"How much chakra do you have left? Can you keep going?"
Kenji signaled for his Wood Release puppet to drop its defensive stance. The construct, which had been positioned between Kushina and the forest edge in case things went wrong, relaxed its posture. He turned to look at Minato and Kushina.
Kushina was breathing hard, sweat dripping down her face. Red chakra still flickered faintly around her body. She'd just attempted to enter a half-tailed beast state, pushing herself to maintain four tails while staying conscious. She'd succeeded, but her chakra reserves were nearly depleted.
"Let's take a break," Minato said, helping Kushina sit down on the grass. He handed her a water bottle from his pack. "You need to recover."
His own chakra fluctuations were slowly settling down. He'd been maintaining a constant state of readiness throughout Kushina's training. The mental strain of that kind of alertness was exhausting even for someone of his skill level.
"You're doing really well, Kushina," Kenji said, walking over to join them. "Staying conscious in a four-tails state is a huge achievement. Your progress has been incredible."
It was true.
Over the past weeks, he, Honoka, and Minato had been training with Kushina almost daily at Training Ground Three. The routine had become familiar. Minato taught her the Rasengan and helped develop techniques for resisting the Nine-Tails' mental attacks. Honoka provided support with Adamantine Sealing Chains and other Uzumaki sealing techniques, her own skills improving rapidly from the constant practice. Kenji stayed on standby with Yamanaka clan techniques, ready to forcibly pull Kushina's consciousness back from the seal space if the Nine-Tails gained the upper hand.
They'd had to interrupt her mental battles with the beast more than a few times already. Each instance had been nerve-wracking.
Unlike Naruto from the original timeline, Kushina didn't have "Talk no Jutsu" or protagonist-level plot armor working in her favor. She hadn't reconciled with the Nine-Tails. Not even close. Every time they met in the seal space, they argued. The beast was hostile, arrogant, and furious at being imprisoned. Kushina was stubborn, temperamental, and refused to be intimidated.
But through sheer force of will and her pure Uzumaki bloodline, combined with powerful sealing techniques, she'd learned to forcibly seize portions of the Nine-Tails' chakra. She could enter partial transformations now, maintaining human consciousness while drawing on the beast's power.
Full Kurama Mode, the perfect jinchūriki state where host and beast worked in harmony, was still far beyond her reach. But the basic Nine-Tails Chakra Mode was finally starting to take shape.
"That fox's temper is still terrible!" Kushina gulped down water, her expression souring as she remembered her most recent argument with the Nine-Tails. "Every single time we meet in the mindscape, we end up shouting at each other for ages! He's so arrogant!"
"The Nine-Tails is the strongest of all the tailed beasts," Minato said with a comforting smile. "Being proud comes with that territory. But you're going to be together for decades. Eventually, you'll find a way to get along. These things take time."
He'd been studying everything he could find about tailed beasts and jinchūriki for quite a while, trying to understand what Kushina was going through and how best to help her.
"That's right, Kushina," Honoka added encouragingly. "You've already made so much progress. Just keep at it!"
Her eyes shone with happiness for her friend. Watching Kushina grow stronger, gain more freedom and autonomy, was incredibly rewarding.
They sat in silence for a few minutes, letting Kushina rest and recover. The training ground was peaceful, isolated enough that they didn't have to worry about being interrupted. ANBU maintained a perimeter at Hiruzen's orders, keeping unauthorized personnel away.
Then Minato's expression shifted.
"By the way, Kenji, have you heard the big news circulating around Konoha recently?"
"What news?" Kenji asked curiously.
"The remaining four members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen are dead."
Kenji's heart skipped. If the timeline hadn't changed, this could only mean one thing. Duy must have opened the Eight Gates.
He kept his expression neutral. "All four? Did Jiraiya-sama take them out?"
"Nope." Minato shook his head. "It was Might Duy. You know him? He used a forbidden technique called the Eight Gates Formation. They say he opened all eight gates to protect his comrades. The power he unleashed completely annihilated the remaining Swordsmen. None of them escaped. But afterward, he..."
He didn't need to finish the sentence.
The human body couldn't survive that kind of strain. It was a suicide technique, trading your life for explosive power that could rival even the strongest ninjas.
"Might Duy," Kenji said quietly. "Yeah, I know him. Knew him."
He'd seen the man around the village occasionally. Always training, pushing himself, and smiling despite being looked down on by most of the ninja community. People had mocked him for sticking to pure taijutsu, never advancing beyond genin rank, and obsessively dedicating himself to physical conditioning And in the end, that same dedication had let him protect his son and teammates by becoming strong enough to wipe out four of the most dangerous ninjas in the world.
"A shinobi who spent his entire life training just taijutsu. Ignored and dismissed by almost everyone. But when it mattered most, he unleashed that kind of power to protect the people he cared about. That's... that's incredible."
