Seeing how confident their teacher was, the three behind him were fired up and full of expectation.
Arisu took the three of them, slung a pack over his back, and left Konoha directly.
This mission was to wipe out a rogue ninja organization.
Along the way, the three gave it their all. Whenever something went wrong, Arisu covered for them. After several tense but manageable battles...
When the three little ones had gained enough experience and were about to reach their limits...
Arisu finally stepped in.
One move...
Sage Art Secret Technique: Send to the Pure Land.
He sent those heinous rogue ninjas to the Pure Land to start clearing new land.
"Exiling them to the Pure Land is already the greatest mercy."
Arisu calmly looked at the field covered with corpses.
The excitement and anticipation the three had felt before were completely gone. In their place was a heavy expression on each of their faces.
It was their first time seeing a scene like this.
Kushina was relatively normal, because she had seen similar scenes when the Land of Whirlpools was destroyed.
"Alright, let's go."
Arisu looked at the three of them and showed a gentle smile.
On the way back, Arisu taught them not to carry too much psychological burden.
After returning to the village, Arisu treated them to a lavish meal.
For several months straight, Team Arisu rarely had days off.
He led the team through missions nonstop. They would not accept anything below A-rank. They did not even glance at B-rank or C-rank missions.
Under Arisu's demands, this team that had existed for less than half a year even completed two S-rank missions.
They broke Konoha's record.
The bond within Team Arisu also grew stronger and stronger.
At the same time, because Arisu was always by their side...
Naturally, the incident of Kushina being kidnapped by Cloud ninjas never happened.
However...
Minato Namikaze still seemed to have developed feelings for Uzumaki Kushina.
As for Hiruzen's son, Shinnosuke, he was more like a battle fanatic. Every day, he chased after Arisu asking about ninjutsu.
Meanwhile, Arisu also continued looking after Tsunade.
With Arisu's help, Tsunade gradually walked out of her shadow, and their relationship deepened.
Konoha Cemetery.
A light rain fell.
Years of war had continued without end. New graves stood beside old ones.
Every year, Konoha held a public memorial here to honor the spirits of those who had fallen on the battlefield.
But this year's funeral carried an even heavier weight than usual.
Because Uzumaki Mito was gone.
This woman, who had stood since the era of the First Hokage, was the last living fossil of the chaotic age of the ninja world.
She had personally witnessed the village's birth from nothing.
She had witnessed the First Hokage leading Hashirama, Madara, Izuna, and Tobirama in bringing peace to the troubled era.
She had witnessed countless rises and falls, and now she too had become a silent gravestone in the cemetery.
On this day, everyone currently in Konoha attended.
No one spoke.
Only the sound of rain pattering against countless black umbrellas, striking not only the umbrellas but also the hearts of those beneath them.
Cold rain landed on Minato Namikaze's golden hair and slid down his cheeks.
Minato looked up. His gaze swept across the endless rows of gravestones, and deep melancholy filled his eyes.
"Everyone dies eventually..."
"The First Hokage, the Second Hokage, the Third Hokage, and the Fourth Hokage are all gone. Now even the last person who witnessed that era has left."
Minato let out a soft sigh.
Since childhood, he had loved reading history books, yet he had never met those legendary figures.
The First, Second, Third, and Fourth Hokage...
To him, those names were only cold words on yellowed pages, separated from him by an unreachable span of time.
Arisu stood beside him, letting the drizzle soak his clothes. Hearing this, he nodded slightly.
"Minato, you're actually very close to them."
"The water between heaven and earth is constantly cycling. It has circulated for billions of years. The rain falling on our shoulders right now also once fell on theirs."
Looking at the curtain of rain, Arisu spoke calmly.
Minato's entire body trembled.
He stared blankly at the raindrops falling from the sky.
The cool sensation on his fingertips seemed to truly bridge hundreds and thousands of years.
"Teacher..."
Minato's voice trembled slightly, and a spark appeared in his eyes.
"Then could the rain falling on me today be the same rain that fell when the First Hokage passed away in Konoha Year 18?"
"Could it have fallen on the Sage of Six Paths' shoulders in a much more distant age?"
Arisu turned to look at him. A trace of distant memory flashed through his eyes as he slowly nodded.
"Very possible."
"Just like the moon hanging in the sky right now. The Sage of Six Paths looked up at it. Uchiha Hu looked up at it. Senju He looked up at it."
"The First Hokage looked up at it too. For hundreds and thousands of years, we've stood on the same land beneath the same moon."
The rain continued.
But it no longer felt so cold.
About two months after the funeral ended...
Arisu went straight to Konoha's Sealing Team.
With Uzumaki Mito's passing, top sealing experts in Konoha had become extremely rare.
The transfer of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki could not be delayed. As one of the ninja world's rare all-around geniuses, Arisu naturally became the best candidate to preside over the sealing ceremony.
Fortunately, Kurama was very cooperative now.
Inside the mental space, Kurama swayed its enormous tail and slowly spoke, "Teacher, what do you need me for? That old lady is gone. Who's the next Jinchuriki?"
"Next is Uzumaki Kushina. Like Mito, she's a pure-blooded member of the Uzumaki clan."
Arisu's voice clearly reached its mind.
"Cooperate during the transfer."
"Don't worry, Teacher!"
"Whatever you say goes!"
Kurama nodded without hesitation.
Cutting off the mental connection, Arisu turned to the girl lying on the sealing platform.
Uzumaki Kushina clenched her fists tightly. Her face was somewhat pale. She bit her lip stubbornly, refusing to show even a trace of fear.
Beside the platform, Minato Namikaze stood with his hands unconsciously clenched. His blue eyes were full of worry. His lips moved, but in the end he only managed two words.
"Teacher..."
Arisu patted his shoulder.
"Relax. When have I ever done something I wasn't sure about?"
Arisu walked to the sealing platform and looked down at Kushina. His voice softened considerably.
"Don't be afraid. Minato and I are here."
Kushina looked up at Arisu and Minato, then nodded firmly.
The unease in her eyes gradually faded.
The sealing ceremony was about to begin.
Ten minutes later, the sealing was complete. Uzumaki Kushina opened her eyes groggily.
"It's over?"
Arisu nodded.
Minato immediately stepped forward.
"How are you, Kushina?"
Kushina scratched her head.
"It didn't hurt at all. I thought it would hurt a lot!"
Minato finally let out a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, Arisu had just returned home.
He discovered Tsunade standing at his front door holding something.
"Tsunade? What are you doing here?", Arisu asked.
Tsunade's face reddened slightly. She did not dare meet Arisu's eyes and simply said, "Today... is May 20th..."
Arisu froze.
"Does that date mean something?"
Tsunade was stunned.
Seeing that Arisu was not picking up on it, she became slightly dissatisfied.
Still, Tsunade was not the type of girl to act shy and delicate.
She spoke directly, "Arisu, I don't want to be friends with you anymore!", Tsunade shouted.
Arisu frowned. A flash of killing intent appeared in his eyes as he secretly prepared a killing technique.
"You want to become my enemy instead?"
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