"Of course it's strong."
Uchiha Gin stared at the path split open by a sharp blade of wind.
"Just think about who created it."
Honestly, he was surprised by its power too. With this jutsu, defeating a stronger opponent wouldn't even be that difficult.
But last night, it definitely wasn't this powerful yet.
"Hmph."
Kushina dropped down from the tree, letting out a prideful huff.
Compared to her Tailed Beast Bomb, this wasn't even a tenth as powerful.
It was a pity she couldn't use that right now. If she could, she would've scared this annoying Uchiha half to death.
"Want to learn it?" Gin suddenly turned to Kushina with a mischievous grin.
"I..."
Kushina actually did want to learn it. Using a Tailed Beast Bomb was out of reach with her own chakra levels, and that damned fox had another seal slapped onto it — she couldn't even steal its power anymore if she wanted to.
So naturally, a powerful jutsu like this was tempting.
"Heh heh, call me 'Daddy' three times and I'll teach you."
"I'LL KILL YOU!!"
Kushina lunged forward. She charged! Charged!!
The next moment—
Gin casually lifted his leg and, with lightning speed, kicked Kushina squarely in the chest.
She only saw a dark blur before her body went flying backward. She crashed to the ground, a dusty shoeprint stamped across her face, lying there questioning her whole existence.
Why the hell couldn't she beat this guy?
Staring resentfully at Gin, she imagined herself countless times bursting into Nine-Tails Mode and smashing this detestable Uchiha to pieces.
Gin just stuck out his tongue at her playfully.
He was definitely the type to hold a grudge.
"Let's have a deathmatch, you damn Uchiha!!"
Kushina charged at him again. This time, Gin didn't even counterattack — he just stood there, waiting for her to close in, then shunpo-ed (flashed) away to keep his distance.
Gritting her teeth, Kushina also used shunpo to chase after him.
Their figures darted and weaved across the dilapidated training ground.
Gin landed lightly on the ground — Kushina closed in — but just as she did, he was already standing atop a wooden stake. She hurriedly used shunpo again to catch up, but Gin was now hanging upside-down from a tree branch, watching her struggle.
She just couldn't catch him — it was enough to drive Kushina insane!
Even Minato Namikaze couldn't keep up with Gin's speed, let alone her.
She ended up running literal circles around the entire training ground, chasing but never catching.
"Come on, catch me if you can, little rookie~," Gin teased.
Under his relentless taunting, Kushina got even angrier and ran even faster.
But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't even grab the hem of his clothes — left helplessly raging behind him.
And it was totally useless.
Minato Namikaze just stood there, sighing helplessly.
Weren't they supposed to be training?
How had this turned into a cat-and-mouse chase?
Finally, he flashed in to intercept Kushina.
"Alright, alright, enough fooling around."
As for Gin —
Even Minato couldn't catch him, so there was no helping it.
After coaxing Kushina for a good while, she finally stopped, albeit unwillingly.
Minato sighed deeply.
This team was destined to fall apart at this rate.
Gin perched cross-legged atop a wooden stake, grinning down at them.
"Minato, listen up — I'm going to teach you this jutsu."
As Gin started explaining, Kushina also calmed down completely. Minato quickly pulled out a notepad and began taking notes seriously.
While Gin spoke, Minato silently judged the jutsu's level:
An A-rank jutsu.
The underlying principles were extremely complex but its potential was incredibly high. If combined with other chakra natures, it could even be enhanced to an S-rank level.
Unfortunately, he currently only had Wind nature.
A ninja could train hard over time to awaken a second or even third chakra nature — but Minato wasn't there yet.
Unexpectedly, Kushina wasn't completely lost this time — instead, she looked thoughtful.
That surprised Gin a little.
Had they swapped people?
Seeing Gin's expression, Kushina knew exactly what he was thinking. She bared her teeth and threatened him.
Not that it had any effect.
But then Gin remembered that Kushina had been learning complex sealing techniques, so it made sense.
Plus, she also had Wind chakra nature.
Though sealing techniques didn't really require specific chakra elements.
"Steel Slash!"
Minato swung his kunai, sending a blade of wind slicing off a tree branch.
Gin lay back lazily on a tree stump, yawning.
Meanwhile, Kushina, who was providing chakra support for Minato, clutched a kunai, her face full of resentment.
Even Minato started to feel guilty about using her chakra.
"Damn it, why is this jutsu so hard!?"
Kushina wasn't supposed to be a mere assistant — she was also practicing — yet she still hadn't succeeded even once.
The jutsu's difficulty was too high for her right now.
"Maybe," Gin suggested lazily, "maybe it's just Minato who's abnormal."
Hearing that, Kushina's eyes practically sparked with bloodlust as she stared at Minato.
Minato smiled helplessly. "That's not how it works..."
And he patiently started explaining the finer details to Kushina.
Gin just clicked his tongue and turned away.
He wished he had a blond tsundere girl or a cool black-haired beauty by his side too.
