Naruto: Flash Reborn — Minato’s Second Life

Nightfall made the already chilling atmosphere of the Forest of Death even more sinister.

Under these circumstances, Minato and the others had no choice but to light a campfire. After all, in the Forest of Death, enemies weren't only human—just this afternoon, they had encountered several fierce beasts.

Fortunately, the three following Minato and Kushina were fairly capable, so they narrowly avoided danger.

The five lit a campfire and sat around it. The clearing Minato chose wasn't large, but it was enough for their rest. Surrounded by trees on all sides, it allowed them to hide quickly if anything felt off.

In the Forest of Death, aside from wild fruits whose toxicity was uncertain, the only other food sources were small animals.

Minato set up simple traps and managed to catch several hares and pheasants. Though he volunteered to take on the role of cook, someone unexpected beat him to it.

Kushina crouched beside the fire, skillfully assembling a rack using makeshift wooden stakes. With practiced ease, she used her personal tanto to peel away the skin and organs of the hare and pheasant before roasting them.

Until today, Minato had never known Kushina possessed such skills.

Rina Takeuchi and Yu Akasaka were equally taken aback—after all, "The Red-Hot Habanero," who usually showed her fiery temper in class, was now showing a completely different side.

Kushina never spoke of her past. How could she survive after losing her homeland and parents, if not by learning to survive in the wild?

Though unfamiliar with identifying poisonous fruits (since this wasn't the village where she grew up and the fruit types were different), her cooking skills still far surpassed Minato's clumsy attempts.

Minato, too, had grown up orphaned, yet everyone had things they excelled at—and things they did poorly. For all his genius in ninjutsu, Minato was hopelessly bad at one thing—cooking.

"You two are like the ultimate dream team!"

During the meal, the oldest boy among them grinned as he spoke. His name was Satoshi Miyazaki—a student a year ahead of the rest.

Minato was intelligent and powerful. Even against elite genin participating in this chakra aptitude test, he stood a fighting chance—after all, he had eliminated two genin single-handedly.

Though she seemed careless on the outside, Kushina was actually meticulous and well-practiced in surviving the wild. Her strength alone let her face off directly against a genin.

Together, they formed an exceptionally strong team within this chakra aptitude test.

What he didn't know was that another girl—someone very close to both of them—was also strong enough to fight a genin head-on. But for now, Mikoto's true strength remained a mystery.

Kushina's cooking was surprisingly amazing—even with zero seasoning, all five of them gave her dish high praise, Minato included.

A hot meal—without the bitterness of cold wild fruits—was perhaps the only comfort for these kids, most under the age of ten.

After dinner, Minato arranged the night watch schedule while deliberately excluding the two girls.

Even at night, their situation remained dangerous. Therefore, having Satoshi Miyazaki and others join them became something to be grateful for.

Minato definitely wouldn't let Kushina take a shift during the night watch. However, if the two of them insisted on letting Minato handle all the night shifts alone over this three-day Chakra Aptitude Test, it wouldn't exactly be a good thing.

As night deepened, eerie sounds echoed through the Forest of Death.

Not all creatures are active only during the day.

With darkness came opportunity—sometimes the night made actions much easier.

At about several hundred meters away in a straight line from Minato and his group, another campfire burned within the forest. Two boys who looked similar leaned against the same tree trunk resting side by side, seemingly asleep.

"Hehe, kids are still just kids. Too green. They might make it through the day, but at night, sleep always wins."

From the shadows emerged a faint, cold whisper as several dark figures slowly approached the two teenagers.

Just as they were about to close in on the youths, one of them suddenly stood up and used an extremely fast taijutsu technique to kick apart the campfire. Splinters of wood flew everywhere, darkening the surroundings once more.

The dimness obscured vision, instantly causing those shadowy figures to lose sight of their target.

Yet amidst the darkness, two swift silhouettes darted forward with agility unaffected by the low visibility.

"I think you're even greener than you look."

A voice echoed in the darkness. An instant later, a Genin became alert, but at that moment, a slight pain spread across his back.

However, his chakra had gone still inside him, no longer responding to his command.

His opponent could actually block his internal chakra flow!

"Boom!"

Then a sharp pain shot through his chest consecutively, and simultaneously, his Chakra Mark vanished into nothingness.

His defeat happened in the blink of an eye. The reason behind this downfall was simply because the night was too dark, combined with the thick foliage overhead in the Forest of Death—despite starlight, little illumination filtered through.

But his opponent wasn't hindered by darkness at all. In the pitch black, he barely caught sight of a pair of white eyes.

Eyes without pupils!

"Byakugan!!?"

Now he finally understood everything. He and his teammates had simply assumed they were targeting two ordinary students from the Ninja Academy.

They hadn't paid attention to every detail—especially not their eyes.

Byakugan can see right through flesh, tracing the chakra flowing inside—a power that rendered darkness completely useless.

No, more like—nighttime is exactly when Byakugan shines its brightest.

[Pressure Point Strike]—that move must've been the Hyuga Clan's signature method!

"Run for your lives! One of them has the Byakugan!"

The knocked-out Genin shouted immediately. In the dark, their combat effectiveness dropped below thirty percent. Against someone with the Byakugan, they didn't stand a chance.

"Took you long enough to figure that out!"

From the darkness, another scream rang out. Another boy in the darkness had the Byakugan as well. While his enemy couldn't resist, he took down one of them.

However, now the others became alert. Upon receiving the warning from their fallen teammate, they turned and fled at once.

But in the darkness, pale eyes watched them, and a sneering voice cut through the darkness:

"Now you want to run? Dream on!"

...

...

I'm really trying hard to keep the plot coherent, which is why I hit a wall often. This chapter alone took me nearly four hours.

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