Chapter 106: Rescuing a Comrade Needs No Reason
Kushina trudged on, and her captors seemed to be in no hurry.
As time wore on and they got farther and farther from the village, her hope of being rescued began to fade. She hadn't eaten dinner, and her strength was waning. She began to wonder if anyone in Konoha even cared about her. Even though she was a Jinchuriki, no one seemed to care if she lived or died.
No, Kushina! she told herself. Don't give up! Think!
First, she had to try and get some information.
"Who are you?" she asked in a low voice. "Where are you taking me?"
Of course, they wouldn't answer her directly. But the conversation itself might reveal something.
The person in front of her turned around and, with a strange smile, said, "Don't worry. We're not going to hurt you."
Kushina's heart skipped a beat. This person is so creepy! With that twisted expression, it was as if he were saying, "We're going to torture you."
Samui, who was in the lead, was counting the time. It had been almost an hour since they had captured the Jinchuriki. Even at a walking pace, they were now close to the edge of the barrier. Once they were out and had rendezvoused with Blue Bee, they could move on to the next phase of the mission.
But the problem was... where were the pursuers?
She didn't know whether to be amazed at Konoha's terrible security or the far-reaching influence of their high-ranking contact. An hour after their Jinchuriki had been captured, and still no one had come. If they had been in a hurry, they would have been back on the island turtle by now. Then they could just dive into the deep sea, and the Nine-Tails would have a new home.
As she was worrying, her keen senses detected someone approaching from behind.
A kunai shot out from the left, aimed at Kayo. But with her special sensory ability, Kayo was not surprised and easily deflected the attack.
The next moment, a figure charged out from the right. The kunai had been a feint. The real attack was aimed at Kushina.
Hiroto leaped into the air and kicked him back. He landed and stared at the newcomer. A young man with golden hair, about his own age.
When Kushina saw that it was Minato Namikaze, she was first overjoyed, then terrified. With just him alone, he wouldn't be able to save her. He might even get himself killed.
Minato, who had taken many detours, was slightly out of breath. "Who are you?" he said. "Why have you taken Kushina?"
"Minato, run!" Kushina shouted. "You can't beat them alone! They're strong!"
Samui, realizing there were no other pursuers, said with a disappointed tone, "Just you, boy? Have all the ninja in Konoha gone to bed?"
"Reinforcements will be here soon," Minato said, his expression unchanged. "If you let her go now, you can still get away."
Samui just smiled. "Is that so? How terrifying. Then why are you the one in front? Do you think you can save your little girlfriend? How touching."
Minato tightened his grip on his kunai. "No one would turn a blind eye to this situation," he said. "I will save her."
"How interesting," Samui said. "So in the end, the one who comes to save the Jinchuriki is a boy in love. Your village doesn't seem to value your Jinchuriki very much."
Now it was Minato's turn to be surprised. "Jinchuriki? What Jinchuriki? Kushina can't be a Jinchuriki."
He knew what a Jinchuriki was. He had been on the battlefield last year, in the rear, and had witnessed the monstrous power of the enemy's Jinchuriki. If he had been any closer, he would have been vaporized like the others. The memory still haunted Konoha. The mere mention of a Jinchuriki or a tailed beast struck fear into the hearts of their ninja.
Kushina's eyes dimmed. So now even Minato knows I'm a monster.
Just as she was about to give in to despair, she heard him shout, "I don't care if she's a Jinchuriki or anything else! She's my comrade!"
She looked up, surprised.
"Rescuing a comrade needs no reason!"
Samui clapped her hands. "How touching. Well then..."
She calculated the distance. They were only a kilometer or two from the edge of the barrier. If it weren't for the trees, they would have been able to see Blue Bee and the others.
She walked over to Hiroto and whispered in his ear, "He's yours. Stall him. Make a lot of noise. If you see Konoha's main force, retreat immediately."
Hiroto nodded.
She patted Kushina on the shoulder. "Well then, boy," she said to Minato, "we'll be taking your little girlfriend with us."
Minato was about to move, but Hiroto stopped him.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow River!"
Engulfed in a torrent of mud, Minato could only watch as they took Kushina away.
After he had recovered, he held his kunai in front of him. "It seems," he said, his voice cold, "that I'll have to go through you to save her."
Ten minutes ago.
On the outskirts of the Forest of Death, at the edge of the Konoha barrier, Blue Bee was wiping the blood from his sword. Beside him, Kyohei was panting as he applied a Healing Talisman to his shoulder. With a flash of green light, the wound quickly healed.
"Not even a scar," he said. "You're making me look bad. I'm so jealous. I never thought tailed beast chakra could heal injuries."
"I've been a Jinchuriki for over a decade," Blue Bee said, "and this is the first time anyone has ever been jealous of me."
"That's not true," Kyohei said with a laugh. "The kids in the village are all clamoring to be Jinchuriki now. They all want to be war heroes like you."
On the ground around them were the bodies of dozens of masked Root ninja. The signs of a fierce battle were everywhere. The victors were Blue Bee and Kyohei.
Most of them had been killed by Blue Bee. With his tailed beast cloak and his Sharingan's genjutsu, the numerically superior Root ninja had stood no chance. In fact, the moment he had revealed his identity as the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, their primary objective had been to escape and report. But he had been one step ahead of them. Not a single one had gotten away.
After cleaning up, they calculated the time. "Samui and the others should have succeeded by now," Kyohei said. "Otherwise, the alarm would have been raised."
"According to the plan," Blue Bee said, "they should be back in about ten minutes."
"It might get chaotic," Kyohei said, taking out a large map. "Let's calculate the coordinates first."
Blue Bee nodded.
They fell into a silence.
"What are you waiting for, Lord Blue Bee? Let's calculate the coordinates."
A drop of sweat trickled down Blue Bee's forehead. "Actually," he said, squinting, "I'm not very good at calculating coordinates."
Kyohei's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. "What?! Are you kidding me?! I specifically asked the Raikage! He said you knew how!"
"He gave me a book on it," Blue Bee said, looking away. "But I was... busy... watching the sea... I mean, training. I didn't have time to learn. What about you? You've been in the village. Isn't this a required skill now?"
Kyohei also awkwardly looked away. "I, uh... I've always been bad with numbers, ever since the Academy. I really tried to learn, but I just don't have the talent."
They fell into another silence.
"Well," Blue Bee said after a long moment, "we should have asked Samui to calculate it before. But I still have the book with me. Let's hurry!"
"Right, right!" Kyohei said, nodding eagerly. "We can still learn it now! Let me see."
They spread the manual on the ground and stared at the complex symbols and diagrams.
And then they fell into another silence.
Half an hour later, they were still squatting on the ground, scribbling in the dirt.
"The book says," Kyohei said, "that the x-coordinate for Konoha and its surrounding area should be between 100 and 150. Why did we get a four-digit number?"
"Wait... are we missing a decimal point?"
"Let me see... you're right! Good catch! Let's add the decimal point... but now it's a two-digit number!"
In the distance, they could hear people approaching. It was almost time to turn in their homework.
"Move it one space to the right! Quick! We're out of time!"
"Ah... now it's a three-digit number."
"A three-digit number starting with nine..."