Chapter 266: Surprised Minato
Minato's Chakra surged from his feet as he shifted rapidly toward the open left flank, throwing several Flying Thunder God Kunai toward Kakashi and Rin while keeping a sharp eye on his surroundings. He was trying to locate Obito's true position.
Kakashi and Rin easily dodged the Kunai Minato had tossed casually and quickly closed in on him.
Kakashi drew a Kunai, striking toward Minato's vital points each time, but Minato's skill with the blade was far superior. Calm and composed, he blocked every attack. Rin's attempts to harass him from the side didn't gain much ground either.
But that was all part of their plan. While Minato was focused on blocking Kakashi's stab toward his chest, Rin gathered a tremendous amount of Chakra in her arm, enhancing her strength, and launched a Strength of a Hundred Technique punch directly at him.
Even without understanding Chakra, anyone could feel the sheer power behind that strike—the air itself trembled.
Minato instantly poured more Chakra into his arm, pushing back against Kakashi before thrusting his palm forward to meet Rin's blow.
Bang!
A loud shockwave rippled through the clearing as Minato was knocked back two meters.
"Such power," Minato murmured in surprise, steadying himself. "I didn't expect this seemingly gentle girl to have such strength."
The force Rin generated beneath her slender frame astonished him. Even though he had reinforced his arm with Chakra, the impact still made him stagger. For a newly graduated student, it was remarkable—especially since Rin's grades at the academy weren't even as high as Obito's.
Kakashi took the opening, lunging forward with his Kunai and forcing Minato to flash back instantly.
Just as Minato debated whether to raise his effort level, his instincts screamed a warning. Kakashi stopped mid-stride and began forming hand seals.
"Explode."
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
At the same moment, Obito appeared on a nearby tree branch, unleashing a barrage of small fireballs to trap Minato within the blast zone.
Rumble!
The explosive tags Kakashi had buried underground detonated, engulfing Minato's position in a sea of fire. A dense plume of smoke rose, obscuring everything.
Obito leapt down beside Rin, scratching his head. "Uh… we didn't kill Minato-sensei, did we? He didn't seem to dodge that."
"We're doomed if we did! Minato-sensei is Mugetsu-sensei's good friend!" Rin gasped.
Kakashi gave Obito a flat stare. "You really don't know your own power? The three of us had to go all out just to beat one Jonin from the Land of Lightning. Minato's no ordinary Jonin—there's no way we took him down that easily."
"Probably not?" Rin said uncertainly, still nervous. She lacked real combat experience, so her worry was genuine.
As the smoke cleared, the ground was scorched black—but Minato was nowhere to be seen.
Kakashi's eyes narrowed. His body tensed, instantly on guard. Where did he go?
Then, a calm voice sounded behind them. "You really gave me quite the surprise. Looks like I'll have to take you three a bit more seriously."
Kakashi spun around to see Minato standing behind them, smiling, completely unharmed.
Obito immediately moved in front of Rin, activating his Breathing Technique. His focus sharpened to its peak, and the air around him grew tense.
"Such speed…" Kakashi muttered, eyes flickering. He wasn't shocked—Mugetsu had said before that Minato was exceptionally strong. It would have been strange if such a simple attack had worked.
Seeing the three fall back into formation so quickly, Minato couldn't help but feel impressed.
To think I get to be their instructor, he thought. If it were an average Jonin, they might have actually gotten careless enough to lose. These three really are extraordinary for their age.
Obito's Fire Release, Rin's monstrous strength, Kakashi's tactical precision—their abilities already far outstripped their peers.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Minato threw several Flying Thunder God Kunai toward them.
Clang!
Obito blocked one with his own Kunai, knocking it into the ground beside him.
He and Kakashi exchanged a glance and nodded.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Obito gathered a surge of Chakra in his chest, performing rapid hand seals before exhaling a massive wave of fire—forming a blazing sphere over four meters wide.
At the same time, Kakashi leapt onto a nearby tree, using it as a springboard to close in from above while flinging Shuriken to cut off Minato's escape routes.
