Minato Namikaze dodged Chinya's Rice Spirit.
Chinya's speed was proving extremely challenging for Minato.
Minato had never expected Chinya to be this strong. Back at the Ninja Academy, Chinya always came out second best to him.
Chinya himself was somewhat surprised that Minato could now evade his slashes.
So he's truly the man destined to master the Flying Thunder God Technique. His reaction speed really is impressive.
But Chinya's surprise was only slight.
Minato was still in his growth phase—wasn't he also still developing?
Chinya was extremely confident that, at his peak, his Thunder Breathing wouldn't be slower than Minato's speed!
Kushina Uzumaki felt overwhelming anxiety. She hadn't expected things to become this complicated.
She was deeply moved that Chinya was fighting those two bullies—and even Minato—to protect her, but she was also worried he would end up punished for it.
Kushina shouted toward Chinya, "Chinya, I'm fine!"
Clutching his katana tightly, Chinya softly said, "Ever since that day, I vowed to protect your smile no matter what. But how could I have already broken that promise... just days later?"
Turning to face Kushina, Chinya continued, "I will never forgive anyone who harms you! Never!"
"Chinya..."
Looking at his back, Kushina's eyes welled with tears as she murmured to herself.
Chinya shifted his gaze back to Minato and returned his katana to its sheath.
Minato gripped his kunai tightly. He didn't think Chinya had sheathed his katana to end the fight—it looked more like a preparatory stance.
[Thunder Breathing Third Form – Gathering of the Storm!]
Chinya began spinning rapidly around Minato while leaving trails of wavy blue lightning along his path.
These waves of electricity prevented Minato from retreating. Any backward movement would inevitably bring contact with the lightning.
Chinya continuously slashed at Minato.
His incredible speed combined with heavy strikes made defending nearly impossible for Minato, whose body was already struggling. Added to that were Lightning Release chakra's properties, which gradually started paralyzing Minato's limbs.
As his body numbed, Minato's reaction speed slowed.
Minato realized he wouldn't be able to block Chinya's next strike.
Desperately, he tried to raise his right hand—but failed completely.
Just as Chinya's blade was about to strike Minato's arm, a tall figure suddenly landed behind Minato.
[Ninjutsu – Needle Jizo!]
A mass of white hair wrapped around Minato, shielding him.
Chinya's katana struck the thick strands, producing a sharp metallic clang.
His sword snapped in two.
Gazing at the figure before him, Chinya narrowed his eyes.
One of the Sannin—Jiraiya.
Jiraiya dispersed his Needle Jizo technique and scratched his head. "My my, what's going on here? The moment I return to the village, I witness such a scene."
Seeing Jiraiya arrive, Minato felt incredibly relieved. "Jiraiya-sama!"
Jiraiya looked at Minato Namikaze beside him and asked, "Minato, what's going on here?"
Minato hesitated before replying, "We're classmates. Just a little disagreement."
Jiraiya glanced at Chinya's broken katana. "This doesn't look like an ordinary disagreement. The kid did switch to the flat of his blade once he saw you couldn't block properly, but if he'd actually hit your arm, you'd definitely have a broken bone."
Unexpectedly, Chinya suddenly hurled the broken blade straight at the thoroughly terrified Genin's left leg.
Another figure landed in front of the Genin and punched the ground.
The shockwave blasted the broken blade out of the air.
Tsunade, one of the legendary Sannin, appeared before them.
Crossing her arms with a frown directed at Chinya, Tsunade said, "Kid, you've gone too far."
Jiraiya asked sternly, "Why did you attack your village comrade so violently?!"
Chinya shot back coldly, "Comrade? Did this Genin treat Kushina like a comrade when he hurled a real kunai at her? What about you, Minato? You saw everything—you watched that kunai head straight for Kushina. But you didn't lift a finger to help. Then you turned around and threw the same kunai at me. Did you consider *me* your comrade then?"
Jiraiya turned to Minato. "Minato, what exactly happened?"
Minato explained the whole incident to Jiraiya, including how Chinya had already shattered the Genin's ribcage, and wanted to break both their limbs as well. In the emergency situation, he'd had no choice but to throw the kunai at Chinya.
After learning all the details, Jiraiya felt Minato had done nothing wrong.
Jiraiya stared at Chinya and said, "You've already punished them — you shattered that Genin's ribcage. Why do you want to go further and break their limbs too? Don't you think that's excessive?"
Kushina ran forward and stood protectively in front of Chinya with arms spread wide, shouting, "They were clearly in the wrong! Why are you only blaming Chinya?!"
Chinya pulled Kushina behind him and sneered at Jiraiya, "Too harsh? What if that kunai had actually injured Kushina? Would you still think I was being too harsh then?
Oh, right, you wouldn't. Because Kushina came from another village to Konoha, and I have a pair of rogue ninja for parents. So in your eyes, they're the comrades, while we're not, right?"
Taken aback, Jiraiya scratched his nose and muttered, "I never said that."
Tsunade asked Kushina in surprise, "What's your name?"
When Kushina came to Konoha, Tsunade wasn't there — she had already left the village years ago.
The same was true of Jiraiya.
After the end of the Second Great Ninja War, Tsunade, crushed by the deaths of her younger brother Nawaki and her lover, was also struggling with an intense fear of blood. She didn't stay in Konoha, but instead wandered far and wide with Shizune, Dan Kato's niece.
Jiraiya continued traveling on his training journey.
Jiraiya had returned to the village with the sole purpose of taking Minato Namikaze as his disciple. On the way back, he happened to meet Tsunade, and the two made their way to Konoha together.
As the granddaughter of Mito Uzumaki, Tsunade had maintained correspondence with her grandmother.
She learned through their letters that a member of the Uzumaki Clan had arrived in Konoha.
Kushina Uzumaki's red hair and unusual features immediately caught Tsunade's attention, making her suspect this little girl might be from the Uzumaki Clan.
The girl replied, "Kushina Uzumaki."
Tsunade silently confirmed her guess.
Tsunade turned to Jiraiya. "Jiraiya, leave this matter to the old man."
From Tsunade's tone, Jiraiya understood that this child named Kushina Uzumaki might be somewhat special, so he nodded and said, "Alright then. Minato, you take them to the Ninja Hospital."
"Yes!"
Minato Namikaze picked up the injured Genin and shook the stunned little boy awake before rushing toward the Ninja Hospital.
Chinya's eyes flickered slightly. With Jiraiya and Tsunade here, there was nothing more he could do.
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