Chapter 13 — Namikaze Minato
Watching her last comrade die miserably—and realizing that, because she had gone to check on the wounded, the distance between himself and the enemy had once again exceeded fifty meters—while the enemy was now attacking from within the smoke… let alone predicting the opponent's movements, he could not even determine the enemy's exact position.
The mission has completely failed!
Without her comrades' coordination and cover, without the advantage of distance, without the initiative to anticipate the enemy's actions—her Scorch Release was countered, and she did not know Earth Release—Pakura understood that unless a large number of Suna reinforcements arrived immediately, along with a powerful Suna elite, there would be no chance of killing the enemy hidden in the smoke today.
After weighing the pros and cons, Pakura gritted her teeth. Taking advantage of the cover provided by the Earth Formation Wall and the interference of the raging tornado, she turned and dashed into the forest.
This was the escape opportunity her comrades had purchased with their lives.
She had to bring back detailed intelligence on this enemy.
Whether it was the heavily injured Suna ninja who cast the Earth Formation Wall, or the one who used Hurricane Assault, both had chosen to sacrifice their lives to cover Pakura's retreat.
Watching Pakura flee, Gekkō Ren did not continue firing, nor did he pursue.
When he had earlier told them the information that the Third Kazekage had been killed by Sasori, it was actually so that they would bring that intelligence back. Only one person was needed to deliver the message—and the strongest among them, Pakura, was undoubtedly the most suitable.
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"Captain Minato, there's only one person in the smoke."
"He actually killed this many Suna ninja—the bodies definitely exceed a hundred!"
"The one who escaped was Suna's elite jōnin, Pakura, right? That guy in the smoke is insanely strong! Surrounded by so many Suna ninja and still counter-killed over a hundred, leaving only the famous Pakura alive to escape."
"But… we've never heard of someone this fierce existing in the village, have we?"
Having just arrived, Namikaze Minato and the other Konoha ninja concealed themselves at the edge of the forest across the wide river. They stared in shock at the riverbank opposite them, where over a hundred Suna corpses lay scattered. They spoke in hushed voices, unable to stop themselves from glancing at Minato, their squad leader, comparing silently in their hearts.
"This is a powerhouse stronger than me," Minato said seriously when he noticed their looks. "However, Konoha doesn't have anyone with such bizarre attack methods. Be careful—the one in the smoke is likely not one of ours."
They had heard the strange sounds and explosions from this direction for quite some time. By the time they arrived, the explosion's smoke had already concealed Gekkō Ren. They had only witnessed the final few Suna ninja dying in strange ways and Pakura fleeing. But limited information did not prevent them from drawing conclusions.
(The distance was too great. The bullets were too small and too fast—even Minato could not see them clearly.)
"The person in the smoke is coming out," the Yamanaka ninja responsible for sensing reported, interrupting the others' quiet discussion.
"It's actually a child!"
In the next instant, everyone's eyes widened—even Minato's.
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Is it Suna? Or Konoha ninja?
Gekkō Ren stepped out of the smoke, thinking to himself, not immediately making a move.
After stripping another set of clothing from a Suna corpse and putting it on, he pulled out a kunai and walked toward the gravely wounded Suna ninja lying on the ground. At the same time, the corner of his eye subtly glanced toward the distant forest.
"Heh… heh…"
Seeing Gekkō Ren approaching with a kunai, the Suna ninja let out wheezing breaths, glaring at him with hatred. It almost sounded like laughter. His lung had been pierced, so each breath came out as a ragged wheeze—but he truly was laughing.
"Pfft."
Gekkō Ren frowned slightly at the sight. Squatting down, he drove the kunai into the ninja's forehead, ending his life completely. Again, the corner of his eye discreetly flicked toward the heat signatures in the distant forest.
After finishing him off, Gekkō Ren first retrieved and put on his Konoha forehead protector. Then he began collecting the fallen Suna ninja's headbands and supplies, gradually moving toward the forest. While gathering the spoils, his peripheral vision repeatedly, inconspicuously, glanced toward the forest where the heat signatures were located.
"We've been discovered. Everyone, be careful," Minato said softly.
The first one or two glances might have gone unnoticed. But as they increased—and as Gekkō Ren seemed to deliberately move toward the forest while collecting spoils—Minato understood that they had been spotted.
Hearing Minato's words, the other Konoha ninja silently nodded.
A man who could single-handedly counter-kill this many Suna ninja was someone to be extremely cautious of. Even though they were two hundred meters away, no one knew what methods he possessed. Two hundred meters might be a distance he could cross in mere seconds.
They had only just finished nodding when Minato vanished.
Startled, the Konoha ninja quickly looked up—only to see that Minato was already flashing toward the opponent at extreme speed, crossing over a hundred meters in the span of a few breaths.
The remaining Konoha ninja were left speechless and hid themselves even more carefully.
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"You are… Gekkō Ren?"
When he closed to within thirty meters of Gekkō Ren, Minato stopped. He stared at him in shock and uncertainty.
He knew Gekkō Ren—more than that, he was familiar with him.
They had first met on the street when Gekkō Ren was nine years old and still attending the Ninja Academy. Back then, Gekkō Ren had complimented Kushina's red hair, saying it was beautiful and that he envied it, which had delighted her. That was how they met. After encountering each other a few more times, they gradually became acquainted, occasionally chatting. Gekkō Ren's manner of speech had left a deep impression on Minato—he spoke like a little adult.
Normally, Gekkō Ren trained relentlessly with Might Guy, who was four years younger than him, almost regardless of rain or shine. He was extraordinarily hardworking. The two, both devoted to extreme training, regarded each other as kindred spirits.
When Gekkō Ren was about to graduate, Minato had even observed him for a period of time. At the time, the Third Hokage had asked him to take on a genin team, and Minato had first considered accepting Gekkō Ren as his student. After all, he was someone he knew—and someone hardworking.
Unfortunately, although Gekkō Ren was extremely diligent, his talent was truly too poor. He simply wasn't suited to being a ninja. Minato had abandoned the idea of taking him as a disciple and had even considered persuading him not to become a ninja at all. Then the war broke out, and the matter of mentoring and persuasion was left unresolved.
Now Gekkō Ren was twelve years old, having just graduated from the Academy this year. He had formed a genin team with two other civilian graduates from the same class, under the guidance of an experienced chūnin. It was precisely because of his relentless training that his strength had barely managed to keep pace with civilian ninja of the same age—a testament to how poor his natural talent was, and how strong his will and determination were.
"It's you, Brother Minato. I thought you were Suna ninja," Gekkō Ren said, relaxing as he lowered the hand that had transformed into an M249 light machine gun. His voice, however, sounded cold—almost mechanical—because it was produced through the machine's vocal system.
"You killed all these people?" Minato asked in astonishment.
At the same time, he cautiously glanced at Gekkō Ren's arm, which had turned into a strange weapon. Earlier, it was precisely because he sensed danger from that weapon aimed at him that he had stopped at thirty meters instead of closing in further.
The current Gekkō Ren was almost impossible to reconcile with the one he remembered. This level of strength could no longer be explained by talent alone. Even Konoha's most gifted prodigy, Kakashi, could not have possessed such power at this age—let alone Gekkō Ren, whose talent had once been abysmal in every aspect, nearly at the bottom among ninja.
"Yes. I lay in ambush here for five days," Gekkō Ren replied calmly. "I awakened a kekkei genkai. After news of my parents' deaths was brought back, one month later I sold my house and applied to join the battlefield."