"Let me show you what a real powerhouse looks like!"
He planned to meet Minato's kunai head-on with his blade, to give these three damned brats a taste of true strength.
The kunai was already inches from him. Just as he was about to swing down, Minato suddenly appeared at his side. Without the slightest hesitation, the three-pronged kunai sliced clean across his throat.
"Urgh—!"
"You—" He never imagined Minato would appear out of nowhere.
Watching the dying rogue ninja collapse in front of him, Minato shook his head.
"Along the way here, I've already killed more than a dozen like you."
The Land of Fire might be more peaceful than Amegakure, but the roads were still plagued by bandits and rogue shinobi.
Most turned tail the moment they saw the Konoha headbands.
But a few—overestimating their own strength—had set their sights on the three of them.
Minato could only think: These people must be brain-damaged.
"C'mon, say something. Weren't you just boasting about showing us the 'style of the strong'?" Yuki Seisui crouched beside the dying man, his words sharp enough to cut deeper than any blade.
"This is what a strong man looks like?"
"How terrifying."
"You—!" The rogue ninja's trembling hand tried to point at Yuki, but it fell limply as his life slipped away.
Yuki clicked his tongue. "Tch. Dead already."
"You're so damn dramatic," Minato muttered, giving him a blank look.
"You don't get it," Yuki shot back with a sideways glance.
"Scum like this deserves it."
"Who knows how many civilians have died at their hands? If they just die quietly, what about those people? Killing them isn't enough—you have to break them first."
"Minato, you still don't understand peace."
Minato: "…"
How did killing someone turn into a lecture on peace?
Seeing Minato's expression, Yuki sighed again.
"Get in touch with Jiraiya-sensei. We're already in Amegakure—he should be close."
=======
At that moment, Jiraiya was laughing heartily at the three young disciples before him.
"You've all learned pretty well!"
"Sensei, I—"
Before they could continue, a small toad appeared beside Jiraiya.
"Jiraiya, Minato wants to know where you are."
"They're in Amegakure now."
I was just about to head back to Konoha… how are they here already?
Yahiko leaned in curiously toward the toad. "This is your summoning beast? It's so small."
"Mm. This one's a messenger toad—used for communication," Jiraiya explained, frowning slightly as he pondered the situation.
Then he shook his head. "Forget it. I'll just ask that brat Yuki when he gets here."
He told the toad his location, sent it on its way, then turned back to his three students.
"Hahaha, looks like I won't be leaving just yet. I'll be staying here a while longer."
"That's great!" the three cheered.
"Your senior brothers and sister are on their way," Jiraiya added with a grin. "You'll meet them soon—and they're all formidable shinobi."
Before leaving Konoha three years ago, Yuki and the others had already made chunin. After three more years of training, they were surely even stronger.
"Senior sister?" Konan's eyes lit up as she folded another paper flower. "She must be beautiful, right?"
Jiraiya blinked, baffled by her train of thought, but nodded. "She's cute. Just… a little cold."
Konan smiled faintly at that.
"What's the point of being pretty?" Yahiko snorted. "Strength is what matters! Right, Nagato?"
Nagato silently nodded.
Jiraiya chuckled. "Haha, you'll see for yourselves soon enough. But—watch out for that brat Yuki Seisui. The kid's got a nasty streak."
=======
Meanwhile, Yuki and his group had just finished receiving a message from the messenger toad.
Tracing his finger along the map, Yuki smirked. "Found it. Not far—maybe a day's travel."
"Let's move. I've got a feeling that old perv is talking bad about me right now."
"It's Jiraiya-sensei," Minato corrected.
"Close enough." Yuki waved it off. "I'll call him 'sensei' when I see him."
"I'm telling Jiraiya-sensei that," Minato said with a gleam of satisfaction, as if he'd found the perfect way to get back at him.
"Tch. You'll regret that, Minato," Yuki scoffed—then paused, realizing how that sounded. "I mean, I'll get you back for it."
But Minato wasn't listening to the second part. "So you finally said that to me, Yuki!" he exclaimed, his face lighting up. "I'm—"
He stopped mid-sentence, suddenly unsure how to finish.
"Ha! Tongue-tied, huh, little brother?" Yuki laughed.
Before they could continue bickering, Uchiha Haru appeared between them. "Let's go. We might even find Jiraiya-sensei today."
Whenever those two started getting weird, she knew she had to step in.
Give it up, Minato, she thought.
=======
Amegakure was far from safe.
I mean no harm, but others mean harm to me.
Along the way, the trio had cut down dozens of bandits, thieves, and rogue ninja who thought to block their path.
Glancing at the map again, Yuki said, "The next town should be it."
"They really picked a deep hiding spot—right in the heart of Amegakure."
He'd barely finished speaking when a mocking voice came from the side. "Outsiders, huh?"
Yuki turned his head to find a Rain shinobi leering at them.
"Here we go again," Yuki sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Do you people just hate the sight of us?" After being ambushed more than ten times on this trip, his patience was wearing thin.
"What's that, brat?" The Rain shinobi smiled coldly. "I like your swords. Hand them over."
Yuki glanced down at the ornate carving on his katana's sheath, then at the blade in Haru's hand, and suddenly understood.
"So that's why we've been running into so many thieves and rogues."
"You never thought to ask why we'd have weapons like this?"
"Well, since you want it… I'll give it to you."
The katana slid free—and in the next instant, Yuki vanished.
"What—?!" The Rain shinobi's body visibly trembled. He was a chunin, yet he couldn't track that boy's movement at all.
A heartbeat later, Yuki reappeared.
"Do you want to dance too?"
"Wha—" The shinobi's protest ended in a spray of blood from his neck. His head landed a few meters away.
"Not even enough to get me excited," Yuki muttered, his gaze shifting to three young Rain shinobi nearby.
Their squad leader, huh?
In a blur, he was in front of them. The three boys dropped to their knees, voices shaking.
"Please! Let us go!"
"We didn't even know him!"
"I've got a little sister to take care of—please!"
Yuki's eyes were flat, his voice colder than steel. "I don't leave ROOTs behind. That's my creed."
Steel flashed. Three more heads rolled to join their leader's.
"Yuki… isn't this going too far?" Minato frowned. "We're not at war with the Rain."
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