With the heavy sound of a closing door, Araki's figure disappeared inside the house, leaving Kushina alone, silently gazing at the now closed door.
From the time she returned home after class until now, it had been just about half an hour.
However...
This gave her the sensation of having spent a much longer time.
"Ah..."
Kushina took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly, making an effort to calm her emotions. She recollected every little thing Araki had done just moments ago, and an uncontrollable warmth surged forth within her.
"Araki, thank you."
Kushina whispered softly, a smile forming on her face. She felt enveloped in a sense of secure happiness, especially as she held the wooden sphere in her hand, her mood suddenly brightening.
...
After leaving the house, Araki immediately formed hand seals with his hands, and his chakra surged out. A piece of wood emerged from behind him.
Once this piece of wood appeared, it swiftly transformed, taking on the form of a person. Features became distinct, and eventually, it assumed Araki's appearance.
Wood Release: Wood Clone Technique!
"Go!"
Araki nodded at the wood clone and in an instant, its figure flickered and disappeared.
He commanded the wood clone to go to the park and inform Might Dai that he needed to take a break. Clearly, practicing today wasn't suitable anymore.
It wouldn't be right to keep Dai-sensei waiting in the park.
Araki stood at the doorstep for a few more minutes, ensuring that nothing was overlooked. He then took out a map from his ninja pouch.
This is a map of the Leaf Village.
However, it was confiscated from the ninja tool pouch of that scar-faced man.
Araki's gaze focused on the map, which had markings in red ink. One of the circled positions was precisely the location of his home, while another red cross marked the boundary of the perimeter outside the Leaf Village.
In an instant, a strong intent to kill surged from Araki's pupils.
"There's a traitor in the village!"
Araki's figure flickered, suddenly disappearing. With the two bloodstained wooden boards in hand, he moved through the forests of the Leaf Village, heading toward the position marked by the red cross on the map.
"If I'm not mistaken, the red circle marks Kushina's location, and the red cross is the exit point from the Leaf Village. The invaders from the Hidden Cloud Village won't be familiar with the Leaf Village's terrain. They would need to follow the map to proceed, but they can accurately infiltrate my home without alerting anyone, just as Kushina gets off from school."
Araki's gaze grew even colder. It wasn't anger for Kushina's safety but a fierce anger for his own security.
His gallant act of saving her earlier was just an impromptu gesture.
Araki was well aware of that.
Even without him, Kushina wouldn't be in danger.
She would have been rescued by Minato.
But if something happened to him, there would truly be no one to save him!
Even from what just transpired, if he hadn't been cautious enough and didn't possess the ability to protect himself, the scar-faced man would undoubtedly have killed him and then left the Leaf Village with Kushina.
During their departure, Minato might have saved Kushina midway.
But his own life couldn't be brought back.
"Who could it be?"
Araki continued moving forward while pondering various possibilities. He couldn't figure out what the motive behind such actions could be. After all, in this world, people were driven by personal gain.
Any action of this sort must have some profit attached to it, but who could possibly benefit from it?
Araki couldn't think of such a person, especially when considering the original story's plot. Kushina didn't encounter any special treatment later on, making this even more puzzling for him.
Was it simply for the sake of something as mundane as money?
Of course, Araki was also in need of money and understood its benefits. But Kushina was a Jinchuriki of the Leaf Village!
How many people in the village could know Kushina's identity? Who leaked the information?
Araki's face turned serious, his demeanor suppressed. He knew that indulging in such thoughts wouldn't lead to any answers. As long as that person still had intentions, their actions would gradually come to light in the future.
Let the bullet fly a little longer!
Once he identified that person, Araki wouldn't spare them!
Lost in thought...
Araki was getting closer and closer to the boundary of the Leaf Village.
He began to focus his mind, not allowing these distractions to interfere with him. He controlled every inch of his skin to sense the surrounding airflow, roughly determining whether there was anyone lying in ambush nearby.
This was a rather unique ability of his.
Even he wasn't sure how he developed it.
