[Naruto : Yellow Flash] Chapter 661 - 665

Chapter 661: The Yin and Yang of the Nine-Tails

"Hehe."

Minato chuckled. He had seen Naruto from the future.

Although the child did not look like a genius in the conventional sense on the surface.

But there was no doubt that Naruto, who was only fifteen or sixteen years old at that time, was already a very capable ninja.

Moreover, he had certain qualities that ordinary ninjas did not possess.

These characteristics made Naruto's future full of possibilities.

Perhaps, this was the most important quality needed to become the savior in the huge crisis that awaited.

After all, the disciples of Jiraiya, whether it was Minato himself or the missing Nagato, were already among the best ninjas.

One of them had extraordinary talent and will, and the other possessed the legendary eye technique.

But neither of them was the person predicted by the Great Toad Sage.

The expression on the face of the Third Hokage in front of him gradually returned to seriousness.

"If there really is a crisis in the so-called prophecy, it must be related to those who attacked the village that night."

Today's Konoha, even having lost Orochimaru, was still far more powerful than the other four ninja villages.

And even if it was a war between the five great ninja nations, it seemed that it would not be enough to be called the destruction of the world.

After all, the Third Ninja World War was already a conflict between the five great ninja nations.

Therefore, the only people who could bring about a crisis of world destruction were the few who attacked Konoha that night.

Among them, Kakuzu and Sasori of the Red Sand were both S-rank criminals with the highest danger level, but they were not the most concerning. The truly frightening ones were the masked man and the black-robed man.

The eye power possessed by the masked man was second only to Uchiha Madara in the history of the Uchiha clan, as far as the Third Hokage knew.

The black-robed man had the means to destroy a ninja village in an instant.

This kind of power, except for the tailed beasts, was not something humans could possibly possess.

These two individuals with such abilities had unknown purposes.

They could even manipulate monsters that were unknown to the Third, Minato, and others, yet had power comparable to the tailed beasts.

When that monster appeared, even the Nine-Tails had panicked.

Minato nodded and frowned, saying, "All the signs show that besides our Konoha, Kirigakure is definitely involved in this."

"If we want to gather information about this, we can only start with Kirigakure."

"After the war, Kirigakure lost contact with the outside world again, just like before. I think these people are behind it."

"But if we want to infiltrate and gather information, even with our best efforts, the success rate is not very high."

The Third Hokage remarked that Minato had sneaked into Kirigakure once before and his life had been hanging by a thread.

Of course, his current strength was no longer what it used to be, but at the same time, the enemies they knew they must face now were also extremely terrifying.

If the masked man and the black-robed man joined forces and set a trap in Kirigakure, even Minato could not guarantee that he would escape unscathed.

And Minato could not leave Konoha easily; otherwise, taking this opportunity, those people might attack Konoha again.

No matter which plan they chose, they could only react passively now.

Both options were too risky and could not be implemented.

"Yes."

Minato nodded. His current strength seemed to be at the pinnacle of the ninja world, surpassing the Third Hokage and even the legendary Hanzo the Salamander.

But this was not the limit that a ninja could reach, because in the history of the ninja world, there were always two people who were like untouchable legends.

Even now, though they had passed away long ago, their two names would not fade from people's hearts because of time.

On the contrary, as time went by, these two names became more and more awe-inspiring.

The First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and Uchiha Madara.

Those who had witnessed the power of the First Hokage praised his strength, comparing him to the Sage of Six Paths.

And Uchiha Madara was the only ninja who could stand as an equal to the First Hokage in that era.

Moreover, for the five major ninja villages today, Madara's name was even more feared.

Because although their strengths were similar, the styles of the two men were completely different.

Minato's current level was still far inferior to the two predecessors who had established Konoha during those troubled times.

But Minato now had time.

Moreover, after the sealing just now, a new unknown power seemed to have emerged within his body.

Minato and the Third Hokage talked for a long time, and finally formulated a plan. The details of the attack on Konoha that night could not be made public.

The intensity of the hunt for Sasori, Kakuzu, and Orochimaru remained unchanged, but the village did not have the extra resources to hunt them down. For ninjas of this level, relying on ordinary jonin and Anbu would simply be a waste of lives.

However, this potential threat could not be ignored, so they decided to issue a secret order to the few top-tier shinobi in the village who were already tracking Orochimaru.

Only they were truly qualified to carry out this mission.

