Recovering

Araki walked towards Kushina and noticed that some of the Uzumaki Clan Members were healing her injuries.

He had a bitter smile on his face because he knew that these injuries were all because of him. If not for his plan to make Kushina use Kurama's chakra to fight against the Three Great Village forces, she wouldn't be in such a sorry state.

However, when he had heard that the Uzushio would be attacked by the Three Great Villages, he couldn't remain quiet. The Raikage had taken his father away from him on suspicion. They had a similar reason to attack Uzushio, just because the Three Great Villages thought they could become a threat.

Araki felt like he must respond. Even if it shows off his prowess and makes them cautious against himself, he felt that he must still respond. He must show them he wouldn't just sit if they kept on doing as they pleased.

Moreover, his determination to destroy the entire Kumo village had reached new heights. Since these Three Great Villages liked to destroy other villages because of a small suspicion, he would give them the same medicine.

Not just give them this medicine, he would shove it down their throat and make sure they choke on it.

The killing intent on Araki's body was condensing rapidly. He realised the more he thought about these Three Great Villages, his hatred for them also continued to increase.

He clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug deep into his hand. Blood leaked out of these small wounds, but he didn't care.

Staring at the fallen figure of Kushina, Araki muttered slowly, "Get well soon, Kushina-chan."

With that, he moved towards another location. This time, he had a sword in his hand.

There stood 10 or so Wood Clones in front of him, holding identical swords in their hands as well.

One of these Wood Clone asked Araki with a grave voice, "You sure, Boss?"

Araki rolled his eyes at the question and responded, "You are me… You should know how serious I am."

With that, the Wood Clones charged at Araki.

Araki alone fought against 10 of his Wood Clones while they surrounded him and attacked him at his weak points. Even though his Wood Clones were somewhat weaker than himself, 10 were strong enough to pose a challenge to him. Moreover, when they surrounded him, it became even more dangerous for him.

Even though he had narrowly dodged attacks on his vital points 10's of times in his fight against his Wood Clones, Araki still didn't feel any terror.

He remembered that feeling when the Third Tsuchikage was about to punch him with Fist Rock Technique. Although he was prepared to die to protect Kushina, he dreaded that fist immensely. It was because he knew that he wouldn't stand a chance at all.

If not for the arrival of Uzumaki Takuya, Araki's Kenjutsu Teacher, he would have died there and become a corpse.

For the whole night, Araki continued to train with his Wood Clones. After he defeated them all, he would once again create 10 more Wood Clones and fight them without any rest.

By the dawn, Araki's body was filled with cuts all over his body. Moreover, he was huffing crazily as he stared at the one remaining Wood Clone in front of him. He lost a lot of Blood and just feel unconscious in the middle of the fight. The Wood Clone dispersed immediately after Araki fell unconscious.

It was fortunate that he healed rapidly, or else there would be severe consequences.

The next day, Kushina also woke up. Her injuries were more or less cured now. It could be attributed to the Uzumaki Clan Members who had healed her initially and Kurama's chakra dealing with any hidden injuries left.

She heard a sound in her head 'You are finally awake, brat. It seems my chakra was much more than your body could handle.'

Kushina wasn't startled to hear his voice. In the one month, Araki had stayed at Uzumaki Island, he had informed her that the fox wasn't bad. At least, he wouldn't hurt her until Araki died.

She trusted Araki's judgement on this and had decided to treat Kurama a little warmly as compared to before.

"What is it, fox? You never speak to me on your own accord." Well, even though she knew Kurama's name, she still called him 'fox'. It was shorter for her.

Kurama wasn't really bothered by this since he was a fox. Couldn't really take that as an insult.

He said with a cold hmph 'Yeah, I got better things to do than talk with a brat like you.'

"Yeah, I am sure it's fun to look at the barren land," Kushina said in a sarcastic tone which irritated Kurama a little.

'Definitely more fun than talking to you, brat.' Kurama wasn't going to let up, and Kushina was about to retort when Kurama continued 'The other brat's hatred has reached another level. Go and meet him.'

"You don't need to tell me that," Kushina replied before cutting off the mental link with Kurama.

Kushina went to the location where Araki had been training. Well, some of the Uzumaki Clan Members knew about it, so they led her to the location.

Fortunately, by the time she arrived, Araki's minor injuries were healed, and it seemed as if he was just sleeping there.

She sat next to him while gazing at Araki's face and caressed his rough yet beautiful black hair. He looked so innocent and good while sleeping that Kushina didn't even realise she had been staring at Araki's face for 10 minutes or so.

Well, even though Kushina didn't realise the passage of time while staring at Araki's face, the Bijuu inside of her felt as if time was moving incredibly slowly.

Kurama let out a sigh and wondering why did it have to stare at Araki's face for 10 or more minutes. Was his host going mad or couldn't she look anywhere? He wanted to see sights other than the stupid face of a child. Even if the said child was Araki.

Araki continued to sleep for an hour before he opened his eyes. He was surprised to see Kushina's face just as he opened his eyes.

He wondered where he was and then looked around. He started recalling the events of the previous day.

"Kushina-chan, sorry, I didn't realise you had come. I was just so tired that I slept for so long."

"Umm…Don't worry." She shook her head negatively that she didn't mind it. She saw him rubbing his eyes and clear them away before turning to her.

"It looks like you are completely healed." He gave her a kind smile before adding, "Also, really thanks Kurama. I really appreciate it that you lend us your power."

"See that you remember the favour, kid." He said to Kushina, who passed it to Araki.

Araki let out a chuckle and said, "Definitely!"

It was Kushina who asked him, "So, what should we do next?"

Araki gave her a smile and said, "After a few days, we will return to Konoha. And there, we have to with the Third Hokage."

"How will we deal with the Third Hokage?" Kushina asked with a relatively worried look. Although she didn't understand matters related to politics, she did know that it would be hard to deal with the Third Hokage, also dubbed as "The Professor".

"Don't worry, I do have a plan to deal with him." He gave her a reassuring smile while calculating inside his head on how the Third Hokage must be dealt with.