Chapter 9: A Nameless Battle
"You're strong. But I carry a responsibility far greater than yours, so I won't lose."
The clash between Minato and the A–B duo had barely begun, yet the battle was already moving at a terrifying pace.
Minato's kunai narrowly missed Killer B's head.
At the same time, B's attack nearly pierced Minato's abdomen.
Neither side was willing to give an inch.
Whoosh!
Their battle had become a contest of movement and attack speed.
Boom! Bang! Whoosh!
The surrounding Cloud shinobi watched the battle unfold.
A and B had no intention of backing down, while Minato was equally determined not to lose. But the other Kumogakure shinobi could no longer stand by and watch.
One of the jōnin quietly advanced, intending to support A and B.
At the same time, the other Cloud jōnin received the signal and prepared to attack Konoha's remaining forces.
Their mission was to eliminate the Konoha squad.
As long as they killed everyone else, Minato alone couldn't possibly defeat the entire Cloud force.
Whoosh!
Several shuriken suddenly flew toward the leading jōnin, forcing him to abandon his attack and defend himself.
"Your opponents are us. Don't interfere with the battle over there."
A figure flashed into his path.
Gōenji stood before him.
The other Konoha shinobi immediately moved as well, blocking the remaining Cloud forces.
The Cloud jōnin's gaze settled on Gōenji's eyes.
"An Uchiha?"
His expression brightened.
"Even if we can't defeat the Yellow Flash today, killing an Uchiha isn't a bad result."
The implication was obvious.
If he could take Gōenji's Sharingan back to Kumogakure, it would be an enormous prize.
Gōenji sighed.
"Looks like you haven't experienced an Uchiha's strength yet."
His Three-Tomoe Sharingan slowly began to rotate.
"Don't look into his eyes!"
The Cloud jōnin immediately shouted a warning.
The others reacted just as quickly, avoiding direct eye contact with Gōenji's Sharingan.
The Uchiha were famous for their genjutsu. Every experienced shinobi knew better than to casually stare into those eyes.
Gōenji wasn't surprised.
Do you really think the Uchiha's strength lies entirely in their eyes?
"Don't make me laugh."
His body suddenly vanished.
Whoosh!
Gōenji used the Body Flicker Technique he'd been practicing for the past several days.
In an instant, he appeared directly in front of the Cloud jōnin.
Clang!
His short blade flashed from its sheath and thrust straight toward the man's chest.
The Cloud shinobi wasn't an ordinary jōnin.
He immediately drew the sword from his back and blocked the strike.
Their weapons collided.
Then the two entered a fierce close-quarters battle.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Gōenji quickly felt the pressure.
"Cloud jōnin really aren't easy opponents."
Only after fighting a seasoned jōnin himself did Gōenji understand just how troublesome they could be.
The man's combat experience was excellent.
His physical abilities were equally impressive.
More importantly, he had no obvious weakness.
Even while defending against Gōenji's taijutsu, he remained careful not to fall victim to genjutsu.
So this is the difference between an experienced jōnin and an ordinary shinobi.
Gōenji had the Sharingan, but he'd only possessed it for a short time. His current strength was largely dependent on the advantage provided by his eyes.
If he wanted to truly suppress a jōnin through his own ability, he still had a long way to go.
Fortunately, his attacks weren't completely ineffective.
As the battle continued, Gōenji's extraordinary mind rapidly analyzed his opponent's fighting style.
His Sharingan recorded every movement.
His brain broke down the patterns.
Within a short time, he began anticipating the man's attacks before they were fully executed.
Combined with his improved Body Flicker Technique, Gōenji gradually seized control of the fight.
The Cloud jōnin was being pushed back.
"Lightning Release: Scattered Lightning Stream!"
The moment his taijutsu was suppressed, the Cloud shinobi changed tactics.
He formed hand seals.
Lightning erupted from his hands in several irregular streams, crackling violently as they shot toward Gōenji.
Gōenji's eyes narrowed.
He didn't possess Lightning Release, so there was no way for him to simply copy the technique.
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
He inhaled deeply and released a massive stream of flame.
The fire and lightning collided.
BOOM!
A violent shockwave exploded through the surrounding forest.
Trees snapped.
The earth was torn apart.
Chunks of dirt and shattered branches were thrown in every direction.
Two jōnin-level shinobi were fighting with everything they had.
And elsewhere on the battlefield, the other shinobi were locked in their own battles.
Unlike Gōenji, who had effectively lost his teammates in the chaos, most of the others were still fighting in coordinated groups.
