His right hand held his wakizashi and his left hand held onto the oversized scroll which squirmed from time to time. Under Isshin's intense gaze, Minato dropped to his knees, coughing out blood. 'What a monster she is. The damage done to the clone is so great I couldnt shrug off the effects..' He lifted himself off his knees, supporting himself with his blade.
"Let's get this over with. I doubt my sealing technique will be able to hold her for too long.." Minato let out a small smile. Stretching his blade towards a stunned Isshin.
"Don't do anything stupid, drop your blade and come with me..I promise, I'll intervene and your sentence would be reduced.." Isshin at least had to broker a deal. Yoruichi had been captured. Should something happen to her, it'll be a huge loss for the Gotei 13. He couldn't allow that. If he could get Minato to surrender himself.
"I take it you're a man of your word, Captain.." Minato turned to Isshin with a small smile and then turned his head to the Tiger Vision Staring Bullet Fuinjutsu scroll in his hand. Isshin nodded, his face serious.
"You're a good man, Captain. What is your name?" Minato smiled. He could tell from the look on the man's face. He wasn't offering the deal because he cared for Minato or he was scared. He did it because he wanted Minato to spare his friend. This was a man Minato could respect.
"Isshin Shiba. Captain of the 10th Division.." He spoke his name. Minato let out a breath. "Namikaze Minato. 4th Hokage.." Minato observed the look on his face. He knew why he included his title as the 4th Hokage of the Leaf. Isshin was a Captain. He wouldn't have gotten into such a place of power being ignorant. If there was even a little chance that Isshin knew who he was...
Minato's face fell. The man didn't know. "I could've come with you, Captain, but I'm a man on a mission. Besides, I was a part of the beurocratic rule of my nation. I doubt your words hold the power you think they do to your higher ups.." Minato made his stance clear. His grip tightened on the handle of his blade.
"Sigh. You would've been a fine addition to the Gotei 13, Minato." Isshin drew his sword and attacked immediately. While he wasn't nearly as fast as Yoruichi, his movements, reflexes and battle techniques were incredible, befitting his position as a Captain.
Two blades clashed, stirring winds, as the ground shattered. Isshin stared into Minato's eyes. Those cold blue orbs made his heart shudder. And then, Minato moved. He double kicked out, catching Isshin in the chest with one kick and then backflipped off his sword with the other.
Isshin tanked the kick to the chest and reacted quickly. His blade swung a deadly arc, cutting through the air with incredible ferocity, but Minato was gone. His blade struck nothing, the remnant Reiatsu tearing a large groove through the earth. He blinked and there was a kunai spearing into his right eye. He sidestepped, dodging it and then turned around in time to block a blade ripping into his head.
He scoffed, pushed Minato back with incredible strength and slashed out once more, the Reiatsu that accompanied his swing cut another massive groove in the earth, but Minato was gone again. Too fast for Isshin. He blinked once more and then moved on instinct, bending backwards to dodge a blade that would've cut into his neck.
Minato's eyes stared down coldly into his, as he flew over Isshin's bent body. And then he came at him again, relentless. His blade was a blur, cutting, stabbing and tearing with incredible lethality and speed, that the Captain struggled to keep up with. In less than two minutes, Isshin had already sustained wounds under Minato's endless speedy assault.
But the smile on his face widened, when his arm stretched out and grabbed Minato by the arm with incredible force. Minato's eyes widened. The man's grip on his arm was like an iron vice. "You're anticipating my moves.." Minato spoke, and Isshin smirked. "You're not that hard to read, Minato. I had to let you get comfortable!" His words ended in a loud cry and then the blade in his hand slashed out with such force that the lingering Reiatsu tore into a dozen trees in front of him, sending a deep slash of lingering energy that collapsed the landscape.
However, Minato was no slouch. Isshin thought he had him, but, substitution Jutsu replaced him with a log that got bisected into two halves.
Isshin stared coldly. Minato blurred into motion, crouched low on the stump of a bisected tree. "I see why Kensei lost to you. His one way brute force fighting style was the worst match to your speed, Minato.." He scoffed.
