~ Every 100 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter! Your votes keep this climbing. Thanks!
Far beyond the village walls, Kakuzu and Kisame Hoshigaki were having a hell of a time.
They knew this was one of Qianyu's shadow clones. They knew it. But knowing it and dealing with it were two very different problems.
The damn thing had half of Qianyu's chakra. It could use all his jutsu. Right now, it was trading ninjutsu blasts with them, a relentless barrage.
Normally, a shadow clone? Even a strong one? With their coordination, they could handle it.
The real issue—the massive, headache-inducing issue—was that this clone also had that weird, predictive sense. That Haki. Every move they made, it saw coming. Closing the distance was impossible. Actually landing a solid hit? A pipe dream.
Beating the real Qianyu? After that insane Thunderclap and Flash: God Speed move he'd pulled earlier, a move that still made their hearts stutter to remember? They held no such hope.
But failing to take down a single clone? This was just embarrassing.
Seriously, how much chakra did that guy have? This clone's attacks were endless. It was like fighting a damn artillery battery with legs.
Konoha.
Under Hiruzen Sarutobi's frantic commands, Konoha shinobi scrambled. Evacuating civilians. Organizing a counterattack against the rampaging Nine-Tails.
Qianyu, watching from the sidelines, almost laughed.
"Throwing kunai at the Nine-Tails? Is this a joke?" he muttered, shaking his head. "How do guys like this even become genin? The bar is in the damn ground."
He saw a squad leap bravely—stupidly—towards the beast, emptying their entire weapon pouches in a flashy, utterly pointless display. The exploding tags attached to the kunai detonated against the fox's massive flank. It was less than an itch. The Nine-Tails didn't even flinch.
It just roared. The concussive blast of air alone sent the shinobi flying like discarded rags.
Now the beast was swatting them out of the air like flies. A single sweep of its claw. Bones shattered. Survival was a miracle. A painful, crippled miracle.
Qianyu's gaze snapped to the Hokage Monument. "Finally."
There, standing atop the stone visage of the Fourth Hokage, was Minato Namikaze himself.
Qianyu's focus sharpened. Saving Miyuki Uzumaki from the extraction was step one. But the crisis wasn't over. Not for her. The real danger was just arriving.
Minato's eyes were hard, fixed on the destructive titan below. "I bear the title of Hokage. Protecting this village, the families within it… that is my duty. I won't let you rampage any further!"
The Nine-Tails sensed him. Its massive head turned, malevolent eyes locking onto the tiny yellow figure.
"Noticed me, huh?" Minato murmured.
The beast's maw opened. Swirling darkness condensed—a Tailed Beast Bomb.
Minato's hands flew through seals. "You won't destroy this place!"
The orb of annihilation shot forth, carving a deep trench through the earth as it went. And then—it stopped.
No, not stopped. It was sinking. Swallowed whole by a massive sealing formula that had appeared mid-air.
The moment the last flicker of the bomb vanished into the pattern, Minato drew a kunai.
"Flying Thunder God: Guiding Thunder!"
A second later, a monstrous explosion bloomed on the distant horizon, far beyond the village. The bomb was gone. The mountain it hit was gone, flattened into dust.
Minato glanced at the fading light. Choosing a safe transfer point for something that big… it required careful calculation.
Seeing the bomb vanish, Hiruzen and the others knew. The Fourth was here.
Minato needed to brief Hiruzen. He turned—
A hand reached from the empty space behind him.
Minato sensed it. Whirled. His Flying Thunder God Technique kunai stabbed backward in a blur.
His eyes widened. The blade—his hand—passed straight through the man's head. As if through mist. Then, a solid grip clamped around his wrist.
Obito Uchiha's voice was low and heavy. "Your opponent is me. And… it's over."
Kamui. A vortex spun to life around Minato, the space itself twisting, trying to suck him into another dimension.
In the split-second before being consumed, Minato vanished.
The masked man—Obito—frowned beneath his facade. "He flew away… Fast. Next time, I absorb him the instant I touch him. No hesitation."
Minato reappeared outside the small hut where he'd earlier taken Naruto to safety. His mind raced. "My attack passed right through him. Then he solidified. Tried to absorb me immediately… What kind of jutsu is that?!"
Space rippled in front of him.
Obito emerged once more. "Nowhere left to run, Minato Namikaze!"
Minato stared, his expression grave. A space-time ninjutsu user. That's how he snatched Miyuki. Broke through Qianyu's defense, bypassed the top-secret barrier, knew the seal would weaken during childbirth… even broke the Nine-Tails' seal and controlled it.
And… a shinobi who could bypass Konoha's barrier at will? In all his knowledge, only one name fit.
"Are you… Madara Uchiha? No. Impossible. He died long ago."
Obito's voice was a cold sneer. "Who knows? That's not necessarily true."
"At this point, who you are doesn't matter," Minato said, his voice dropping to an icy calm. "Why target Konoha?"
"Call it a whim. Call it a long-laid plan. For war. For peace." Obito opened his left hand. A heavy chain with manacles at both ends clattered to the ground.
Minato's guard was absolute. Whoever stood before him was no minor threat. Capable of controlling the Nine-Tails. A space-time technique that rivaled his own. And a dangerous ideology.
If this wasn't settled here, things would become far more dire than a rampaging tailed beast.
If he teleported to the village, this man would follow. The battlefield would only grow more chaotic.
His eyes flicked left, towards where Qianyu had been. An enemy who could fight Qianyu to a standstill… also no simple foe. Qianyu was tied up there. He had to trust Hiruzen with the village. His role was to pin this man down, right here.
Obito clamped the manacles onto his own wrists. The chain hung between them. "The Nine-Tails is free. Your hope is gone."
He charged.
Minato met the charge.
Master and student. The clash ignited.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
Read up to (100+ ) advanced chapters on Patre\on
Visit us here: patreon.com/GoldenLong
Happy reading, everyone!