Minato stood steadily on a tree branch. Even though the branch was thin enough to be snapped with a light tug, it didn't sway in the slightest under his feet.
His gaze was fixed on the enemy he had kicked away.
It was a gaunt man rapidly forming hand seals on the ground.
Without a forehead protector, it was impossible to tell which village he belonged to.
"Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique!" (Kamaitachi no Jutsu)
Invisible wind blades appeared out of thin air, speeding towards him.
Minato vanished instantly with Soru. The tree he had just been standing on was sliced in two.
The snapped tree fell onto another tree.
The opponent's attack wasn't over.
"Wind Release: Wild Wind Cutter Technique!"
More invisible wind turned into sharp blades, cutting through everything in their path. Trees fell in chaotic disarray.
With his agile figure, Minato moved rapidly, stepping on the falling tree trunks.
He always managed to dodge the opponent's wind blade cuts just in time.
So far, he hadn't taken a single hit.
"Brat! Do you only know how to run?!"
The man was exasperated. He had set numerous traps and even deliberately exposed weaknesses during the fight.
But this brat only knew how to dodge and didn't fall for anything.
Even if he had thoughts of engaging in close combat, the brat would quickly distance himself.
This forced him to act as a turret, constantly spamming ninjutsu.
He took out shuriken and tossed them lightly into the air, then clapped his hands together forcefully.
"Wind Release: Gale Palm!" (Reppūshō)
Countless shuriken shot towards Minato at extreme speed. Thud thud thud thud. The sound of shuriken hitting trees rang out continuously.
Minato threw a few shuriken backhand in return.
The man quickly completed the Gale Palm again and clapped hard.
A powerful wind current blew the shuriken away.
Minato wasn't discouraged. Instead, he stopped on a tree.
"Based on my current strength, I'm not your match."
The man didn't listen. His hand seals didn't stop.
Wave after wave of Wind Cutter techniques flew over, carrying transparent wind blades.
Minato weaved through the wind blades, yet they couldn't harm a hair on his head.
"Damn brat!"
The man cursed angrily, charging at Minato with a kunai in hand.
Watching the man rushing towards him, Minato chose to hang upside down from the tree. His hands also started to form seals.
"So I need to enhance my strength."
"This is the first time I've created a ninjutsu. I don't know if it can defeat you!"
"Dazzling Dance of Gale: Rapid Wind Cry! Fourth Style!" (Xuanwu Kuangfeng Jisu Fengming! Fourth Style!)
Wind began to encircle his body.
The next moment, the man, still in mid-air, quickly blocked a kunai in front of his neck.
Clang!
Sparks flew as the two kunai collided.
In the next instant, Minato's figure vanished. The man quickly kicked backward.
Minato appeared behind him. His entire body floated as if he could fly.
Their kunai clashed rapidly.
The man was eventually forced to stand on the ground.
His pupils moved rapidly.
His kunai moved swiftly in defense. It looked like he was waving his kunai at empty air, yet the sound of Clang! Clang! metal collisions rang out incessantly.
But Minato's figure was nowhere to be seen.
"What the hell is going on with you, brat?!"
The man roared. As his kunai swiped, Minato, who had just appeared, actually floated up.
He was certain the opponent couldn't fly, yet every time he attacked, this brat would be positioned just above his attack. He missed by a hair's breadth.
And that high-speed movement taijutsu.
It was extremely tricky.
"It's the wind."
Minato explained softly.
If one looked closely, they could see a layer of airflow wrapping around his body.
Whether it was the opponent's fist, ninjutsu, or even kunai and shuriken, as long as the wind they generated was greater than the wind on his body, it would push his entire body along with it.
Dazzling Dance of Gale: Rapid Wind Cry! Fourth Style was the product of fusing the Four Powers (Rokushiki) with his Wind Release Chakra.
It was also his proud creation.
It counted as a type of Nintaijutsu (Ninja-Taijutsu). His evasion ability was maxed out, but unfortunately, it lacked outstanding offensive power.
Minato's figure moved like a ghost, attacking all around the man's body.
The man was forced into passive defense. He was completely unable to counterattack.
If you can't hit the target, any attack is useless.
It was a waste of chakra and stamina.
Using Soru for movement, Kami-e to control the airflow on his body, Tekkai methods to rapidly adjust internal chakra, and finally adding the useless Shigan.
This created his Dazzling Dance of Gale: Rapid Wind Cry! Fourth Style!
Shigan was the only attack method, but unfortunately, it wasn't as easy to use as a kunai.
Creating this technique at the tender age of ten involved a lot of Jiraiya's explanations and the chakra control granted by the Internal Cultivation.
However, this technique had a severe weakness.
Once again, his kunai was blocked by the opponent.
Minato appeared on a nearby tree, panting heavily.
The flowing air shield around his body dissipated.
The stamina consumption was too great. For a normal ten-year-old ninja, this kind of chakra consumption would be massive and unbearable.
