"See? It's just the two of them!"
Leaving the school, the Clone and Kushina walked down the street, chatting and laughing.
At the street corner, Kōta and his two friends peeked around, afraid of accidentally bumping into Tsunade.
After realizing only Minato and Kushina were there, the three of them rushed out impatiently and blocked their path.
"Hmph, I finally caught an opportunity!"
Kōta laughed smugly, "Minato Namikaze! Let's see how smug you are this time!"
"You guys again!"
Seeing the three blocking their way, Kushina frowned and instinctively rolled up her sleeves to fight, but the Clone raised a hand to stop her.
"Leave it to me."
The Clone smiled gently, saying nothing more.
But this feeling of being protected made Kushina's cheeks turn red.
She waved her small fist, "Then good luck, Minato! Give them a good thrashing for me!"
The Clone stepped forward, looking at the three calmly. "So, you're here to cause trouble?"
"What? Is it not obvious enough?"
Tetsuo smiled maliciously. Kōta's build, sturdier than others their age, gave him a lot of security; at this moment, he was very much like a fox borrowing the tiger's majesty.
"It's not exactly looking for trouble..."
Yukio formed the Seal of Confrontation. "It's just some friendly interaction between classmates. After all, if you keep being this arrogant, you might end up offending someone you shouldn't."
"Ah... I see."
The Clone nodded in understanding, glancing at the nearby bushes out of the corner of his eye, showing a peaceful smile.
"Although I don't know how I offended you, if you insist on fighting, please make it quick. I don't have much Chakra left."
"Don't worry, we won't waste too much of your time!"
Kōta said, pointing at the Clone, unable to hide the delight in his voice. "Teach him a harsh lesson!"
Swish, swish, swish—
The three scattered and pounced on the Clone from three different directions.
"Kushina, stay back a bit."
The Clone pushed Kushina aside, his gaze quickly scanning the three, feeling somewhat satisfied in his heart.
It seemed these three still had the basic qualities of a Ninja; they didn't just rush in blindly.
This way, it would seem reasonable for him, who supposedly lacked experience in handling sieges, to inadvertently reveal a weakness.
From the back right, Yukio reached out to grab Minato's waist, but the Clone caught his wrist and threw him toward Tetsuo, who was pouncing from the back left.
Thump!
Their foreheads collided, and they both cried out in pain.
Simultaneously, the Clone twisted his body and kicked Kōta in the face.
"Pffft..."
Kōta's head snapped to the side, and he stumbled from the kick, falling sideways to the ground.
"With only this much strength, you dare to block someone's path?"
Looking at the three who were instantly knocked down, the Clone sighed slightly. "If there's nothing else, I still need to go buy groceries..."
"Damn it, don't get too cocky!"
Kōta lunged up and threw a punch at the Clone's cheek.
Just as the Clone was about to dodge, Yukio, who was on the ground, suddenly grabbed his ankle.
At the same time, Tetsuo also grabbed the Clone's waist and shouted excitedly, "Got you!"
"Oh no, Minato!"
Watching from not far away, Kushina cried out and instinctively wanted to rush in to help.
"Kushina, don't come over!"
The Clone's expression changed, and he shouted loudly, "Stop, Kōta!"
However, Kōta had no intention of stopping, swinging his fist toward his face!
Seeing this, the Clone looked anxious. "This is a Wood Clone. If it's broken..."
Bang!
The fist slammed heavily into the Clone's face, cutting him off.
A look of satisfaction appeared on Kōta's face.
But in the next instant, with a dull thud, a sharp branch pierced through his lower abdomen!
Sensing something wrong in his abdomen, Kōta instinctively looked down. Seeing his pierced belly, the smile on his face gradually froze.
The Minato before him gradually turned wood-colored, slowly transforming into a large tree. The remaining face struggled to utter its final words: "I... can't control it... Quick... run!"
As the last trace of human skin color faded, the Clone completely transformed into a thick, sturdy tree.
Branches continuously pierced the bodies of the three, yet subtly avoided fatal wounds, as if it were the Clone's final effort... "Aaaaaah!!!"
"It hurts!"
"Help!!"
Coming to their senses, Kōta and the others let out heart-wrenching screams, but it was to no avail.
The tree before them grew rapidly, making cracking sounds as it lifted the three several meters high. The scene looked extremely cruel!
"Oh no! Save them!"
A figure darted out from the bushes. Shinnosuke shouted to the already stunned Kushina.
Then he leaped up, took out a Kunai, and sliced through the branches impaling Kōta.
Coming to her senses, Kushina also hurried forward, leaping high and smashing the branches with two punches to rescue Tetsuo and Yukio.
"They're bleeding so much!"
Kushina looked at the three on the ground in a panic. Their bodies were soaked in blood, and even their limbs showed varying degrees of atrophy, looking wrinkled and terrifying.
"What do we do now?"
"You stay here and watch them. I'll go get help. The teachers are still at school."
Shinnosuke said as he hurried back to the school to find a teacher.
Soon, Shinnosuke arrived with Iruka Umino and several other teachers. They rushed the three to the hospital and notified their parents.
"Doctor, how are they?"
After emergency measures were taken, Iruka Umino asked with an anxious expression.
"They aren't in any life-threatening danger, but..."
The doctor hesitated. "They are students from the school, right?"
"Yes."
Iruka Umino nodded.
"Although their lives aren't in danger, a large number of the patients' cells have died, and their bodies show varying degrees of atrophy. It's my first time seeing this kind of injury."
The doctor shook his head. "This is a severe case of life force depletion. It will take at least a few years to recover, and even then, I'm afraid they won't be able to be Ninjas anymore."
"I see..."
Iruka Umino's expression was heavy. "I understand. Thank you for your help."
He turned and walked out of the room into the corridor, looking seriously at Shinnosuke and Kushina. "Tell me, what exactly happened just now?"
Kushina held her hands behind her back, looking at Iruka Umino uneasily.
She was worried that telling the truth might lead to Minato being punished.
"I'll tell you."
Shinnosuke sighed. "During the day, Kōta and the others had a disagreement with Minato... but actually, it was just Kōta looking for trouble."
Iruka Umino's brow furrowed. He had just made Kōta and the other two do punishment writing yesterday; he hadn't expected these three brats to learn nothing from it.
"When school let out, I saw them following Minato and Kushina, so I followed them..."
Shinnosuke explained what had happened in detail, including how the three looked for trouble with Minato, how Minato took them down in an instant, and how the accident occurred because the three wouldn't let Minato leave.
In addition to his contempt for Kōta's trio, there was also a hint of protection for Minato in his words.
Listening to Shinnosuke's account, Iruka Umino's furrowed brow relaxed slightly.