"Earth Style Barrier! Earth Prison Dome of Magnificent Nothingness!"
Thick earthen walls erupted from the ground, quickly enclosing into a seamless stone prison.
This was a B-rank containment-type ninjutsu—once someone was trapped inside, there was no escape. These walls even absorbed the chakra of those imprisoned.
Only now did three figures slowly emerge from beneath the surface.
The leader, a lean young man, pressed his palm against the prison wall, his brow slightly furrowed. After a moment, he removed his hand.
Deprived of chakra, the earthen prison crumbled into soft mud.
But inside—there wasn't a single soul.
"What incredible reaction speed. They must be promising Genin from the Hidden Leaf."
They had launched their jutsu the very instant they were discovered, yet the trio still managed to escape.
That kind of speed was beyond what ordinary Genin could possess—and none of them looked old enough to be Chūnin or Jōnin.
That was exactly why they had dared to ambush them.
"Uchiha-sensei, they've split up," said a girl with black, scorpion-like markings on her face, pointing into the distance.
The girl's sensory abilities were trusted by Uchiha Gin.
Through her detection, the three had taken separate routes and were fleeing rapidly.
Their speed astonished her—it was comparable to Jōnin-level escape velocity.
"Watch me tear them all apart!" barked a buzz-cut teen, his face filled with bloodlust, completely unconcerned about the enemy's strength.
"We split up too," Uchiha Gin ordered without hesitation. Eliminating promising Genin from the Leaf could only benefit the Hidden Stone—there was no downside.
As for the risk of failure?
The two with Uchiha Gin were considered prodigies themselves.
Coupled with their age advantage, he didn't see failure as a possibility.
The three of them turned into dark shadows and darted off in pursuit.
Minato Namikaze darted through the forest at high speed.
His brow furrowed.
Just moments ago, when the enemy emerged from underground to launch their surprise attack, a powerful sense of danger had hit them like a wave.
The attacking team included at least one Jōnin.
The three of them had split up immediately, hoping that at least one would escape and deliver the intel. That was their only chance of survival.
Anyone intercepted by a Jōnin would have to rely on luck.
Their strength wasn't close to Jōnin level yet.
That cold, brutal choice had been signaled instantly by Kin using hand gestures.
There had been no time for Minato to argue—enemy ninjutsu was already underway.
All they could do was follow Kin's lead.
And Minato understood his reasoning.
If they stayed together, the enemy Jōnin might be able to take them all down at once.
Better for one to escape than for all to die.
Splitting up had been the best option.
Kushina, Kin—please survive! Minato silently prayed as he raced through the woods.
His ears twitched.
The sound of pursuit.
The faint rustling of feet scraping across branches, getting closer from behind.
From the cadence of the sound, it was only one person.
His enhanced perception from his foundational internal training made him hypersensitive to sound. The enemy hadn't even bothered to hide their presence.
Minato stopped immediately on a tree branch, waiting for his pursuer.
Whoever it was, he had to stall them.
If it was a Jōnin, he was prepared to lay down his life.
He tightened the headband strap behind his head.
He was ready to die in battle.
Soon, the figure of a teenage boy came into view, stopping on a branch opposite him.
Not a Jōnin.
Minato's heart sank.
He had hoped it was the Jōnin—after all, of the three of them, he was the most expendable.
"Not happy to see me, huh?" the boy said, grinning as he licked the blade of his kunai, drawing blood from his tongue, his expression twisted like a madman.
"A little, yeah," Minato replied, pulling out his kunai as he began analyzing the boy's strength.
The boy looked around fifteen or sixteen, noticeably older, but in the world of shinobi, age meant little.
Minato never underestimated anyone.
"You're really pissing me off now," the boy sneered, showing sharp teeth.
"My name's Yama Beast. Now tell me yours, Leaf prodigy."
If Uchiha-sensei had called him a "seedling" of the Leaf, then he must be one of its rising stars.
"And Leaf prodigies... are my favorite prey."
His brown hair gleamed faintly red with excitement.
"Minato Namikaze," Minato replied, crouching on the branch like a coiled spring aimed straight at Yama Beast.
"I'm not some kind of prodigy," he added—at least not compared to Kin.
"Doesn't matter who you are. You'll die here all the same."
Yama Beast's body began to change—his hair turned blood-red, and dirt and sand began to flake from his face.
"Secret Technique: Earth Beast Style!"
Just as his transformation began, Minato had already finished his hand seals.
He inhaled sharply.