Fortunately, Minato had the chakra accumulated from Internal Cultivation. For someone who had been saving up for a while, the consumption wasn't too significant.
"Kid, you're out of stamina, right?! Wind Cutter!"
Facing the incoming Wind Cutter, Minato remained motionless. It was as if he really had lost his combat ability.
The next moment.
"Spirit Gun!" (Reigan!)
A thin beam of blue light pierced through the back of the ninja's head first. It exited through his forehead and shot straight through an unknown number of trees before stopping.
As the man fell, the transparent wind blade also dissipated into nothingness.
"Jin, you came just in time." Minato sat on the branch, greeting Uchiha Jin in the distance.
"Minato, you really gave me a surprise."
Jin instantly crossed the distance between them, standing by Minato's side.
He hadn't expected Minato to develop a new ninjutsu based on the Four Powers.
Although it looked extremely rough in his eyes, where there's one, there's two.
Minato might be able to create something even stronger.
It was all the fault of the upgraded Goldfinger. Before, others' research results would enter his brain directly.
Now it was just a search engine plus an artificial retard.
"I still can't compare to you." Minato replied with a sense of loss.
Even though he was the number one straight-A student in the Academy, he couldn't compare to Jin. He still felt defeated inside.
He wasn't the Yellow Flash who would dominate the ninja world in the future yet. He was still just a boy.
A normal person would have gone up to comfort him with a few words.
Unfortunately, this was Uchiha Jin.
"You're a hundred years too early to catch up to me."
Jin put his hands on his hips proudly, highlighting his shamelessness. Although it was all thanks to a little help from his Goldfinger...
But since these things were his, didn't that equal his talent?
"I wonder how Kushina is doing."
Minato helplessly changed the subject. Asking Jin for comfort was a waste of breath.
If he ever turned dark (villainous) in the future, it would definitely be Jin's fault!!!
"Do you even need to worry about her?" Jin curled his lip. "That silly girl really thinks she's hiding it well."
Minato realized this problem too, and his face filled with bitterness.
Uchiha Jin was the kind of genius like the legendary Second Hokage. It was fine if he couldn't compare right now.
But Kushina's strength was also unexpected.
Although Kushina thought she was hiding it well, both of them knew clearly.
Kushina's strength...
Was actually the strongest among the three.
BOOM!! A loud noise came from the distance.
A massive energy dome appeared before them, looking like the apocalypse.
Immediately after, a fierce gale blew, forcing them to grab onto tree trunks to stabilize themselves.
When everything stopped.
The two looked at each other in dismay.
Unlike Minato and Jin's intense battles...
Kushina's battle was a chase.
"Don't run if you have the guts!!"
Kushina roared. Three chains behind her rapidly wrapped around nearby trees, moving her like Spider-Man.
Her enemy stepped on a tree. Flames erupted from his feet, propelling him forward like a rocket.
The fleeing man looked back.
His face was full of terror.
"Perfect Jinchūriki! What the hell is the village doing?!"
Kushina was currently wrapped in golden specks of light, looking like a celestial being.
She swiped at the running enemy. A massive golden fox claw emerged from her body to grab him.
The man sprayed fire from his feet, leaping into the air to dodge the fox claw strike.
A tree turned into powder under the claw.
With this kind of power, if he didn't run, would he just wait to die?
This was absolutely not something a mere Chunin like him could face.
Fortunately, he was proficient in the Fire Release: Jet Propulsion Technique, which gave a high speed boost for escaping.
As for why he didn't use Clone Techniques...
This Konoha Jinchūriki could distinguish between clones and the real body like a ghost.
Wasn't Konoha's Jinchūriki from the Uzumaki Clan?
The Uzumaki Clan seemed to have sensory ninjutsu too.
Never mind then.
Running for his life was more important!!
"Damn it, everyone else is gone. This mission is completely screwed."
The fleeing man gritted his teeth.
At the end of this direction was a weak point in Konoha's barrier. As long as he could rush there, there was hope of escape.
"Damn it!! How can I let you escape!!"
Kushina's rage burned even hotter. Flustered and exasperated, she raised both hands. A black and red sphere of light gradually condensed above her palms.
Tailed Beast Ball!!
"Go to hell!!"
She threw the Tailed Beast Ball at the distant ninja.
This was her full-power strike.
The chakra in her body was drained rapidly. She even drew a lot from that Stinky Fox to complete this Tailed Beast Ball.
(Kurama: Someone control this crazy girl!! She's robbing me now!!)
As the sphere of light fell, it rapidly expanded into a massive energy dome, followed by a shockwave sweeping outwards.
Looking at the huge crater in the ground, Kushina could no longer maintain this form and exited it. Although her face was pale as paper, she couldn't suppress the excitement on her face.
"So I'm this strong! Hahahahaha..."
Her laughter grew quieter and quieter.
Because figures wearing green flak jackets appeared before her eyes one by one.
Looking at the leading old man wearing a Hokage hat.
"Old Man Third, what a coincidence... haha."
Sure enough, the future Naruto takes after his mother.