Yagami entered the park and first saw the Anbu infighting.
More than a dozen Anbu were tangled in chaotic combat, and several Anbu corpses already lay on the ground.
Sure enough, there were Hidden Cloud spies mixed among the new Anbu recruits.
During the massacre of the Uzumaki clan, the Hidden Leaf had only deployed Anbu. Casualties were severe. Four entire divisions had been crippled and then rebuilt.
The rebuilt Anbu now contained all kinds of people — and even Hidden Cloud infiltrators.
Avoiding the fighting Anbu, Yagami dashed out of the trees and spotted Kushina Uzumaki being carried on a Cloud spy's shoulder.
If Kushina Uzumaki were taken to the Hidden Cloud Village, they would dissect her to study sealing arts.
Yagami immediately gave chase.
Recovering Kushina would be a major feat — at least an A-rank mission, possibly even S-rank.
An S-rank payout of one million ryō would let him live high for three months.
The spy slipped through alleys and melted into dark corners again and again.
Of course — a proper spy. He knew Leaf far better than Yagami did; Yagami rarely came to the village's west district.
Yagami moved cautiously, pausing often to search shadowed corners for the Cloud ninja.
To be safe, he pulled an explosive-tagged kunai and tossed it into the air.
The tag detonated. Everyone nearby understood it as an emergency alert.
Soon after, the spy disappeared into a tunnel under the Leaf wall.
A sudden realization hit Yagami.
The park next to the Senju compound — Kushina was abducted there, yet the Senju had shown no reaction.
Leaf's leadership had long been unhappy about the Senju's custody of Kushina. If Kushina's safety were compromised, it could provide an excuse to pressure the Senju clan.
What Yagami had seen tonight might not be random. Perhaps Anbu had been complicit.
The spies' performance was too flawless. Something was off.
They had even dug a hole at the base of the Leaf wall.
Yagami slipped through that same tunnel and followed them out of the village.
Just as he crawled out of the wall, a noise came from the gap behind him.
He pressed himself against a tree and peered out.
A blond boy emerged from the hole, clutching strands of red hair.
Minato Namikaze was sharp — he'd already noticed the red hair Kushina had dropped.
Yagami felt a sudden urge.
Minato was a speed-type shinobi. His reaction time was frighteningly fast.
Ninjutsu and chakra could be improved. But pure speed — reflex — was different. One who was truly fast could outstrip technique.
Yagami had originally planned to chase the Cloud spy to snag an A- or S-rank mission and blow the reward at the izakaya.
Now the situation had changed.
If he took Minato while Minato still had only a few jutsu, maybe Yagami could extract a reaction-speed ability.
Protecting Kushina? That was Village's business, not his.
He tailed Minato out of the village. When Minato spotted Kushina and his full attention locked onto her, Yagami made his move.
That night he wore plain clothes and carried no ninja sword. He gripped a kunai and leapt from the treetops, dropping straight toward Minato's head.
Minato was hopping along a branch and was very close.
Halfway through the fall, a cold dread filled Yagami's eyes.
Minato had already looked up.
His expression was calm, almost stern. He had completely caught Yagami's movement.
Not only that, Minato's eyes swept up and down — mask, kunai, limbs, even the exact branch where Yagami had hidden moments before.
All those eye movements happened in a single instant.
That kind of reaction — even a three-tomoe Sharingan wouldn't be much faster.
Minato planted his foot and suddenly halted his forward motion, balancing on the branch.
Yagami landed in front of him. The ambush failed. He frantically swung his kunai.
Minato was faster. He bent, avoided the kunai, grabbed Yagami's wrist with one hand, and with the other drove a kunai into Yagami's abdomen.
Too fast.
He had seen and countered every one of Yagami's moves.
Whether it was perception, nerve transmission speed, or muscular response, it was the absolute top tier.
So this is what a natural-born shinobi is like.
Is this the villain's fate?
To be bested by a Genin from the Ninja Academy, to die like a clown.
Before Naruto's birth, Minato was already the prodigy of this world. Cross him and you die quickly.
***
Darkness swallowed him. Vision blurred.
Yagami awoke on the previous full-moon night in the courtyard behind Tsurugetsu Tavern.
Qiaoyi was above, still sweating from her chores.
Yagami closed his eyes and accepted the system reward.
[Arc of the Moon activated!]
The host has one revival per month. After death, revival occurs on the preceding full-moon night.
Reward: one lottery draw —
1. Wind-nature chakra
2. Chūnin-level chakra reserves (stackable)
3. Reflex Breakthrough (second boost)
Wind-nature chakra — Minato's initial chakra nature in the original story was wind, the same as Naruto later. For now, that attribute was not useful to Yagami.
Chūnin-level chakra capacity would be tempting — Minato's chakra pool was far above genin level in the original. He could handle tailed-beast transfers and the Rasengan without strain.
But Yagami's eyes lit on the third option.
There really was another reflex upgrade.
Reflex Breakthrough (second boost).
Yagami chose the third option without hesitation.
In an instant his reflex pathways grew livelier. His visual nerves, spinal reflexes, and muscle response all sharpened.
Yagami's baseline reaction had been 0.20 seconds. One prior upgrade had lowered it to 0.15 seconds.
Watching a bead of sweat fall from Qiaoyi's chin, he reached out and snatched it.
Judging the height and timing, his reaction time was now roughly 0.12 seconds.
The first breakthrough shaved 0.05 seconds. The second shaved 0.03 seconds.
Reflex speed was truly hard to raise. Trying to shave 0.03 seconds by training alone would be nearly impossible.
"Hey! Why are you catching my falling sweat? Are you mocking me for being so eager?" Qiaoyi scolded.
"I just felt sorry you were tired," he replied.
The next morning Yagami left the tavern refreshed.
He hoped to meet more speed-type ninjas. Each encounter offered another chance to boost reflexes.
When his reaction time climbed to the shinobi world's peak, raw reflex alone would make him a taijutsu powerhouse.
****
69 stones for bonus