Yet here he was, suffering while eating dog food alone.
Kushina and Minato, oblivious to everything around them, grew closer —
one teaching seriously, the other listening attentively.
But to Gin, it reeked heavily of nauseating hormones.
"You guys are here, huh?"
Suddenly, Jiraiya dropped down from above, landing softly without a sound.
The three turned to look at him — one of those stares filled with gratitude.
After all, not everyone could tolerate secondhand dog food.
Jiraiya blinked in confusion.
He hadn't done anything, had he?
Anyway — down to business.
"Perfect timing, Minato, I need you for something."
Minato looked puzzled.
Of the three of them, he was the least likely to be needed for anything, right?
He glanced at Kushina, then at the lazy Uchiha Gin.
One of them housed a fearsome beast inside.
The other was a prodigy from the Uchiha Clan.
Tentatively, he pointed at himself.
"Me, Jiraiya-sensei? What could I possibly do?"
Jiraiya explained: "Winter's coming. I'm taking you somewhere else to train."
"What about us?!" Kushina protested loudly.
They were supposed to be a team!
Why only take Minato?
"Jiraiya-sensei, you're so biased!"
"Alright, alright," Jiraiya chuckled, ruffling her hair.
After all, they were just ten-year-old kids.
"I found the perfect teacher for you two, too."
"The perfect teacher?" Kushina frowned, unable to think of anyone suitable.
Actually, she didn't really need teaching — she still had sealing techniques to train.
But seals weren't very good for offense.
Unlike Gin's Steel Slash — that was awesome.
But not very suitable for her.
"You'll see," Jiraiya said, patting her shoulder.
Then he waved Minato along.
"Let's go, Minato."
Minato hurried to follow.
"Wait, Jiraiya-sensei! At least tell us when to meet again!" Gin quickly shouted.
If they just disappeared without a word, how were they supposed to regroup?
Leave it to fate!?
This was why he couldn't get along with shady mystic types.
Jiraiya scratched his head awkwardly. "Ah, sorry, sorry."
"After spring starts — we'll meet right here."
Then Jiraiya's face turned serious.
"Train hard. When spring comes... we're heading to the frontlines."
"WHAT?!" Gin cried out, stunned.
He glanced at Kushina —
only to find her looking excited.
Gin's face darkened as he turned back to Jiraiya.
"All of us?"
Jiraiya nodded firmly.
"All of you."
"Tch," Gin sucked in a cold breath.
Was Hiruzen Sarutobi treating them like disposable animals now?
They were still just kids!
Throwing them onto a battlefield... wasn't he worried about accidents?
Losing the Nine-Tails?
As for Gin himself, Hiruzen probably wouldn't even mind if he died.
"So train well," Jiraiya emphasized again.
Gin silently stared up at the sky.
He already guessed who Jiraiya had picked as their teachers.
But so what?
On the battlefield, nobody cared about your background.
In fact, the stronger your background, the more ruthless people would come for you.
Kushina trudged through the snow, leaving a trail of footprints behind.
She had completely forgotten all basic ninja training about moving without leaving a trace.
She tilted her head back, staring at the setting sun, the air growing colder as the temperature dropped.
"Who the heck is going to be my teacher!?"
She scratched her head angrily.
She couldn't think of anyone suitable.
If there was anyone, it'd have to be a Jinchuriki or someone from the Uzumaki Clan.
But thinking of the Uzumaki Clan made her sigh deeply.
Maybe she was the only one left now.
Feeling a pang of loneliness, Kushina finally reached home — only to find the front door wide open, her eyes widening.
"I definitely closed it when I left this morning."
Her heart pounding, she rushed inside — and saw the pair of shoes at the entrance, eyes lighting up with joy.
Kicking off her own shoes carelessly, she raced into the house.
There, sprawled drunk on the floor in loose clothes, legs and arms splayed out in every direction, lay a woman.
Her careless posture revealed quite a bit of skin.
Drinking in broad daylight — completely tossing aside all ninja discipline.
But Kushina didn't mind.
In fact, she was delighted.
"Tsunade-sis, you're back!"
Tsunade cracked open her drunken eyes, wobbled a bit, then sat up and beckoned her over.
"I'll be living here for a while."
"So that's it..."
Gin smiled faintly from afar.
Jiraiya had arranged for Kushina's teacher to be Tsunade.
And for him?
Gin leapt over the iron fence separating him from the Death Forest, landing lightly.
"My teacher is obviously Orochimaru. Wasn't even a choice."
Feeling the injustice burn in his chest, Gin muttered to himself.
He was already under Orochimaru anyway.
Heading deeper into the Death Forest, everything was unnervingly quiet.
"Why is it so quiet today?" he muttered tiredly.
No need to think too hard.
The answer was obvious.
Normally, this place would echo with the roars of wild beasts, especially around sunset.
"Ahem. So, what brings you here, folks?"
Gin's gaze locked onto a dense tree above.
He had guests.
And they weren't friendly.
(End of Chapter)