However, this process might be very long, but it was the only way so far.

After the discussion, the Third Hokage left the Hokage's office, and Minato immediately processed the documents and started working.

After finishing all the work, Minato returned home.

When he arrived, it was only three or four o'clock in the afternoon, and Kushina was holding Naruto, walking in the courtyard as usual.

"Has Naruto woken up?"

Minato approached Kushina, then stretched out his palm and placed it near the position of Naruto's seal.

Naruto was truly worthy of inheriting Kushina's bloodline. In just a few hours, his body had initially adapted to the powerful Eight Trigrams seal.

"Minato, have you noticed that after the Shiki Fuujin split the Nine-Tails in two, not only was the power divided, but other aspects were separated as well?" Kushina raised her eyes and looked at Minato.

"Yeah."

Minato nodded. He knew that the chakra of the tailed beasts seemed to have special properties.

Like the One-Tail, Four-Tails, and Eight-Tails he had observed before.

But Minato had not fully examined the nature of the Nine-Tails.

However, after his Shiki Fuujin was completed and the Nine-Tails was split in two, he noticed something. Although their chakras appeared exactly the same on the surface, perhaps because he himself now possessed the Nine-Tails' chakra, he was able to perceive something else.

The subtle difference between the two halves of the Nine-Tails was more of a feeling than anything visible.

If he had to describe it, it was like yin and yang.

However, this yin and yang was not quite the same as the yin and yang attribute chakra used by the Akimichi clan and the Nara clan.

The level of the former was much more profound than the latter.

If the conventional yin and yang chakra were compared, they would be like inanimate objects.

But the yin and yang of the Nine-Tails were like having life of their own.

Chapter 662: New Power

The yin and yang of the Nine-Tails were like having life of their own.

Such chakra properties were beyond the comprehension of Minato and even the entire ninja system.

So, after noticing these qualities, he thought of another question.

Where did the special life forms with powerful chakras, such as the tailed beasts, come from?

Whether it was humans or other creatures in nature, they all had more or less "tribes" or families.

But the nine tailed beasts, although they were essentially similar in some ways, were all unique.

Perhaps if these questions could be answered, they could understand how the special chakra properties of the Nine-Tails formed.

Minato looked at Naruto in Kushina's arms.

The child's blonde hair and blue eyes were naturally inherited from Minato, but his facial features were very similar to Kushina's.

However, Naruto had three small whisker marks on both sides of his cheeks.

Just like the whiskers of the Nine-Tails.

Minato guessed that this feature on Naruto's face was caused by the Nine-Tails' chakra in Kushina's body.

This demonstrated the extraordinary nature of the Nine-Tails' chakra.

It not only transformed Minato's body but also affected the life conceived by the female Jinchūriki.

"How do you feel?"

Minato asked with concern. He had split the Nine-Tails in half and re-sealed it. Now, there was only half of the Nine-Tails in Kushina's body, so there would be no problem with physical suppression.

But since she had noticed these changes, it also meant that other aspects of the seal had been affected.

"I just feel that the Nine-Tails' chakra has become colder than before."

Kushina said. In fact, after the other Minato's soul had merged into his body, Minato also felt this a little.

Because the Nine-Tails in his body was also split into two halves through the Shiki Fuujin.

Seeing concern in Minato's eyes, Kushina smiled and said, "But you also know that the Nine-Tails' chakra is only half what it was, so now it can only remain dormant in my body."

She winked at Minato playfully. With the ability inherited from the Uzumaki clan, even the complete Nine-Tails could be suppressed by Kushina, not to mention the Nine-Tails that now had only half of its power.

"That's good."

Minato said, then took off his white Hokage robe, draped it over his arm, and said, "I'll be responsible for cooking tonight. You just stay with Naruto."

"I'm fine."

Kushina shook her head quickly, but Minato put his palm on her shoulder and said, "Just listen to me and stay with Naruto."

Today's re-sealing, although relatively smooth, had still required the Nine-Tails' chakra to be pulled out of Kushina's body, and she had to suppress the Nine-Tails during the process.

Even with her amazing physique, it wasn't so easy to recover from mental exhaustion.

It was like when Minato once used Flying Thunder God to kill hundreds of enemies in a row. Even if his chakra could be restored by the Nine-Tails in his body, the mental energy consumed couldn't be replenished so easily.

"Okay." Seeing that she couldn't persuade Minato, Kushina had to nod.

