"What is your purpose in coming to the Land of Roran?"
Minato Namikaze wore a mask, his expression hidden, but one could sense his deep conflict. He didn't want to change history, yet he was curious about what was to come. He was even hesitant about whether to eliminate Uchiha Nagi.
This was different from other enemies. Uchiha Nagi was from a future timeline. Would killing him alter history?
As a master of space-time ninjutsu and sealing arts, Minato understood the laws of time and space better than anyone. If it could be avoided, history should not be changed. Before coming here, he had already decided that once the mission was over, he would seal everyone's memories of these few days.
Seal even memories?
Minato's sealing jutsu, of course, came from his girlfriend. The Uzumaki clan's sealing arts were renowned. With his natural talent and a girlfriend who held nothing back, he had naturally learned a wide variety of sealing techniques.
He had a plan: to avoid changing history, he would first defeat this Uchiha and then seal him away. When the mission was over, Nagi would naturally return to his own world.
"I'm sorry. Regardless of what happened in the future to make you hate Konoha so much, before that, I will fulfill my own dream of becoming Hokage and making Konoha a better place. Right now, to prevent history from being altered, I must seal you." With that, Minato wasted no more words, made a hand signal, and threw two three-pronged kunai.
The gesture was a signal to Akimichi Choza and Aburame Shibi behind him not to engage. He only wanted to seal Uchiha Nagi, not kill him.
"Playing with kunai in front of the Sharingan? You're showing off your meager skills before an expert."
Uchiha Nagi had no intention of dodging or letting the kunai pass behind him like Obito would. He knew everything about Minato's abilities, while Minato knew nothing of his.
Therefore, Nagi's choice was to throw two of his own kunai, directly knocking Minato's two Flying Thunder God-marked kunai out of the air.
After deflecting the kunai, Nagi used the most explosive, short-range speed technique he had: Thunder Breathing.
"Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash—Godspeed."
Then, before Minato's astonished eyes, he transformed into a streak of golden lightning, shooting directly through his body and cutting him in two.
"Minato!" Choza, seeing Minato's neck severed, was shocked and instinctively moved to attack. However, Aburame Shibi, beside him, held him back.
"Have faith in Minato. He's fine," Shibi said.
Minato was, of course, fine. What Nagi had cut was merely an afterimage. The speed of both combatants was so extreme that it had created a mirage, deceiving Choza.
Just a centimeter before the blade reached his neck, Minato had simply vanished from in front of Nagi, teleporting to one of his deflected Flying Thunder God kunai. Space-time ninjutsu was just that absurd.
More importantly, the chakra consumption of the Flying Thunder God was related to the distance and the object being transported. As long as he wasn't teleporting a Tailed Beast or a massive sphere of chakra over a long distance, Minato could keep up these short-range teleports all day. Compared to Nagi's Teleportation, which consumed dojutsu power and a huge amount of chakra, it was incredibly cost-effective.
Minato, now on the other side, was also incredibly shocked. The speed at which this man moved was faster than anyone's Body Flicker Technique, like a golden flash itself.
The Body Flicker was a ninjutsu that used a short-range burst of speed. Every ninja from every country could use it, but only Shisui had made a name for himself with it. There was also the little-known demigod, Hanzo, whose sharp sword techniques combined with his Body Flicker were nigh unstoppable. His fastest feat was using it to dodge Nagato's Gedo Statue summon, moving so fast it was like teleportation.
"Your speed is incredible. Faster than any normal Body Flicker, yet it's not the Body Flicker. It's more like a combination of swordsmanship and some kind of breathing technique," Minato praised.
"To analyze most of my intelligence in a single exchange, you truly are Minato Namikaze. But your Flying Thunder God is faster," Nagi said. At the same time, he was filled with admiration for the man's combat analysis and intelligence. To deduce in one round that his Thunderclap and Flash—Godspeed was related to swordsmanship and a breathing method—he truly was a genius. No wonder he was the man who analyzed Obito's ability in two rounds and still defeated him.
Nagi felt that in terms of combat intelligence, Minato was number one, with Itachi a close second.
However, since the fastest first exchange with Thunderclap and Flash—Godspeed couldn't defeat Minato, there was little point in continuing to use it. The explosive speed of the technique came with an equally massive cost. Even Zenitsu, for whom Thunder Breathing was a perfect fit, had said he could only use it twice. Nagi could only manage a few more times than Zenitsu before hitting a state of exhaustion.
In that case, it was time to switch Breathing Styles. Wind Breathing would do. Its explosive power wasn't as fierce as Thunder Breathing's, but its strength was in its endurance, and it was still fast enough.
Uchiha Nagi narrowed his eyes, inhaling through his nose and exhaling through his mouth, beginning to change the flow of his breath. "Wind Breathing, First Form: Dust Whirlwind Cutter," he whispered.
