react and was already facing off against the several ninjas who had suddenly appeared in front of him, seemingly trying to stop them all by himself.
When this happened, Araki was just as calm as Jiraiya, since he had sensed the presence of these people from the beginning, but he didn't know who they were or could not perceive any specific details about them.
So when Jiraiya approached the three ambushing ninjas, it was entirely within Araki's expectations that they would jump out.
Just as the densely packed Shuriken flew towards them, Araki raised the rectangular box containing ninja tools and supplies with his right hand, using the bottom of the box to block Kushina and Minato. The large surface area of the bottom of the box deflected all the flying Shuriken.
"Ding ding ding ding..."
With a series of piercing sounds, the Shuriken were shot directly into the bottom of the box, stopping all the flying Shuriken without any extra movement.
"Ah?!"
At this moment, Kushina finally realized that just now, it was as if she had encountered some sudden situation, causing her brain to freeze, leaving her completely blank and stunned.
" Araki, thank you!"
Kushina quickly said that, and then focused her attention on her senses, controlling the Chakra within her body to carefully feel how much Chakra fluctuation was around her.
"Behind us..."
Kushina sensed a great deal of Chakra behind her almost instantly, then turned around sharply to look behind her, her heart filled with intense worry.
But when she saw what was behind her, a Taiseki was lifted from her heart.
Minato had already seen what was happening there and noticed the inexplicably appearing ninjas attacking in their direction.
But at the same time, just as she breathed a sigh of relief, an even stronger sense of tension arose in her heart, because Minato was now facing about eight or nine ninjas.
" Araki, over here!"
Kushina immediately went to call Araki, completely ignoring Jiraiya who was single-handedly supporting three ninjas ahead.
After all, she could sense more enemies behind her. Moreover, the person facing these ninjas alone behind her was Minato, their comrade, while Jiraiya was their Jonin instructor.
This doesn't mean there's any distance between Jiraiya's status Jonin Jiraiya and them; rather, it means she has even more faith in Jiraiya-sensei's abilities and clearly understands that the three ninjas who suddenly attacked couldn't possibly Jiraiya-sensei.
So at that moment, she felt that instead of letting Araki focus his attention on Jiraiya-sensei, she should hurry up and help Minato.
"Clear."
Araki nodded slightly. In fact, after sensing these people, he knew that such a conflict was unavoidable.
However, having Jiraiya-sensei take the lead directly buys Kushina and Minato more time, allowing them to better react to the situation and respond more quickly.
The current outcome is exactly what Araki wanted to see.
If Jiraiya-sensei hadn't taken the lead, then even more unexpected changes awaited them in their classroom. At that point, he would have been the only one to stop them, which would have meant that he had indirectly revealed his reaction ability or his ability to anticipate danger to these people.
Araki has revealed a great deal here, especially within this team, where he has demonstrated considerable strength, unlike his previous low-key approach.
Therefore, it is not appropriate for him to continue showcasing anything more at this time.
He can gradually form an image of continuous improvement in the minds of these people, but improvement also takes time, and cannot suddenly and continuously become stronger like it is now.
This will only attract more attention.
Now that Jiraiya-sensei has taken the lead and scouted out these people, and Minato Namikaze has discovered the attackers behind them, it's quite natural for me to become the one who reacts passively, or rather, to be the last one to discover this surprise attack. That wouldn't be unreasonable.
Almost instantly.
Araki controlled the Chakra within his body and directed it toward the box.
Streams of green Chakra filled the gaps between the wooden planks of the box, making the planks appear as a single, unified whole.
At that moment, the wooden planks on the box seemed to come back to life, and the grain seemed to have a flowing quality. The entire box became like a huge rectangular piece of wood, very sturdy and heavy, and would not fall apart even with the slightest bump.
Araki poured some Wood Release Chakra into the box, but his movements were so subtle that no one would notice.
Araki completed the operation in an instant, then took a step forward and appeared beside Minato at an extremely fast speed.
"Bang!"
Suddenly, a violent collision rang out. Before anyone could realize what had happened, they saw Araki, holding a huge wooden box, smash it directly onto the head of a charging ninja. Blood splattered instantly, and his brains splattered, killing him on the spot.
The visual impact immediately caused the ninjas lying in ambush to pause, their movements becoming less fluid than before.
As ninjas, they had long been mentally prepared to sacrifice themselves at any time, but the sacrifice in their hearts was not what it is now.
In an instant.
The way everyone looked at Araki changed subtly.
After all, this person didn't look particularly strong, yet he had lifted such a huge box. At first, they had noticed him, but then they ignored him.
Now, however, this person suddenly picked up such a box and killed one of their companions.
Such a strong visual impact evoked extremely complex emotions in each of them.
" Minato, let's go!"
Araki, however, would not give them such an opportunity. In the very moment of their exchange, he could clearly sense that these people's strength was roughly between Genin Chunin.
In terms of combat strength, Genin, but their ability to cooperate in battle is not up to the level of Chunin.
From his perspective, dealing with it isn't a particularly big problem.
He also believed that with Minato Namikaze's strength, dealing with it wouldn't be a problem either.
Therefore, it is not appropriate to drag this process out for too long.
"Clear!"
Minato immediately responded and quickly plunged into the crowd. Araki's presence made him feel much more at ease when facing these people. It was an indescribable feeling. He rarely received such a strong sense of security from others, but Araki could provide it.
"Make sure to leave some survivors. We still need to ask them what their motives are," Araki said in a low voice.
He said that, but in reality he didn't think there was any possibility. After all, the ninjas who went out on missions were already mentally prepared to sacrifice themselves at any time. Before they went out, they were thoroughly brainwashed by the villages, making them willing to die for their villages at any time.
In the ninja world, the thing they fear least is death, and the thing they have the least shortage of is death.
People die every day.
Injuries occur every day.
This kind of thing has long been a main theme in the ninja world.
The fact that these people were able to come here to carry out their mission suggests that their objective is likely within Konoha, and is very likely closely related to something happening within the Konoha.
This is equivalent to carrying out tasks that involve other villages.
This kind of mission is relatively strategic; it's not a simple task, and not everyone can accept it.
Let's take a very simple example.
The tasks that Araki and his team can currently handle are all within the village, where they can help the villagers with certain tasks.
Even now, transporting supplies to the front lines is only slightly related to the war, but they are not directly involved in it.
However, the tasks assigned to these individuals are clearly different. They are not tasked with completing requests within the village, but rather with gathering intelligence on other villages or dealing with matters concerning people from other villages.
This involves issues between villages.
These kinds of questions are often carried out by many spies, so it's difficult to really get anything out of them. Leaving them alive is also to give the village's Konoha Torture and Interrogation Force a clue, and the ninjas try their best to find something suspicious among them.
at the same time.
Araki also noticed the ninja Forehead Protector on the foreheads of these people.
They're all ninjas from Kumogakure!
This forced Araki to form a thought in his mind.
That means these people's ambush might be related to Kushina.
Regardless of whether that was true or not, he felt that everything needed to be investigated thoroughly, which is why he told Minato that they must leave someone alive.
If these people weren't ninjas from Kumogakure, then they could be dealt with directly.
"Clear!"
Minato responded immediately, and two Flying Thunder God Kunai appeared in his hands. However, he did not intend to use the Flying Thunder God here, but simply used the two Flying Thunder God Kunai as ordinary Kunai.