Just before the fireball struck, Minato vanished. The flames and Shuriken passed through empty air.
Kakashi's eyes darted around, searching.
Bang! Bang!
Minato reappeared behind Obito and Rin, striking both of them with lightning-fast precision and sending them crashing into a tree.
"So fast!" Obito groaned, pushing himself up. He hadn't even seen Minato move.
Kakashi's eyes narrowed. If he remembered correctly, there had been a Kunai at the exact spot where Minato appeared. Could it be a coincidence?
He quickly memorized the positions of the remaining Kunai. Then he charged again.
Rin, determined not to drag her team down, forced herself up despite the pain and took a ready stance.
Now all three stood in a triangle formation, surrounding Minato.
Obito struck first. His enhanced breathing couldn't last long—he had to finish it quickly. Rin charged in next, activating her Strength of a Hundred Technique once more, while Kakashi used Body Flicker to close the distance, Kunai in hand.
Minato calmly threw another Kunai—this time straight at Obito.
The moment Obito sidestepped it, Minato vanished and reappeared behind him, landing a clean punch that sent Obito sprawling.
"It's connected to the Kunai!" Kakashi realized immediately, eyes flashing with understanding. That's not Body Flicker—it's something else entirely.
"Damn it!" Obito growled, flames igniting around his feet as he tapped into his Flame Breathing technique. With Rin right there, he refused to fall again. He launched himself forward, kicking at Minato while secretly forming hand seals with his free hand.
Minato jumped back to dodge, but Obito flipped midair and unleashed another jutsu.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
Several small fireballs erupted from his mouth, speeding toward Minato.
"He can still use Fire Release while lying prone?" Minato thought, astonished. Obito had been face down moments earlier—how had he even formed the seals?
Whoosh!
Minato vanished again, disappearing from sight.
Kakashi's Chakra flared. He pushed his Shave technique to its limit, sprinting straight toward the Flying Thunder God Kunai embedded in the ground.
There were currently three Flying Thunder God Kunai scattered across the field. The first had been thrown at Kakashi and Rin earlier and now lay far from them. The second was the one Minato had used to attack Obito and Rin. The third was the Kunai that had struck Obito down.
Kakashi was now sprinting toward the second one.
At the moment, the Kunai near Obito wasn't safe—its area was still covered in lingering Phoenix Sage Fire. The first Kunai was too far away to be useful, leaving only the second one, which happened to be closest to Rin. Kakashi quickly analyzed the situation and concluded that Minato's next move would be to teleport to the position of the second Kunai.
"Full Concentration—Lightning Breathing!"
Kakashi inhaled deeply, flooding his body with oxygen, and channeled all his power into his legs. Lightning Release Chakra flared to life, coating his limbs in flickering light as he reached peak speed.
Just as Minato was about to strike Rin, he noticed Kakashi closing in fast and immediately shifted from offense to defense.
He's already figured out the Flying Thunder God? Minato thought in surprise. Such sharp analysis.
Even so, Minato's reaction speed was faster. Though Kakashi moved decisively, his attack still failed to connect.
But instead of frustration, Kakashi's eyes narrowed in satisfaction. Beneath his mask, a faint grin tugged at the corners of his mouth.
Minato couldn't see his expression, but he sensed something was off—then noticed the explosive tag attached to Kakashi's chest.
"Explode."
Boom!
Flames erupted violently, consuming both Kakashi and Minato in the explosion.
"Kakashi's really cunning," Obito muttered, exhaling in relief.
Of course, Kakashi wouldn't actually sacrifice himself in a mere training exercise. The Kakashi that Minato had been fighting was a Shadow Clone from the very beginning.
Everything had been part of a layered strategy—Obito's clone had acted as the first decoy, while Kakashi's clone was the second bait.
As the smoke cleared, the ground was scorched black once more, but Minato was nowhere in sight.
Whoosh!
In the next instant, Minato reappeared at the location of the first Flying Thunder God Kunai—but the moment he materialized, a flash of purple lightning charged straight toward him.
