"Well… you really do look miserable."
A voice full of schadenfreude drifted down from above.
Starlight spilled through the canopy, illuminating a figure standing casually on a tree branch.
Hyūga Ming looked down at the three below.
Nawaki and Kushina were in particularly tragic shape—clothes torn to shreds, bodies hanging upside down from a tree. Even Minato, who was trying to free them, wasn't much better off.
All three of them looked like beggars who'd just crawled out of a battlefield.
Two shuriken flew from Hyūga Ming's hand, slicing cleanly through the ropes tied around their ankles.
Thud. Thud.
Nawaki and Kushina hit the ground.
Kushina sprang up immediately, her temper exploding.
"Just how many traps did you set in this place?!"
She was completely out of patience now. Leaping upward, she tried to rush Hyūga Ming—
Only to be stopped mid-air.
Flick.
A perfectly timed finger snap landed squarely on her forehead.
"OW—!"
Kushina dropped straight back down.
"Not that many," Hyūga Ming said calmly. "Just about fifty thousand ryō's worth."
He had spent all of Nawaki's allowance on traps.
Nawaki's face went pale.
That was his entire life savings.
Minato jumped up and instinctively caught Kushina in a princess carry.
"Ah—! Let go of me!"
Her face turned bright red as she struggled free and jumped away.
"Sorry," Minato said awkwardly, rubbing his nose.
"Don't stick your nose into other people's business, you sissy!" Kushina snapped, turning her head away.
Nawaki walked over and chopped her lightly on the head.
"Be polite, Kushina."
She clutched her forehead and huffed, pointedly refusing to look at Minato.
Minato scratched his cheek, at a loss.
Up above, Hyūga Ming sat on the branch, legs dangling, casually eating steamed buns.
The smell drifted down.
All three stomachs growled at once.
"You've got two days left," Hyūga Ming said lazily between bites.
"If you don't catch me even once, you're going hungry for three days."
"AAAAH—!" Kushina jumped again.
She still hadn't learned tree-climbing—and had completely forgotten the pain from earlier.
Hyūga Ming lifted a finger, ready to flick her again—
But this time, Nawaki and Minato jumped simultaneously, attacking from both sides.
Hyūga Ming didn't counter.
He simply jumped.
Higher.
"Don't run!" Kushina finally managed to grab onto the tree, her red hair flaring wildly as if alive.
The chase was on.
Nawaki was the fastest. One leap brought him close—
Hyūga Ming suddenly dropped downward instead.
Nawaki reacted instantly—
Then froze.
He looked down.
Another explosive tag.
"…Again?"
BOOM!
The explosion sent him flying off the branch.
Minato and Kushina landed together, steel wires snapping out toward Hyūga Ming.
The darkness hid the wires well.
But even without the Byakugan, Hyūga Ming's eyesight was sharp.
A bronze saber appeared in his hand, flames flaring along the blade as he slashed.
The wires snapped instantly.
All three charged at him from different directions, blocking every escape route.
Hyūga Ming grinned.
[Experience +1]
[Experience +45]
[Experience +66]
Hyūga Ming sheathed his blade and looked down at the three groaning figures on the ground.
"Not bad."
His gaze lingered on Minato.
This kid was already on the verge of becoming a true ninja.
Genin usually gave over a hundred experience points.
Sixty-six meant Minato wasn't far off.
He checked his panel.
[Experience Pool: 1370]
Most of it came from the brown bear earlier.
The rest were wild beasts—most gave only ten or twenty points at best.
Even in the Forest of Death, chakra beasts were rare.
To keep farming, he'd have to go deeper.
Kushina and Minato were both first-time experience sources, but neither had reached ninja level yet—still better than nothing.
Then Hyūga Ming glanced down.
Steel wire was wrapped loosely around his ankle.
It led straight to Minato's hand.
He looked at him with interest.
"You're pretty good."
Minato wiped blood from his nose and hissed as he touched a bruise.
"Thanks…"
The wire hadn't been tight—Hyūga Ming shook his leg and stepped free easily.
Still, he hadn't noticed it right away.
"Fine," Hyūga Ming said. "You win."
"Yes!" Kushina cheered.
"Nii-san Minato!" Nawaki threw an arm around him proudly.
"Truly the man who'll inherit my will!"
Future Third Hokage—Namikaze Minato.
"…So what do you want?" Hyūga Ming asked.
"Food," Minato answered instantly.
Hyūga Ming tossed them a warm bag of steamed buns.
Then he leapt back into the trees and vanished.
Nawaki and Kushina immediately dug in, eating without a shred of dignity.
They hadn't eaten all day.
Hunting was impossible with traps everywhere.
"These buns are still hot," Minato said thoughtfully.
"Like they were just made."
Considering the blood on Hyūga Ming's clothes… that didn't make sense.
Nawaki leaned in conspiratorially.
"My big brother has a magic pouch. He can pull anything out of it."
"Really?" Minato's eyes lit up.
"No way!" Kushina scoffed.
"Believe it or don't." Nawaki shrugged.
"I've seen him pull out things way bigger than his ninja pouch."
"…Like people?" Minato asked.
"…Probably," Nawaki said seriously.
Somewhere in the forest, Hyūga Ming sneezed.
"…Who's talking about me?"
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