"One!"
This voice came half a beat earlier and also sounded rather childish. Obviously, it didn't come from his companions beside him.
The three of them glanced at each other, their faces filled with shock. What the heck is going on now?
They looked ahead again and suddenly met the gaze of one of the kids.
What was annoying was that there seemed to be a mocking smile on the kid's lips!
()
Kaze stood up, placing one hand on the hilt of his sword and putting the other on his hip. He said lazily,
"Come out! You've been sneaking around behind me for ages. Do you really think I didn't notice you?"
"..."
The three of them emerged silently and subtly surrounded Kaze. Their expressions were more solemn than ever.
Although Konoha's defense was currently weak, the fact that these three could sneak into Konoha without being detected meant they were no slouches.
But this kid in front of them could easily spot them, which meant the other party was no ordinary person.
"Who are you? Why are you following us, Databane?" Behind Kaze, Kushina asked warily.
"..."
The three still didn't say a word, but the sharp - eyed Minato had already judged that these three were probably ninjas from an enemy village!
In fact, as Minato had deduced, the three were ninjas from Kumogakure.
It turned out that during a previous small - scale war with Konoha, Kumogakure accidentally discovered that the chakra in Kushina's body was very special.
So, Kumogakure had the idea of taking advantage of Konoha's weakness to kidnap Kushina and actually sent three ninjas.
"Should we still make a move now?" The three Cloud Ninjas were a bit hesitant.
Kaze in front of them was obviously not easy to deal with.
Once they got entangled in a fight with him, they were bound to be killed by the Konoha Anbu who would come at the news.
But they had managed to sneak into Konoha with their goal so close. It was a pity to just give up the mission and flee.
"Do you believe that later all you'll see is me drawing my sword?" Seeing that the three didn't say a word, Kaze joked with a smile.
"Arrogant!" A Cloud Ninja said coldly, and his sword came out of its scabbard half an inch as he got eager to act.
"Arrogant?" Kaze scoffed and said arrogantly, "Do you know who I am? How dare you say I'm arrogant?"
Huh?
This kid in front of them, although not weak in strength, seemed unexpectedly childish...
That Cloud Ninja had an idea. He quietly pushed his sword back into the scabbard and pretended to look disdainful as he said,
"We've never seen any intelligence about you. I guess you're just an unknown nobody!"
"Me, an unknown nobody? Heh!" Kaze sneered and pointed at the three Cloud Ninjas, saying,
"Listen up! I've got a big background. I... I'm afraid to tell you for it might scare you to death!"
Well, he's just a kid after all!
The three Cloud Ninjas were delighted and pricked up their ears, hoping to get some information from Kaze's next words to gauge his strength.
「...」
Minato and Kushina exchanged glances, guessing that Kaze might have some ideas, so they didn't stop him.
「My name is Romin Saitama, a hero out of hobby, and a pirate aiming to become the Hokage!」 Kaze said seriously with a straight face.
「Even if my body and soul are destroyed, I will surely stand before thousands of people. It's precisely because we can't see that it's terrifying. After all, even rocks have a heart. I'm also a passing Kamen Rider...」
()! Nani? The three Cloud Ninjas felt something was off the more they listened.
This kid seems to be deliberately stalling for time for some reason!
「You dare to play with us, kid! Die!」
A Cloud Ninja showed a fierce look on his face. Holding a katana, he stepped forward and slashed hard at Kaze's throat.
Unexpectedly, during the charge, his legs suddenly went weak, and he almost knelt on the ground.
His arms were as limp as noodles. He could hardly even hold the sword steadily, let alone cut someone.
「Bingo, you got it right, but unfortunately, there's no reward!」
Kaze grinned as he drew out his long knife, easily parried the katana in the Cloud Ninja's hand, and then hit him on the neck with the back of the knife.
Plop!
The Cloud Ninja closed his eyes and fainted cleanly to the ground.
「Damn... You actually used poison!」
「What a despicable kid. We'll teach you a lesson!」
The other two Cloud Ninjas were very angry. They quickly abandoned their comrade and tried to flee.
「What else do you think? You two aren't young ladies. Do you think I've been talking so much nonsense with you for nothing?」
Kaze moved as nimbly as a pouncing rabbit or a swooping stork. He quickly caught up with the two leg - weak Cloud Ninjas and gave them two hard blows on the heads.