She lowered her eyes and looked at Naruto in her arms.

After so many years under Kushina's guidance, Minato's cooking skills weren't exceptional, but they were still acceptable.

He prepared a table of rich and delicious dishes for Kushina and himself.

After dinner, Minato continued observing Naruto's condition.

The child was still too young, but with him and Kushina there, and the strength of the Eight Trigrams Seal, there would naturally be no problems.

Kushina accompanied Naruto and slept together. After seeing that the two were asleep, Minato closed the door quietly.

He temporarily stayed in the room where his parents had lived before they died.

After entering the room, Minato didn't fall asleep immediately but set up protective barriers throughout the entire space.

Then, Minato sat down cross-legged and slowly closed his eyes.

As his eyes closed, all his energy focused inward.

Minato was surprised to find that he could now use his mental power to observe the flow of chakra in his body. At a subtle level, he could even perceive individual cells.

This ability wasn't uncommon in Konoha, because both the Sharingan and the Byakugan could do this.

But for ordinary ninjas, this was an ability that was difficult to acquire through hard work alone.

The power of kekkei genkai was reflected in this.

At this time, Minato could observe himself through mental power, though he couldn't do the same with others.

Gradually, he finally noticed some changes in his body.

After a period of observation, Minato saw that the activation of his own cells had reached an amazing level.

For ninjas, cell activation directly affected the body's reaction ability, strength, and speed.

The secret technique of the Cloud Village's Night Moon Clan was to stimulate the activation of body cells through lightning chakra to strengthen these three abilities.

However, using that secret technique required a strong innate physique; otherwise, it couldn't be endured.

Moreover, this activation was only temporary.

But now, the activation of Minato's cells seemed to have infinite energy, with no sign of weakening at all.

This explained why his own chakra volume had doubled in such a short time.

Through this cell activation, Minato's physique was rapidly strengthening.

At this time, in terms of physical strength alone, Minato was no less powerful than the Third Raikage of the Hidden Cloud Village.

The Third Raikage was the person with the strongest physical prowess among all the ninjas Minato had encountered.

If Minato hadn't developed techniques that could touch the power of time and space, it wouldn't have been easy to defeat the Third Raikage.

With Minato's current physique, he could completely heal from ordinary injuries in a short time.

The strong vitality in the Nine-Tails' chakra was something Minato hadn't paid enough attention to before.

With this powerful vitality, chakra could be quickly refined.

Although the chakra of the tailed beast was powerful, it wasn't truly infinite.

The surprises that the power of the Nine-Tails brought to Minato were more than just these.

After pondering for a while, Minato slowly opened his eyes.

He felt something stir in his heart, and his mind focused slightly.

"Hmph!"

At this moment, a cold snort came from the Nine-Tails deep in Minato's consciousness.

Deep red chakra flowed out from Minato's pores, forming a thin film coat with chakra bubbles surrounding his body.

This was the same tailed beast cloak as the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Killer Bee!

Chapter 663: Studying the Tailed Beast Ball

At this time, Minato's body was covered with the same Tailed Beast cloak as the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki Killer Bee.

However, there were no chakra tails behind him.

Unlike Killer Bee, Minato was using his own consciousness to form this thin film cloak, instead of communicating with the tailed beast.

So Minato's eyes were still azure blue, and didn't form vertical pupils like the Nine-Tails.

"It's indeed a good method, but it doesn't seem to be suitable for me."

Minato smiled lightly. After Killer Bee used the Tailed Beast cloak, his body's speed, strength, and reaction were greatly enhanced.

But for Minato's reaction nerves that had already reached their limit, the enhancement was almost negligible.

Minato's body was already being constantly strengthened by the Nine-Tails' chakra.

The only benefit was that this external chakra film could enhance his defense.

It's just that Minato was the fastest ninja in the current ninja world. No matter who he fought with, almost no one's attack could touch him.

Speed was the strongest means of defense that Minato possessed.

So after considering this, the chakra forming the thin film on his body quickly converged and then shrank back into Minato's body.

"The power of the tailed beast, in addition to the powerful chakra, the tailed beast cloak and the tailed beast transformation, only leaves..."

Minato pondered for a moment, and suddenly an idea came to his mind.

He could now be regarded as truly possessing all the chakra of the Nine-Tails.

Through continuous transformation, the upper limit of Nine-Tails chakra that his body could withstand was constantly increasing.