While training, Araki had asked Might Dai about it, and it was certain that even Dai couldn't sense someone staring at him from a distance or track his movements through subtle fluctuations in the air.
This ability seemed to be peculiar to Araki himself.
"Here!"
At that very moment, Araki's mind shifted, and he suddenly halted on a tree branch. Not far ahead was the boundary enveloping the village, invisible to the naked eye.
It was a perceptual barrier.
It didn't offer any actual defense.
The controller of the barrier was a sensory ninja within the village. By sensing the chakra fluctuations on the barrier, they could perceive how many people entered the Leaf Village and where they did so, serving as an early warning system.
The village's barrier was intact and functioning normally.
Under these circumstances, the only people who could freely enter and exit were Leaf Village ninja who knew the entrance method of the barrier.
Even a student from the ninja academy like Araki, who hadn't officially graduated to become a genin, wasn't aware of how to enter or exit the barrier.
Yet the ninja from the Hidden Cloud Village somehow knew!
This method wasn't a secret within the village. Once one became a genin, they needed to know the entry and exit methods when going on missions outside. It was similar to each family member having a key to the front door.
However, for outsiders, it was a significant Leaf Village secret.
Clearly.
Someone had leaked the information!
Araki specifically came here not just to deal with the Hidden Cloud Village ninjas, but also to confirm the status of the barrier.
This was crucial for him!
If the barrier was without any issues, it would further validate his suspicion that there was a traitor within the Leaf Village or a spy from the Hidden Cloud Village.
Whether it was a traitor or a spy, anyone who had their eyes on Kushina would pose a great danger to his relatively peaceful training environment.
This was something Araki absolutely could not tolerate!
"Buzz!"
At that very moment, a thought suddenly surfaced in Araki's mind, the same one brought back by the recently dispelled wood clone.
The return of the wood clone replenished half of Araki's scattered chakra, along with some intelligence gathered during its separate mission.
There were two key points.
First, the wood clone requested permission from Might Dai to take a break from training today, with the understanding that training would resume as usual tomorrow.
Second, the wood clone asked Might Dai about the method to enter and exit the Leaf Village's barrier. Might Dai didn't have any suspicions at all and promptly provided the information. After all, he was one of Might Dai's most cherished disciples.
In this very moment.
A cold glint flickered in Araki's eyes.
After swiftly digesting the method to enter and exit the Leaf Village's barrier in his mind, his icy gaze fixed on the forest outside the barrier.
There were people there.
People from the Hidden Cloud Village.
The anger surging within Araki grew even stronger, directed not only at the Hidden Cloud Village ninja but also at certain issues within the Leaf Village itself.
"None of you should return."
Araki's figure flashed once again, this time crossing rapidly and directly through the Leaf Village's barrier.
As he passed through the barrier, his body emitted waves of chakra fluctuations.
It was the method to enter and exit the barrier.
After exiting the Leaf Village's barrier, Araki seemed to vanish into thin air, instantly concealing himself within the forest.
Based on his judgment, there shouldn't be any jonin among the Hidden Cloud Village visitors. Otherwise, they would directly carry out the mission instead of serving as support, which would be a waste of resources.
Facing chuunin-level opponents...
Caution should be the priority.
Araki's mind had already begun to outline his ambush plan. He increasingly felt that poison might not be enough anymore.
This time, for these killings, he must seize the opportunity to plunder!
Without taking some money from the belongings of these Hidden Cloud Village ninja, he might not even break even.
Indeed, battles are fought with money!
...
Araki lowered his body posture significantly, moving as if he had four legs, traversing through the undergrowth almost soundlessly. He approached the group of ninja awaiting the front team's support like a hunting beast in the jungle, step by step.
Since arriving in the ninja world, Araki had been training in the woods every night. His affinity for such an environment was extremely high, as if he had returned home.
Silently, he placed the wooden boards he was holding down. The cold-blooded thirst for blood in his eyes suddenly vanished, as if he were an emotionless machine, devoid of any trace of killing intent.
For a moment, Araki blended into the forest like a plant becoming one with its surroundings.