The sun hung high in the afternoon sky, casting a brilliant gold across the vast expanse of the ocean.
Minato stood silently on the wooden deck of the ship, his gaze fixed on the horizon where the blue water met the pale sky.
This was the first time he had looked upon the sea in either of his two lifetimes. He watched the rhythmic rise and fall of the surface, seeing it move with a steady pulse as if the planet itself were breathing. Even with his naturally calm temperament and the cold calculations always running through his mind, he felt a strange surge in his heart at the sheer scale of the world.
Inside the control room, Nawaki and Uzumaki Hiroshi were passing the time by chatting about anything that came to mind.
Kushina and Mikoto were leaning over the side railing, tossing small breadcrumbs into the air to feed the white seabirds circling the mast.
The warm sun bathed the three of them in a soft glow. Minato felt the salty sea breeze brush against his face, and he squinted his eyes, savoring a rare moment of outward comfort.
However, Kushina was never one to appreciate a quiet moment for long. After only half a day on the water, her restless energy began to boil over.
"Hey, Minato, how long are we actually going to stay out here?"
"About half a month," Minato replied.
He turned to her and continued, "Our task is to patrol these waters once every day for the next two weeks. We need to warn and repel any intruders from the other villages. As long as those villages understand that Konoha still possesses the strength to protect Uzushio Village, that will be enough to maintain the peace."
"But what happens if the enemy decides to attack the moment we leave?" Kushina asked, her voice tinged with genuine concern for her people.
"I don't particularly care about the interests of other ninja villages," Minato said, his voice dropping into a gentle, soothing tone that masked his inner indifference.
"However, I know this is your hometown, Kushina. If anyone actually dares to try something like that, I will simply pay a personal visit to their village myself."
Uzushio Village had extended this invitation to him specifically. They were leveraging his personal reputation as Minato Namikaze, not just the authority of Konoha.
If the other nations targeted Konoha, he wouldn't mind much, as he hadn't secured the position of Hokage yet.
But if they refused to give him face by touching what he had claimed to protect, he wouldn't hesitate to trample the pride of their entire village under his feet.
Did they truly think they could mess with Minato? It was a laughable thought.
With his mastery over the Hiraishin, there was no one in this ninja world he couldn't reach. If Minato Namikaze decided someone needed to die, it wouldn't matter if they slept with both eyes wide open; their life was already over.
"Minato, you really are the best!"
Kushina was so swayed by his protective words that her face turned a bright shade of red. She reached out and grabbed his arm, clinging to him as if she never intended to let go.
"Honestly, Kushina takes advantage of Minato every chance she gets," Mikoto remarked, a hint of playful jealousy in her voice. "I feel like I'm just standing here being redundant."
"How could you ever be redundant?"
Minato reached out with his free hand and pulled Mikoto close to his other side. He took her hand in his and suddenly recalled a classic line from another world. "You are both my wings!"
"You're so greedy!" Mikoto teased, her face flushing as she gave Minato's shoulder a soft, affectionate punch.
Kushina wrinkled her nose and let out a soft hum of agreement, but she didn't move away. Instead, she rubbed her cheek firmly against Minato's shoulder.
"Wait—no—they—"
Inside the control room, Uzumaki Hiroshi pointed toward the trio on the deck. He looked at Nawaki with an expression of pure shock, his voice stuttering in disbelief.
Nawaki merely rolled his eyes at the display. "Don't worry about it. You'll get used to it eventually."
Uzumaki Hiroshi kept his mouth hanging open for a long moment as he tried to digest the sight. Finally, he let out a long, defeated sigh.
"As expected of my idol! He really can do anything!"
Just as the words left his mouth, Minato's posture changed. He made a sharp, specific gesture on the deck, signaling the end of the leisure time.
Seeing the signal, the two in the control room dropped their casual expressions and hurried out onto the deck.
In the far distance, two massive sailing ships were breaking through the white-capped waves. The symbol of the Hidden Mist Village was painted clearly across their dark sails.
"It's the people from the Mist," Uzumaki Hiroshi noted. He closed his eyes to focus his senses. "I count forty-two people across those two ships!"
"I see them," Minato said calmly, his blue eyes narrowing as he tracked the vessels.
The opposing side had clearly spotted the small group on the Konoha ship as well.
On the deck of the leading Hidden Mist vessel, a ninja held a monocular telescope to his eye. When he adjusted the focus and saw Minato's face, his entire body stiffened.
"That's—that's Konoha's Yellow Flash!"
"What did you say?" the leader of the group barked. He snatched the telescope away and peered toward the distance.
He saw the unmistakable Konoha forehead protector, the signature blond hair, and those cold blue eyes. The man looked exactly like the descriptions in the bingo books.