Maybe one day, Minato's physique could reach an even more terrifying level.

At that time, he would be a real human-shaped tailed beast.

And if he was essentially a tailed beast, with his special situation, in addition to the tailed beast transformation (which he couldn't use), tailed beasts had another powerful means of attack.

The Tailed Beast Ball.

Minato immediately used the Shadow Clone Technique, leaving a clone behind, and then removed the barriers covering the room.

Swish!

With a thought, he disappeared from the room and appeared in an empty valley in an instant.

This was not the territory of the five major ninja villages, but a blind spot on the world map, an uninhabited area.

Minato raised his right hand, and in his palm, chakra light condensed.

"Buzz."

The Rasengan formed in his hand instantly.

"Is this a coincidence or fate?"

Looking at the Rasengan in his palm, Minato's face showed wonder.

He had spent three years developing the Rasengan. Under his observation, its principle was very similar to the Tailed Beast Ball.

"Whoosh!"

As Minato focused his mind, another kind of chakra surged under his palm, and deep red light immediately enveloped the azure blue Rasengan.

The chakra of the Nine-Tails merged with Minato's own chakra without rejection, forming a new kind of Rasengan.

"Bang!"

The next moment, Minato instantly appeared on the side of the valley, and the deep red Rasengan slammed hard against the valley wall.

"Boom!"

In the dark night, a loud noise suddenly erupted. The valley wall with a diameter of more than ten meters shattered with the point of impact as the center, then collapsed as huge rocks rolled down.

Swish!

The moment the dust and debris rose, Minato had already appeared outside the affected area. Looking at the scene in front of him, he was slightly shocked.

The power of this Rasengan infused with the chakra of the tailed beast was completely different from an ordinary Rasengan.

This increase in power was even more significant than when integrating natural energy through Sage Mode.

However, it was still slightly inferior to the Tailed Beast Ball used by the tailed beasts themselves.

Then, Minato raised his palm again, and deep red chakra flowed from it once more.

This time, he used the pure Nine-Tails chakra in his body.

He didn't let the tailed beast chakra undergo an extreme shape transformation, but only compressed it into a sphere.

For Minato, who had developed abilities like the Rasengan, this was not difficult.

But it was just a sphere compressed from pure Nine-Tails chakra—it was not a true Tailed Beast Ball.

"It's not that simple."

Seeing this, Minato didn't feel disappointed.

The Tailed Beast Ball seemed similar to the Rasengan in principle, but it was, after all, a unique ability of the Tailed Beasts.

If the Tailed Beast Ball could be used immediately just because of the same principle, plus Minato's own Tailed Beast chakra, then Killer Bee of the Hidden Cloud Village would not be called the most perfect Jinchūriki in history.

Therefore, after conducting a simple experiment, Minato left the uninhabited area.

He knew he could not master this technique in a short time.

And although he had left a shadow clone in the village, it was better not to leave the village for too long.

The next day, Minato informed Danzo that he had split the Nine-Tails into two and let Naruto become a Jinchuriki.

Danzo naturally expressed extreme dissatisfaction with this, but at this point, Minato no longer had any good feelings toward this person.

Even though he was one of the top leaders of Konoha.

Now Danzo had no power in his hands because of Minato, so even if he unilaterally rejected the conditions Minato had proposed to the other leaders, he had no way to object.

Then, another month passed.

After Uchiha Yoruki trained the former members of Root for a period of time, their action patterns and concepts formed over the years also changed slightly.

Minato and Uchiha Yoruki negotiated and selected some candidates from them to join the Anbu.

As for the restrictions on their tongues, they were naturally removed by Minato.

During this period, Jiraiya also asked the toads of Mount Myoboku to bring back some information about Orochimaru.

There was no problem with Naruto's seal.

The knot in Kushina's heart was also alleviated, because it was just as Mito had said to her before her death.

As a Jinchūriki, one must bear some heavy responsibilities and even give up some things.

However, even as a container, one could have happiness—that is, to fill this container with love first.

She and Minato would accompany Naruto as he grew up and pour all their love on him.

So, about half a year later, Kushina went to Mikoto's house as a guest as before.

Naruto still couldn't help but want to get close to Sasuke, and Sasuke's reaction did not change much.

In this stable and peaceful life, a year passed quietly.

Chapter 664: Growing Up

In Minato's courtyard, a little boy with golden hair was taking his first steps.