Meanwhile Minato kept his cool. His eyes stared down at him and then he formed a hand seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" An identical Minato puffed into existence beside him. 'There's two? Their Reiatsu is even identical. What technique is that??' Isshin monologued, but reacted in time to block a blade ripping into his heart from the first Minato.
The second Minato blurred into motion above them, with a round yellow ball of spinning wind and Reiatsu slamming towards Isshin.
"Burn ...ENGETSU!!!"
BOOOOOOOM!
A wild, raging inferno enveloped the landscape. The flames churned, turning everything in their part to ashes. More than half of the forest was gone. Isshin reappeared from the smoke, topless, his blade wrapped in a fiery halo, smoke emanating from him.
Minato reappeared several miles away and puked blood, dropping to his knees.
Parts of his body were charred. Isshin was far too strong. Minato admitted. Just the lingering Reiatsu from his Zanpankutou's release had turned a ripe forest into a wasteland. To take someone as strong as him down, Minato needed more than tricks.
He needed more. Sage Mode would just leave him vulnerable at the end. "Tsk. I didn't think I'll have to go this far with you, Minato. Come on, Don't tell me that's all you got.." Isshin lifted his hand, pointing his blade towards Minato.
Minato staggered to his feet. The fight with Yoruichi had taken a toll on him. 'Minato. You intend to reveal me to them, don't you?' He heard Sorasen's voice deep within his consciousness.
'I know the implications of what I'm doing, Sorasen. I can't back down now...' He stood his ground. He felt he needed to hide Sorasen's ability from the world. Space time techniques or abilities were mostly forbidden, even in the Shinobi world. He imagined it would be the same in this world. He had never once used it in their fight, but at this point, base strength was nothing to someone as strong as Isshin.
"Hehehe. I'll come to you instead then!" Isshin took a step forward, about to attack when Minato shifted into a stance. Twisting his blade into a reverse grip, allowed the tip to face the ground and then he muttered.
"Transcend.. SORASEN.."
The moment his words sounded, a subtle wave of Reiatsu exploded, as the blade slowly morphed into a distinct three pronged kunai with golden inscriptions on the handle. This was Sorasen's true form.
"A shikai?" Isshin paused. Unlike his destructive transformation, Minato's was far more subtle, but the transformation was complete. Someway, somehow, this youth has achieved Shikai without any formal training.
The handle on Engetsu tightened and he grit his teeth ready to explode with an attack when a kunai stabbed into the ground before him. His heart hadn't skipped a beat. His mind has yet to process what was happening. Time stood still in that moment.
SLASH!
Blood spurted out of Isshin's mouth and then he looked down. His brain finally able to process what was happening. Those Cold blue eyes, and a blade sticking out of his torso. How? When? His mind couldn't comprehend. But he grit his teeth and swung Engetsu in a wide arc, sending a torrent of flames towards Minato.
Flames exploded, but Minato was several meters away before it even landed. Instantaneous. Isshin dropped to a knee and stared at Minato who was already several meters away. "Hehe. You got me. But I'll finish this. Getsuga Tensho!!!!!" A scream tore from his throat as he swung Engetsu with all the power he could muster. A flaming slash literally eradicated everything around him in a wide explosion of firepower. The raw power of Isshin's Engetsu was limitless.
In the process of his attack, Isshin was suddenly met with a shuriken that was tearing into his right eye. Reflexes kicked in, he sidestepped, however, what happened was far from what he expected. Those cold blue eyes. He saw them again. This time, it wasn't a blade that was ripping into his body, but a sphere of compressed spinning wind and Reiatsu.
The whole phase happened faster than his brain could process. Not even time could measure the speed at which Minato has moved. But....
A torrent of black ash exploded towards Isshin in that moment. Minato eye's widened and he aborted, teleporting away from Isshin in that instant.
A/N: Sorry for the late update. 10 powerstones for an extra chapter.