Fizz… fizz… fizz!
Kakashi's hand crackled with Purple Lightning as he split it into dozens of serpentine bolts, which slithered through the air like living creatures, surging toward Minato.
Minato reacted instantly, his body flickering as he narrowly dodged the attack. But that wasn't Kakashi's goal.
A single arc of lightning veered off course—hitting the bell tied to Minato's belt. The metal rang sharply as it flew into the air, and in a flash, Kakashi snatched it cleanly.
"Minato-sensei," Kakashi said, his tone calm and composed, "does this count as a successful training?"
"It does," Minato said with a gentle smile. "And to be honest, you three really surprised me."
Their performance had far exceeded his expectations. Though Minato had been holding back—he hadn't even relied on his sensory perception—he was still the Yellow Flash of Konoha, a shinobi who once dominated the battlefield. For his students to take the bell from him, even under restraint, was no small feat.
Obito's Fire Release had been unexpectedly creative, with a technique he couldn't quite comprehend. If not for Obito's lingering Phoenix Sage Fire, Minato wouldn't have been forced to use Flying Thunder God twice in succession.
Kakashi's tactical instincts were remarkable. After only a few exchanges, he had already analyzed the mechanism behind the Flying Thunder God and crafted an effective counterstrategy.
Even Rin had held her own—her Strength of a Hundred Technique had caught him off guard and forced him to reposition mid-battle.
Minato couldn't help but smile to himself. Even an ordinary Jonin might struggle if they underestimated these three.
"It's finally over. Minato-sensei, you're really fast," Obito said as he jogged over, letting out a long sigh.
Mugetsu was also fast—but his speed felt different. With Mugetsu, Obito could at least see a faint trace of blue light flashing before losing sight of him. Minato, however, simply appeared and vanished without warning, as if the world itself bent to his will.
"Sorry… I didn't really do much," Rin said softly. She felt like she'd just been swept along for the ride.
Since she had always focused on Medical Ninjutsu, Rin lacked combat experience. Unlike Obito and Kakashi, she had never fought real opponents under pressure. Facing someone like Minato had made her feel helpless.
"That's not true," Obito said firmly. "If it weren't for you, Rin, Kakashi's Shadow Clone would've been destroyed earlier and the plan would've fallen apart. And that punch you landed on Minato-sensei? That was awesome!"
He wasn't just flattering her—he meant it. Without Rin's contributions, the battle could have turned out very differently.
"Obito's right," Kakashi agreed. "You just have a different role from us in combat."
In his mind, the three of them formed a perfectly balanced team. He and Obito were the front-line fighters, while Rin was the support. Her job wasn't to deal damage—it was to keep them alive.
In truth, Kakashi preferred this setup. With Rin's healing abilities, he and Obito could take greater risks on the battlefield without fear of being taken out early.
Fighting alongside Might Guy had been different—back then, all three had been purely offensive.
Hearing their reassurance, Rin smiled shyly but clenched her fists in quiet resolve. She would train her Taijutsu harder from now on and make herself a stronger teammate.
"This internship program designed by Mugetsu really is something special," Minato remarked thoughtfully. "If all future graduates had this level of coordination, Konoha's Genin would grow much stronger."
He recalled how seamlessly Kakashi and Obito had worked together. Their teamwork was so natural it only took a single glance for them to understand each other's intent.
"You completed the exercise earlier than I expected," Minato said after a pause. "Take the rest of the day off and focus on reviewing your coordination. Tomorrow, we'll begin our first mission."
The statement made all three perk up.
"Yay! We're finally going on missions again!" Obito cheered, pumping his fists in the air.
He couldn't wait to face real enemies in front of Rin—and earn her admiration once more.
"Ninja missions, huh…" Rin murmured, a hint of excitement flickering in her eyes as she remembered the stories Obito had told her.
Kakashi almost reminded Obito not to get too carried away—but when he noticed Rin's eager expression, he kept silent.
He didn't want to spoil the moment.
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