"YOU ARE USING THE FLYING RAIJIN."
The older Minato stood up slowly from his crouch, his hand releasing his grip on his wounded wrist. The silence between them grew so heavy it felt like the air itself were pressing down on their shoulders.
"So, you finally figured it out...heh?" the older man said, his voice dropping all of its previous warmth. It sounded hollow, like a gust of wind blowing through an empty cave.
"Why?" the young Hokage demanded. He grabbed his right hand over the bleeding cut on his left shoulder, his fingers stained with dark red as he glared across the mist.
"To use that jutsu, you must have my formula. You must have my chakra. Who gave you the right to carry my face and steal my ultimate technique?!"
The older version did not answer the question. Instead, a grim, deadly look settled over his face.
'This is bad—' the future version thought, his teeth grinding together. 'He knows. Now that he realizes I am teleporting, his brilliant tactical mind will immediately try to connect to my space-time network. If he senses the markers I left on Sasuke down in the village, he will flash away from this canyon in an instant.'
The older Minato raised his chin, his blue eyes flashing with a ruthless intensity. "It doesn't matter how I have it. What matters is that you cannot win this fight anymore."
"We will see about that!" the young Hokage spat out.
Suddenly, the air around them began to crackle with an intense, suffocating chakra.
Now that the truth was exposed, the entire canyon became a death trap. Because they both used the exact same space-time formula, they could feel every single marker scattered across the ruined dirt.
To the young Hokage, the battlefield suddenly lit up in his mind's eye—he could see dozens of invisible glowing coordinates that the older man had secretly placed during their hours of fighting.
But it was a double-edged sword. Every time the older Minato thought about jumping to a mark, the young Hokage instantly sensed the shift in the air.
If either of them teleported, the other would know the exact arrival spot a microsecond before they even landed. Moving through space-time was no longer a surprise—it was a death sentence.
"You see them now, don't you?" the older Minato asked quietly, holding a single kunai in front of his face. "Every mark I have placed is a point we both share. If I jump to one, you will be waiting there to cut my throat."
"And if I jump to one, you will do the same to me—" the young Hokage replied, his breath coming in ragged, painful gasps.
He could feel his chakra reserves dropping to a dangerously low level. He couldn't afford to waste a single drop on a missed strike. 'My chakra is nearly empty!' he thought frantically, his heart hammering against his cracked ribs.
'I cannot afford to use a Rasengan right now as he will counter it with his Rasengan again. One wrong jump, and I will run completely dry."
Across the clearing, the older man was reaching his own limit. There was a good amount of chakra for the future Minato, but his physical body was deeply exhausted from matching his younger, peak-condition self for so long.
'The diversion is almost complete—' the future version calculated, his eyes tracking the shadows lengthening across the valley.
'Sasuke should have Mikoto and kids by now. I just need one final, decisive strike to lock this younger version of mine.. so he cannot pursue them.'
With a mutual, silent understanding, both men abandoned the idea of a massive, flashy jutsu. The fight had narrowed down to physical tracking and raw weapon skill.
The older Minato moved first. He didn't teleport. He finally threw a specialized tri-pronged kunai straight past the young Hokage's head.
'Since he already knows it.. I guess a kunai with my markings won't cause mush harm... ' the older man thought.
The kunai moved through the damp air, embedding itself deeply into a tree trunk directly behind the young leader.
The young Hokage didn't even turn his head to look at it. He recognized the exact formula carved into the handle. It was an open invitation.
'He wants me to turn around...' the younger Minato thought, his eyes narrowing as he stood his ground. 'He expects me to teleport away from the knife. But I know exactly where his body will materialize if he tries to strike me from my blind spot.'
Instead of fleeing, the young Hokage braced his legs, gripping his kunai with reverse force. He chose to stand completely still in the center of the trap, waiting for the future version to make the final, predictable jump into his domain.
"Come on..." the young Hokage whispered into the cold mist, his muscles tensing for the final, bloody clash.
The older Minato did not hesitate. He closed his eyes for a brief fraction of a second, looking directly into the shared space-time network that bound their identical chakra signatures together.
In his mind's eye, the entire canyon floor illuminated like a complex, invisible grid. Dozens of glowing formulas—some carved into stone, others stamped onto broken tree trunks hours ago—flared to life.
Across the clearing, the young Hokage felt the exact same map explode into his own mind. The sheer mental strain of tracking so many coordinates at once made the cut on his temple throb with a sharp, blinding pain. 'He is looking through the marks...' the younger version thought, his teeth grinding together as he sensed the older man's energy beginning to bleed into the network.
'He is choosing his landing point.'
It was a terrifying game of sensory overload. The moment the older Minato picked a coordinate, that specific marking 'waked up' in the younger Hokage's mind, giving him a single microsecond of warning to turn and strike before the future version even moved.
With a sudden, sharp inhale of breath, the older Minato poured his remaining chakra into the network.
A glowing coordinate directly behind the young Hokage's left shoulder flared with sudden, intense energy.
