"Earth Release: Earth Prison Hall!"
Thick walls of stone surged from the ground, slamming together to form a sealed dungeon. The jutsu was high-level B-rank — once trapped, not even a genin with monstrous strength could hope to escape. Worse, the stone itself siphoned away chakra like a leech.
Three Iwa-nin emerged from the soil nearby, their eyes locked on the earthen cage.
The lead shinobi, a wiry teenager, pressed a hand against the wall. His brow furrowed, then his palm lifted. Without his chakra sustaining it, the prison collapsed into mud.
Empty.
"Tch. Fast little bastards," the teen muttered. "Definitely Konoha's seed-genin. No way ordinary rookies dodge that."
They had unleashed the jutsu the instant they were spotted — yet all three Konoha brats had already slipped out of range. That kind of reaction speed didn't belong to average academy graduates.
"Teacher Nakadō split them up," a girl reported, her pale face marked with black scorpion-like lines. Her sensing ability was sharp, easily trusted by her squad leader.
"They're fast," she added, scowling. "Almost jōnin-level escape speed."
"Hah! Perfect. I'll rip them apart myself." The buzz-cut boy beside her grinned, bloodlust written across his face.
"Chase them separately," Nakadō ordered flatly. Killing Konoha's next generation meant crippling the future of their village — good for Iwa, bad for no one.
Failure never crossed his mind. Both subordinates were considered geniuses, and their targets were still just kids.
The three Iwa-nin blurred into the trees, shadows vanishing into the forest.
Minato Namikaze sprinted through the woods, jaw tight.
The moment those attackers struck from underground, his instincts had screamed. A squad like that carried jōnin among them. Which meant survival wasn't about fighting — it was about buying time.
One escapes, the others might live. If all three stayed together, they'd all die.
That decision had been made instantly, with nothing more than a sharp glance from Uchiha Jinzō. No words, just a signal. Minato hadn't even had the chance to argue before the earth jutsu closed around them. And in that second, he'd understood.
If we split, at least one of us has a chance. Together, we're finished.
It was the only move.
"Kushina, Jinzō… you'd better be alive," Minato whispered, weaving through branches.
Behind him — footsteps. Bark cracking under weight, closing in fast. Just one pursuer.
Minato's ears twitched, his senses sharpened. No effort to hide. Whoever it was, they wanted him to know.
He stopped on a branch, kunai drawn. His mind cold, already prepared.
If it's a jōnin… I'll hold them off. Even if it kills me.
He tugged his forehead protector tighter. Ready to die if he had to.
A figure landed opposite him.
Not a jōnin.
Minato's stomach sank. Of all the people to catch up to him, he'd prayed it would be the strongest. He was the most expendable. Instead, it was… this.
"Aw, what's wrong? Not happy to see me?" The boy grinned wide, licking his kunai until blood ran down his tongue. His eyes were wild.
"Somewhat," Minato replied coolly, kunai flashing in his hand. He never underestimated an opponent — especially not one older, maybe fifteen or sixteen, with murder dripping from his aura.
"My name's Yamamon," the boy sneered. "Remember it. I hunt Konoha geniuses… and you're next."
"Namikaze Minato." Minato crouched low, launching posture set. His eyes hardened. "Not a genius."
At least not compared to Jinzō, he thought grimly.
"Doesn't matter," Yamamon snarled. "You're still gonna die here!"
His body warped, hair flushing blood-red, skin cracking with earthen seams.
"Secret Technique — Earth Beast Form!"
Before he finished transforming, Minato's seals were already done.
"Wind Release — Great Breakthrough!"
A whirlwind blasted forward. Yamamon leapt, earthen tendrils whipping from his back to anchor him between trees. Minato was already springing upward, body snapping like a coiled spring. Kunai slashed straight for Yamamon's chest.
The tendrils yanked him aside at the last instant.
More whips lashed out, but Minato's sandals tapped across them like stepping stones. Fluid, precise, merciless. He closed the gap in a blink—
Steel flashed. Blood sprayed.
Yamamon's chest split open, crimson staining his shirt. His pupils dilated, scarlet rage burning as he lashed out with a kick, shoving Minato back.
"How dare you—hurt me!?" he roared, more tendrils sprouting like mad.
But Minato was gone.
"Shave! Consecutive Strikes!"
He reappeared behind Yamamon, kunai dripping red. Wounds blossomed across the beast's body. His tendrils fell in chunks, turning back to dirt as they hit the ground.
"Sorry," Minato said softly, his hair whipping in the wind. "I don't have time to waste here."
"The battle's just starting!" Yamamon screamed, fully transformed now — blood-red earth coating his skin, his strongest state.
Too late.
"Wind Release — Steel-Cutting Flash!"
The gale blade was invisible, instantaneous. It ripped through Yamamon's body, carving straight down from forehead to stomach.
Shock froze on his face. He split apart, collapsing in two halves.
A genius of Iwa, dead in an instant.
Minato didn't spare him a glance. He turned, sprinting deeper into the forest.
Meanwhile, Kushina Uzumaki had stopped by a stream.
Her reflection glared back at her — furious, ashamed.
She should keep running. She was a jinchūriki. Losing control of the Nine-Tails would be disastrous for the village. She knew the logical choice.
But logic had never defined her.
"I'm not running," she hissed, knuckles white around her kunai. "I ran when Uzushio fell. I won't abandon my friends again. I'll never give up on my comrades!"
Spinning, she stormed back toward the fight.
"Touching speech," a voice drawled.
A girl leaned lazily against a tree, her pale face marked with black lines curling like a scorpion.
"Enemy?" Kushina snapped, stance tight. She hadn't even seen her properly during the ambush, just sensed danger.
The girl tapped the Iwa headband at her hip and smirked. "You catch on quick."
"…Skinny," Kushina muttered before shaking her head. Not the time, idiot!
"Oh-ho, sharp eye. Honestly, you're too cute to kill," the girl teased, smiling sweetly.
Kushina didn't relax. Her voice was sharp. "If you're here to fight me, then stop talking and fight."
"Darling," the girl purred, "I already have."
A line of blood appeared across Kushina's cheek. Her pupils shrank, body darting sideways. But more cuts opened across her arms, her legs — thin, precise lines, like invisible blades.
Her eyes darted wildly. Nothing. Just air.
No — dust. A haze so fine it was nearly invisible, cutting into her with every movement.
"You figured it out, huh?" the girl cooed. She clapped her hands, chakra flaring.
"Dust Release — World of Ash!"
The air thickened, glittering with countless shards of dust. Kushina shielded her face, but shallow cuts scored her body with every step.
"Let me help," the girl said sweetly, smile twisting into cruelty. "I'll carve that pretty little face to pieces."