Minato, still furious, had no intention of holding back. That Wind Release jutsu—he poured nearly all of his chakra into it, which was why it carried such immense power.
As for the outcome, neither Tomoki nor Ayame found it surprising. In fact, if Minato hadn't been capable of that, that would have surprised them more.
"Great! It's the Heaven Scroll we needed!" After retrieving the scroll from the Grass ninja, Ayame turned to Minato and Tomoki with excitement.
But the joys and sorrows between people are never the same. Seeing the two Grass ninja unconscious and bleeding heavily, Mai looked at Minato with visible fear in her eyes.
"P-Please, don't kill me!" Looking at Mai's tearful and frightened expression, Minato felt a headache coming on. Was he really that terrifying?
This wasn't wartime, after all. Just because someone was from another village didn't mean you had to kill them on sight. Of course, that didn't mean Minato would hesitate if a situation did call for lethal force.
"Calm down—I'm not going to kill you." Minato's tone softened, his face once again lit with a warm, sunny smile.
Sensing no malice from him, Mai gradually began to calm down, though her eyes still showed a hint of wariness when she looked at him. Still, it was a good start.
"We're Konoha ninja. While you're in the Leaf, we'll protect you. There's no need to be afraid."
"I'm Namikaze Minato. You can just call me Minato."
After Minato's continued reassurances, Mai finally let her guard down. "I'm Mai."
Sharing her name meant she was willing to open up.
And so, after some conversation, Minato learned Mai's story.
It turned out she was a member of the Uzumaki clan. But unlike Kushina, who had been taken to Konoha, Mai had been left to survive alone after the clan's destruction, wandering the ninja world in hiding.
To avoid being discovered as an Uzumaki, she'd even dropped her surname. Though her red hair made her stand out, not all redheads came from the Uzumaki clan.
Still, her uniqueness had eventually been noticed by the Grass Village, whose leader brought her back to Hidden Grass and reduced her to nothing more than a walking blood bank.
Just like Kushina's chakra had the innate ability to suppress Tailed Beasts, Mai possessed a natural ability for physical healing.
It was one of the Uzumaki clan's hereditary abilities. By simply biting her skin, others—or she herself—could recover chakra and heal wounds rapidly.
In the original story, Karin possessed the same power—strong enough to even heal Tsunade when her body was split in half.
Clearly, it was an extraordinary ability.
"Those Grass ninja weren't even human... they didn't deserve to live!" Upon hearing Mai's story—how she'd been dehumanized in the Hidden Grass—Tomoki, who had grown up in Konoha, couldn't believe such cruelty existed in the ninja world.
Without another word, he killed the two Grass ninja Minato had defeated. The second exam allowed killing due to the signed death contracts, so it wasn't against the rules.
Neither Minato nor Ayame stopped him. Because honestly, they had the same urge.
"Mai, since you're part of the Uzumaki clan, do you know Kushina?"
At that, Mai blinked in confusion and shook her head. Though the Land of Whirlpools had been small, it was still a country. The Uzumaki clan, once numerous enough to govern an entire nation, didn't all know each other personally.
And back when the clan was destroyed, both Mai and Kushina were still children. So it made sense that they didn't know one another.
"Kushina's an Uzumaki just like you. You should stay in Konoha—here, you won't be treated the way Grass did."
If Aoshi were present, he would've agreed wholeheartedly with Minato.
The Leaf and Uzumaki had always shared close ties—even the flak jackets worn by Konoha shinobi carried the Uzumaki clan emblem. Of course, Konoha would welcome Mai's presence.
But a peaceful life came with conditions—people like Danzo Shimura couldn't be allowed to discover Mai's ability.
"Really? I can stay?" Mai looked at Minato with eyes full of hope.
If possible, she absolutely wanted to remain in Konoha. After all, the Grass ninja she'd been with were now dead. She was the only survivor. Who knew what kind of punishment awaited her if she returned to the Hidden Grass?
She didn't have to guess—it would be bad. And compared to the Grass Village, Konoha really did feel safer. Still, she couldn't completely shake her unease.
After all, when the Uzumaki clan was wiped out, not a single member chose to flee to Konoha—didn't that say something?
Clearly, Konoha hadn't stepped in to help them, leading to lost trust. Even so, Mai now wanted to stay in Konoha for two reasons: first, she could never return to the Grass Village—that place was a nightmare.
Second, she felt a strange, instinctive trust in Minato. His warm and sunny demeanor made her want to be near him. And truthfully, she didn't dislike the strength shown by Minato and his teammates.
"Of course it's true! And guess what—Kushina is also participating in this Chūnin Exam. She's in the Forest of Death, too. I'll take you to see her later."
"Yeah, don't worry, Mai! If you ever need help, you can come to me! I'm Ayame—Ayame Sasaki." Ayame, being a fellow girl, spoke up quickly, understanding how Mai must feel.
"I'm Tomoki! If anyone ever bullies you, just tell me. I'll beat them up for you—I'm the future Hokage!"
Hearing the three of them speak, Mai wiped her tears and bowed gratefully. "Thank you, Minato. Thank you… all of you."
She truly meant it. Ever since the Uzumaki clan had been destroyed, no one had ever shown her real care.
The life of a refugee after losing her homeland was something only those who lived it could ever understand.
Once Mai had calmed down, the four of them resumed their journey toward the central tower.
---
Meanwhile, in the rest area Konoha had arranged for the Hidden Cloud Village—
Toroi, the commander in charge of overseeing the Cloud's Genin teams, had just received word that Aoshi had defeated both Masaki and Killer Bee singlehandedly.
"Impossible!" That was his immediate reaction upon hearing the report.
After all, Killer Bee was one of the best Genin in the Hidden Cloud—strong enough to defeat most Chūnin. He had even passed selection to form the AB Combo with the Raikage's son.
It wasn't an exaggeration to call Killer Bee the strongest Genin in the entire village. With that kind of power, how could he possibly lose to an unknown Genin from the Leaf?
It sounded like utter nonsense! But Toroi knew better—if something had reached his ears, it likely wasn't a rumor.
"Captain Toroi, we have to lodge a protest with the Konoha. They've disguised a Jōnin as a Genin to enter the Chūnin Exam. That's blatant cheating!"