Without even glancing, Namikaze Minato could sense Fugaku's movements despite the dozens of meters between them and Fugaku being deeply hidden within the thick forest.
Even though this season had left the trees leafless, for a ninja, this obstacle-filled terrain offered excellent hiding spots.
Since merging with his chakra more than a month ago and attuning himself to sensing nature, Minato had gained a certain level of perception ability, even without deliberate training.
Therefore, no matter where Fugaku hid, Minato could detect him.
Feeling himself discovered by Minato, Fugaku simply flashed through several quick movements before appearing before him.
"Senior Fugaku," Minato greeted with a smile. Not only would he eventually marry Mikoto later in life, but during Minato's rise as Hokage, Fugaku also stood in support of him.
Though due to their positions it might be difficult for them to become close confidants, Minato deeply respected Fugaku's character.
Although Fugaku often disagreed with village leadership regarding Uchiha clan interests, he never did anything that harmed Konoha itself.
Minato once hoped that by building a relationship with Fugaku, he could mend the longstanding rift between himself and the Uchiha clan — a division that had existed since the days of the Second Hokage.
In his view, the Uchiha were an admirable and formidable clan who should stand side by side with the Senju as partners weathering storms together.
Unfortunately, just after he assumed the position of Hokage, that incident occurred, leaving his aspirations unfulfilled.
But since fate granted him a second chance, Minato naturally intended to seize this opportunity wholeheartedly.
Fugaku originally harbored some doubts about Minato's relationship with Mikoto, though judging from how he seemingly already knew everything, maybe he shouldn't have worried so much.
"It was me overthinking," Fugaku chuckled, slightly embarrassed. As one of Konoha's outstanding youths of the new generation, he greatly admired Minato's battlefield performance.
The Uchiha have always respected true strength above all else. Though young, Minato had accomplished feats surpassing those of many adults — this made him all the more deserving of respect.
Hearing this, Minato smiled slightly and replied, "That's not overthinking. It's concern for someone dear to you."
On this point, Minato himself wasn't any different from Fugaku.
On Kushina's first day at the academy, when Yu Akasaka picked on her, even the young Minato — still without his recovered memories — couldn't help but step in.
That impulse came unconsciously from his deep love and guilt toward Kushina.
He had once stood helpless as she died right before his eyes, unable to save her.
Yet before dying, she saved him instead — her incredible chakra broke the constraints of space-time, sending him back over a decade.
So Minato vowed to never let Kushina suffer even the smallest harm. Anyone or anything that got in his way, he would destroy with his own hands.
"Thank you," Fugaku understood this as Minato's kind reassurance.
Yet Minato himself truly believed that his actions exceeded Fugaku's protectiveness by far.
After expressing gratitude, Fugaku turned and left.
Minato let out a faint smile before continuing his training.
...
"Boom!"
Not long after, sharp whizzing sounds and explosions pierced the forest, reaching the ears of nearby Konoha ninjas.
Minato knelt on one knee, his entire body shaking violently at this moment. His excessive use of the Nine-Tails' Chakra had brought him to this state, so he decided to call it a day.
He sat cross-legged and chose to meditate rather than return to the base camp right away, aiming to regain some strength.
For ordinary ninjas, recovering in this manner would naturally be slow, but his body, infused with the Nine-Tails' Chakra, was more than ten times faster in recovery than that of an average ninja.
Thus, over a dozen minutes slipped by.
The violent muscle spasms throughout his body slowly eased, but the weakness lingering in him didn't fade.
At this moment, Minato slightly furrowed his brows and suddenly opened his eyes wide.
"The natural energy from that direction..."
Minato directed his gaze toward the sky where small black dots seemed to appear within what had previously been a clear blue expanse.
With Minato's current visual nerves, he was certain he hadn't misread anything; however, those black dots were still at a distance. He had just sensed their presence through the abnormal flow of natural energy earlier.
Before he could observe further, he prepared to return to the base camp to report to Tsunade and others. Yet when he quickly stood up, his body weakened again, and Minato collapsed back onto the ground.
"Curses... My body hasn't recovered yet." Minato gritted his teeth and then closed his eyes again.
Inside his body, the Nine-Tails' Chakra surged once more, but this time, it seemed somehow obstructed.
"Wengweng!"
Suddenly, Minato felt a buzzing in his ears. It was as if he had lost all his strength, collapsing onto the ground while his body twitched.
"You're drawing on the Nine-Tails' Chakra too excessively. Your body can't take it. Keep pushing it, and the consequences will be severe." A voice resounded inside him again.
Minato certainly understood this logic, yet such high-altitude threats were impossible for sensor ninjas or even Hyuga ninjas to detect.
This must be an invasion force from Sunagakure, though Minato couldn't figure out for now how they managed to fly into the air.
Currently in his physical condition, he could only lie there helplessly watching the Suna ninjas launch an attack on Konoha.
Minato strained himself trying to sit upright—an extremely difficult process. And once finally sitting, he could vaguely make out the figures of the Suna ninjas above.
There were about a dozen dark shadows, each roughly twice the size of a human figure. Minato's heart instantly quivered, and he exclaimed in shock:
"Puppets? They're actually flying puppets!"
...
At this moment, not a single one of the hundreds of Konoha ninjas stationed on both sides of the valley noticed the danger creeping up unnoticed because no one could possibly imagine that Suna would attack directly from above.
As the outlines of the black puppets grew clearer in Minato's vision, Fumiro Aburame burst out of Tsunade's tent, a tiny black insect landing on his shoulder.
He snapped his gaze upward to the sky—finally spotting the flying puppet approaching from Sunagakure.
"Bad, we're under attack!"
Fumiro Aburame barked out in alarm. Tsunade and the others, who had also noticed something strange, joined them in looking up, eyes narrowing with alarm.
Seeing this, Sakumo Hatake without a second thought yankeded a signal flare from his coat and launched it skyward.
"Pop!"
The flare detonated midair, instantly catching the attention of every Konoha ninja, whose eyes snapped skyward.
At that moment, over a dozen flying puppet from Sunagakure had already arrived above the valley where the Konoha forces were stationed!
...
...
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