"You don't seem surprised to see me, Kaguya Ren."
Minato retreated after forcibly relocating Ren from Kanayama toward Konoha's chosen battleground. His brows furrowed as he began probing with words before Kushina arrived.
"I'm not some dead-last dropout who slept through basic intel," Ren shrugged, rubbing the spot on his back where the Flying Thunder God mark sat.
"You used this mark to appear in front of me, right? The Yellow Flash really is convenient. I was wondering why you insisted on tagging me with bare hands before leaving last time."
Minato's gaze tightened.
"So some of the rumors about the Kaguya clan… are exaggerated."
Ren's tone turned regretful.
"And I wish I could recruit a walking teleportation service like you, Namikaze Minato."
"But I was born in Kirigakure. Kaguya blood."
"Even if I defected today, Konoha would never accept me without suspicion."
"That is… unfortunate," Minato said quietly.
"Yeah. Unfortunate."
Ren's body erupted with bone spikes—Bracken armor forming as he entered a battle stance.
Minato raised a Flying Thunder God kunai in reverse grip, the other hand forming a Rasengan.
"Even if I think Kiri will probably lose this war against Konoha… I still think I have a decent chance of winning against you two today."
Ren smiled.
"Do you… agree even a little—"
Boom.
He launched forward, cracking the ground underfoot as he charged.
"—with that?"
"Rasengan!"
Minato appeared above and behind him, slamming the Rasengan downward to throw Ren off-balance—
But this time, Ren didn't take it straight.
Bone spikes arched up and sealed the direct line.
The Rasengan shredded the bone—
Yet Ren's trajectory barely wavered.
He broke free of Minato's attack line and raised his hand toward Kushina—now arriving.
"Ten-Finger Piercing Bullets."
"Wind Release: Gale Palm!"
Kushina clapped and blasted violent wind outward, warping the bone bullets off course—
And boosting Minato's next play.
"Ninja Art: Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
A giant shuriken split into a storm—filling the air with a black rain that covered every inch of ground.
With Kushina's wind supporting it, the storm accelerated into a slicing wall.
Ren crossed his arms.
"Dance of the Larch—Full Bloom."
A massive bone shield grew from his forearms, tanking the storm head-on.
Bone dust flew like snow—
But Ren still advanced.
Minato flickered them away—teleporting with Flying Thunder God.
Ren chased the spacing.
Kushina inhaled, chains bursting—
"Kongō Fūsa—Sealing Barrier!"
Five chakra chains expanded and formed a golden cage, trapping Ren as chain tips speared inward to bind him like a tailed beast.
Ren's face tightened in mock complaint.
"Hey, hey. Just because my chakra's a little bigger doesn't mean you can use a tailed-beast leash on me."
Inside the cage, he moved like a reed in storm wind.
His taijutsu—honed through years of training and accelerated by First Strike proficiency—was already at a level that didn't fear even shadow-class battle.
Kongō Fūsa quickly failed to bind him.
Only the outer barrier remained, trying to suppress his chakra flow.
"Any other 'normal' tricks?" Ren mouthed from inside the cage. "If you don't use them, warm-up ends soon."
Kushina's brows twitched.
Minato glanced at her, then sighed bitterly.
"Not a mistake," Minato admitted quietly. "Unless my… unreliable Sage Mode doesn't fail, our normal methods can't seal him."
Kushina's temper flared.
"Minato! Stop saying useless things like that!"
Minato raised his hands in surrender—then pulled out a sealed vial and smeared its contents onto his Flying Thunder God kunai.
"Konoha isn't the only one who feels threatened by him," Minato said softly. "Before I left, Orochimaru-sama gave me this. A toxin refined from Manda's venom."
"As long as I create a wound… it should paralyze Ren briefly."
"Then why didn't you use it from the start!?" Kushina snapped.
Minato's jaw tightened.
"Because I wanted to find a way to defeat him with my own strength. If he truly intends to become the Fourth Mizukage…"
His eyes steadied.
"…then as a Fourth Hokage candidate, I must be able to defeat him alone."
Kushina's anger stalled.
Minato's voice was calm, but heavy.
"A Kage is the strongest wall of a village. If a Kage can't handle an enemy… how can anyone else find the courage to resist?"
"Minato…"
"Cover me, Kushina."
Minato vanished.
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