As the new Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, Uzumaki Kushina's "safety" was yet to be assured, so she couldn't live in the village and was instead assigned a residence outside its boundaries.
On her way home, she had to pass through a dense grove of cherry blossoms. Normally, this path was deserted except for her, but today was different.
The boy she had previously pinned and pummeled to the ground stood blocking her path. With him was a young man wearing the forehead protector of a Konoha shinobi.
This was an actual Konoha ninja.
The shinobi walked toward Kushina with an air of arrogance.
"So, it's you—the one who made my little brother cry at school!"
"He started it by provoking me first!" Kushina shot back, pointing to the boy beside him. "He's nothing but a coward!"
Hearing her words, the boy turned his head in shame, unable to meet her gaze.
The shinobi gave a sly smile and pointed at the protector on his forehead.
"See this? I'm a genin. Pretty impressive, huh? Bad kids who bully my brother need a proper lesson!"
"..."
Facing a real ninja, Kushina's face momentarily showed concern. She didn't act recklessly but instead chose to flee decisively.
However, her opponent wasn't about to let her go so easily. He pursued her closely and even threw a kunai in her direction.
This time, Kushina decided not to back down. Dodging the kunai, she spun around and charged straight at him, knocking him to the ground with a sweeping arm strike.
But what she hadn't anticipated was that the ninja boy transformed into a puff of white smoke upon hitting the ground, leaving behind only a wooden log.
It was a substitution jutsu!
Before Kushina could recover from her shock, the ninja reappeared behind her, striking her neck with a chop and kicking her to the ground.
The fight was over in an instant, the outcome overwhelmingly one-sided.
Before Kushina could get up, the ninja grabbed her hair and hoisted her up roughly.
"Couldn't even detect a substitution jutsu? You're just a brat!"
As he spoke, he glanced at the red strands of hair in his hand and muttered, "So red, stiff as thread… this hair is such an eyesore."
The boy beside him chimed in mockingly, "Heh, serves you right!"
Hearing their words, tears streamed down Kushina's cheeks.
Watching this unfold from a nearby tree branch, Aburame Shigeo couldn't hold back any longer. He turned to Namikaze Minato beside him.
"Minato, are you seriously not stepping in yet?"
"…"
Minato frowned slightly, as though hesitating.
Seeing his hesitation, Shigeo clapped a hand firmly on his shoulder with a serious expression.
"Minato, when a girl's being bullied, you can't afford to hesitate! Be bold! Don't overthink it—go!"
With that, Shigeo shoved him off the branch.
Caught off guard, Minato quickly adjusted mid-air, landing gracefully on the ground.
As Minato landed, Shigeo followed suit, leaping down and shouting dramatically:
"Minato says, 'Let go of that girl!'"
Minato: "…"
*When did I say that?* Minato was bewildered, but the three others froze at Shigeo's shout.
The younger boy was the first to react, his face a mix of surprise and panic.
"H-How are you two here?"
Shigeo ignored him and strode up to the ninja boy still holding Kushina's hair. Adjusting his sunglasses, he spoke with a tone of disdain.
"A genin, huh? Bullying someone weaker than you—so this is the Will of Fire you've learned?"
"You—!"
The ninja boy's face flushed with anger and shame, his fists clenching tightly.
Before he could act, Shigeo swiftly retreated behind Minato, his expression turning serious.
"Minato, this guy's all yours. I'll handle his little sidekick!"
With that, Shigeo charged toward the younger boy.
Terrified, the boy screamed, "Don't come near me!!!"
He tried to run, but Shigeo caught up in two strides, sending him sprawling to the ground with a flying kick. Shigeo then pinned him down and started mercilessly pounding the back of his head.
The familiar sight made the boy burst into tears of despair once again.
Seeing his brother being beaten, the ninja boy couldn't stay idle. He released Kushina and prepared to fight.
Seeing this, Minato had no choice but to intervene, stepping forward with a look of mild exasperation.
"Let's end this here, okay?"
But the ninja boy wasn't about to listen. Without a word, he swung a punch at Minato, forcing him to retaliate.
