Talent Entry Ninja of Konoha

"Wait a moment!"

"Stop and don't run!"

Ryosuke was admiring the scenery of the parallel world.

This really was quite different from the Konoha on his side.

Just in terms of architecture, there was a big difference.

At this time; Ryosuke suddenly saw a red figure passing quickly across the roof on the left, as if chasing something.

He looked over curiously and found that it was a woman with long red hair—running after a fast black cat.

This was supposed to be a ninja cat, right?

After all, normal cats didn't run so fast.

"Is this... Kushina?"

Ryosuke looked at the woman curiously.

She looked about twenty years old—young, beautiful, and with a distinct temperament.

But something seemed strange to Ryosuke.

If this woman really was Uzumaki Kushina…

Then why didn't she have the Nine Tails inside her?

Earlier, he had sensed that the Chakra of the Nine Tails was on the other side of Konoha.

'So the Nine Tails Jinchūriki of this world isn't Kushina?' Ryosuke thought to himself.

His figure flickered and disappeared, quietly following Kushina, who was chasing the ninja cat.

A Few Minutes Later

Kushina finally caught the ninja cat with extraordinary skill.

"Hmph~! Let's see where you can go!"

She clenched her fists, looking annoyed.

And that ninja cat shivered and meowed with a look of begging for mercy.

Summoning beasts were all intelligent.

For example, the Summoning Beasts of the three sage regions, and even Kakashi's ninja dog could speak human language.

But this ninja cat belonged to the type that couldn't. Its strength was quite average.

It was only extremely fast and flexible, not any worse than some Jōnin.

The Kushina of this world was also a full-fledged Jōnin, with strength close to that of an Elite Jōnin, so catching it took some effort.

"Begging for mercy? Begging is useless! How many times has this been already?! Ah?!"

Kushina looked full of anger.

At this moment!

"Excuse me, are you abusing the cat?" A voice suddenly appeared above.

Kushina looked up and saw a young man with his hands in his pockets standing on the roof of a small two-story building across the street, looking at her with a smile.

"Abusing a cat? This cat not bullying me is already a good thing!" Kushina said angrily.

"Also, who are you? Why haven't I seen you around before?"

"Could you be a spy from another village?"

Whoosh!

Ryosuke's figure disappeared from the roof in an instant and reappeared not far in front of Kushina.

"Sorry for the interruption."

He said, "I'm a guest invited by your Fourth Hokage, so I'm not the spy you're talking about."

'What a speed!'

Kushina's eyes froze.

The speed at which he moved just now was so fast that she couldn't even see his movements.

If this man had wanted to attack her, Kushina felt she wouldn't even have had time to react.

"A guest invited by Lord Hokage?"

Kushina found this a little more believable. After all, the other party's strength was clearly high.

But still why didn't this man have any village insignia on him?

Could he be a wandering ninja?

Except…

Since when were wandering ninjas this strong?

"You seem to be thinking something impolite." Ryosuke looked at Kushina and said.

"Ah~! Sorry!"

Kushina snapped out of it and quickly apologized, "Hi, my name is Uzumaki Kushina, Konoha Jōnin!"

"Ryosuke, a vagrant." Ryosuke said with a smile.

"Unemployed?"

Kushina blinked in confusion, then asked, "Is this your first time in Konoha?"

"Yes, this is a really nice village!"

Ryosuke nodded with a smile.

"Of course! Konoha is the strongest hidden village in the Five Great Countries!" Kushina said proudly.

Ryosuke chuckled and nodded, chatting casually with Kushina.

After a while, the two became like old friends who had known each other for years.

Kushina completely dropped her guard against Ryosuke and even invited him over to her home for tea.

Ryosuke smiled and agreed. Then the two walked and talked.

Ryosuke curiously asked about the ninja cat.

Kushina explained that it was her ninja cat, but it was always disobedient and kept getting her into trouble.

Soon—

They arrived at Kushina's house.

A two-story building in the inner area of the village.

It wasn't big, but despite its small size, it had everything it needed.

Kushina invited Ryosuke inside and let him sit in the living room before going to the kitchen to pour tea.

"Ryosuke, how long are you planning to stay in the village?" Kushina asked curiously.

"It should be a while. I have some business here." Ryosuke replied.

He would indeed stay in this parallel world for some time.

But it should only be a few days—not too long.

After all, he couldn't stay here forever.

In his own world, the Fourth Great Ninja War might break out soon.

Except...

This time, the Fourth Great Ninja War wouldn't be as massive as in the original story.

It would likely be fought only by high-end combatants. Then Ryosuke would finish it quickly.

Just like that.

"Where are you staying?" Kushina asked.

Ryosuke casually named a hotel.

"By the way, I noticed there are still quite a few ninjas in the village. Shouldn't most have gone to the front lines? Kushina, why didn't you go?" Ryosuke asked.

Because of Konoha's three-front war, most of the village's forces had been deployed.

Now, only a handful of strong ninjas remained.

Of course, this didn't include the Uchiha and Hyūga.

Rather, it was the Sarutobi, Shimura, and the others.

After all… Konoha's privileged class.

"I wanted to go, but they wouldn't let me."

Kushina looked frustrated.

Ryosuke was curious.

Did this have to do with his strong affinity?

Or was it the effect of his [King of Mouth Release]?

