Chapter 41: Namikaze Minato
In the Anbu locker room, Yoru waited for the first batch of Anbu Ninjas who graduated from Root.
Three new team members.
They each chose three masks that Yoru was familiar with: Antelope, Purple Cat, Black Bull.
Yoru pushed his Fox Mask, thinking that after his death, the Fox Mask would also be put back in the locker room’s cabinet and worn by the next Anbu.
“Fox Captain, hello!”
Yoru nodded and said:
“The Fox Squad’s most important mission right now is to obey the Kurozaru Squad Leader’s command and protect the Whirlpool Princess.
The Whirlpool Princess can die behind us, but not in front of us.”
The three team members quickly replied: “Yes!”
As dawn broke, the Kurozaru Squad left the Death Forest and arrived outside the Senju Compound, switching shifts with another squad.
Anbu cannot enter the Senju Compound. When Kushina Uzumaki is inside the compound, her safety is handled by the Senju Clan.
After leaving the compound, it is handled by Anbu.
In the early morning, more than ten children walked out from the Senju Compound.
These children chatted and laughed, chased and played, carrying schoolbags as they ran toward the Ninja Academy.
Among the children was Kushina Uzumaki.
Kushina Uzumaki’s red hair was extremely striking in the morning light. She had just experienced clan annihilation, and there was no trace of innocence belonging to her age on her face; she carried sadness and melancholy.
Three Senju little girls surrounded Kushina Uzumaki and were very good to her.
Kushina Uzumaki entered the school.
Yoru hid behind the school building, using a telescope to watch the situation inside the classroom.
The teacher was lecturing on the parabolic drop curve of kunai.
Yoru didn’t look at Kushina Uzumaki in the first row, but at a blond child in the back of the classroom.
Minato Namikaze, Konoha’s most dazzling genius in the next fifteen years.
Minato Namikaze occasionally looked toward the first row, paying attention to the red-haired transfer student girl.
After watching the classroom for a while, Yoru left the treetop, patrolling the Ninja Academy and checking every possible hiding spot.
On the way, he encountered school teachers, who were unfazed, knowing that Anbu was protecting the Whirlpool Princess.
Following the recently graduated Senju young clan head Nawaki, the Ninja Academy had welcomed its second important student, the Whirlpool Princess.
The afternoon was the Ninja Academy’s sparring class.
During the sparring class, Yoru was dumbfounded.
Minato Namikaze’s reaction speed was astonishingly fast.
After his reaction speed had improved once, Yoru saw it even more clearly.
The moment his opponent’s shoulder twitched, Minato Namikaze had already raised his arm to block.
Minato Namikaze was so fast that it was as if he could predict others’ movements.
In the taijutsu showdown, his defense was airtight. When his opponent’s center was open, a simple thrust punch knocked down the opponent.
The entire process looked effortless and at ease.
During the sparring break, Kushina Uzumaki was surrounded by some children who pointed at her.
Bullying the transfer student, the teacher quickly came over and drove those people away.
At 4 p.m., Anbu switched shifts, and the Kurozaru Squad got off duty.
Yoru came to Tsuruzuki Izakaya.
He ordered a pot of sake and some braised meat, and Yoru passed the time alone.
Large amounts of meat food made Yoru’s body rapidly strengthen.
Konoha’s meat was too expensive.
Just eating meat for one evening cost 10,000 ryo.
Even a jonin like Sarutobi Asuma couldn’t afford to eat meat like this.
The benefits were also very obvious.
After returning to the village for over a month, his chakra amount had naturally grown quite a bit.
Swallowing a large piece of beef, Yoru pondered that he needed to find a way to make money, otherwise he couldn’t afford meat.
The female boss Qiao Yi occasionally came to Yoru’s side, inquiring if Yoru needed anything else.
She liked Yoru so much; he often came here to stay, ordered the best sake every time, ate a lot of meat, and spent a lot of money.
If she weren’t a spy and was simply an izakaya female boss, she would definitely like Yoru even more.
All the money Yoru earned was invested in food and drink.
He teased Qiao Yi, telling her not to lose weight recently, as her breasts had gotten a bit flatter from hunger.
Qiao Yi argued that her chest binding was too tight today; it absolutely wasn’t that she had slimmed down.
After Qiao Yi went to tend to things, Yoru’s pupils suddenly darkened a bit.
The izakaya was full of mixed personnel.
The way the person who just entered pulled out a chair made Yoru’s heart skip a beat.
The movements of the shoulder, elbow, and wrist were unusually coordinated; when dragging the chair, the chair legs left the ground and always hovered one centimeter above the ground.
Cloud Style Sword Technique…
Yoru wouldn’t mistake it; this special joint flicking method was absolutely the Hidden Cloud Village’s Cloud Style Sword Technique.
After ten years of rigorous sword technique training, even without holding a sword, the arm would be different from others.
Yoru was skilled in Cloud Style Sword Technique, so he recognized it.
Using a wine cup to block half his face, Yoru thought that in the original story, Cloud Ninja spies had once kidnapped Kushina Uzumaki. Could the Cloud Ninja have already targeted Kushina Uzumaki?
This incident should happen before Kushina Uzumaki became a jinchuriki; the guard force for a jinchuriki was much stronger than for the Whirlpool Princess.
The suspected Cloud Ninja spy chatted for an hour before leaving the izakaya.
Yoru stuffed all the meat into his mouth haphazardly and also got up to leave.
If he could contribute to guarding the Whirlpool Princess, he could at least get an A-rank mission, and next month’s meat money would be secured.
No meat, no strength.
Qiao Yi hurriedly chased after him: “Hey! Aren’t we studying Yin Release together tonight?”
“Take a day off. Studying Yin Release every day, even the Hokage’s waist couldn’t take it.”
Qiao Yi regretfully watched Yoru leave.
After leaving the izakaya, Yoru didn’t chase the suspected spy. Instead, he took out his Fox Mask from his ninja tool bag and went directly to find Kushina Uzumaki.
In a small park near the Senju Compound, Yoru found Kushina Uzumaki.
He not only found Kushina Uzumaki but also found another Anbu guard squad.
Eight hours per shift, three shifts in rotation. The Kurozaru Squad handed over at 4 p.m., and the next shift change was at midnight.
Yoru didn’t approach the guard squad; he stayed far away.
Anbu also didn’t urge Kushina Uzumaki to return to the Senju Compound. This was Kushina Uzumaki’s adaptation period to Konoha, so it was better to let her move freely.
In the park, there were Senju Clan children and Kushina Uzumaki’s classmates.
Yoru saw Minato Namikaze in the park from afar using the telescope.
It was very late, and many children had left the park; even Minato Namikaze had gone home, heading west.
The park was peaceful.
Yoru yawned; these children had such vigorous energy, why didn’t they go home.
Suddenly, Yoru’s expression turned serious.
They’re here!
At the edge of the park, five people appeared!
One of them was the person Yoru had seen in the izakaya earlier.
Spies who could enter Konoha Village wouldn’t be too strong.
Famous jonin from the Hidden Cloud Village were all key targets for intelligence reconnaissance. Chunin, at most elite chunin, were easier to infiltrate.
For Kushina Uzumaki, the Hidden Cloud Village had staked its entire spy system.
Yoru hurriedly entered the park.
Ten seconds later, Yoru puzzledly looked at the night sky.
Why didn’t they fire the signal flare?
Such a big event as the Whirlpool Princess being attacked required firing a signal flare according to Anbu regulations.
Could there be Hidden Cloud Village spies among this batch of Anbu new recruits?
