[Genjutsu: Bringer-of-Darkness Technique] left Shindai completely blinded, and he shouted frantically.
After shouting a few times with no response, Shindai's expression turned serious.
Was that guy an enemy just now?
Could this be an attack?
Shindai immediately pulled out a scroll containing Kannazuki, attempting to summon him.
But before he could even unfold the scroll, suddenly his hand felt lighter—his scroll was gone!
"Holy crap!"
Before Shindai could react, pain shot through his right eye socket.
Covering his eye, he staggered backward a few steps.
Jiraiya was holding Shindai's scroll, blowing on his left fist.
That punch felt damn satisfying!
Furious, Shindai began forming hand seals, trying to manipulate the iron sand beneath the ground using magnetic force.
But before he finished, both his left and right hands were suddenly grabbed, forcibly interrupting the technique.
And the one who grabbed them… was Minato Namikaze.
Minato Namikaze took a rope and skillfully tied both of Shindai's hands together tightly, to stop him from doing hand seals.
Shindai was completely stunned.
How could they act so unfairly?
"Who are you? I'm Konoha's prisoner, not a Konoha ninja! You're taking revenge on the wrong person! I can lead you to—ow!"
Before he could finish speaking, a punch smashed into his right cheek.
Then... punches and kicks rained down on him from all sides!
And it was definitely more than one person—three at least!
"Hmm~ Oh~ Ah~ Eh~ Ow ow ow! Wait, who are you people? What do you want?"
Even if Shindai was slow on the uptake, he finally realized—it wasn't a killing strike. These guys weren't here to kill him—they just wanted to beat him up.
If they really wanted him dead, with his scroll taken and his hands bound, he'd be a helpless lamb ready for slaughter, easily finished off in one hit.
Yet the attackers said nothing, and Shindai couldn't see them anyway.
He called out cautiously, "Obito…?"
Hearing his name, Obito froze mid-punch, staring at Shindai in disbelief.
As Obito opened his mouth to ask "How did you know?", two figures rushed over and clamped a hand over his mouth.
It was none other than Jiraiya and Kakashi.
Jiraiya and Kakashi gave Obito stern looks and shook their heads, signaling him to keep quiet.
When there was no response after calling for Obito, Shindai tried shouting names—Jiraiya, Kakashi, Rin Nohara, Tsunade, and others.
Only then did Obito realize—Shindai was just randomly guessing! He had almost exposed himself.
Suddenly, Minato Namikaze felt a pang of guilt.
Because Shindai had practically named everyone—except Minato Namikaze himself.
Perhaps in Shindai's heart, he trusted Minato and believed he wouldn't do such a thing.
Even though Minato Namikaze had tied up Shindai's hands and given him a heavy slap on the head afterward, Minato hadn't hit him again. Still, Minato felt somewhat embarrassed.
It felt like he had betrayed Shindai's trust.
Actually, Minato wasn't far off. Not even under torture would Shindai believe Minato capable of doing something like this.
After all, Minato was such an amazing guy—kind and gentle. How could he possibly be so ruthless as to beat him up?
Shindai, who had been beaten black-and-blue by Tsunade previously, was once again left with a bruised face.
The second one to stop hitting him was Rin Nohara. After beating him for a while, she saw how pitiful Shindai looked and decided to stop.
Next was Kakashi, who simply found it boring to keep beating someone who wouldn't fight back.
And the fourth to stop was none other than Obito.
Obito didn't stop because he felt pity for Shindai or thought it was dull; he stopped because his own hand hurt from punching too hard.
Last to stop was Jiraiya, mainly because now that everyone else had stopped, continuing to beat up a child would have been embarrassing for one of Konoha's legendary Sannin.
Anyway, their anger had been released. It was fine to end things here.
"Phew."
Obito let out a satisfying breath.
That single "phew" allowed Shindai to pinpoint his location.
Furious inside, Shindai gritted his teeth, stood up, and charged forward with a fierce headbutt toward where the sound came from.
Unprepared and unable to react, Obito took the full force of the headbutt straight into his stomach.
"Cough~"
The impact sent Obito's eyes practically popping out of his skull. He rolled on the ground twice before stopping.
Meanwhile, Shindai knocked himself unconscious.
Jiraiya approached to check on Shindai. Once confirming that he had indeed fainted, he dispelled the Genjutsu: Bringer-of-Darkness Technique.
"Ow! That hurts like hell!"
As soon as he could speak again, Obito immediately clutched his stomach and cried out in pain.
Kakashi said disdainfully, "He managed to hit you even with his hands bound?"
Obito's face darkened. "Well, I just didn't pay attention, okay!"
Rin interrupted before Kakashi and Obito could start arguing. "Alright, alright, don't fight anymore. What should we say if Shindai asks about this later?"
Jiraiya scratched his chin thoughtfully. "That is a problem. Just now, this kid tested us by calling our names out—he's already suspicious. Understandable, too. This is Konoha territory, and we only beat him without killing him. Seems like only we'd act like that. We'll definitely be the main suspects."
Rin suggested, "Let's just say an enemy attacked us just now, and because Shindai wasn't wearing a Konoha forehead protector, our ninja mistook him for an enemy."
Kakashi tsked. "This excuse isn't very convincing—it was clearly a thrashing. How could anyone mistake it for an accident? I was too focused on revenge before to think about covering our tracks."
Minato Namikaze thought for a moment and said, "How about this: a Cloud ninja sneaked into Konoha's stationed camp trying to capture a Konoha ninja, but accidentally took the wrong person. The Cloud ninja flew into a rage and thrashed him. Just as the Cloud ninja was about to kill Shindai, we arrived in time to save him. How does that sound?"
Jiraiya clapped his hands. "That works! Let's stick with that story. Say it was you who saved him, Minato. We'll circulate the story that way."
Turning to Kakashi and the others, Minato continued, "Kakashi, you three take Shindai to the tent. Rin, help treat his injuries."
Rin Nohara nodded in agreement. "Okay, I understand, Teacher Minato."
Since Obito had been seriously hurt in the abdomen from Shindai's headbutt, the task of carrying Shindai fell to Kakashi.
Watching Kakashi, Rin, and Shindai disappear into the distance, Minato sighed.
Elbowing Minato playfully, Jiraiya teasingly raised his eyebrows. "Why the long face? You're not still upset about it, are you?"
Minato pursed his lips as he replied, "Actually... I feel a bit regretful."
"Regretful?" Jiraiya snorted. "What for? That brat called you effeminate and even claimed you shower and use the restroom with female kunoichis. Could you tolerate that kind of insult?"
Thinking about those comments caused Minato to clench his fists tightly.
It seemed like there wasn't much to regret...
No, he did regret one thing—he should've given Shindai one extra heavy slap on the back of the head.
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