Hey guys sorry for the late update.
I got stuck writing this chapter because I didn't want to kill a certain character.
I hope I done a good job writing this chapter.
Thanks for your support.
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"SWISH!"
Yukina's body hurtled through the air before crashing violently into a thick tree trunk, the impact echoing through the forest like a thunderclap. The bark splintered on contact, cracks spreading outward as the force rippled through the wood.
"GAH—!"
"SPURT!"
She dropped to her knees, trembling, as a sharp cough tore from her chest. A spray of blood shot from her lips, scattering across the ground like crimson arrows. Her vision blurred, breaths ragged, but her eyes still burned with stubborn resolve full of fighting spirit—just like a true warrior who refused to fall.
Despite the pain tearing through her body, a wild, unhinged smirk crept across her lips. Her eyes gleamed with madness, and her heartbeat thundered louder and faster—each pulse fueling the thrill surging through her veins.
"That guy… he just appeared—like he slipped out of thin air," she muttered while smiling widely, eyes narrowing sharply. "Not a single trace… neither my sensory jutsu nor my hidden sense picked up anything. It's like… he was never there to begin with."
"And that jutsu of his… it was nothing but raw chakra manipulation," she muttered, and her eyes narrowing in disbelief. "He shaped it—compressed it—into a perfect sphere made of pure chakra alone… I've never witnessed anything like that before."
A low, unhinged giggle slipped from Yukina's lips as she pushed herself up, rising slowly to her feet—her aura turning sharp and dangerous, like a kunoichi on the brink of unleashing chaos.
'He was insanely fast… too fast. I couldn't even activate my Hydrification Kekkei Genkai in time. The moment he unleashed that jutsu at me, all I could do was hastily form a thin layers of ice—barely enough to shield myself from the impact.'
'If I had been even a heartbeat slower… I'd be lying there broken—or worse, dead.'
A faint, almost chilling smile tugged at her lips. "Heh… how interesting."
"Heh...I need to see that jutsu of his up close one more time," she murmured, a dangerous glint flashing in her eyes. "And besides… he's quite the handsome one."
A sly, almost unhinged smile curled across her lips as her chakra stirred restlessly.
"I think I'll just have to take him for myself… kidnap him, and then…" she paused, a soft, eerie chuckle escaping her throat, "…we can have fun as much as we want."
Yukina wiped the blood from the corner of her lips, her eyes brightened up. In the next instant—her figure blurred and vanished, leaving only a fleeting gust of wind where she once stood.
________
With Fuguki
Fuguki narrowed his shark-like eyes at Minato Namikaze, killing intent rippling off him like waves from a raging sea. Veins bulged along his temple as his grip tightened on Samehada, and with a sudden surge of fury, he barked out an order to his subordinates.
"Everyone, retreat! I'll hold them off—head to our rendezvous point and wait for me!"
Zabuza's lips curled, ready retort back at the order— his sharp words ready to cut through the tension like his blade.
But before he could speak, Kisame's heavy hand landed on his shoulder and gave Zabuza slow shake of the head.
Zabuza clicked his tongue, swallowing the retort as his glare lingered a moment longer… before he finally backed down, the air between them still thick with unspoken intent.
But in that very instant, Yukina appeared next to Fuguki in a gust of wind.
Her katana gleamed—now wrapped in a brilliant blue chakra glow, humming with raw, compressed power.
A crazed grin stretched across her face.
Without a single moment of hesitation, she brought the blade down.
"Flying Chakra Slash."
"SWISH!"
A brilliant crescent of blue chakra tore through the air, screaming straight toward Minato's head with lethal precision.
Yet the moment it reached him, his figure simply vanished.
In the same instant, as if time itself had skipped a beat, Minato reappeared on a nearby tree branch—calmly standing beside his specially marked kunai, the blade glinting faintly in the light.
Yukina's eyes widened for only a brief moment before that surprise twisted into something far more dangerous.