The blows sounded quite loud. They weren't inexperienced. A solid hit means it's effective.
「I told you all you'd see is me drawing my sword, yet you didn't believe me.」
Kaze laughed as he sheathed his sword and faintly heard the voices of his two companions behind him.
「Minato, I'm a bit dizzy...」
「I... I seem to be too...」
「Damn it, I was so focused on myself that I forgot about you two!」
Kaze smacked his forehead. No longer caring about showing off, he quickly went back to give the two of them antidote pills.
(︵「)
After they felt a bit better, they looked at Kaze resentfully, wearing expressions of utter bewilderment.
「Kaze, with your strength, combined with mine and Minato's, we could've directly taken care of them,」 Kushina grumbled.
「Yeah,」 Minato also chimed in, complaining: 「Why'd you have to use poison? I've got such a headache now...」
「Cough cough, I just had an occupational relapse,」 Kaze coughed twice and said somewhat awkwardly.
「I thought these three guys weren't weak and must know some valuable intelligence. It'd be a pity not to capture them alive and interrogate them.」
「...」 Minato and Kushina rolled their eyes in unison, quite speechless at Kaze's words.
「Speaking of which, the moon tonight is really beautiful!」
Not wanting the famous scene in the original plot to disappear, Kaze pointed at the moon in the sky and said with a grin.
"Hey, Kushina, how about letting Minato carry you around under the moon to enjoy the moonlight?"
"Are you crazy, Kaze?"
If Kushina weren't still a bit weak, she'd definitely punch Kaze.
She brought Kaze out tonight. The reason was to help her good friend get out of the shadows and return to normal.
(For Kaze, returning to normal means becoming abnormal again.)
But now that Kaze has regained her usual idiocy, it's really suffocating!
"You really don't understand romance," Kaze said disappointedly, shaking her head as she walked over to Minato.
"Come on, Minato, let's go for a spin!"
"Ah???"
Before Minato could even refuse, Kaze princess carried a limp Minato and leaped onto the nearest tree.
"Kaze, what are you... Ah!"
Amid Minato's panicked cries, Kaze suddenly pushed off with her legs and leaped high into the air.
"Whoa!"
Their figures were reflected in the center of the full moon, and the silver moonlight poured down on them, making their silhouettes look like a dream.
It seemed... really romantic.
Kushina on the ground was mesmerized, and there was even a faint twinge of regret in her heart.
Looking at the two in the air, she even recalled the myth of the goddess of the Mino month descending to the mortal world and falling in love with a mortal prince (a well - known myth in the story's world).
And this romance should have been hers!
"(「^) (a cute or angry symbol) You big Databane!" The angrier Kushina thought about it.
She decided that once she regained her strength, she'd find some excuse to give Kaze a good beating.
"Blame It on the Moon. That night, the moonlight was so gorgeous and tender~"
Kaze hummed a tune as he landed, putting down a somewhat shy Minato. He was completely unaware that danger was approaching.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
He summoned two shadow clones and, after each clone took a turn hitting the Cloud Ninjas, he picked up all three Cloud Ninjas and said with a smile,
"It's getting late. How about you guys continue? I have to go and work overtime."
"Get out of here, Databane!"
"Goodbye, Kaze~"
After watching Kaze leave, Kushina was the first to burst into laughter, and Minato followed suit.
"Although there were some hiccups, my plan worked! Kaze is clearly in a better state than before!"
Kushina proudly lifted her little face, waiting for Minato's praise.
"Yes, Kushina, your plan was great, but..." Minato smiled helplessly.
"Once Kaze gets back to 'normal', I'm afraid there'll be daily chaos. I really don't know whether to be happy or worried."
Kushina raised her little fist and said, "Humph, if he dares to cause trouble, I'll beat him up!"
"Okay, let's not talk about him. I'll tell you a story, Minato. Do you want to listen?"
Hearing Kushina's words, Minato nodded repeatedly: "Of course. I love listening to stories the most."
"Wow, really!"
Kushina quickly sat up straight, cleared her throat, and began to tell the story in a proper manner.
"It is said that a thousand years ago, there was a goddess from beyond the sky who accidentally fell into the human world..."
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