Chapter 8: The Bridge of Betrayal and the Water of Weakness part-3
Hiroto's face turned a shade of green that matched his vest. A loud, wet gurgling sound echoed through the canyon, audible even over the wind.
"Oh no," Hiroto squeaked.
His chakra control flickered. When your body is fighting a biological desperate exit, focusing spiritual energy becomes significantly harder. The chakra adhering his feet to the rope vanished.
"AAHHH!"
Hiroto slipped. He fell past Minato, his arms flailing.
"Kushina! Help!" Hiroto screamed as he plummeted toward the river.
Minato sighed. He let go of the rope.
As he fell, he pulled a special three-pronged kunai from his holster. He threw it upward, embedding it deep into the cliff face at the top of the ravine, next to Kushina.
Flash.
Minato vanished in a streak of yellow light. He appeared instantly at the top of the cliff, safe and sound next to a terrified Kushina.
"Minato!" She threw her arms around him, nearly tackling him to the ground. "I thought you were dead! The bridge broke and..."
"I am fine," Minato said, soothing her hair. "I am perfectly fine."
"But Hiroto!" She pointed down into the abyss. "He fell!"
Minato walked to the edge and looked down. Hiroto had managed to grab onto a protruding branch about fifty feet down. He was dangling there, his pants noticeably darker than they had been a moment ago.
"Help!" Hiroto wailed. "I... I had an accident! My chakra slipped!"
Minato looked at Kushina. "It seems Hiroto-san is unwell. He lost control of his chakra. A rookie mistake."
Kushina frowned, her worry turning into confusion and slight disgust as the smell wafted up on the updraft. "Did he... soil himself?"
"Fear does strange things to men," Minato said philosophically. "Stay here, Kushina. I will retrieve him."
Minato threw another kunai down, embedding it in the tree branch next to Hiroto. He teleported down.
He crouched on the branch, looking at the trembling, messy Transmigrator.
"You..." Hiroto gasped, tears streaming down his face. "Why didn't the poison work? I saw you drink it!"
Minato smiled, but it was terrifying. "I am the Yellow Flash, Hiroto. I am faster than your eyes, faster than your traps, and certainly faster than your pathetic schemes."
(Tell him,) Ethan urged. (Deliver the final line.)
"And," Minato whispered, leaning close to Hiroto's ear, "Kushina is mine. If you ever look at her again, if you ever try to buy another item from that little 'System' of yours... I won't let you fall into a river. I will drop you into a volcano."
Hiroto's eyes widened in horror. "You know? You know about the System?"
"I know everything," Minato lied (technically Ethan knew, but same difference). "Now, let's get you up. You smell terrible."
Minato grabbed Hiroto by the back of his collar and teleported them both back to the cliff edge. He dumped Hiroto on the ground.
"He is safe," Minato announced to Kushina and the merchant. "But he is in shock. And he needs a change of clothes. I recommend he rides in the back of the cart for the rest of the trip."
Kushina wrinkled her nose. "Yeah. Definitely the back of the cart."
..................…..
Two Days Later: The Hidden Leaf Village.
The mission was a success. The merchant was safe, the silk was delivered, and the team had returned home.
Hiroto had resigned from the ninja forces the moment they walked through the gates. The humiliation of the "Ravine Incident"—which Merchant Goro had already told everyone about—was too much. Plus, the sheer terror of Minato knowing his secret had broken his spirit. He had fled the village to become a farmer in a remote country where no one knew his name.
Minato and Kushina stood outside her apartment. The sun was setting, casting a warm glow over the village.
"Well," Kushina said, scuffing her sandal on the ground. "That was... an eventful mission."
"It was," Minato agreed. "But I am glad we went. I realized something."
"What?"
"That I don't want to wait anymore," Minato said. He reached into his pouch. He wasn't pulling out a kunai this time. He pulled out a small, velvet box.
Ethan panicked. (Wait, what are you doing? I didn't tell you to do this! This isn't in the script!)
Minato ignored the System. He got down on one knee.
Kushina gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. "Minato?"
"Kushina Uzumaki," Minato said, his voice trembling slightly—genuine nervousness this time, not system-induced. "I know I work too much. I know I am not always the most attentive boyfriend. But I love you more than I love this village, and that is saying a lot. I want to spend every day protecting you, laughing with you, and eating ramen with you. Will you marry me?"
Tears welled up in Kushina's violet eyes. "You idiot," she sobbed, laughing. "Of course I will!"
She tackled him, knocking him over, and kissed him deeply.
[Mission Complete.]
A golden notification banner unfurled in Ethan's mind, accompanied by the sound of fanfares and fireworks.
[Incident Report: World 1][Target: Minato Namikaze & Kushina Uzumaki.][Status: Engaged. Relationship Health: 100 percent (Unbreakable).][Villain Status: Retired/Traumatized.][Performance Rating: S-Rank.][Reward: 1000 System Points. New Title: "The Matchmaker of Konoha".]
(Well,) Ethan thought, feeling a strange sense of pride as he watched the happy couple. (I suppose that wraps this one up. Good job, Minato. You did good.)
"Thank you, Ethan," Minato thought, projecting his gratitude inward. "I couldn't have done it without you."
(Yeah, yeah. Don't get mushy on me. Enjoy your engagement. I have a feeling my work here is done.)
[System Alert: New Transmigrator detected in Sector 4.][World Designation: World 2 - The World of Pirates (One Piece Universe).][Transfer sequence initiating in 3... 2... 1...]
"Wait, I don't get a vacation?" Ethan shouted into the void.
[Negative. Infidelity never sleeps.]
The world of ninjas dissolved into light.
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