The battlefield had become a complete mess.
Meanwhile, Minato glanced toward A and B.
"How about we end things here for today?"
His eyes swept across the surrounding battlefield.
"If we continue, both sides are going to suffer heavy casualties."
Minato knew that he couldn't easily bring down A and B at the same time.
Continuing the battle would only cause unnecessary losses among the Konoha forces.
A snorted.
"Hmph. If that's what you want, then we'll end it here."
His temper was as fierce as ever, but even A had to acknowledge the reality.
The brothers had gained no advantage against the Yellow Flash.
In fact, one mistake could have cost either of them their life.
This was the most difficult battle A and B had faced since forming their partnership.
"Yo, yo, yo! The battle is over today, you're really great..."
Killer B immediately broke into a rap, throwing in exaggerated gestures and even a few dance moves.
A's expression darkened.
"Brother..."
B suddenly noticed something happening elsewhere on the battlefield.
"Over there."
His gaze shifted.
A turned his head as well.
Not far away, a Konoha shinobi's fist was engulfed in blazing flames.
Even from a distance, the terrifying concentration of chakra made it obvious that the technique possessed enormous destructive power.
A's expression changed.
Lightning crackled around his body.
His Lightning Release Chakra Mode erupted.
Whoosh!
A disappeared in a flash of lightning and charged toward Gōenji.
At that moment, Gōenji was completely focused on the Cloud jōnin in front of him.
He had finally found an opening.
His Sharingan had already analyzed his opponent's movements.
The man's caution toward genjutsu had also become a weakness.
Gōenji's right fist ignited.
The flames compressed tightly around his hand.
His first original Fire Release technique was about to be tested in actual combat.
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"
The compressed flames roared around his fist.
Gōenji's eyes gleamed.
"This is the first real test of my new technique."
"I wonder if you can take it."
He had absolute confidence in Fire Dragon Iron Fist.
Not only was it fast, but its destructive force was concentrated into an extremely short-range attack.
This was its first true test against a battle-hardened opponent.
The Cloud jōnin's pupils contracted.
As an experienced jōnin, his instincts immediately warned him of the danger.
He gathered Lightning Release around both hands, preparing to meet the attack head-on.
He knew Gōenji's technique was powerful.
Unfortunately, he'd already lost the initiative.
Gōenji had used shuriken and wire traps to restrict his movements before launching the attack.
He'd been waiting for exactly this moment.
"Lightning Release: Horizontal Thousand-Mile Dance!"
Lightning exploded from the Cloud shinobi's hands.
At that instant—
Gōenji sensed another presence.
His Sharingan snapped toward it.
Someone was approaching at an incredible speed.
From his perspective, the incoming figure seemed to slow.
The future Fourth Raikage?
What is Minato doing?
Gōenji had no time to think.
The moment he recognized A, he knew he would no longer be able to kill the Cloud jōnin.
What a pity.
He immediately changed the direction of his attack and turned toward A.
"So what if you're the future Fourth Raikage?"
"You're still young."
"I can stop you."
Gōenji's Sharingan spun rapidly.
A's arm was already covered in lightning.
Gōenji immediately understood that the Body Flicker Technique wouldn't be enough.
He wasn't faster than A.
He had only one option.
Meet force with force.
He poured more chakra into Fire Dragon Iron Fist, using the flames to meet A's attack head-on and blunt its momentum.
Everything happened in an instant.
Two attacks collided.
One hand carried lightning.
The other carried fire.
BOOM!
The impact produced a deafening explosion.
Gōenji felt an overwhelming force travel through his arm.
His Fire Dragon Iron Fist had collided head-on with the young man who would one day become the Fourth Raikage.
He immediately released the remaining force of the technique and allowed the impact to carry his body backward.
Whoosh!
He crashed through several branches before using the trees to absorb the remaining momentum.
After several impacts, he finally landed safely on a branch.
Gōenji steadied himself and stared toward A.
His eyes were filled with disbelief.
What an incredible monster.
The future Fourth Raikage was already this powerful at such a young age.
Just how terrifying would he become in the future?
And more importantly...
Just how strong was the Third Raikage?
Gōenji had poured almost everything into that attack.
He hadn't held back his chakra at all.
Yet A had still managed to send him flying.
Gōenji couldn't help but laugh bitterly.
"My God... He wasn't nearly this terrifying in the anime."
Watching a battle through a screen and experiencing it firsthand were two completely different things.
The scale.
The pressure.
The sheer physical force behind every exchange.
Reality was far more brutal than fiction had ever made it seem.