"Hokage-sama! You urgently summoned me—is something wrong?"
The moment he saw the Third Hokage, Minato immediately asked anxiously.
"Minato, you're back…"
Seeing Minato appear, the Third Hokage finally let out a sigh of relief.
Before this, he had been worried Minato might be tied down by missions.
Fortunately, that did not happen.
The Third Hokage immediately explained:
"Kumogakure has declared war against us. The Third Raikage is personally leading the assault, accompanied by the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, the A-B Combination, Yōtsuki A, and over six thousand ninja troops. They have already invaded the Land of Rivers."
"Our forces are currently suffering continuous defeats. Support Kang Hisa and the others immediately!"
"Delay them as much as possible!"
"I've already sent ninja hawks to notify Sakumo and Akira on the eastern battlefield. They should arrive one or two days after you."
"In addition, I've already ordered the village to mobilize manpower. Tomorrow, a force of three thousand ninja will depart to reinforce the Kumogakure battlefield."
"This is a critical moment. Everything depends on you now, Minato. You absolutely must hold the line!"
Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable.
After hearing this, Minato's expression also became grave.
He had not expected the situation to have already deteriorated to this degree.
Without the slightest hesitation, he declared firmly:
"Hokage-sama, please rest assured. Even if I have to risk my life, I'll buy enough time for the reinforcements to arrive."
Konoha was his home.
His feelings and sense of belonging toward the village were far purer than those of the Third Hokage, Danzo, and the others.
He barely considered his own safety.
In his eyes, the village's safety was what truly mattered.
The Third Hokage nodded in satisfaction.
This obedient attitude of Minato's was precisely what he liked.
"Then depart immediately. Of course, cherish your own life as well. You are extremely important. Konoha still cannot afford to lose you."
Such an excellent tool was naturally something the Third Hokage hoped would continue surviving for his use.
Immediately afterward, Minato did not even return home.
He directly activated the Flying Thunder God Technique and vanished from the Hokage's office, rushing toward the Kumogakure battlefield at maximum speed.
…
"Don't let them escape!"
At this moment, within the Land of Rivers—
Konoha's defensive line had already completely collapsed.
Out of the original force of over fifteen hundred ninja, fewer than seven hundred remained.
More than half had been lost.
There was no helping it.
Both the enemy's troop numbers and high-end combat power overwhelmingly surpassed theirs.
Furthermore, Kumogakure had dispatched numerous elite squads specifically to pursue the retreating Konoha ninja.
"Quick! Hold on just a little longer! We'll be safe once we reach the next defensive line!"
Nara Shikaku continuously encouraged the remaining troops while fleeing.
"Leave them behind!!"
At this moment, a violent figure suddenly burst through the battlefield like a thunderbolt.
"Counterattack!"
Shikaku immediately gave the order while simultaneously using the Shadow Possession Technique to interfere with A.
Yamanaka Inoichi also activated the Mind Disturbance Technique to disrupt both A and the dozen or so Kumogakure ninja accompanying him.
"Expansion Technique! Take this!"
Akimichi Chōza instantly used the Expansion Technique, transforming into a giant seven or eight meters tall as he swung the massive staff in his hand toward A.
"Lariat!"
A, however, was still young and hot-blooded. He directly chose to confront the attack head-on.
The next moment, his fist collided directly against Chōza's giant staff.
A violent explosion erupted.
The surrounding air itself seemed to shatter.
Then, A was blasted backward more than ten meters before landing heavily on the ground. His feet carved two deep trenches across the earth as he slid another ten meters before finally stopping.
Shaking his somewhat numb arm, A laughed loudly with excitement mixed into his serious expression.
"Hahaha! Good! This is awesome! Again!!"
Immediately afterward, he activated Lightning Release Chakra Mode once more and charged toward Chōza at even greater speed, forcibly resisting most of the interference from Shikaku's Shadow Possession Technique and Inoichi's Mind Disturbance Technique.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"
The two sides instantly clashed repeatedly.