"Where is the sensor ninja? Get over here right now!"
The leader beckoned his subordinate forward and pointed toward Minato's position. "Sense the chakra coming from that man. Now!"
"Understood!" The sensor ninja formed a hand seal and shut his eyes tightly. He reopened them a moment later, his face pale and solemn.
"There is an incredibly powerful chakra signature over there. The levels of the others with him are quite high as well. Based on the density of the energy, the possibility of a Transformation Technique is basically zero. It's really him."
"Then it seems we've run into the real deal," the leader muttered, a deep frown creasing his forehead. "Mission failed. We are retreating immediately."
"Wait, what? We're just leaving?" one of the subordinates asked. "If news of this gets out, won't it look like the Hidden Mist is terrified of one man?"
"And what's the alternative? You want to go over there and trade a few moves with him?" The leader looked at the man as if he were a fool. "Sure, the sea is our home turf, but that guy can literally fly!"
The leader gestured toward the horizon. "Besides, Wood Release includes the nature transformation of the Water attribute. That kid is a student of Princess Tsunade, and he has mastered the secret techniques of the Senju Clan. Even the Second Hokage's Water Release was said to be better than ours. Do you really want to test that theory against his student?"
"Turn the ships around. Running into a monster like this is just bad luck. The Mizukage won't blame us for choosing survival."
This wasn't a mission that determined the fate of their village; it was a simple raid. If they failed now, they wouldn't suffer any actual losses, and they wouldn't have to worry about being executed for incompetence.
Even if the higher-ups were angry, the logic was simple: whoever wanted to hold them accountable should go fight the Yellow Flash themselves first. If they survived that, then they could talk about accountability.
The man standing on that deck was a demon who had built his reputation by defeating two Kage. It was madness to expect a group of forty shinobi to handle an enemy that even the strongest leaders in the world couldn't stop.
"Yes, sir!" the Mist ninjas responded in unison. Their pride was far outweighed by their fear of death.
Since they knew they wouldn't be punished for a tactical retreat against such a threat, no one was stupid enough to volunteer for a suicide mission.
As the two ships turned and slowly disappeared beneath the horizon, Uzumaki Hiroshi blinked in surprise. "Uh—did they really just leave like that?"
"What did you expect? Did you want them to stay and have a fight with us?"
Nawaki leaned back against the railing, looking like a fish that had given up on swimming. "I'm so stupid. I should have known it would be like this. I shouldn't have come on a mission with you guys. Staying back in the village to catch wild boars would have been more exciting than this."
Ignoring Nawaki's grumbling, Uzumaki Hiroshi let out a long breath of relief. "I honestly thought there was going to be a fierce battle."
Minato simply shook his head. If forty people had the nerve to rush him after what he did to the Stone, then the hundreds of Iwagakure shinobi he had slaughtered would have died in vain.
People tended to forget the reality of combat. In the later stages of history, Kage-level fighters seemed to be everywhere, but in the current era, an ordinary Jonin only had enough chakra for two $A-level$ Ninjutsu before hitting their limit.
In a normal fight, they would start by throwing tools, then use a few low-level spells to test the waters, and only then attempt a high-level kill shot.
But Minato was different. With the awakening of the light-based physique from the world of Kizaru and his fusion with the cells of Hashirama, his energy reserves had grown exponentially. His current synchronization rate was nearly $98\%$.
Let alone forty people, even if four thousand enemies arrived, the end result would be exactly the same.
The patrol concluded shortly after, and the group returned to Uzushio Village. They met with Uzumaki Hikonami and informed him of the encounter with the Hidden Mist.
Hearing that the Mist had retreated without a single kunai being thrown, Hikonami was overjoyed. He immediately ordered a grand seafood feast to be prepared in their honor.
Meanwhile, deep inside the Hidden Mist Village.
Upon learning that his scouts had crossed paths with Minato Namikaze, the Third Mizukage sat in a long, heavy silence.
He did not scold his subordinates for retreating. The reputation of the Yellow Flash was too massive to ignore, and his record of kills was indisputable.
Even the Mizukage himself knew that he likely wasn't a match for the young man in a direct confrontation.
But not being a match in combat didn't mean there were no other ways to handle the problem.
As long as a person was human, they had desires.
And as long as there were desires, there were weaknesses to exploit.
While he didn't want to bring the wrath of such a dangerous enemy down on the Hidden Mist, Minato's presence had clearly broken the balance of power between the great nations.
If Minato wasn't dealt with, no matter where the Mist tried to expand, the enemy would just hire the Yellow Flash to stop them. They would never be able to move forward.
The Mizukage knew that the other major powers would be coming to the same conclusion very soon.
----------------
You can read advanced chapters here: patreon.com/GregariousLion