"Phew… he almost managed to get away.
Professor Minato, counting that Narita Daisaku, that makes five Kumogakure ninjas eliminated in total, right?"
Namikaze Minato: "..."
Almost? That wasn't almost at all - it was barely, practically a miracle in reverse.
Narita Daisaku was already critically wounded, on the brink of death, and had even lost an arm. If he had focused solely on escaping, it would've been impossible to stop the bleeding from the severed limb.
Even if he had temporarily shaken off Minato's pursuit, he would've lost consciousness from excessive blood loss, becoming too weak to continue running - and then he would've been caught and killed.
On the other hand, if he tried to flee while treating his wound, there was no way he could escape Minato.
In Minato's judgment, he could have caught up to him and killed him in less than ten seconds. That kill was, without a doubt, shameless kill-stealing.
Of course, one could also say that Uchiha Mai acted with his teacher in mind, showing good teamwork.
But in the end… Everyone was on the same side. Why be so meticulous? It was just a kill.
Either way, Minato was satisfied. Uchiha Mai had taken care of his own opponent, and that alone was worth celebrating.
Originally, Minato's expectations were simple: that Mai could hold off a single chūnin, making Minato's own fight easier.
But Uchiha Mai far exceeded expectations. Not only did he kill a Kumogakure chūnin, he even had the spare capacity to "pick up a lost wallet."
At this point, his strength was no longer inferior to Kakashi's.
With the battle over, the two gathered the enemy bodies and began cleaning up the battlefield.
Searching corpses was an excellent habit. Who knew? There might be mission records, intelligence notes, or even a codebook.
The value of such information to the village far surpassed that of many A-rank ninjutsu scrolls.
"Ah, speaking of which, Mai… you just shouted Hundred Styles · Demonic Incineration, didn't you?"
While searching the bodies, Minato suddenly remembered something important.
Crap!
Uchiha Mai felt a chill run down his spine. He had fought too enthusiastically and completely forgotten that his teacher was nearby, accidentally calling out the technique's real name.
Minato gave him a slightly resentful look and muttered:
"I remember the full name you came up with was much more stylish."
Mai… I'm disappointed in you. I didn't expect this from you. You broke our promise.
"It's just an abbreviation. That's all."
Uchiha Mai wiped cold sweat from his forehead.
When they developed Hundred Styles · Demonic Incineration with Minato's "help," the professor had gotten far too excited and wanted to give the technique an absurdly long and embarrassingly over-the-top name.
Fortunately, Mai had anticipated this and proposed an even longer and more exaggerated name, successfully ending the discussion.
Honestly, the name Minato created - aside from being overly dramatic and complicated - actually sounded pretty good.
But ninjutsu research showed that a ninja's power came from chakra, the fusion of spiritual and physical energy.
Shouting the name of a technique in battle, or at least letting out effort-filled cries, helped raise morale and strengthen resolve, slightly increasing combat power.
Uchiha Mai absolutely did not want to risk, in the middle of a life-and-death battle, yelling out an enormous tongue-twister of a name… and then laughing at himself.
I'm not really chūnibyō. My chūnibyō is just self-defense.
"If it's an abbreviation, then repeat the full name. If you can't, I'll personally give it an extremely stylish name."
Minato insisted, clearly still obsessed with the naming session from that day.
"Mai's Ancient Martial Style · Blazing Scarlet · Super Furious Fire Wave · Final Ascending Strike of the Hundred Styles · Demonic Incineration."
Uchiha Mai recited it in one breath. Thankfully, he hadn't forgotten.
Only then was Minato satisfied. He patted Mai on the shoulder and said encouragingly:
"Seems you weren't lying.
Mai, in the future, whenever you use a technique with such a stylish and deadly name, try shouting the full thing. Maybe the enemy will die of fear before the attack even lands."
…Or die laughing.
Hey… come to think of it, that might work too. A mix of comedy, sound waves, and genjutsu… could be viable?
"Yes, sir."
Uchiha Mai nodded repeatedly.
After searching the bodies and cleaning the battlefield, Minato took out a sealing scroll and stored all five corpses inside.
In Konoha, there were ninjas capable of reading the memories of the dead. Although after brain death only fragmented impressions could be extracted, it was still worth trying.
Moreover, a ninja's body was far more valuable for research than a civilian's. No resources should be wasted.
With everything settled, Minato led Uchiha Mai back along the same route. Worried about Tsunade's safety, the two moved almost as fast as they had during the pursuit.
Fearing that Tsunade's hemophobia might flare up again, they even detoured to a stream, washed the blood off, and changed clothes before returning.
When they reached the original location and saw Tsunade and the others by the roadside, the two froze.
Tsunade, Guy, Kakashi, and the toad Taku - three people and one toad - were sitting in a circle… playing cards.
Everyone had black circles drawn all over their faces.
Tsunade was the worst: she had somewhere between forty and fifty circles on her face. Since her face was too small, some of the drawings had even spread down to her neck.
Guy and the toad Taku followed with about twenty each. Kakashi had the fewest - only four or five.
"Kakashi! Guy! Taku!"
Minato's expression changed drastically as he sternly reprimanded the three:
"Didn't I tell you to protect Lady Tsunade's safety? What exactly were you protecting? This is no different from protecting nothing at all!
If anything had happened to Lady Tsunade, all of us would've had to pay with our lives!"
"My deepest apologies, Professor Minato!"
"It was my failure. I accept any punishment."
The two and the toad bowed their heads in shame.
"Minato, I was the one who asked them to play cards with me."
Tsunade tossed a terrible hand of cards onto the pile, stood up with one hand on her waist, and glared at Minato with her face completely scribbled over.
"Don't blame them too much.
I've rested long enough. The hemophobia has subsided, and my perception is fully restored. If any enemies approached, I would've noticed immediately.
Besides, I could've wiped them all out by myself. If you hadn't suddenly attacked and killed one of them, none of this would've gotten complicated."
Minato: "..."
I was completely unnecessary. I'll just leave now.
"Ahem… anyway, let's make sure this doesn't happen again."
Minato coughed awkwardly.
"Since Lord Minato has returned, I can safely head back to Mount Myōboku. Please excuse me."
The toad Taku bowed with his sword and dispelled the summoning.
"Minato, you came back quickly. Have the enemies already been dealt with?"
Only then did Tsunade turn her thoughts back to serious matters.
No matter how shaken she had been, she understood perfectly how disastrous it would be for Konoha if news of her hemophobia were to spread.