At the border where the Land of Wind meets the Land of Earth, the ground was littered with the bodies of Iwagakure ninja.
Twenty figures stood in the distance.
They wore the headbands of Kumogakure, and at that moment were finishing off the Iwa-nin still lying on the ground.
"Sir, intelligence!"
The young and sharp A heard his subordinate's voice and stopped what he was doing.
He wiped the blood of the ninja from his hands on the spot and took the intelligence that had been secretly sent from the village.
He opened it and gave it a rough scan.
Then he tossed it to the ninja beside him.
He pulled out his own map. His gaze dropped straight to the Land of Fire.
He pressed a finger hard against the Land of Fire's position on the map. A fierce and burning fighting spirit flickered in his eyes.
"We have wiped out two Suna-nin squads and three Iwa-nin squads. Next is the Land of Fire!"
"Iwagakure, I used to think they were pretty capable. Turns out they are getting worse and worse. Their own village's jinchuriki got driven back by a single Uchiha!"
The young A's face was full of contempt.
"Uchiha... Chiya? That name... Isn't that the ninja who wrecked our plan to steal the Uzumaki bloodline back then!
Hmph. A mere Uchiha, and he dares to be so full of himself! When I meet him, I will make sure he gets a taste of what my taijutsu can do!"
The Kumogakure ninja standing behind A listened to those words with complete composure.
Their eyes carried nothing but confidence.
Because since they had set out on this mission from Kumogakure with Lord A and Lord Killer Bee, they had wiped out Iwa-nin and Suna-nin squads of all sizes, no fewer than a hundred enemy ninja in total.
The two of them fought in seamless coordination, and their individual strength crushed every opponent they faced.
They had rolled through this entire stretch of battlefield like a meat grinder.
No ninja had been able to stop Lord A and Lord Killer Bee in their path!
"Big bro, stupid, idiot!"
Killer Bee stood nearby, wearing his sunglasses, moving his arms and improvising a rap.
"Iwa-nin jinchuriki, too weak too weak! Got beaten by Uchiha, fell flat fell flat! We step in, we win we win!"
This improvised rap was one basketball away from the top of the rap world.
The corner of A's mouth pulled into a cold smile. His fists cracked as he clenched them.
"Bee, if we run into that Uchiha this time, we will make him see up close what real power looks like!"
The two looked at each other and raised their fists, bumping them together in perfect sync.
"We are the strongest combination!"
Killer Bee pushed up his sunglasses and grinned wide.
"Big bro is right! The name of Kumogakure will not be challenged!"
A called out the order.
"Pass the word! Move out into the Land of Fire!"
Within the Land of Rivers, deep in a dense forest.
A Konoha reconnaissance squad was carefully making its way through the shadows between the trees.
The ANBU ninja leading them swept their surroundings with a vigilant gaze.
"Captain, there seems to be chakra up ahead!"
An Inuzuka Clan ninja suddenly dropped his voice and pointed into the distance.
The lead ninja's brow furrowed.
"This is bad! Kumogakure ninja! Signal now!"
But before his words had fully left his mouth, a blue figure seemed to drop from the sky above.
"Lightning Style, Thunder Plow Hot Blade!"
"Boom!"
A savage surge of lightning tore through the air in an instant. The ninja leading the squad did not even have time to react.
He was struck in the chest by that tremendous force and crashed through several large trees, coughing up blood as he hit the ground.
"Hahahaha! Konoha trash! You can't even take a single move from me!"
A's figure emerged through the lightning. His muscles were taut, and raging Lightning Style chakra coiled all over his body.
"Big bro is awesome! Stupid! Idiot!"
Killer Bee leaped out from behind.
"Bee, enough playing. Finish it fast!"
A let out a cold bark, and his figure turned into a blue bolt of lightning once more, charging toward the remaining Konoha ninja.
"Lightning Style, Heavy Current Surge!"
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Lightning crackled from his elbows, combined with a speed that was simply impossible to follow.
These ordinary Konoha ninja did not even have the chance to form a single seal.
They were sent flying by A's elbows, one after another. Screams rang out without stop.
In just a few seconds, the entire reconnaissance squad had been wiped out.
A stood among the fallen. He shook the bloodstains from his fist and let out a cold laugh.
"Konoha ninja. Nothing more than this."
Killer Bee walked up. A flash of excitement showed beneath his sunglasses.
"Big bro, do we go deeper?"
A gave a nod. The fighting spirit in his eyes burned hot.
"Move! We push straight into the heart of the Land of Fire!"
"Wait, you two!"
"Look at the signal above!"
An experienced ninja came quickly to the two of them and pointed up at the deep crimson smoke burning in the sky.
A glanced at it.
"We can kill a few more squads first. Pulling back after that is still fine."
Without waiting for a response, he charged out alone.
Killer Bee saw this and followed quickly, humming as he went.
The Kumogakure ninja behind them looked at each other.
In the end they chose to follow as well.
At the same time, at the temporary Konoha forward command post on the border.
Namikaze Minato was leaning over a map when suddenly an ANBU ninja appeared in a flash.