"With the Seven Ninja Swordsmen gone, Kiri's elite combat strength is basically shattered," Minato said, his tone brightening slightly. "They won't be capable of mounting any serious offensives against Konoha for a while. Maybe this war is finally winding down."
"Hopefully," Kenji agreed.
But internally, he knew better. Kiri was operating under the "Bloody Mist" policy, with Madara pulling strings behind the scenes through Obito. The village wouldn't stop its aggression until Obito had fully fallen into darkness and awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan. That particular tragedy was still ahead of them.
---
The peace, such as it was, didn't last long.
A few days later, Kenji received deployment orders. He was being sent back to the front lines.
The situation on the Suna front had deteriorated badly. According to the briefing, poor strategic decisions by Konoha's command structure had allowed the Fourth Kazekage to launch a surprise assault that pushed directly to the border. Orochimaru had intercepted them at Kikyō Pass and eventually drove the Suna forces back, but the battle had cost Konoha dearly. The Suna defensive line needed reinforcement.
So here he was, standing outside Konoha's main gate in full combat gear, waiting for the other ninjas who'd be traveling with him.
"Sensei!"
The shout came from across the road. He looked up to see a familiar figure approaching, waving enthusiastically.
"Kaede, it's been a while," he said with a smile as the young man reached him. "I heard from Haruto last time we talked. You made jonin? Congratulations."
"Hehe, yeah!" Kaede scratched the back of his head with pride, grinning widely.
But the grin belonged to a face Kenji almost didn't recognize. The delicate-looking boy Kaede had been was gone completely. He was in his early twenties now, but he looked older. A scruffy beard covered his jaw, and his distinctive white hair, once neat and carefully maintained, now hung shaggy and unkempt. Combined with the weathered look in his eyes and the various small scars visible on his hands and face, he could easily pass for a man in his thirties.
War aged people fast.
"I've been running missions in the Land of Grass for months," Kaede continued. "Barely got back to the village between assignments. I wanted to tell you about the promotion in person, but Haruto beat me to it."
Looking at how much his former student had changed, Kenji couldn't help feeling pride and a bit of sadness. He'd watched Kaede grow from an Academy student into a capable jonin. Sure, making jonin in his early twenties was slower than the prodigies from prestigious clans. But for a civilian-born ninja, it was exceptional. Most civilians were still chunin at that age, if they'd survived that long.
"Oh, right! Sensei, did you know Aoi is stationed on the Suna front too?"
Kaede's eyes lit up with the mention of their other former teammate.
"She's pretty famous among the medical-nin, from what I hear. Everyone says she's really talented."
"I know," Kenji said. "She sent me a letter a few days ago. It sounds like she's doing well."
"Of course she writes to you," Kaede said with an exaggerated sigh of disappointment. "The rest of us? We're lucky if we get a reply when we send her something. She never initiates contact with us."
Kenji had long since noticed that Kaede had feelings for Aoi. Unfortunately, those feelings weren't reciprocated. Aoi saw him purely as a friend and former teammate, nothing more. It was a common enough story. Not every crush ended well.
"Kenji? You're here too?"
Another voice interrupted them. Enma emerged from the village gate. He nodded to Kaede. "Kaede. I didn't expect to be deploying with you."
The three of them quickly fell into conversation. After their last deployment together defending against Kiri, Kenji had returned to the village to escort Samehada while Enma had been injured in subsequent fighting and sent back to recover. Now that he'd healed, he was being assigned to the Suna front.
"Is your injury completely healed?" he asked, stepping closer. "Don't push yourself."
He reached out and placed his hand on Enma's shoulder, channeling medical chakra to perform a quick diagnostic scan.
Enma, despite carrying the typical Uchiha pride, didn't refuse the check. He knew Kenji cared and wasn't trying to imply weakness.
The chakra flowed through Enma's system, giving Kenji a clear picture of his physical condition. The wound itself had closed and healed properly. The muscle and tissue had knitted back together. But there were signs of lingering weakness. The body had healed, but it wasn't back to full strength yet.
"The wound is closed," he said after a moment, withdrawing his hand. "But your body is still weakened from it. Don't be too aggressive on the battlefield. If something feels wrong, retreat immediately. Don't try to tough it out."
"I'm not stupid," Enma said lightly. But internally, he felt relieved. He'd been worried that an incomplete recovery might get him forcibly kept in the village. Hearing Kenji confirm he was cleared for duty, even with caveats, meant he could deploy without issue.
Other support ninjas began arriving in ones and twos. Chunin, jonin, a few special jonin with specific skills. All of them looked tired. And all of them had seen combat before. Nobody was fresh or eager anymore. They were professionals doing a job.
When everyone had assembled, the group set out together, heading toward the Suna defensive line where Orochimaru commanded the front.