Kushina followed Naruto carefully.

Swish!

Suddenly, Minato appeared in front of the main gate of the courtyard.

Kushina immediately glanced at him, chuckled, and said, "You're back. It seems that you're not very busy today."

Little Naruto turned around upon hearing the sound, and Minato was already standing in front of him.

Naruto raised his sapphire-bright eyes, his mouth forming a little arc, opened his hands excitedly, and said with awkward joy: "Dad!"

"I'm back."

Minato smiled gently, squatted down and held Naruto in his arms.

He placed his hand on Naruto's belly and pulled it back after a moment.

The seal in Naruto's body was quite stable. As the boy grew older, although the power of the seal weakened, Minato did not repair it.

This was exactly what he wanted to see. Through the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style, the Nine-Tails' chakra was subtly integrating into Naruto's body.

So although Naruto hadn't really developed his own chakra yet, he had inherited Kushina's bloodline, and his physique was much stronger than children of the same age.

Generally, children could only successfully develop chakra when they were about three years old and their meridian systems were tough enough.

But now Naruto, who was only one year old, had already reached this level.

Minato still remembered seeing Kakashi trying to practice on his own at about the same age.

Part of the reason, of course, was the influence of Hatake Sakumo and Watanabe Jun.

However, Minato and Kushina did not deliberately guide Naruto, preferring to let things develop naturally.

"I'll be responsible for dinner today."

After holding Naruto for a while, Minato put him down and turned to Kushina.

"Okay."

Kushina glanced at Naruto and immediately agreed.

It was hard to explain why, but although Kushina's cooking was much better than Minato's, Naruto preferred his father's cooking.

"One more thing, I've already filed your promotion to Jonin."

"If you want to carry out a mission, I can assign you one immediately."

Minato looked at Kushina. Naruto was now over one year old. For this child, Kushina had been reluctant to resume her ninja duties.

However, observations over the past few days had confirmed that the Nine-Tails in Naruto was quite stable.

"Well, to be honest, I really feel a little bored. I haven't left the village for a long time."

Kushina said. In fact, since Minato became a guiding Jonin five or six years ago, she had almost no chance to go out of the village to carry out missions.

Because previously, she had to be protected by Minato when she was on missions.

"Naruto, tomorrow mom will send you to Aunt Mikoto's house to play with Sasuke, okay?"

Kushina squatted down and looked at Naruto.

When Sasuke was mentioned, Naruto's eyes suddenly lit up, but the next moment, he seemed to lose all his energy, his arms drooped, and his face fell.

The relationship between Naruto and Sasuke, two little boys who were considered playmates, had always been complicated like that.

Minato and Kushina both twitched their lips when they saw this.

Minato regained his composure and said to Kushina, "Then you'll go on a mission with Kakashi tomorrow, but he'll be the captain."

In the two years since Kakashi became a jonin, every mission he performed was perfect.

Now, at the age of fourteen, he had become an elite among the jonin in the village.

Similarly, in the Anbu, Shisui was also doing well, and his abilities had long surpassed those of ordinary Anbu.

Recently, Uchiha Yoruki had wanted him to be the captain of an Anbu team, but since Shisui was younger than Kakashi, this had to be temporarily postponed.

"I understand."

Although Kushina's mission experience wasn't as extensive as other ninjas of the same age, she had actually completed quite a few missions.

So she understood Minato's arrangement very well. She had never been a captain, so she could not take the position of command for the time being.

But this really didn't matter to Kushina; she didn't care at all, even if Kakashi was Minato's student.

The next day, early in the morning.

Kushina got up even earlier than Minato, and she changed into a ninja outfit that she hadn't worn for a long time.

Her long red hair was tied into a single ponytail.

After breakfast, Minato instantly transported Kushina and Naruto away.

"Sorry, I have to trouble you again," Kushina said to Mikoto.

"What are you talking about? It's been a long time since we last met. I miss Naruto too."

Mikoto walked up to Naruto, squatted down, and ruffled his hair.

"Naruto's eyes are getting brighter and brighter, even brighter than yours and Minato's."

Seeing Mikoto, Naruto smiled happily.

His personality was exactly like Kushina's. He expressed his emotions directly. Whether he was happy, angry, sad, or excited, it was written on his face.

But now Naruto had just learned to speak and could only call his father and mother.

"Itachi, Sasuke, good morning."