"Jonin Minato! The border reconnaissance squad has sent a signal reporting enemy ninja infiltration. It is the highest-level signal. They have most likely been wiped out already!"
Minato's pupils contracted. A trace of gravity crossed through his bright blue eyes.
He drew a deep breath and rose to his feet.
"Pass the order. Have the nearby support units gather immediately to intercept. Stay together. Do not scatter and cause unnecessary losses."
"Also, notify Lord Hokage that Kumogakure's main force has entered the Land of Fire!"
The ANBU ninja received the order and departed.
Minato tightened his grip on the special kunai inscribed with the words "Ninja Love."
He packed it quickly into his pouch.
"Minato!"
A female ninja with a full head of red hair, wearing a Konoha jonin vest, came running in at the news.
"Sango!"
Seeing who it was, the gravity on Namikaze Minato's face softened into a trace of warmth.
"Are there enemies coming this way?"
Namikaze Minato looked at her. Uzumaki Sango's fine face carried a hint of tension.
"Yes. The reconnaissance squad has likely already met with misfortune. The ninja behind this surprise attack are probably not ordinary!"
Hearing that, the worry in Uzumaki Sango's eyes deepened.
"Minato, I am coming with you!"
Those words warmed Minato's heart.
He reached out and tapped Uzumaki Sango on the forehead.
"I know!"
At that very moment,
the ninja gathering outside had already assembled at the door.
"Let's go!"
"Right!"
The two moved side by side, walking out of the command post and leading the squad toward the direction from which the reconnaissance unit's signal had been sent.
In less than ten minutes, deep in the forest, the two sides met.
"Oh? Konoha reinforcements? This fast?"
A saw Namikaze Minato, Uzumaki Sango, and the rest of the group, and interest lit up in his eyes at once.
"Big bro, do not underestimate them. Be careful!"
A let out a dismissive snort.
"Reinforcements? However many come, I'll kill them all!"
Namikaze Minato looked at the squad in front of him, the special kunai gripped in his hand.
His bright blue gaze swept across them.
He had already recognized A's identity.
As part of the support force, Minato had received information about notable figures from each village through the intelligence networks of Jiraiya and the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
And Minato was diligent. He had committed every significant figure from every village to memory.
A in particular was the most closely watched figure from Kumogakure by far.
"You are A, the son of Kumogakure's Third Raikage, the one with an overwhelming drive to win, aren't you? I have heard your jutsu speed is exceptional."
Hearing those words, Killer Bee struck up his unusual rapping cadence.
"With me and big bro here, we will sweep you Konoha all away, stupid, idiot!"
Namikaze Minato's expression was serious. He kept his eyes fixed on the two of them without blinking.
He spoke to the comrades behind him.
"Everyone hold for now. I will go first."
Before the words had fully landed, his other hand was already reaching into his weapon pouch and moving fast.
Special kunai scattered out in every direction, dropping in a loose but even spread across the area.
Seeing this, A knew the fight had begun.
The vivid blue chakra across his entire body surged to a higher level in an instant. Lightning crackled.
"Lightning Style, Thunder Flash Step!"
A became a blue bolt of lightning in an instant and drove a punch straight toward Minato's face.
Minato's fingers shifted slightly. The last kunai in his hand slipped free.
At that razor-thin moment, Flying Thunder God activated!
His figure vanished and reappeared on one of the Flying Thunder God kunai lodged in a tree.
'What?'
Shock hit A hard.
He had not expected that this completely unremarkable blond young man to have dodged his fastest attack.
'What jutsu is that?!'
Flash!
Namikaze Minato activated Flying Thunder God again and reappeared at the kunai he had let drop moments earlier with the slight shift of his fingers.
He grabbed the kunai and drove it in a sharp thrust toward the vital point on A's back.
A's eyes went wide. He knew he could no longer get out of the way.
At that moment, a tentacle slammed into A from the side, knocking him clear. The kunai sliced through the tentacle.
The tentacle had taken the blow from Namikaze Minato in A's place.
"This is..."
Namikaze Minato stared at the enormous tentacle that had appeared out of nowhere. He was caught off guard.
Before he could react, four or five more tentacles came in close behind.
"Sealing Jutsu, Adamantine Chains!"
In the distance, the red-haired girl Uzumaki Sango saw Namikaze Minato in danger.
Without a second thought, she brought both hands together.
Golden chains shot out from her body.
They wrapped around the tentacles attacking Namikaze Minato in an instant and held them suspended in the air.
Namikaze Minato recognized the familiar sealing jutsu and looked at Uzumaki Sango with a gentle gaze.
He let out a quiet breath of relief, then immediately moved in a flash to Uzumaki Sango's side.
"A sealing jutsu? Someone from the Uzumaki Clan?"
The Kumogakure ninja were full of shock.
They had thought Namikaze Minato alone was already more than enough of a surprise.
They had not expected there to also be an Uzumaki Clan member alongside him.
'This is trouble!'
The way things were developing seemed to be going a bit beyond what anyone had anticipated!
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