Kushina told him everything like an ordinary girl without any reservations.

Including the fact that she was the village's backup Nine Tails Jinchūriki.

As it turned out—

In this world, Uzumaki Mito had transferred the Nine Tails to a woman named Uzumaki Mitsuko before passing away.

And Kushina, an orphan of the Uzumaki clan, had been chosen as the backup Jinchūriki.

If something happens to Uzumaki Mitsuko, it's up to her to step in.

Therefore, Konoha's higher ups did not allow her to take any risks.

Naturally, she was not permitted to go to the frontline battlefield.

After all, the situation on the battlefield is ever-changing.

For someone of Kushina's strength, one misstep could lead to disaster.

For this reason, Kushina felt frustrated.

She wanted to go to the battlefield, fight enemies, and contribute.

Do something for the village.

After all, when she was homeless, Konoha took her in, gave her food and shelter.

Even if Konoha had its own motives, Kushina was a kind person.

She appreciated what Konoha had done for her. She truly identified with the village and saw it as her home.

Because of that, Kushina didn't want Konoha to lose this war—she wanted to help.

Unfortunately, the higher-ups wouldn't let her step onto the battlefield at all.

"I see!"

Ryosuke nodded and said, "Kushina, you've done enough. Even if you can't contribute on the battlefield, you can still support Konoha from the rear, right?"

Kushina said, "Ryosuke, you're right. Even if I can't go to the battlefield, I'll protect this village. I won't let the enemy take even an inch of our land!"

Kushina's eyes burned with determination.

Though the Kushina in this world never found love, she also never became the Nine Tails Jinchūriki.

This made her outlook much more carefree compared to the Jinchūriki version of herself.

However, her loud and fiery personality remained exactly the same.

It made Ryosuke wonder—was every version of Kushina like this?

After chatting for a while at Kushina's house, Ryosuke finally got up to leave.

But before that, they made plans to have dinner together in the evening.

Of course, Kushina wouldn't be the one cooking.

Her cooking skills... well, let's just say even a dog turned its nose away at it.

Ryosuke wasn't worried about getting poisoned, but still—he had standards.

Apparently, even Kushina herself was aware of her own lack of cooking ability.

So, the two decided to go out and have sukiyaki at a restaurant in Konoha instead.

For now, though, Ryosuke had other plans—he was heading to the frontline battlefield.

Something seemed off with Obito.

Kannabi Bridge

A Nearby Forest

At this moment, Obito and his teammates, Kakashi and Rin Nohara, were hunting down a group of Iwa ninjas.

Working as a team, Obito and Rin provided support while Kakashi, the Jōnin, led the attack.

They finally took down the fleeing Iwa ninjas.

"Done!"

Obito clapped his hands, looking pleased.

He said, "These Iwa ninjas actually thought they could escape? Do they even realize who they're up against? That's right, it's me—Uchiha Obito!"

Rin smiled at his usual boasting. Kakashi, on the other hand, rolled his eyes.

Since Sakumo never committed suicide in this world and even became Hokage, Kakashi had a much better personality than the one Ryosuke knew.

Apart from being a little arrogant about his genius, he wasn't brooding or withdrawn.

He was actually pretty easygoing.

Still, his rivalry with Obito remained the same. The two constantly bickered like old friends.

Rin often had to step in as the peacekeeper, softening their frequent arguments.

Maybe that was why Konoha always put two boys and one girl on Genin teams.

After all, if there were three boys, things might escalate into actual fights.

But if there was a girl in the mix, she could help keep the peace.

"You idiot."

Kakashi scoffed, "Did you even land a single hit? I took down all of them."

"What?! If it weren't for Rin and me, you'd never have gotten those openings! You should be thanking us, you arrogant jerk!" Obito shot back angrily.

Kakashi was about to retort when his face suddenly changed. In an instant, he grabbed Rin and pulled her to the side.

Shuriken rained down.

The blades embedded themselves in the ground—right where Kakashi and Rin had been standing just moments ago.

On Obito's side, however, there was no attack.

"Hey! Are we under attack?"

Obito looked around, startled.

Kakashi shot him an exasperated look and said, "What do you think?! Even an idiot could tell we're under attack!"

At that moment, figures emerged from the trees.

A squad of Iwa ninjas, each wearing the Iwa forehead protector, stepped into view, smirking.

"Five of them."

Kakashi muttered, "At least two Jōnin."

Just from a quick glance, he had already assessed their strength.

The situation was bad.

With their team composition—one Jōnin and two Chūnin, it would be nearly impossible to win against two enemy Jōnin.

"Damn it!"

Kakashi clenched his teeth.

"Was this an ambush?"

The Iwa ninjas surveyed the corpses of their fallen comrades.

"Well, well…"

"Little Konoha brats, you've really pissed us off now."

"Time to die!"

Without another word, the Iwa ninjas charged forward.

Though Iwa ninjas weren't as versatile with ninjutsu as the Kumo ninjas, their physical prowess was formidable.

With Earth release ninjutsus like Earth Spear, they were deadly in close combat.

Now, Kakashi and his team found themselves struggling just to hold their ground.

"Lightning Release: Chidori!"

Seizing an opening, Kakashi activated his Chidori, forcing one Iwa ninja back before dodging a counterattack.

The battle was just beginning.