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BOOM!
A paper bomb zipped past a baby's cheek and exploded right next to the man in front of him. The blast sent the man flying, but even as he was thrown back, he clung tightly to the baby, shielding him with his body.
"Ugh…"
He hugged the baby to his chest and slammed into a big tree with a loud thud, groaning in pain.
"Konoha's just up ahead... I have to hang on!"
Cough… cough…
He spat out a mouthful of blood, then forced himself up off the ground and leapt into the trees, darting forward as fast as he could. Behind him, four masked ninja were closing in fast.
Strapping the baby securely to his back, he quickly formed some hand signs, then jumped backward while turning around.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
A massive fireball shot out toward the four masked pursuers. They quickly scattered to avoid it. Taking advantage of the opening, the man carrying the baby took off again at full speed.
He dashed through a dense forest, and finally—the gates of Konoha came into view.
"Earth Style: Great Mud River!"
One of the masked men performed a jutsu from behind. The ground beneath the man's feet suddenly turned to flowing mud, pulling him backward toward the masked ninja like a river current.
"Damn it!" he cursed under his breath, nearly losing his balance and falling.
"Lightning Style: Ground Surge!"
Lightning crackled in his hand as he thrust it into the muddy ground. The current froze the moving earth, letting him leap free. But his legs were torn up—blood poured down from the wounds his own jutsu had caused.
"Ugh…"
Even so, he clenched his teeth and kept running, limping straight toward the Konoha gate.
"We're not gonna catch him," one of the masked ninja muttered. The four of them stopped in the trees, watching the man rush toward the village entrance.
They exchanged glances.
"Fall back," one of them ordered, and with a flicker, all four vanished.
"Who goes there?!" Four guards, probably chunin, jumped in front of the man as he stumbled up to Konoha's gate, still carrying the baby.
"Help… me…" the man said weakly. His body finally gave out, and he collapsed right there on the ground.
The baby on his back stared up at the gates of Konoha, his tiny eyes wide open and unblinking. From the beginning till now, not a single cry escaped his lips.
"So... that man's already dead?" A blond-haired Jonin stood at the bedside in Konoha Hospital, looking at the sleeping baby on the bed.
"Yeah," the Chunin next to him nodded. "He was already critically injured when he collapsed at the gates.
Honestly, he made it here purely on willpower."
"Have you figured out who he was?" the blond Jonin asked.
"He was a servant from a hidden clan near the borders of the Land of Fire.
They were called the Insoro clan.
The whole clan was wiped out yesterday by an unknown force.
We don't know who did it. That man was one of their household staff.
This baby is the only survivor—he was just born."
"....."