Just by using a kunai engraved with a sealing formula, Minato Namikaze could instantly appear at that exact coordinate.
This completely transcended the concept of "speed"—this was essentially teleportation based on a precise spatial coordinate. If there were only two weaknesses (though not really weaknesses) to this technique, they would be the characteristic kunai itself and the sudden appearance of a human-shaped figure in space, which instantly caused an air displacement.
A person's volume is roughly 0.05 cubic meters. When they suddenly appear, they displace the air originally occupying that space, which causes the air to be pushed outward, creating slight disturbances.
This disturbance is the only precursor enemies can sense when Flying Thunder God is activated!
Minato appeared beside Rin Nohara without the slightest hesitation. The moment he materialized, one hand immediately threw a Flying Thunder God kunai — a flash of black light in the night, followed by a short sharp "whoosh," quickly fading away.
At the same time as throwing the kunai, Minato's other hand grabbed a kunai with the blade positioned behind the fist, and he sharply pulled his arm inward.
A sharp streak of black light cut through the air.
The black light moved barely ten centimeters before Minato vanished and instantly reappeared in front of a Iwa ninja.
That very kunai sliced across the Iwa ninja's neck, then flew seamlessly behind another Iwa ninja.
With his other hand, Minato caught the kunai that was about to strike the throat of the first Iwa ninja.
A flash!
Again, a streak of black light.
The Iwa ninjas here were wiped out completely, leaving only bodies scattered on the ground. Uchiha Kin thought to himself: "The Yellow Flash, indeed…
"He's not just fast in combat reaction—his real strength is his ability to grasp and predict the flow of battle. Every time he uses Flying Thunder God, just like now, he has already started the move before throwing the kunai.
"By the time he appears in front of the enemy, the technique is already halfway executed.
"Zero-frame start… Flying Thunder God… So far, it's just the kunai marked with the technique. If he advances to the point where he can casually mark the enemy's body directly, that will be truly terrifying."
Thinking of this, he glanced at Obito—this guy was the "lucky one" who had enjoyed that casual marking ability.
Years later, the mark still hadn't faded, which was incredible!
Minato asked, "Kin, how are you?"
"Not bad, just some minor wounds... You should be thankful the Iwa ninjas' individual skills aren't that strong. Otherwise, you'd probably only find my corpse!" Uchiha Kin sighed deeply.
Kin then repeated his prepared explanation to Minato's team about why they came out here, offering this version:
They were near the camp when Hyuga Sen opened his Byakugan while playing around and noticed a group of Iwa ninjas sneaking around.
So the two followed them but they were discovered by ninja scouts from the Kamizuru clan. The Iwa ninjas came to hunt them down. Hyuga Sen said, "You're a medical ninja, important to Konoha. Take the intel back. I'll lure them away."
As for how Hyuga Sen "lured the pursuers," Uchiha Kin said he didn't know—he only hid Uzumaki Miyu and another Iwa ninja.
He briefly explained the cat-and-mouse game he had with those Iwa ninjas.
"So, you caused the explosion with the detonating tags?" Minato asked.
Kin answered, "They didn't dare make noise. Otherwise, I wouldn't stand a chance against them."
If those Iwa ninjas were alive, they'd probably jump up in anger and accuse him of twisting the facts, but since they were dead, the truth was just as Kin described.
Kakashi glanced at Kin silently, thinking he was too modest—just from watching Kin's kunai skills moments ago, anyone with clear eyes and mind would know how excellent his technique was.
At least in terms of skill, Kin was more reliable than some of Kakashi's Uchiha teammates.
However, since the Iwa ninjas were killed instantly by Kin, Kakashi couldn't judge their true strength.
He thought for a moment, then said, "Then these Iwa ninjas must have been elite."
Minato then raised a question: "What were they doing here?"
"I don't know!"
Obito said, "Who cares what they were doing? They're dead now. As long as they're dead, their plans are broken."
Everyone was speechless, but it kind of made sense.
The five of them returned to camp, where Kin was questioned by the commander. He repeated the story he told Minato's squad before going to rest.
Molly and Jingju came to visit. "Captain, I'm so glad you're okay." "It's all that Hyuga Sen's fault. If it weren't for him, you wouldn't have gotten hurt."
"Well, whatever he says, he was my teammate before. This isn't his fault…" Kin chatted with them for a while before sending them away, but his mind was already racing with plans—
The "Byakugan" plan had succeeded beyond expectation, with two extra eyes than anticipated.
In Kin's original plan, there was no intention to kill Hyuga Sen—he was willing to cooperate with him as long as Sen didn't try to kill him. Even while pursuing his own goal, helping Sen a bit wouldn't have been impossible.
But since Sen wanted to kill him, Kin reluctantly took two more pairs of Byakugan.
Having the Byakugan now meant he could begin the second step of his plan—an absolutely crucial step:
The Three-Tails!
Yes, Uchiha Kin's target was the Three-Tails.
"Rin… I really am sorry." Kin sighed deeply. If he could, he wouldn't want to sacrifice anyone.
But under the threat of extermination, he did not want to die. Such sacrifices had become inevitable.
He could only say "sorry" in his heart. "But I will try my best to keep you alive. After all, changing a heart isn't too difficult for me. It's just that afterward, I'm afraid you won't be able to appear in Konoha ninja circles anymore…"
After reviewing his plan once more, his mind involuntarily turned to Minato's bizarre Flying Thunder God technique.
He instinctively wondered:
If I were facing Flying Thunder God, how would I respond?
Retreat!
When the air around suddenly began to stir unnaturally, he withdrew without hesitation in the opposite direction.
That seemed to be the only chance for survival.
Meanwhile, four Konoha squads, sixteen ninjas in total, began searching the forest where Uchiha Kin and the Iwa ninjas had clashed, moving in units.