A slow, bloodthirsty smirk crept across her lips as her gaze locked onto Minato.
"So that's how it is…" she murmured, her voice low and trembling with excitement rather than fear.
The air around her seemed to thicken with killing intent as her chakra began to stir, barely restrained.
"I didn't expect you to be this interesting," she added, her grin widening as she tilted her head slightly, studying him like a predator sizing up a rare prey.
Her stance shifted—subtle, but deliberate—ready to strike the moment he blinked.
'He… actually teleported.'
'That wasn't Shunshin… nor was it some high-speed movement jutsu like my Illusory Steps.'
'It was a genuine teleportation. No doubt about it.'
'For a brief moment, his presence had completely vanished.'
'No chakra trail. No disturbance. No life force. Nothing at all.'
'I lost him completely… just for a moment.'
'Even my sensory ability… even my hidden sense… couldn't track him when he teleported just now this battle is going to be so much fun.'
Minato's eyes narrowed, a flicker of disbelief crossing his usually calm expression as he stared at Yukina.
His gaze dropped to her abdomen—right where his Rasengan had struck.
'She… she's still able to stand?'
'My Rasengan had struck her at full force.. By all logic, she should have been lying motionless… or at the very least clinging to consciousness by a thread.'
'How did she survived?'
Before Minato could make sense of how Yukina survived his Rasengan, Fuguki's hand shot out like a striking blade, seizing Yukina by the collar.
With a brutal motion, he flung her backward through the air.
Yukina spun once, chakra flickering violently around her as she was hurled away—slamming back toward Zabuza and the others with a heavy impact that rattled the ground beneath them.
"Go… now," he ordered sharply, his gaze cutting through them like steel. "You're in the way. We'll meet at the rendezvous point."
Yukina opened her mouth as if to protest, but Fuguki's sharp glare cut her off mid-thought. Her words died instantly.
With a reluctant click of her tongue, she gave a small nod.
Without another word, she and her teammates blurred out of sight in a burst of Shunshin, vanishing into the surrounding terrain as they moved towards their rendezvous point.
Minato didn't waste a breath.
He chose not to pursue Yukina and her group—there were more immediate priorities.
In a blur of motion, his fingers snapped into the half-Ram seal.
"—!"
His body vanished.
A sharp displacement of air followed as he reappeared directly in front of Fuguki, as if space itself had been folded and released in an instant.
At the same time, the surrounding Konoha shinobi moved in perfect coordination. Like a tightening net, they spread out and sealed every possible escape route, encircling Fuguki from all sides.
No gaps. No blind spots.
Shikaku's fingers snapped into the Rat hand seal with practiced precision.
In an instant, his shadow surged forward like a living thing, charging at unnatural speed and lanced toward Fuguki without hesitation.
"Got you."
The moment Fuguki tried to shift, his own shadow was seized—locked in place as Shikaku's jutsu latched onto it.
His body froze mid-motion.
Paralyzed.
Not even a tremor of resistance could escape the binding grip of the Shadow Possession jutsu as Shikaku's eyes narrowed, steady and calculating, holding him exactly where he stood.
Minato's gaze remained fixed on Fuguki, calm yet sharp, a rare glint of respect settling in his eyes. The wind brushed through the battlefield as he spoke, his voice steady and unwavering.
"You've earned my respect… Fuguki-san," he said quietly. "You were willing to sacrifice yourself for your subordinates without even a moment's hesitation."
A faint pause followed as his eyes sharpened again, reflective rather than hostile.
"It seems… I was mistaken about the shinobi of Kirigakure."
Fuguki let out chuckle upon hearing these words and replied.
"You're right about one thing… Konoha's Yellow Flash," his voice steady full of confident.
"I don't mind throwing my own life away for those kids… because I believe they might one day change Kirigakure."
His gaze sharpened, almost defiant as he looked at Minato.
"They might succeed where I failed… and complete what I could never finish."