At that moment, Sasuke, who seemed to have just woken up, was led out of the room by Itachi.

"Good morning, Uncle Minato, Aunt Kushina."

Itachi greeted them very politely. Sasuke, standing behind him, even followed his example and nodded politely to the two.

"You got up so early to train."

Minato had actually heard the sounds of training when he entered Mikoto's courtyard.

Since Itachi entered the Ninja Academy more than a year ago, his grades had always been at the top without question.

Some young teachers at the Academy even commented that he was a genius unlike any seen since the establishment of the Academy.

Although this evaluation was a little exaggerated, it also showed how strong Itachi's talent was.

Minato had paid special attention to him. With Itachi's current level, he had reached the point where he could graduate and become a Genin.

It's just that now was a peaceful time, and becoming a ninja too early might not be a good thing.

Just like some of the flaws in Kakashi's character were formed by becoming a ninja at too young an age.

Itachi nodded, then observed Naruto, smiled gently, and said: "Naruto is here too."

"I can't stay here for too long now. Naruto is in your care," Minato said to Mikoto.

"Don't worry."

Mikoto smiled softly, and Minato and Kushina both said a few words to Naruto before leaving instantly.

In the Hokage's office, when Kakashi learned that Kushina was one of the members of his team, his normally indifferent expression changed slightly.

"Captain Kakashi, please take care of me!"

Kushina walked to Kakashi's side and patted his shoulder with a smile.

"Yeah."

Kakashi responded, and then looked at Minato.

Minato nodded at him seriously.

"I wish you a smooth mission," Minato said with a smile.

"Let's go!"

Kakashi and several Konoha ninjas behind him nodded to the Hokage.

Kushina glanced at Minato, and then followed Kakashi and the other team members out of the Hokage's office.

"Next, it will be hard for you."

After Kushina left, Minato stood there and said softly.

"Yeah."

Outside the window, a figure suddenly appeared.

It was Uchiha Yoruki.

The masked man and his associates had once tried to destroy Konoha, and Kushina might be targeted by them after leaving the village.

However, Minato expected that they would not attack Kushina for the time being, because their attack on Konoha more than a year ago had failed.

For more than a year, Konoha had not detected any sign of the masked man and his group.

Although the possibility of Kushina being in danger was not great, Minato had to remain vigilant.

In fact, the safest approach would be for Kushina to stay in the village.

But although she was a Jinchūriki, she should also have freedom. The village could not be turned into a prison that would confine her for the rest of her life.

As Minato expected, Kushina did not encounter any danger when she left the village to carry out the mission.

Uchiha Yoruki also did not find any trace of the masked man and his companions.

The mission was completed perfectly.

In this way, another year passed quickly.

Chapter 665: Fleeing at the Sight of the Wind

In the blink of an eye, it was the day of the Ninja Academy graduation exam again.

Itachi, now seven years old, took the graduation exam this time, just like Shisui and Kakashi had done before him.

Shortly after the exam, a total score form was handed to Minato in the Hokage's office.

Minato picked up the form and saw the name of the first-place student, which was not unexpected.

[Uchiha Itachi]

Itachi's scores, whether in theoretical knowledge or practical courses, were all perfect.

This achievement had only been accomplished by two people since the establishment of the Ninja Academy, and Itachi was the third.

However, Minato knew in his heart that the assessment had an upper limit, and the actual abilities of this child were likely even more impressive than what was reflected on the form.

This was evident from the surprised expression on the face of the Academy teacher who came to deliver the results.

Itachi's graduation exam was arranged by Minato because, like with Shisui, the teachers at the Academy had told him more than once that they had nothing left to teach Itachi.

These two geniuses from the Uchiha clan were quite similar in their styles and talents.

But this was no wonder, because Itachi had been taught by Shisui since he was very young.

What made Minato feel a little concerned was that he couldn't find a very suitable person in the village to serve as Itachi's jonin mentor.

Because he wanted to train Itachi to be a master of genjutsu, and there was no one among the village's jonin who was truly proficient in genjutsu techniques.

As far as Minato knew, the strongest person in genjutsu in the village was also Shisui.

It's just that Shisui was not old enough to serve as a jonin.

However, this matter was not urgent enough to be arranged immediately, so Minato planned to assign Itachi to a small team first, so that he could accumulate mission experience.

After all, he was younger than the other graduates.

