Even if it meant death, Minato Namikaze refused to die bearing the title of Konoha's Sinner.
"Good."
He had finally come to his senses.
Jiraiya smiled in relief.
Before he could say anything more, Nara Shikaku — who had been waiting outside the door — suddenly walked in.
"What's wrong?"
"The Hidden Cloud Village has attacked. Their leader this time is still the Third Raikage!"
"Those barbarians!"
To have beaten his beloved disciple so badly… Jiraiya wished he could punch the Third Raikage himself.
With a sharp wave of his hand, Jiraiya declared,
"Gather all the ninja! We'll confront those brutes! I refuse to believe I can't beat a bunch of savages!"
"Yes, sir!"
You might actually not be able to beat them… Shikaku thought silently.
Still, after replying, he turned to make the necessary preparations.
At that moment, Nara Shikaku already missed Aoyama Ryuyun's presence.
If Aoyama Ryuyun were here, they wouldn't have to worry about the Hidden Cloud's attacks at all.
Jiraiya, not overthinking it, turned to Minato Namikaze.
"Minato! Are you going to keep wallowing in despair?"
"No, sensei. I'll atone!"
Minato shook his head, his gaze firm as he stood up once again.
Moments later, over a thousand Konoha shinobi, led by Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze, were already confronting the Hidden Cloud forces.
---
"Are you guys that free? I just got here, and you're already attacking?!"
Jiraiya bellowed at the Third Raikage from several hundred meters away.
He had barely arrived and hadn't even finished talking with Minato.
"Tch!"
The Third Raikage rolled his eyes in annoyance at the remark.
"I was beaten for an entire year! Now that the Golden Lion is finally gone, of course we're going to fight back!"
Not only was the Third Raikage frustrated, but the Kumogakure shinobi behind him were equally seething.
They had been beaten by one man for a whole year — and there had been absolutely nothing they could do about it.
Fortunately, they were mostly brutes without much intellect; otherwise, they would have gone insane from humiliation.
Now that Aoyama Ryuyun had finally been reassigned elsewhere, they might not be able to destroy Konoha,
but at the very least, they intended to get revenge for that long year of disgrace.
So, the moment they learned that Jiraiya was leading reinforcements,
the Third Raikage immediately gathered his shinobi and marched toward Konoha.
"I…"
Jiraiya felt the urge to curse aloud.
This was bullying. Absolute bullying.
---
What do you mean the Golden Lion isn't here, so you're attacking now?
Do you think I, Jiraiya the Sannin, am that easy to bully?!
"Attack!"
The Third Raikage didn't bother with further words.
With a single motion of his hand, the surrounding shinobi surged forward toward Jiraiya's troops.
"Sensei, leave the AB duo to me!"
With a flash of golden light, Minato Namikaze vanished, reappearing directly before Ay and Killer Bee.
Jiraiya nodded, saying nothing. His eyes shifted toward the Ino–Shika–Chō trio.
"The Two-Tails Jinchūriki is yours!"
"Understood!"
With their teamwork, defeating a Jinchūriki outright was impossible —
but containing one, especially a Two-Tails, was perfectly within their capability.
Jiraiya himself turned his gaze toward the towering figure of the Third Raikage.
"Come on! Summoning Jutsu!"
Boom!
A cloud of white smoke exploded across the field as the massive toad, Gamabunta, appeared.
"Charge!"
Under Jiraiya's command, the Konoha forces rushed forward to meet the Hidden Cloud head-on.
Although the Third Raikage was famed as both the strongest shield and the strongest spear,
a serious Jiraiya was not someone to underestimate.
He couldn't defeat the Raikage outright,
but with his superior battle experience and tactical mind, a draw was well within his reach.
---
"Yo! Isn't this Konoha's Sinner, Minato Namikaze?"
"Konoha's Sinner! Bastard! Idiot! Yeah!"
Ay sneered with open disdain, while Killer Bee rapped mockingly, dancing in rhythm as he pointed at Minato.
Both of them looked down on him completely —
to them, Minato Namikaze was a man who had already fallen from grace.
But this time, Minato would not be shaken.
Drawing his special kunai, the Flying Thunder God seal gleaming faintly, he met their gaze head-on.
"Precisely because I am Konoha's Sinner… I absolutely will not let you harm a single Konoha shinobi!"
"Tch."
Ay scoffed, unimpressed. Perhaps because Minato had once suffered defeat at their hands,
neither he nor Bee took him seriously.
"Let's go, Bee!"
"Yeah! Got it, bro!"
The two vanished in a blur, reappearing instantly before Minato.
"Lightning Release: Lariat!"
Boom!
---
The battle raged until evening.
Konoha's forces suffered heavy casualties, and Jiraiya's body was riddled with injuries.
Minato, who had been fighting the AB duo simultaneously, was also in dire condition.
Though the Flying Thunder God Technique gave him incredible speed,
repeated use placed a tremendous strain on his body.
In contrast, the Two-Tails Jinchūriki had it easier.
Nara Shikaku couldn't shake the feeling that Yugito Nii wasn't fighting at full power — almost as if she were holding back.
Everyone else fought fiercely, but her movements seemed almost restrained… like a training exercise.
The battlefield was too chaotic for anyone else to notice.
By now, both sides had silently agreed to halt the fighting.
Glancing toward Yugito Nii, who stood quietly amid the fading smoke, Shikaku's sharp eyes caught her subtle hesitation.
Clearing his throat, he leaned closer and said in a low voice,
"Ahem… I'll make sure Lord Ryuyun hears about you going easy on us."
"Hmph!"
Yugito turned her head aside, hiding the faint satisfaction on her face.
Without another word, she turned and left the field.
Moments later, Inoichi Yamanaka and Akimichi Choza stepped up beside Shikaku, watching her retreating figure.
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