*Thud thud thud thud thud…*
The two exchanged blows rapidly for several rounds.
It didn't take long for the difference in skill to show. Minato, a prodigy, soon landed a clean punch to the boy's face, followed by a kick to his stomach that sent him sprawling several meters away.
Realizing the overwhelming gap in strength, the ninja boy wiped the corner of his mouth with a resentful look.
"You're strong. Fine, I lost this time. We'll leave now. Can you let my brother go?"
"Sure."
Minato nodded, then glanced over at Shigeo, who was still enthusiastically pounding on the younger boy. His expression turned helpless once more.
"Shigeo, they've surrendered. Let him go."
"Alright!"
### Hearing Minato's Words
Upon Minato's call to stop, Aburame Shigeo ceased his barrage of punches on the sobbing boy. Standing up, he gave the kid a swift kick.
"I'll let you off the hook today. But if you dare bully anyone again, I'll beat you up every time I see you! Got it?"
"Waaaahhhh!"
Terrified, the boy burst into loud wails as he ran off.
Watching the brothers disappear into the depths of the woods, Shigeo turned to Minato and gave him a big thumbs-up.
"Nice work, Minato!"
Minato: "…"
*I wouldn't have been involved if not for you.*
Minato shook his head with a sigh, then extended a hand to the dazed Kushina, who was still sitting on the ground.
"Are you okay?"
Seeing Minato reach out to her, Kushina snapped out of her daze. She quickly shook her head, took his hand, and stood up, murmuring softly, "Thank you."
"Mm!" Minato smiled warmly and nodded.
Seeing this, Shigeo grinned and gave Minato a hearty pat on the shoulder.
"Helping others means going all the way, Minato. Escort her home safely—that's your task now! I'll head out first."
"…"
Minato opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to protest, but before he could say anything, Shigeo had already turned around and started walking away. Without looking back, he waved over his shoulder.
"Make sure she gets home safe, you hear?"
"Uh…"
---
On his way home, Shigeo stopped by the Nara family's pharmacy and bought a small packet of ration pills.
The stuff was ridiculously expensive. Most of his monthly living expenses went toward buying these.
After arriving home, he didn't even bother with dinner. Instead, he took out the small bag of ration pills, selected one, and placed it alongside a parasitic insect.
"Synthesize!"
With a mental command, a portion of Shigeo's chakra was drained instantly. The ration pill and the insect vanished, leaving behind a single insect that emitted a faint medicinal scent.
**The Ration Parasitic Insect!**
This was a unique breed of insect Shigeo had developed after countless experiments. Currently, it was the only type of insect that could significantly enhance his abilities. It occupied one-tenth of all the parasitic insects in his body.
Unlike ordinary parasitic insects that consumed their host's chakra, the Ration Parasitic Insect released chakra back into the host.
What set it apart from standard ration pills was its gentle and gradual release of chakra, which caused no harm to the user and even helped steadily increase chakra reserves over time.
However, the downside was glaringly obvious—it couldn't reproduce on its own. Each insect had to be synthesized individually.
Given Shigeo's current chakra reserves, he could only synthesize around ten Ration Parasitic Insects per day, each process taking less than a minute.
What troubled him most was acquiring high-quality ration pills.
The quality of the pill directly determined the strength and lifespan of the synthesized insect. Using premium ration pills resulted in insects that could provide more chakra and live longer.
Ideally, Shigeo wanted to use only premium pills for synthesis.
But reality wasn't so kind. Ration pills were expensive. Forget premium pills—just one small packet of basic ration pills nearly wiped out his entire monthly budget.
Moreover, the insects synthesized from basic pills had a lifespan of only about a month.
In other words, both the Ration Parasitic Insects and the pills they were synthesized from were consumables. Shigeo's method was just more efficient—and importantly, without side effects.
But it was absurdly costly!
After storing the ten newly synthesized Ration Parasitic Insects in his body, Shigeo couldn't help but let out a heavy sigh.
"Man, it seems like no matter where you are, money's always the most important thing. Looks like I'll have to figure out another way to make some cash!"
*(End of Chapter)*