'There!' the young Hokage analyzed instantly.
Recognizing his signature, multi-kunai blitz was his opponent's ultimate goal, the younger Minato decided to use this exact microsecond to unleash his most desperate finisher.
He didn't teleport away to save himself. Instead, utilizing his own lightning-fast reflexes, he spun on his heel, swinging his three-pronged kunai backward in a blind, lethal arc aimed directly at the coordinates where the older version's throat was about to appear.
It was a decapitating strike, executed with the terrifying perfection of the Yellow Flash.
POP
The older Minato moved exactly at the glowing mark. But he didn't try to dodge the incoming kunai.
He knew exactly how his younger self finished fights. Instead of shifting his head away to save himself, the future version intentionally leaned his weight into the path of the swinging kunai.
SHUCK
The cold metal kunai tore deep through his dark clothing and buried itself straight into his left shoulder. Blood splurted from the fresh wound, painting the nearby white mist in a dark crimson mist.
The young Hokage's eyes widened in sheer, unadulterated shock. 'He didn't try to avoid it?!' he thought frantically, his fingers stuck on the handle of the knife buried in the older man's flesh.
By letting the blade pierce his own shoulder, the future version had effectively trapped the weapon—and the young Hokage's arm—in a solid, bloody lock.
"I told you!" the older Minato gasped out, blood leaking from his lips as he glared down into his own younger face with a cold, bitter intensity. "Your speed doesn't matter if you are looking in the wrong direction."
'Damn it!! He is doing the same thing I did' the young Hokage thought.
Before the young Hokage could release his grip or attempt to pull back, the older man's right hand shot forward slamming his palm flat against the center of the younger Minato's chest.
There was no swirling sphere of a Rasengan.
Instead, black, twisted sealing ink erupted from the older man's palm, spreading across the young Hokage's torn green jōnin vest like a swarm of dark spiders.
''A CONTRACT SEAL...?! NO, IT'S A SUPPRESSION FORMULA!' the young Hokage realized in pure terror as the ink touched his skin.
"Rest for now..." the future version whispered darkly.
The moment the ink fully expanded, a violent shockwave of paralyzing chakra ripped straight through the young Hokage's internal chakra network.
The black ink completely stopped his chakra flow, cutting off his connection to the space-time grid in an instant.
His Flying Raijin deactivated entirely, the glowing map in his mind shattering into complete darkness.
The young Hokage's legs buckled beneath him. The immense paralysis robbed his muscles of all strength, forcing him to collapse hard onto his knees in the dirt.
He clutched his chest, his breathing coming in shallow, suffocating gasps as his vision began to blur from the combination of blood loss and the heavy seal.
He was completely immobilized, bleeding, and forced to stare up helplessly at the mysterious shadow of his future self.
The older Minato stood over his beaten, younger counterpart, his breath rattling heavily in his chest as blood dripped from his pierced shoulder onto the moss below.
His blue eyes looked down with a heavy, unreadable sorrow, but his voice remained as cold as ice.
The diversion was complete. The time had been successfully bought.
He reached into his pouch, drawing a final smoke bomb. But before his fingers triggered the escape, he leaned down slightly, letting his chilling words drop into the young Hokage's ears like a devastating nightmare.
"Go home, Minato—" the older version whispered, his voice echoing with a terrifying, prophetic weight.
"Kushina is waiting for you in that lonely room... and if you are too slow, you won't just lose this fight. You'll lose her, too."
BOOM
The smoke bomb exploded in a brilliant flash of grey and gold.
The young Hokage dragged his trembling hand through the air, trying to swing blindly at the smoke, but his fingers met nothing but empty mountain mist. The older man's chakra signature vanished completely from the canyon, leaving no trace behind.
But the moment the future version's presence left the valley, the black sealing ink on the young Hokage's chest began to rapidly fade away, the paralyzing grip on his muscles dissolving into thin air.
As soon as the future Minato went away, the seal was entirely gone.
"Damn it...! Kushina... I'm sorry I forgot about you!"
Panicking wildly from those final, haunting words, the young Hokage painfully dragged his broken body off the dirt, his mind spinning in absolute terror for his pregnant wife as he began his agonizing, bleeding walk back toward the village below.
The golden smoke cleared, leaving nothing but the empty, whistling wind of the canyon.
Past Minato lay on the dirt, his chest burning as his chakra network desperately kicked back into gear.
The seal was completely gone, but his mind was spinning in absolute, chaotic terror. His fingers clawed into the soil, his teeth grinding together so hard his jaw ached.
'How... how does he know?!'
A cold, collective dread washed over him, turning his blood to ice.
'I just placed Kushina in that room yesterday. The sealing tag, the healing process, my house—everything was kept under absolute, top-secret lockdown to protect her and the baby after the chakra leak. It's impossible for an outsider to know!'
He forced his trembling, bleeding body up onto his knees, his breath coming in ragged, panicked gasps as he stared at the empty space where his future self had just stood.