Hmm?!
Minato's eyes focused. His opponent's breathing had changed. He then saw Nagi charge towards him at high speed. It was slower than the Godspeed flash from before, but still much faster than the Body Flicker Technique.
Minato, unhurried, threw a kunai into the air and retreated.
A sphere of chakra, a Rasengan, had already formed in his hand, though no one knew when.
Just as Nagi was about to strike him, he vanished again in a teleport. But Nagi just smirked. He didn't even have to think to guess where Minato had gone. It could only be one of the three locations marked by his Flying Thunder God kunai.
Therefore—
"Wind Breathing, Fifth Form: Cold Mountain Wind."
His Nichirin Blade instantly changed its attack, swinging from above to create massive, rotating wind blades that surrounded his body, unleashing a wide-range attack.
Huh?!
Minato, now in mid-air, frowned. His Rasengan was ready to hit his opponent's back, but who knew that the man would, in an instant—no, it was as if he had predicted it before the teleport—change his attack, targeting the very position of the Flying Thunder God kunai behind him.
Swoosh—
Unsurprisingly, Uchiha Nagi's attack missed again. The Rasengan also missed its mark, hitting the empty ground nearby.
"Minato!"
"Minato, are you alright?"
Two concerned voices called out. Minato just smiled and waved his hand to show he was fine. But on his shoulder, a new wound had appeared, cut by an invisible blade of wind.
"Your swordsmanship is very special. Not only can it switch between different elemental properties, but it can also create invisible blades of wind. Truly amazing," Minato praised.
"Are you praising yourself?" Nagi wasn't falling for that. Praising the enemy's strength, only to defeat them to make yourself look better?
Invisible blades were an excellent tool for ambushes in close combat. Danzo had a treacherous move where he would spit a wind jutsu from his mouth, an invisible, colorless wind blade that could easily catch an uninformed opponent off guard.
Minato looked at the wound on his shoulder. Just as the attack was about to hit him, he had sensed an invisible danger approaching and had teleported away. He hadn't expected it to be an invisible wind blade.
But this didn't faze him. Minato Namikaze, a veteran of a hundred battles with reflexes faster than the Mangekyo Sharingan, had never been afraid of a battle of speed.
"Wind Breathing, Third Form: Clean Storm Wind Tree." Uchiha Nagi attacked again.
The Third Form, Clean Storm Wind Tree, unleashed three wind blades from the user's center in an instant. The name carries the meaning of the proverb, "The trees wish for calm, but the wind does not cease," evoking a sense of longing for one's deceased parents.
Reach is strength. Minato, wielding a kunai against Nagi's long Nichirin Blade, was already at a disadvantage in terms of distance. Coupled with Nagi's sword style, derived from various Breathing Styles and capable of producing invisible blades, Minato was at an even greater disadvantage in close combat.
Unsurprisingly, Minato teleported away again, this time to a greater distance. He then took out a shuriken.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Uchiha Nagi was then met with a storm of metal.
Thousands of shuriken, a dense cloud of them, flew towards Uchiha Nagi. This wave looked like it would turn him into a human beehive.
He hadn't seen the Third Hokage's version, but he had seen Orochimaru's once, and it was only a few hundred. The Minato before him had surpassed his predecessor, creating thousands.
Damn it! This is enough to take on a Tailed Beast! You've turned a simple shuriken technique into an S-rank jutsu! Uchiha Nagi cursed aloud.
He had no choice. He bit his finger and quickly formed hand seals.
"Summoning: Rashomon!"
The thousands of shuriken had no exploding tags on them. As a purely physical barrier, a single Rashomon gate would be enough.
After a massive explosion, the Rashomon was left in ruins, but that didn't matter. He could just summon it again.
Hmm? Where did he go?
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew past, and a figure appeared rapidly behind him. It was Minato.
Body Flicker?
Uchiha Nagi narrowed his eyes. Clearly, Minato had mixed a three-pronged Flying Thunder God kunai in with the thousands of shuriken clones. It was impossible for all of them to have hit the Rashomon; many had flown past it to the left, right, front, and back. Minato had then teleported to one of those kunai and used the Body Flicker Technique to rush behind him for a big Rasengan.
However, if that was all it was…
A mysterious smile appeared on Uchiha Nagi's lips. Minato, who was charging his Rasengan and about to hit his target, froze. He suddenly sensed that something was very wrong.
Swoosh—
Minato's Rasengan slammed into the ground, creating a large crater. But what shocked him even more was that his opponent had also vanished. It wasn't the Body Flicker; that was high-speed movement that would have displaced the air and his chakra, and Minato was a powerful sensor.
He's gone? How is that possible?! Minato was baffled. How did he just disappear?
Watching from behind, Aburame Shibi suddenly shouted:
"Minato, look out! He's above you! It's the Flying Thunder God!"