"But you are wrong… if you think I've already given up and accepted death."
Every Konoha shinobi raised their guard the moment his words fell.
In the very next instant, the ground beneath them began to churn.
Countless bubbles seeped upward as if the earth itself were boiling. They rose slowly at first—then faster—swarming through the air like a living tide. Even from Fuguki's body, the same bubbles began to emerge, crawling over his skin before lifting off into the sky.
The atmosphere turned heavy and unnatural, as if the battlefield itself had started to drown in silence.
Kesuke's eyes snapped wide open the moment the bubbles began to rise, drifting eerily through the air like silent omens. For a split second, even he was caught off guard—but then his expression hardened.
His Sharingan flared to life.
His tomoe in his Sharingan eyes spun wildly, faster and faster, as if reacting instinctively to the unknown threat. Veins bulged faintly around his eyes, his focus sharpening to its absolute limit as he tracked every single bubble with precision.
"Everyone dodge now don't touch the bubbles."
At the sound of his warning, every Konoha shinobi reacted instantly—years of battle-honed instinct kicking in without hesitation. In a blur of motion, they scattered from their positions, vanishing with swift shunshin just as the ground began to stir.
"Water Release: Multi Exploding Bubbles."
"SWISH!, SWISH!, SWISH!, SWISH!, SWISH!"
"BOOM!, BOOM!, BOOM!, BOOM!, BOOM!"
Fuguki's hands blurred as he rapidly wove through a sequence of hand seals, each one sharper and faster than the last. His eyes hardened as he drew in a deep breath, his chest expanding.
"Water Release …"
In the next instant, he expelled a colossal torrent of water from his mouth, the surging wave roaring forward like a raging river, crashing toward all Konoha shinobi with overwhelming force.
"Great Exploding Water Shockwave."
"SPLASH!"
A roaring tide surged through the forest, swallowing everything in its path as the terrain itself warped under the overwhelming force of the water.
Shikaku's eyes narrowed sharply at the sight, his mind racing to adapt to the sudden shift. "Tch…" he clicked his tongue, a rare curse slipping past his lips as he assessed the rapidly worsening situation.
"Damn it…" he hissed, teeth grinding as his eyes darted across the battlefield. "He's turned the terrain into his weapon… we walked right into his trap."
Minato's eyes sharpened to slits, a cold glint flashing within them as his fingers flicked forward. In a blur of motion, one of his tri-pronged kunai spun through the air, slicing the wind as it hurtled toward Fuguki.
The moment Fuguki caught sight of that distinct blade, his body went rigid. His instincts screamed in warning—every fiber of his being recognizing the danger tied to that single, spinning kunai of the Yellow Flash.
He tightened his grip on Samehada's hilt and swung with brutal force, the massive blade howling through the air as it knocked the tri-pronged kunai aside.
But in that same heartbeat—Minato vanished.
A flicker. A ripple in space.
He reappeared beside the spinning kunai as if he had always been there, fingers closing around its handle mid-air. His body twisted fluidly, as he flipped backward with effortless grace, narrowly evading Samehada's savage arc.
By the time his feet touched the branch, Minato hurled two tri-pronged kunais at Fuguki and vanished one more time.
In the blink of an eye, Minato reappeared high above Fuguki, descending like a flash of lightning. A swirling sphere of chakra materialized instantly in his palm, its fierce rotation humming with destructive power.
"RASENGAN!"
"AGGHHHH!"
Without hesitation, Minato drove the attack downward, slamming it into Fuguki's back with crushing force, the impact erupting in a violent burst of wind and chakra.
Fuguki's body twisted violently as the Rasengan slammed into him, the spiraling force sending him hurtling downward like a broken leaf in a storm. The surface of the water exploded on impact, swallowing him whole as he was driven deep beneath the waves, the churning currents echoing the devastating power of Minato's attack.
Fuguki's grip tightened around Samehada's hilt, his knuckles whitening as the living blade pulsed hungrily. The bandaged sword writhed, feeding chakra back into him, knitting his wounds at a visible pace. His dull gaze sharpened into something feral, and slowly—deliberately—a cruel smirk crept across his face, brimming with killing intent.
'Water… is my domain.' His gaze sharpened as chakra churned within him, the water started trembling in response.
'In Kirigakure, I am second only to Mizukage-sama in Water Release…'
A cold killing intent settled in his eyes, heavy as the tide before a storm.
'…and now, I will show you why.'
'I may not be able to bring down the Yellow Flash… but eliminating the Uchiha and Hyuga won't be a problem.'
Once Samehada had fully restored Fuguki's wounds, he didn't waste a single breath. Even submerged, his fingers moved with practiced precision—forming seal after seal in a rapid, fluid sequence.
The surrounding water trembled faintly as chakra stirred within the depths, responding to his intent as he prepared his jutsu beneath the surface.
"Water Release:: Multi Water Droplets Eyes."
Droplets of water shot to the air, scattered in every direction, suspended eerily in midair as if the battlefield itself had fallen under a genjutsu. Minato, Shikaku, and the Konoha shinobi instantly tensed, their eyes narrowing with sharp suspicion as they realized—those droplets weren't falling… they were waiting.
Fuguki's lips twisted into a cold, predatory smirk as the suspended droplets of water shimmered in the air—each one reflecting the battlefield like a thousand watchful eyes. Through them, nothing escaped his vision.
Konoha's Yellow Flash… the Konoha shinobi… their positions, their spacing, their intent—
All of it unfolded before him.
His eyes glinted with dangerous intelligence, sharp and calculating, as if the battle itself were nothing more than a game already decided. To him, every movement they made was just another step along a path he had foreseen.
'Heh…'
Fuguki's fingers blurred, weaving through an intricate chain of hand seals so fast despite him being submerged under water, each sign flowing seamlessly into the next. The water around him seemed to bubble with his rising chakra. Then—just as the final seal was completed—he brought his hands together.
"Water Release: Water Bubble Domain."
"SWISH!"
The water seemed to answer Fuguki's will.
With a thunderous surge, the water erupted skyward, tearing free from the earth like a rising tide of fury. In an instant, Fuguki and every Konoha shinobi were swept upward, swallowed by the roaring current. The flood didn't fall—it twisted, coiled, and curved upon itself.
Then, it sealed.
A colossal sphere of water formed midair, trapping them all within its crushing embrace. Suspended in the heart of the massive aquatic prison, Fuguki hovered like a predator in his domain, while the Konoha shinobi steadied themselves, eyes sharp with tension as the battlefield transformed into a suffocating, inescapable abyss.
Minato's gaze sharpened, his senses on high alert as the massive sphere of water closed in around them. The Konoha shinobi tensed, their bodies instinctively shifting into guarded stances, eyes locked onto Fuguki through the wavering, liquid barrier. Suspended within the suffocating dome, every movement felt heavier, every breath more deliberate.
A ripple of unease spread through their hearts—this was no ordinary jutsu. And at the center of it all, Fuguki stood like a predator in his domain, watching them with a chilling smile, as if the outcome had already been decided.
Minato's sharp gaze swept across the colossal sphere of water, his mind racing as he dissected its structure, searching for even the slightest weakness. Every ripple, every current—nothing escaped the scrutiny of Konoha's Yellow Flash.
…Then he stopped.
His eyes narrowed.
A faint, unsettling sound echoed through the watery prison—the tearing of cloth.
Minato's focus snapped toward Fuguki.
Samehada's bandages were being shredded apart, strip by strip, drifting like pale ribbons in the water. Beneath them, the blade's true form twisted and pulsed, alive—hungry.
And then… it began.
Samehada clung to Fuguki, its flesh rippling as it latched onto him. Their forms started to merge, skin and scale intertwining in a grotesque fusion. Chakra surged violently, distorting the water around them.
Minato's expression hardened, his instincts screaming danger.
'This just got worse…' Minato said in his mind, already preparing for what came next.
As Samehada completed its fusion, its living flesh rippled and melded seamlessly into Fuguki, erasing the boundary between weapon and wielder. Chakra surged violently, distorting the surrounding water as if the very ocean bowed to his will.
Fuguki's body convulsed—then expanded.
A thick, muscular tail lashed out behind him, sending shockwaves through the water. His skin roughened into a gray, scale-like hide, and jagged fins tore through his limbs and back. His face elongated, teeth sharpening into rows of predatory blades as his form stabilized into something no longer entirely human—a humanoid shark, born from the union of man and living weapon.
An oppressive aura flooded the water sphere.
At the center of the submerged domain, Minato Namikaze's sharp eyes widened ever so slightly—one of the rare moments where the famed Yellow Flash showed visible surprise. Around him, the Konoha shinobi stiffened, their formation faltering as unease crept into their ranks.
'This chakra… it's on a completely different level, it gives me the creep' Inoichi thought as his heart beat quickened as fear started filling his being.
Fuguki flexed his clawed hands, the water bending around him like a loyal servant. A feral grin spread across his monstrous face, rows of teeth gleaming with savage intent.
In that moment, it became clear—
this was no longer a battle against a shinobi.
It was a hunt against a creature of the deep.
In the blink of an eye, Fuguki vanished from his position—only to reappear in a violent burst of speed, tearing through the water straight toward the Hyuga. The sheer suddenness of his movement shattered the battlefield's rhythm.
Minato's eyes widened, his instincts screaming danger—but even he was a fraction too late.
The surrounding Konoha shinobi froze, their bodies refusing to keep up with what their eyes had barely managed to register. By the time they realized what had happened, Fuguki was already upon his target, his killing intent crashing down like a tidal wave.
Fuguki's grip tightened like a steel vise around the Hyuga's throat. The Hyuga clawed at Fuguki's arm, veins bulging as he struggled to pry himself free—but it was useless. The strength behind that hold was monstrous.
His Byakugan flared instinctively… and then—
His eyes widened in shock.
His chakra… it was vanishing.
Not leaking. Not disrupted.
Devoured.
A chilling sensation crept through his body as he felt it being siphoned away at an alarming rate, like water draining into an endless abyss. His limbs weakened, his movements slowing, panic flashing across his pale eyes.
Fuguki's lips curled into a savage grin.
'Struggle all you want,' Fuguki smirked savagely. 'The more you resist… the faster you'll be drained dry.'
Minato's palm ignited with swirling chakra as a Rasengan took shape—dense, violent, and compressing the very air around it.
Within the colossal water sphere, the stillness shattered.
The surrounding water began to churn as if reality itself had been seized and twisted. Currents spiraled outward in chaotic layers, accelerating into a raging vortex that swallowed everything in its path. The entire aquatic dome trembled under the force of Minato's technique, the pressure distorting visibility as the battlefield dissolved into a roaring cyclone.
Then, without hesitation, Minato drove forward.
The Rasengan tore through the heart of the vortex, amplifying its destructive spiral as it surged straight toward Fuguki with unstoppable momentum—an execution strike born from perfect timing and overwhelming force.
Fuguki looked disdainfully at the raging vortex bore down on him, its spiraling mass tearing through the water with devastating force. The pressure alone was enough to distort the surrounding current.
Yet he did not move.
He simply raised his left arm.
The moment the vortex collided with his palm, the ferocious spiral of water twisted violently—then abruptly lost its momentum. The overwhelming force that had threatened to swallow him whole unraveled as if its very structure had been severed.
In an instant, the colossal vortex was completely nullified, dissolving into harmless currents that drifted away into the depths.
Fuguki's hand remained steady, unshaken, as if he had done nothing more than brush aside a passing breeze.
Minato's eyes widened in shock, the sight in front of him refusing to register fast enough.
But Fuguki didn't hesitate.
A sharp, sickening crack echoed through the water sphere.
The Hyuga's body went limp almost immediately, chakra flickering out like a snuffed flame.
For a brief moment, even the roaring water around them seemed to fall silent under the weight of what had just happened.
Minato's expression twisted with fury the moment his eyes locked onto the Hyuga lifeless body before him.
Without hesitation, he burst forward—faster than the eye could follow, cutting through the water like a streak of light.
Chakra surged violently into his palm one more time.
In an instant, the Rasengan bloomed into existence—no longer its usual compact sphere, but a massive, roaring vortex of spiraling energy, thrice its original size. The surrounding water trembled as if being torn apart.
The pressure alone distorted the currents around him.
Minato didn't slow down. He accelerated.
The big Rasengan howled in his grip as he closed the distance, intent carved into every muscle—no hesitation, no restraint, only overwhelming speed and power aimed straight at Fuguki.
But Fuguki just smirked and let Minato hit him with his Rasengan.
Minato's eyes widened in shock the instant his Rasengan made contact.
The spiraling mass of chakra—brimming with destructive force—didn't explode on impact as it should have. Instead, something impossible happened.
It began to shrink.
Rapidly.
As though an unseen force was devouring its very essence, the swirling sphere compressed inward, its violent rotation stuttering, then weakening. The brilliant chakra glow dimmed in seconds, collapsing in on itself like a fading storm being swallowed whole.
Minato's grip tightened instinctively.
'What…?' he thought, disbelief flashing across his face.
The Rasengan—his perfected jutsu—was being erased at an unbelievable speed the moment it struck Fuguki, as if the very concept of its energy was being nullified on contact.
Fuguki's arm snapped forward like a coiled serpent. In an instant, his hand locked around Minato's throat, cutting off the Yellow Flash's movement before he could vanish.
But Minato was already moving.
A flicker of focus sharpened in his eyes as his palm pressed forward—a small puff of white smoke erupted on Fuguki's chest.
A marked decoy.
In the same heartbeat, space itself twisted.
Minato's body blurred out of Fuguki's grip, disappearing from within the colossal water sphere as he activated the Flying Thunder God Technique. The crushing pressure of the aquatic battlefield vanished in an instant as he reappeared at a distant marked kunai point outside the dome, breathing sharply as he regained his stance.
Fuguki clicked his tongue, irritation flashing across his eyes as he watched Minato vanish from within the vast water sphere.
'Tch… the Flying Thunder God Technique… what a troublesome jutsu.'
The water around him trembled with his growing killing intent, rippling as if even the ocean itself resented being toyed with.
Fuguki's gaze dropped to his chest, where Minato's sealing formula faintly pulsed beneath his skin. The intricate mark burned like a brand, etched deep with precision meant to restrain him.
'How naive… Yellow Flash,' he sneered. 'Do you really think this sealing formula will still hold now that I am fully fused with Samehada?'
'I can absorb any foreign chakra instantly, your little tricks… means nothing to me now.'
In the next instant, the sealing formula etched onto Fuguki's chest flickered—and vanished without a trace.
Minato's eyes sharpened.
His brow tightened as he extended his senses, searching for the chakra signature he had left behind.
It was gone.
"...It's been erased," he muttered under his breath.
Across the water sphere, Fuguki's grin deepened, as if he had been waiting for Minato to realize his Fuinjutsu skills are useless against him.
'I see… so that's how it is,' Minato thought sharply, his eyes narrowing as the truth clicked into place.
'In that form… he can absorb chakra on contact.'
His gaze locked onto Fuguki, calculating in an instant, the battlefield turning over in his mind like a spinning shuriken.
A faint tension tightened his expression.
'Genjutsu is my best option but I only mastered the basics of the art that leave only one option for me Sage Jutsu.'
After coming to a swift decision, he formed a half Ram hand seal—and in an instant, Shikaku, Inoichi, Choza, and Shibi were violently drawn through space itself, reappearing beside him as if reality had been folded and snapped back into place.
"COUGH!, COUGH!"
"Minato… thank you. I thought I was a goner." Shikaku Nara said, still catching his breath.
His voice was steady, but the strain of near-death lingered in his eyes as he glanced toward Minato.
Inoichi, Choza, and Shibi gave slight nods of gratitude toward Minato, acknowledging what he had just done.
But Minato didn't respond.
Shikaku narrowed his eyes sharply as he studied the massive water sphere looming over the battlefield.
Inside it, he caught sight of Fuguki tightening his grip around an Kesuke's throat, chakra flaring with killing intent as he prepared to end it in an instant.
"Tch… damn it," Shikaku cursed under his breath, the realization of how dire the situation had become settling heavily over him.
"I need to use Sage mode now, I might not be very good at it but I can use it to that water sphere.'
Minato quickly closed his eyes he stood still and started absorbing the natural energy around him as fast as he could.
"CRACK!"
Fuguki smirked after killing the Kesuke and thought.
'Well, it is time to leave.'
But in that very instant, Fuguki's gaze snapped outside the water sphere.
There—towering above him—Minato held a colossal Rasengan suspended over his head, its spiraling chakra roaring like a storm contained in his palm.
Fuguki's eyes narrowed.
And then he saw it.
The orange pigmentation around Minato's eyes.
The air itself seemed to grow heavier as natural energy surged through him, the collosal Rasengan pulsing with an even more terrifying pressure than before.
He leapt high into the air, twisting his body mid-flight, and brought the colossal Rasengan crashing down with devastating force against the towering water sphere.
"Sage Art: Giant Rasengan."
"BOOM!"
"AAAGGHH!"
The colossal water sphere ruptured in an instant, a thunderous shockwave tearing through the air as it burst apart in a violent cascade.
Fuguki's scream echoed through the battlefield, raw and distorted by pain, as the force of the explosion ripped him free and hurled him backward through the spray and mist.
He crashed through the air like a broken weapon, skimming past shattered currents before slamming into the distance, leaving only ripples of destruction and falling water in his wake.
Minato landed gracefully on the ground fell in one knee he breathed heavily as he was sweating prefousely.
"HUFF!, HUFF!"
"I used everything I had in that jutsu… I still couldn't save Kesuke," he thought bitterly, teeth clenched. "I wasn't fast enough… damn it."
Shikaku and the others flashed into position beside Minato in an instant, landing in tight formation around him.
Choza's gaze swept over the battlefield once before settling on Minato, concern etched into his face.
"Minato… are you alright?" he asked, voice low but urgent, ready for whatever answer came next.
Minato nodded his head while breathing heavily.
"I am fine I am only low in chakra."
Shikaku nodded upon hearing this then Inoichi asked.
"Did you finish him off?"
Minato shook his head.
"I managed to land a critical blow on him… but it still wasn't enough to finish him off," he said, voice tight with frustration. "We underestimated him… I wasn't fast enough… I couldn't save Kesuke."
Shikaku patted his shoulder and said.
"Minato… if it weren't for you, none of us would still be standing. We all underestimated Fuguki Suikazan… he's the strongest of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist of this generation for a reason."
Minato sighed and nodded.
Shibi then looked at Minato and the others then asked.
"Should we go and chase him down now?"
Shikaku shook his head.
"No… that would be unwise," he said sharply. "Minato is already low on chakra. If not for him, we wouldn't have survived this battle at all."
He tightened his jaw, eyes still fixed on the aftermath of the fight.
"We need to withdraw back to our main base and report everything to the Third Hokage-sama… about our encounter with Fuguki Suikazan."
Minato nodded his head.
"Shikaku is right for now let's go back to our base to recover I believe we will meet him again soon."
Choza, Inoichi, and the rest nodded then they shunshined away.
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