"See that? It's just the two of them!"
After leaving school, the clone and Kushina walked down the street, chatting and laughing.
At the corner, Kota and his two friends peered out cautiously, afraid of running into Tsunade.
Upon discovering that only Minato and Kushina were present, the three couldn't wait to rush out and block their way.
"Hmph, I finally caught a chance!"
Kota laughed smugly. "Minato Namikaze! Let's see how you can be smug this time!"
"It's you again!"
Seeing the three blocking the way, Kushina frowned and instinctively rolled up her sleeves, ready to fight, but the clone raised his hand to stop her.
"Leave it to me."
The clone smiled gently, saying no more.
But this feeling of being protected made Kushina's cheeks flush.
She waved her small fist. "Then good luck, Minato! Beat them up for me!"
The clone took a step forward and looked at the three calmly. "So you're here to cause trouble?"
"What? Are we not obvious enough?"
Tetsuo laughed maliciously. Kota's physique, which was stronger than his peers, gave him a lot of security. At this moment, he felt like a fox exploiting the tiger's might.
"It's not exactly causing trouble..."
Seio made the seal of confrontation. "Just a friendly exchange between classmates. After all, if you continue to be so arrogant, you might offend people you shouldn't offend."
"Ah... is that so?"
The clone nodded knowingly, glanced at the bushes not far away out of the corner of his eye, and showed a peaceful smile.
"Although I don't know how I offended you, if you insist on fighting, please make it quick. I don't have much chakra left."
"Don't worry, we won't waste too much of your time!"
Kota said, pointing at the clone, unable to hide the pleasure in his tone. "Teach him a lesson hard!"
Swish, swish, swish—
The three dispersed and pounced on the clone from three different directions.
"Kushina, stay back a bit."
The clone pushed Kushina away, his gaze quickly sweeping over the three, feeling slightly satisfied.
It seemed that these three still had basic ninja literacy and didn't rush up all at once.
In this way, it would be reasonable for him, who had no experience dealing with sieges, to be caught off guard and expose a flaw.
From the rear right, Seio reached out to hug Minato's waist, but the clone grabbed his wrist and threw him at Tetsuo who was pouncing from the rear left.
Thud!
Their foreheads collided, and both cried out in pain simultaneously.
At the same time, the clone twisted his body and kicked Kota in the face.
"Pfft..."
Kota's head tilted to the side, stumbling from the kick and falling sideways to the ground.
"With just this little strength, you dare to ambush people?"
Looking at the three who were instantly knocked down, the clone sighed slightly. "If there's nothing else, I have to go buy groceries..."
"Damn it, don't be too smug!"
Kota got up abruptly and punched towards the clone's cheek.
The clone was about to dodge, but suddenly his ankle was grabbed by Seio who had fallen to the ground.
At the same time, Tetsuo hugged the clone's waist and shouted excitedly, "Got you!"
"Not good, Minato!"
Kushina, watching from a distance, exclaimed and subconsciously wanted to rush up to help.
"Kushina, don't come over!"
The clone's face changed, and he shouted loudly, "Stop it quickly, Kota!"
However, Kota had no intention of stopping, swinging his fist towards Minato's face!
Seeing this, the clone looked anxious. "I am a Wood Clone. If I get broken..."
Bang!
The fist smashed heavily onto the clone's face, interrupting his words.
A look of pleasure appeared on Kota's face.
However, in the next instant, with a muffled puff, a sharp branch pierced through his abdomen!
Feeling the strange sensation from his abdomen, Kota instinctively looked down. Seeing his abdomen pierced, the smile on his face gradually stiffened.
The Minato in front of him gradually turned wooden, transforming into a large tree. The remaining face struggled to speak the last words: "I... can't control it... Run... quickly!"
As the last trace of color belonging to human skin faded, the clone completely turned into a thick tree.
Branches pierced through the bodies of the three one after another, but subtly avoided fatal injuries, as if it was the clone's last effort...
"Ahhh!!!"
"It hurts!"
"Help!!"
Regaining their senses, Kota and the other two let out heart-wrenching screams, but to no avail.
The big tree in front of them grew rapidly, making cracking sounds, lifting the three several meters high. The scene looked extremely cruel!
"Not good! Save them quickly!"
A figure rushed out from the bushes. Shinnosuke shouted to the dumbfounded Kushina.
Then he jumped up, took out a kunai, and cut off the branch stuck in Kota.
Kushina, realizing what was happening, also hurried forward, jumped high, smashed the branches with two punches, and rescued Tetsuo and Seio.
"They are bleeding a lot!"
Kushina looked at the three on the ground in panic. Their bodies were soaked in blood, and their limbs showed varying degrees of atrophy, looking shriveled and terrifying.
"What do we do now?"
"You watch here. I'll go get help. The teachers are still at school."
Shinnosuke said, then ran back to school to find the teachers.
Soon, Shinnosuke rushed over with Ikkaku Umino and several teachers. They hurriedly sent the three to the hospital and notified their parents.
"Doctor, how are they?"
After emergency measures were taken, Ikkaku Umino asked anxiously.
"No life-threatening danger, but..."
The doctor hesitated. "They are students of the Academy, right?"
"Yes."
Ikkaku Umino nodded.
"Although there is no life-threatening danger, a large number of the patients' cells have died, and their bodies have also atrophied to varying degrees. It's my first time seeing such injuries."
The doctor shook his head. "This is a phenomenon of severe life overdraft. It will take at least a few years to recuperate, and even after recuperating, I'm afraid they won't be able to be ninjas anymore."
"Is that so..."
Ikkaku Umino looked solemn. "I understand. Thank you."
He turned and walked out of the room, came to the corridor, and looked seriously at Shinnosuke and Kushina. "Tell me, what exactly happened just now?"
Kushina put her hands behind her back, looking at Ikkaku Umino uneasily.
She was worried that telling the truth might cause Minato to be punished.
"Let me tell you."
Shinnosuke sighed. "During the day, Kota and the others had a verbal argument with Minato... but actually, it was just Kota finding fault unilaterally."
Ikkaku Umino frowned tightly. He had just made Kota and the other two copy rules as punishment yesterday. He didn't expect these three brats not to learn their lesson at all.
"After school, I saw them following Minato and Kushina, so I followed them..."
Shinnosuke recounted what happened in detail, including how the three sought trouble with Minato, how Minato instantly defeated the three, and how the accident happened because the three entangled Minato when he was leaving.
In his words, besides contempt for Kota and the other two, there was also a hint of defense for Minato.
Listening to Shinnosuke's narration, Ikkaku Umino's tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly.