When Yōkō entered the park, he first saw the Anbu in the midst of an internal conflict.
Over a dozen Anbu were fighting chaotically amongst themselves, and several Anbu corpses already lay on the ground.
There really is a Kumo-nin spy among the new Anbu!
During the war that annihilated the Uzumaki clan, Konoha had only sent Anbu to participate. The Anbu suffered heavy casualties, with four battalions successively being decimated and rebuilt.
The rebuilt Anbu was a mixed bag and had actually been infiltrated by Kumo-nin spies.
Avoiding the battles between the Anbu ninja, Yōkō rushed out of the woods and saw Uzumaki Kushina being carried over the shoulder of a Kumo-nin spy.
If Uzumaki Kushina were taken to Kumogakure, she would definitely be dissected to research her sealing techniques.
Yōkō quickly followed.
Recovering Uzumaki Kushina would be a great merit, guaranteeing at least an A-rank mission, possibly even an S-rank one.
The reward for an S-rank mission was a million ryo, enough for him to squander for three months.
The Anbu spy weaved through the alleys, constantly melting into the darkness and disappearing.
As expected of a spy, he's so familiar with Konoha, much more than I am. I rarely come to the western part of the village.
Yōkō moved stop-and-start, each time needing to spend time searching for the Kumo-nin in the darkness.
Playing it safe, Yōkō took out an Explosive Tag Kunai and threw it high into the air.
The explosive tag detonated mid-air.
The ninja and Anbu in the vicinity all understood this was a warning method used in emergencies.
Soon, the spy disappeared through a hole under Konoha's perimeter wall.
Yōkō suddenly had a realization.
The park next to the Senju clan's lands, Uzumaki Kushina being kidnapped, the Senju clan for some reason showing no reaction...
The village was very dissatisfied with the Senju clan's control over Uzumaki Kushina. If her safety were compromised, perhaps the higher-ups would have a pretext to target the Senju clan.
Some of what he witnessed tonight might be the result of the Anbu turning a blind eye.
The spies were performing a bit too well; it was abnormal.
They had actually managed to create a hole at the base of Konoha's wall.
Yōkō hurriedly crawled through the hole, followed them out, and left the village.
Just after passing through the wall, Yōkō heard a noise from the hole behind him.
Yōkō hid behind a large tree nearby.
A blond boy crawled out of the hole, clutching some red hair in his hand.
Namikaze Minato is really sharp, finding the red hair Uzumaki Kushina dropped so quickly.
Yōkō suddenly felt a stirring.
Namikaze Minato was a speed-type ninja with extremely fast reflexes.
Ninjutsu, chakra capacity – these things could be improved gradually.
But speed trumped all; fast reflexes were true speed.
His original intention in following Uzumaki Kushina was to get credit for an A-rank or S-rank mission, to fund his visits to the izakaya.
But the situation had changed.
While Namikaze Minato hadn't mastered many ninjutsu yet, perhaps he could get another ability that increased reaction speed.
As for protecting the Uzumaki princess? That was Konoha's business; what did it have to do with him?
Following Namikaze Minato out of the village, when Minato saw Uzumaki Kushina, and his attention was completely captured by her, Yōkō moved!
Dressed in casual clothes tonight and without his ninja sword, Yōkō gripped a kunai and leaped down violently from the tree canopy.
Holding the kunai with both hands, he stabbed fiercely towards the top of Namikaze Minato's head.
Namikaze Minato was jumping along a tree trunk, very close to Yōkō.
Mid-air, Yōkō's eyes slowly filled with despair.
He saw Namikaze Minato look up.
Namikaze Minato's gaze was cold and severe.
He had completely captured Yōkō's movements.
Not only that, he was scanning Yōkō up and down – his mask, kunai, hands, feet, and even glanced at the tree canopy where Yōkō had just hidden.
All these eye movements were completed in an instant.
This level of reaction ability was on par with the Three Tomoe Sharingan.
Namikaze Minato pushed off with his front foot, abruptly halting his forward momentum and standing firmly on the tree trunk.
Yōkō landed in front of Namikaze Minato. His sneak attack had failed, and he hurriedly swung his kunai.
Namikaze Minato reacted even faster, bending down to dodge the kunai.
With one hand, he grabbed Yōkō's wrist, while his other hand, holding a kunai, stabbed into Yōkō's abdomen.
So fast!
He had seen through every one of Yōkō's movements and reacted accordingly.
Whether it was observational power, nerve transmission, or muscle response, all were top-tier.
Is this what a natural-born ninja is like?
Is this the fate of a villain?
He couldn't even defeat Namikaze Minato from the Ninja Academy, killed by a mere student.
It made Yōkō seem like a clown.
Before Uzumaki Naruto was born, Namikaze Minato was the current Child of Destiny. Provoking the Child of Destiny meant a quick death.
—
Everything went black; his vision shifted.
Yōkō had returned to the previous full moon night, appearing in the backyard of Kyoui's Izakaya.
Kyoui was above him, sweating profusely.
Yōkō closed his eyes and enjoyed... the system reward.
[Mochizuki's Arc activated!
The host has only one resurrection opportunity per month. Upon death, they will resurrect on the previous full moon night.
Reward: One draw opportunity:
1- Wind Attribute Chakra;
2- Chūnin-level Chakra Reserve (stackable);
3- Stress Reflex (Second Breakthrough).]
Wind Attribute Chakra – Namikaze Minato's initial chakra attribute was Wind, same as Naruto in the original story.
This attribute was temporarily useless for Yōkō.
If he went to the Land of Hot Water later and encountered many Kumo-nin, he could consider acquiring Wind Attribute Chakra to counter Lightning Release.
Chūnin-level Chakra Reserve – this proved that Namikaze Minato's chakra reserve far exceeded the Genin level.
In the original story, Namikaze Minato had a massive chakra reserve, capable of teleporting Tailed Beasts and Tailed Beast Balls without issue.
Looking at the third option, Yōkō was overjoyed.
There really is an ability that increases reaction speed!
Stress Reflex (Second Breakthrough)!
Yōkō quickly selected the third reward.
In an instant, Yōkō's reflex nerves became more active. Whether it was his optic nerves, spinal nerves, or muscle nerves, all were enhanced.
Yōkō's original reaction speed was 0.2s. After the first enhancement, it became 0.15s.
He saw a glistening drop of sweat hanging from Kyoui's chin.
The drop of sweat on Kyoui's chin suddenly fell, and Yōkō's hand reached out to catch it.
Estimating the height at which he caught the sweat drop, Yōkō's current reaction speed was approximately 0.12s.
The first breakthrough improved it by 0.05s, the second breakthrough improved it by 0.03s.
Reaction speed was indeed difficult to improve. Trying to improve by 0.03s through self-training was probably impossible.
"Hey! Why are you catching my sweat? Are you mocking me for being too forward?"
"I just feel bad that you're working so hard."
The next morning, Yōkō left the izakaya feeling refreshed and invigorated.
I hope I encounter more speed-type ninjas to improve my reaction speed multiple times.
Once my reaction speed becomes the strongest in the ninja world, I can become a taijutsu powerhouse based on reaction speed alone.
So annoying, they deleted three hundred words of my text, making the pacing of my 'driving' slower. The 'driving' isn't smooth at all. The platform is too strict, not even allowing such subtle content.
...
Thanks to Dunlap Dulany for the support!
Read 50 advance at patreon.com/CNBLUE
(End of Chapter)