'Who is that man?! He has my face, he handles my Flying Raijin perfectly, he knows my exact muscle movements... and now he knows about the secret room?! Damn it... DAMN IT! What on earth is going on in this village right now?!'
Every tactical instinct in his brain was screaming. It wasn't just an impostor anymore; it was a ghost who knew his deepest, most heavily guarded secrets.
With his heart hammering against his ribs in pure panic, he refused to waste another microsecond. He couldn't care less about his bleeding shoulder or his empty chakra reserves.
He had to get to her.
Stumbling blindly through the thick mountain mist, the young Hokage began his agonizing, frantic race down the rocky mountain paths, heading straight toward the estate.
THE HYUGA COMPOUND
Deep within the dark, heavily guarded walls of the main Hyuga compound, the air felt cold and suffocating. Inside a secret, candle-lit room, three adult men sat on the polished floorboards.
Hyuga Hiashi sat perfectly still, slowly sipping his hot tea, his face blank. Opposite him stood Kozuki, the cruel elder ancestor of the family, his eyes burning with deep, bitter resentment. Hizashi, Hiashi's twin brother, stood silently by the door, keeping guard.
Kozuki slammed his fist onto the low wooden table, rattling Hiashi's teacup. "That worthless Hokage!" the old man growled, his voice spitting venom.
"First stripping me off my titles then taking that unworthy Uchiha brat into the commercial district to handle that massive mess... instead of calling upon us, the ultimate Hyuga clan! How completely worthless!"
Hizashi shifted his weight near the door, his voice low. "Chichioya, the rumors say a rogue Uchiha from the shadows is directly involved in that mess. That is likely why Minato took that Fugaku."
But Kozuki wasn't truly listening. His attention was already focused on the far corner of the dark room.
Bound by heavy ropes and forced onto their knees were three young children: Hyuga Neji, Hyuga Hinata and Rock Lee. They were bruised, sweating, and trembling in fear.
Kozuki stepped toward them, a sick, twisted smile spreading across his wrinkled face. His old, bony hands hovered in the air, his fingers twitching as they shifted back and forth between Neji's pale face and Hinata's wide, terrified eyes.
"Which one...?" Kozuki whispered, his fingers dancing through the air like a spider spinning a web."Which one... which one...?"
"STOP IT, YOU MONSTER!" Lee screamed out, his voice cracking as he thrashed against his ropes, trying to shield the other two.
Kozuki ignored the boy completely. His hand snapped forward, stopping right in front of Neji's face. "This one—" the old man hissed.
With a brutal, practiced movement of his fingers, Kozuki jammed his hand forward and ripped the glowing Byakugan eyes right out of little Neji's sockets.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
Neji's blood-curdling scream echoed violently against the cold walls, his small body convulsing in pure agony as blood began to stream down his pale cheeks.
"Neji-ni! Neji nii-san!" Hinata sobbed loudly, tears streaming down her face as she tried to lean toward her cousin, her heart breaking at his screams.
"Stop it, Chichioya!" Hiashi shouted, finally slamming his teacup down onto the floor, his calm mask breaking. "I told you before! Minato indirectly warned us just this morning not to touch these children! He knows they are here!"
Neji was still whimpering on the floor, clutching his face as he cried out in agonizing pain, "Ahhh... ahhh..."
Hinata turned her tear-stained face toward her father who didn't recognized her, shouting through her thick sobs, "Please! Please make him stop! It is the fifth time since this morning that he has ripped out his eyes and put them back in! Please!"
Hiashi's eyes widened in sheer disbelief. He turned his head toward the old patriarch. "The fifth time? Unbelievable, Chichioya. This is madness." He shook his head in deep disgust.
Kozuki snapped around, his blood-stained fingers pointing directly at Hinata.""STOP SPOUTING NONSENSE, YOU STUPID GIRL! the old man screamed, his veins popping on his forehead. "Keep your mouth shut, or I will rip yours out next—and I will do it double the times!"
Hinata flinched backward, burying her face in the floor, weeping violently.
Meanwhile, Hizashi stepped coldly toward the bruised Rock Lee. The branch-family head looked down at the boy with hard, unforgiving eyes. "I will ask you one more time, boy. Tell me the truth. Were you the one who knocked down three members of our branch Hyuga family in the streets this morning?"
Lee raised his head, his face covered in purple bruises and dirt, but his eyes were completely fierce and stubborn. "No!"
BAM!
Hizashi's fist flew forward, punching Lee squarely across the jaw. The force of the blow knocked the boy sideways onto the wooden floor.
Lee spit out a mouthful of blood, slowly dragging his upper body back up despite the heavy ropes. He stared straight into Hizashi's cold eyes. "No matter how many times you hit me... I will only say the truth! I wasn't the one who did it!"
"STOP... STOP IT, PLEASE STOP!" Hinata yelled through her tears, her small voice echoing helplessly in the dark, torturous room as she wept for her friends.
The tension in the sealed chamber was thick enough to cut with a knife. None of them knew that outside the compound walls, a dark, shadow was rapidly closing in.
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