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
A powerful gust of wind blasted toward Yama Beast.
He leapt off the branch just in time, his sandy tendrils anchoring him to the surrounding trees to stabilize himself midair.
Minato then launched himself like a spring, kunai slashing directly at Yama Beast's chest.
Yama Beast's tendrils lashed out to a nearby tree and yanked him aside, barely dodging the attack.
Two more tendrils grew instantly and whipped toward Minato.
But he was ready.
"Step-In Slash!"
He charged along the tendrils as if they were solid ground, closing the distance effortlessly.
In an instant—strike!
Blood sprayed.
A line of crimson splattered across Yama Beast's chest. His pupils turned blood-red as he kicked Minato away, forcing him to retreat.
More tendrils pulled him to another tree branch as he looked down at the bleeding gash on his chest.
He was hurt.
Grinding his teeth in rage, he roared, "You actually dared to injure me!"
He looked up—but Minato was already gone.
"Shave! Chain Slash!"
Minato reappeared on the branch behind him, flicking blood off his kunai.
He didn't have time to waste here.
Multiple new gashes split open across Yama Beast's body. His sandy tendrils were severed midair and crumbled to the ground.
"Sorry, I can't waste any more effort on this."
Minato's kunai dipped, wild wind whirling around him, lifting his hair as he stood poised for a finishing strike.
"The fight's just getting started!" Yama Beast roared, more blood-red sand tendrils growing behind him. This was his true power.
Even a Leaf prodigy couldn't—
"Steel-Cutting Flash!"
A razor-sharp wind blade shot forward in an instant, carving across his body before he could react. Trees behind him fell in a cascade of splinters.
"How... how is he so strong?!"
Yama Beast couldn't comprehend it. His family's secret jutsu hadn't even been fully unleashed. He'd toyed with his prey too much, drawn out the fear.
But this opponent fought with everything from the start.
It was like Yama Beast was just using basic attacks—while Minato had fired off an entire ultimate combo.
A bloodline split him from brow to belly.
With a bitter, unwilling expression, Yama Beast's body fell in two.
The battle was over.
He hadn't expected to lose in just a few exchanges.
And to die here.
He had been a prodigy of the Hidden Stone too!
Minato didn't even glance at the corpse.
He turned and raced deeper into the woods.
Kushina had only fled a short distance before stopping near a small creek.
Staring at her reflection in the water, she clenched her teeth, her face full of frustration.
She knew she should've kept running. If she were to be captured or killed, and the Nine-Tails was lost—it would be a devastating blow to the village.
Kushina understood what the smart choice was.
But—
"I can't stand this! I won't just run away!"
The reflection of her determined face shimmered in the water.
She had already fled when the Whirlpool Country was destroyed. She couldn't abandon her comrades again.
Gripping her kunai tightly, she turned and started back.
"I'll never abandon my comrades!"
That was just the kind of person she was.
She had run because Kin had ordered it—but now, she would act on her own will.
"Such a touching speech," said a voice.
A girl with scorpion markings leaned lazily against a tree, watching Kushina.
"Enemy?" Kushina dropped into a ready stance.
She hadn't gotten a good look at their attackers before—the ambush happened too fast. Only a few details had leaked out as the three of them fled.
"Isn't the Hidden Stone still allied with the Leaf?" she asked sharply.
The girl tapped her belt, revealing the symbol of the Hidden Stone.
"So skinny!" Kushina blurted, then quickly shook her head. Now's not the time to be thinking that!
"Ohoho~ You've got a good eye! I almost don't want to kill you," the girl giggled, clearly pleased—finally someone noticed her figure, unlike the meathead shinobi in her village.
But Kushina wasn't laughing.
"If you want to kill me, then bring it on!" she said firmly, watching the enemy closely.
Inexperienced in combat, Kushina didn't attack first—she waited.
The girl's expression turned seductive.
"Sweetheart, I've already started attacking."
Slash!
A cut appeared on Kushina's cheek. Her pupils shrank as she leapt to the side—but more cuts appeared across her body.
She scanned the surroundings for what was attacking her.
But there was nothing.
Wait—her eyes widened. Fine dust was slicing through her body.
"She saw it," the girl giggled, then clapped her hands together.
"Dust Style: Land of Ash!"
Clouds of dust swept over the area.
It didn't block vision—but Kushina shielded her face as more shallow cuts appeared across her body.
"That pretty little face... let me ruin it for you," the girl hissed with a twisted grin.