"The Fourth Hokage-sama is here!"
"Everyone, get back!"
The Konoha shinobi shouted urgently, forcing their comrades to retreat from the area surrounding the two Hokage.
Battles between Kage-level shinobi often produced aftershocks powerful enough to kill nearby ninja.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Minato threw out all of his Flying Thunder God kunai, each one embedding itself around both his own position and Tobirama's.
"Second Hokage-sama… has completely lost awareness."
Seeing Tobirama's gradually clarifying figure and emotionless eyes, Minato's heart sank.
If the Second Hokage still retained consciousness, Minato would have had far more confidence.
But against a fully controlled Tobirama…
Even Minato felt enormous pressure.
"Water Release… Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
Tobirama clapped his hands together.
A gigantic water dragon immediately roared into existence behind him and lunged toward Minato!
"This…"
Minato had long expected Tobirama's mastery of Water Release to be extraordinary.
But he never imagined…
That Tobirama could simplify the Water Dragon Bullet's incredibly complex hand seals to this degree!
Merely through chakra fluctuation alone, he could instantly unleash a terrifying water dragon!
"This is absurd…"
Kakashi widened his eyes as he stared fixedly at the dragon, which was several times larger than the Water Dragon Bullet he had created earlier.
After all, Kakashi had only managed that level of scale by borrowing the environmental advantage created by Tobirama.
Yet Tobirama himself released an even larger dragon with effortless ease?
SSSSHHHH—
Violent wind currents rapidly gathered into Minato's outstretched left hand.
A spherical mass of chakra gradually took shape as the spiraling winds condensed.
"Rasengan!"
Minato held the Rasengan in his left hand, his eyes locked firmly onto Tobirama's Water Dragon Bullet.
The water dragon descended instantly.
Minato's figure flickered—
And in the next moment, he appeared beside one of the kunai near Tobirama!
"So that's… the Flying Thunder God Technique?"
Kabuto, controlling Tobirama remotely, froze slightly, clearly unable to react to Minato suddenly appearing directly before him.
"The Flying Thunder God Technique is a space-time ninjutsu that allows instant teleportation to marked locations."
Madara was relatively familiar with Flying Thunder God.
After all, it was the technique Tobirama used to kill his younger brother.
Naturally, Madara held no fondness for it.
"I see."
Kabuto suddenly recalled the unusual markings engraved onto Minato's kunai earlier.
"Tobirama also knows Flying Thunder God. You should try using it."
Kabuto nodded.
"Understood."
"Got him!"
Minato slammed the Rasengan directly into Tobirama's body and inwardly sighed in relief.
"Sealing squad!"
Minato had only just turned around to call out—
When Tobirama suddenly drew a kunai and stabbed toward Minato's throat from behind!
"What?!"
Minato's pupils contracted.
His Rasengan had definitely landed directly.
A Rasengan of that level shouldn't allow recovery this quickly!
CLANG!
Minato instantly drew his own kunai and violently knocked Tobirama's blade aside before delivering a brutal kick.
Tobirama was blasted backward, but he twisted gracefully midair and landed steadily.
Then—
Before Minato could react, Tobirama suddenly transformed into a pale blue streak of light and vanished!
"Hm?!"
Minato suddenly felt cold killing intent behind him and immediately lowered himself, narrowly dodging Tobirama's kunai slash from the rear!
"Rasengan!"
A new Rasengan instantly formed in Minato's hand as he smashed it toward Tobirama once more!
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
But instead of dodging, Tobirama rapidly formed hand seals.
The giant water vortex on the battlefield surged violently, torrents rushing toward Minato and forcing him to retreat while dispersing the Rasengan.
"Water Release: Water Shockwave!"
A colossal tidal wave suddenly erupted between the two men like a heavenly chasm splitting them apart!
"Flying Thunder God Technique!"
Minato's expression darkened slightly.
To unleash a Water Release ninjutsu of this scale so casually…
It was monstrous.
Without hesitation, Minato used Flying Thunder God once more, appearing behind Tobirama in an attempt to end the battle directly.
Against massive ninjutsu like this, Minato had no real solution besides defeating the caster.
SHHK!
Minato's kunai stabbed directly into Tobirama's body.
But Tobirama remained expressionless and immediately hurled back a shuriken tied with explosive tags!
"Damn it… Flying Thunder God!"
Minato wasn't a shinobi specializing in defense or physical durability.
If those explosive tags hit directly, he would be seriously injured.
"…The Second Hokage's fighting style is unbelievably troublesome."
Kabuto silently thought to himself.
He could practically imagine Tobirama's combat style during life.
If he had chakra—
He'd teleport beside enemies and bombard them with Water Release.
If he lacked chakra—
He'd teleport away immediately.
This style of constantly forcing opponents to remain on edge while never revealing his true location was utterly infuriating.
If Tobirama himself hadn't willingly accepted death back then…
Kabuto doubted anyone could have actually trapped him.
"This is turning into a stalemate…"
Minato's heart slowly sank.
When two shinobi both possessed Flying Thunder God—
Victory depended on prolonged probing and exploiting a single momentary flaw.
And Tobirama, as an Impure World Reincarnation body, could afford to make countless mistakes.
After all, he possessed an endlessly regenerating body and infinite chakra.
But Minato couldn't afford even one mistake.
One mistake might first impair his mobility.
And once his movement suffered, his close-range combat would inevitably weaken.
At that point, he would lose the Flying Thunder God exchanges entirely.
And what awaited him after losing…
Minato understood perfectly.
"Damn it… even sensei can't do anything against the Second Hokage-sama now…"
While recovering his chakra, Kakashi anxiously observed the battlefield.
Even he could clearly analyze the situation.
In a prolonged battle like this, the disadvantage belonged entirely to Minato.
Although Minato possessed far more chakra than ordinary Kage-level shinobi—
There was no way he could compete against an Impure World body with infinite chakra.
Compared to Tobirama, Minato's attack methods were simply too limited.
Kunai.
Rasengan.
That was essentially it.
Meanwhile, Tobirama's Water Release was practically unsolvable.
With infinite chakra removing all concern over consumption, Tobirama's margin for error became absurdly high.
He could constantly keep multiple Water Release techniques prepared at all times.
If close combat failed, he could simply flood the battlefield instantly.
And Minato would have no choice but to use Flying Thunder God to retreat somewhere safe and wait for another opportunity.
Meanwhile, Tobirama could calmly prepare even more Water Release attacks while waiting for Minato's next assault.
After all—
His chakra was infinite.
He never needed to care about exhaustion.
"So what will sensei do…?"
Kakashi finally felt that most of his chakra had recovered and immediately stood up, preparing to assist—
Only to suddenly feel a large hand pressing firmly onto his shoulder!
🌟 The story is already written… waiting to be unleashed.
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