The Shadow Possession Technique and Mind Disturbance Technique naturally still affected A to some degree.
However, most of the effects were forcibly dispersed through his overwhelming chakra.
Within Lightning Release Chakra Mode, such interference was minimized to the extreme.
As A's attacks became increasingly violent, Chōza was ultimately the first to reach his limit. He was forcibly knocked out of his Expansion Technique state before being sent flying by one of A's punches.
"Stay right there!"
In the next instant, A abruptly shifted his focus and charged directly toward Nara Shikaku.
He knew this man was Konoha's commander and strategist here.
As long as Shikaku died, the remaining battle would become much easier.
Perhaps Kumogakure could truly push directly into the Land of Fire this time.
However—
"Swish!"
A flash of golden light suddenly appeared.
A figure instantly materialized in front of Shikaku.
"Rasengan!"
A low shout rang out as a hand carrying a blue spiraling sphere of chakra slammed directly into A's fist.
"BOOM!"
The collision instantly sent both figures flying backward more than ten meters before they stabilized themselves.
"Minato?! You finally made it! If you had arrived any later, we really wouldn't have been able to hold on!"
The moment Shikaku and the others saw the newcomer, they immediately cried out in joy.
At the same time, they all secretly breathed sighs of relief.
"Shikaku-senpai, quickly lead everyone in retreat. I'll hold the rear!"
Minato nodded toward Shikaku and the others while keeping his eyes fixed on A in front of him.
"Understood!"
Shikaku and the others also knew staying behind would only burden Minato further, so they agreed immediately without hesitation.
They quickly resumed retreating.
As long as they escaped safely, then with Minato's speed and the nature of the Flying Thunder God Technique, nobody here would be able to keep him behind.
"Where do you think you're going?!"
Seeing this, how could A possibly allow Shikaku and the others to leave so easily?
He instantly pushed his Lightning Release Chakra Mode to full power and roared furiously while charging toward them at even greater speed.
"Stay here!"
"This path is closed! Your opponent is me!"
Minato instantly scattered numerous Flying Thunder God kunai around A and the surrounding Kumogakure ninja.
On the surface, it looked like he was merely attacking the Kumogakure ninja and preventing pursuit.
But in reality—
In the next instant, Minato flashed directly behind A and condensed an even larger Rasengan in his hand before smashing it toward A's back.
A's reaction speed was naturally no joke.
Within Lightning Release Chakra Mode, he had always believed himself to possess the greatest speed in the world.
The moment he sensed danger behind him, he reacted instantly.
One arm erupted with dense Lightning Release chakra as violent electric currents burst outward. He suddenly turned and smashed his elbow backward.
"BOOM!!"
The Rasengan and Lariat collided explosively once more.
A was blasted downward by the recoil and slammed heavily into the ground. After rolling several times, he immediately stood back up and charged toward Minato again.
He had already realized—
Unless he defeated Minato, there was no way he would be able to continue pursuing Shikaku and the others.
Furthermore, before today, he had only heard Minato's reputation without ever meeting him personally.
Now that he had finally encountered him, he discovered that Minato truly deserved the title of Konoha's Yellow Flash.
His speed really was absurdly fast.
In fact, even A himself faintly felt inferior in that regard.
That realization only ignited his competitive spirit even further.
He had already decided—
Today, he would absolutely settle the matter of superiority between himself and Minato.
At the same time, Minato also realized just how troublesome A truly was.
Whether it was speed, attack power, or defense, A excelled in every aspect.
Especially his defense.
Most of Minato's attacks simply could not break through it, which was incredibly frustrating.
Since Minato understood he could not defeat A in a short period of time and only needed to stall him, he simply stopped focusing entirely on A.
After all, by now, Shikaku and the others had already escaped far enough away.
At this point, the most important thing was to kill as many enemy ninja as possible.
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