In the evening, after handling a day's affairs, Minato went to Mikoto's house to pick up Naruto.

A few days ago, Kushina had gone out of the village to carry out another mission.

This time it was an important commission from a key figure in the Land of Fire to transfer a cultural relic to a certain location.

This artifact seemed to have been coveted by the top leaders of the Land of Lightning.

So Kumogakure had also been commissioned to send ninjas to carry out a mission related to it.

This was an S-level mission, and Minato had assigned it to Kushina because of her sensor perception ability.

For such a mission, the village certainly sent more than just Kushina—Nawaki and Kakashi were also involved.

So Minato was not worried about her safety.

Swish!

Minato teleported to the Uchiha clan district in an instant.

In recent years, the relationship between the village leadership and the Uchiha clan had been constantly improving, and the Uchiha clan had gradually shown more support for Minato as the Hokage.

Just as he was about to bypass the street and head to Mikoto's house, a special chakra signature appeared in his consciousness.

Minato's face changed immediately.

Every time Kushina went out of the village on a mission, Minato would give his Flying Thunder God marker to her or the ninjas on the same team, just in case.

After sensing the movement of the mark, he left a shadow clone in the village, and then followed the marker's signal and teleported away.

In a dense forest, the ninjas of Konoha and the ninjas of Kumogakure were confronting each other.

"Lady Kushina, are you okay?"

Kakashi asked, standing protectively in front of Kushina.

"It's you again."

Kushina leaned against a tree, shook her head, and then raised her eyes to look at a middle-aged man among the Kumogakure ninjas.

This man was C, who had attempted to kidnap Kushina more than a decade ago.

Although Kushina had been mostly unconscious at that time and couldn't see his appearance clearly, she remembered C's chakra signature.

"It turned out to be you."

C stared at Kushina for a while before recognizing her through her distinctive long red hair.

Immediately, his face turned quite sour, and he glanced at the holes in the tree trunks around them.

Those were all caused by the special chains that had extended from Kushina's back.

But for some reason, the chains had suddenly disappeared.

"Kushina, do you know him?" Nawaki at her side stared at C with a gloomy expression.

Kushina nodded immediately and said, "This guy kidnapped me before. If it weren't for Minato, I would have been taken back to the Cloud Village by him."

Kakashi and the others were shocked when they heard this.

C looked at the team of Konoha ninjas in front of him with a serious expression.

At this time, a figure suddenly appeared beside Kushina.

The figure wearing a white Hokage robe appeared too quickly, and the Cloud ninjas didn't see it clearly at first.

Minato, whose reaction time was much faster than theirs, first glanced at the Kumo ninjas. When he saw C, the expression in his eyes also changed slightly.

However, he immediately turned his attention to Kushina beside him and asked, "What happened? You're not injured, right?"

Seeing Minato suddenly appear, Kushina was stunned, and then glanced sharply at Kakashi.

Kakashi averted his eyes, looking a little embarrassed.

Minato's marker was on him.

"Don't blame him, this is the task I gave him," Minato noticed Kushina's expression and immediately stepped in to defend Kakashi.

"I'm fine," Kushina said, pouting slightly with dissatisfaction.

"Hehe."

Minato chuckled. It was true that Kushina did not have any visible injuries, but for some reason, her chakra fluctuations seemed a little disordered.

At this time, the Kumo ninjas all focused their attention on Minato's sudden appearance.

"He is..."

One of the Cloud ninjas murmured, and then noticed the words embroidered on the white robe of the blond man who had suddenly appeared.

"The Fourth Hokage!?"

"He is... the Yellow Flash!!"

Although Minato had now become the Fourth Hokage, the ninjas from Kumogakure almost instinctively blurted out his battlefield name from the previous Ninja World War.

Immediately, everyone's faces changed, and the look of fear could not be suppressed in their eyes.

"Why is he here?"

A Cloud ninja exclaimed. This was a time of peace, so even for this kind of mission, the Kage should not be getting involved.

At this time, Minato turned his eyes and glanced slightly in the direction of the Cloud ninjas.

Although there was no murderous intent, Minato could not say that he had any good feelings for C, who had kidnapped Kushina.

Seeing this, the sturdy C trembled violently, and then hurriedly shouted: "Retreat!"

Swish!

As soon as the words left his mouth, all the Cloud ninjas fled at full speed without any hesitation, and disappeared from Minato's sight in an instant.