OBS Chapter 538 Stop wasting your time arguing with him
Chapter 538 Stop wasting your time arguing with him
"Zhang Hai?" Minato recognized the newcomer, his wariness lessening slightly, but his suspicions deepening. "What are you doing here? And in this way..."
"Stop wasting your breath on him!" Kushina peeked out from behind Minato, glaring at Zhang Hai like a cat with its fur standing on end. "You sneaky bastard, how did you get in here! What are you trying to do!"
Zhang Hai ignored Kushina's questioning and calmly focused his gaze on Minato Namikaze, stating his purpose directly: "I have been ordered to assemble a four-person team to immediately reinforce the Kikyo Mountain battlefield. Minato Namikaze, I've come to recruit you."
"Mount Kikyo?!"
The moment those three words were uttered, the air seemed to freeze. Minato's gentle smile vanished completely, replaced by an unprecedented solemnity. Kushina's anger was instantly replaced by terror and deathly pallor.
As the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, she might not be very familiar with the specific battle situation on the front lines, but she had heard the name "Mount Kikyo" more than once from the village's higher-ups. It was a deathly place that was synonymous with "hell" and "meat grinder."
"No...no!" Kushina's body began to tremble slightly. She grabbed Minato's arm tightly, her knuckles turning white from the force. "Minato, you can't go! I won't let you go to that awful place!"
Her voice was choked with sobs, and her usual fearless and brash demeanor had vanished without a trace, leaving only the purest fear of a little girl.
Zhang Hai watched all of this indifferently, like a detached bystander.
Minato grasped Kushina's cold hand in return, feeling her trembling clearly. He turned around, his azure eyes filled with determination and tenderness. He gently wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and said softly, "Kushina, listen to me."
"I am a Konoha ninja, and it is my responsibility to protect the village. There are people waiting for us to rescue them, and I cannot back down."
"But...but it's too dangerous there!" Kushina cried, shaking her head. "You'll die!"
"I will not die." Minato's voice was not loud, but it was full of convincing power. He looked into Kushina's eyes and said, word by word, "Because there are people here whom I must return to protect. I promise you, Kushina, I will definitely come back."
This promise, like the most powerful reassurance, gradually calmed Kushina's agitated emotions. She knew she couldn't stop a ninja's determination, especially one as dazzling as the sun.
After calming Kushina down, Minato turned around and faced Zhang Hai again. He took a deep breath, his azure eyes blazing with fighting spirit.
"I'll join."
Without the slightest hesitation or any conditions, the exchange was made solely out of a sense of responsibility and duty as a Konoha ninja. He nodded slightly to Zhang Hai, the boy who was nominally in the same grade as him but whose strength was unfathomable.
"Captain, please guide me from now on."
He proactively lowered his stance and acknowledged Zhang Hai's leadership position. He knew very well that anyone personally authorized by Lord White Fang to form a team deserved his utmost respect in terms of strength and intellect.
“Very good.” Zhang Hai nodded, not surprised by Shuimen’s choice. “The team is one person short. Meet at the east gate of the village at six o’clock tomorrow morning.”
After saying that, his figure turned into a wisp of green smoke once again, disappearing silently as he had come.
Silence returned to the room, leaving only Minato and Kushina. Kushina could no longer hold back and threw herself into Minato's arms, bursting into tears. All her worries and fears turned into hot tears that soaked his clothes.
Minato simply held her tightly, repeating that promise in her ear over and over again.
"I will definitely come back."
Just as Zhang Hai's figure was about to completely disappear into the darkness, an urgent and resolute shout made him stop in his tracks.
"and many more!"
It's Kushina.
She broke free from Minato's embrace and rushed to the window. In her beautiful violet eyes, fear had faded, replaced by an undeniable stubbornness and determination, like the innate flame in the blood of the Uzumaki clan.
“Take me with you!”
Zhang Hai's figure reappeared from the shadows. He turned around and looked at her expressionlessly, as if he were looking at an unreasonable child.
"No." His answer was crisp and decisive, devoid of any emotion.
"Why not!" Kushina retorted defiantly. "I'm a ninja too! I can fight!"
“You are not a ninja.” Zhang Hai’s voice was as cold as ice. “You are the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. You are Konoha’s ultimate weapon and the ‘treasure’ that all hostile forces crave most. Taking you to the battlefield is like walking through a powder keg with a torch in hand. It will only put the entire squad and even the entire battle at unnecessary and immeasurable risk. You are not a fighting force, you are a burden.”
These words were merciless, like a sharp knife, piercing deeply into Kushina's pride.
“Kushina, Zhang Hai is right.” Minato also stepped forward, trying to comfort her. “The battlefield is too dangerous. Staying in the village is the safest place.”
"Safe? Safely hiding under someone else's protection, watching you all go to your deaths one by one?!" Kushina's emotions surged again. She turned sharply and shouted at Minato, "I don't want this anymore! I don't want to be locked up in this so-called 'safe' cage alone anymore, living in fear every day, waiting for news of my death that may never come back! I want to be with you! I want to see you with my own eyes and protect you!"
Her words left Minato speechless for a moment. He understood that this was not just willfulness, but also stemmed from the profound loneliness and unease that came with being a Jinchuriki.
But Zhang Hai remained unmoved. To him, any emotional factors that might affect the mission were noise that had to be eliminated. He said coldly, "I can't understand your feelings, nor am I interested in understanding them. My mission is to reinforce Kikyō Mountain, not to take a time bomb on a picnic."
After saying that, he prepared to leave again.
"Don't underestimate me!" Kushina's voice suddenly rose, containing a powerful confidence and pride. "Don't think I'm just a vessel containing a tailed beast! Let me tell you, I'm a member of the Uzumaki clan!"
"The Uzumaki Clan?" Zhang Hai finally stopped in his tracks. For any ninja who pursued power, this name meant a legend—a legendary family known throughout the world for its mastery of various powerful sealing techniques, which even led to their extermination.
Kushina noticed the flicker of emotion in his eyes, and she knew she had found a breakthrough. She straightened her back, as if she were conducting an important negotiation.