After fighting Uchiha Obito with a single Mangekyō Kamui, Kaguya Rei finally had a clear grasp of where he stood.
His sustained combat ability was absurdly strong. He could fight head-on against conventional Kage-level powerhouses without falling into a disadvantage. But his offensive options were still lacking, and he didn't have that decisive, strategic finisher—the kind that let you personally land the blow that determined victory in a battle between equals.
And when the opponent had "special" abilities like Kamui or Flying Thunder God, that lack of finishing tools became painfully obvious. You could see them, but you couldn't touch them—an awkward situation where the enemy's attacks were basically just… scraping his skin at best.
…Still.
Getting hit over and over was annoying as hell.
Right now, his clash with Namikaze Minato perfectly showcased both sides' tactical strengths.
"Flying Thunder God Slash!"
Clang!
Minato's figure flashed like a streak of light. His custom kunai swung with icy killing intent, cutting hard toward Kaguya Rei's neck.
But the result was similar to every time before. The blade split Rei's skin—and then snapped again against the hardened bone membrane beneath. Minato himself slipped away at the hair's breadth before Rei's counter, reappearing smoothly beside another marked Flying Thunder God kunai.
"Ah… still not enough, huh?"
Minato stared at the seventh broken kunai in his hand. His bright, heroic face was twisted in genuine frustration.
As a shinobi who built his entire combat system around Flying Thunder God—whose skill points were practically all dumped into fighting other people—Minato was, in truth, missing the kind of destructive ninjutsu needed to smash through something head-on.
During the Third Great Ninja War, on Konoha's front against Kumogakure, he'd realized that weakness while fighting the Fourth Raikage A and the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki Killer B. That was why he'd begun developing the Rasengan, a technique with enormous potential and raw power.
But the original Rasengan…
Honestly, it still wasn't enough.
If he could add chakra nature transformation into it, then maybe—just maybe—that Kaguya bastard wouldn't be able to tank five Rasengan and still hop around like nothing happened.
Watching Rei merely tilt his head as the cut on his neck nearly finished healing, Minato clicked his tongue, his understanding of Rei's monstrous vitality deepening again.
They'd been fighting at this intensity for so long that Minato had already burned through three-quarters of his chakra.
And Rei?
Other than dust and a little blood, you couldn't even find a proper wound.
No wonder he could cast that dense Mist Technique over an entire forest… and nearly wipe out Hyūga Munekata's squad.
"Hey," Kaguya Rei suddenly spoke, cutting off Minato's thoughts. "Are we still doing this, Konoha's Yellow Flash?"
Minato frowned and looked over.
Rei was retracting every bone spike back into his body, calm as if he'd simply finished stretching.
"You've already bought enough time for those three lucky survivors to get away, haven't you?" Rei tilted his head, clearly aware Munekata's team had escaped the area covered by the mist during Minato's stalling. "Or are you planning to keep going and finish the mission they failed?"
Minato's gaze flicked—subtle, controlled—toward two areas where the mist was beginning to gather again.
Their targets, Honda Dentsurō and Inoue Nobuhiko, were lying there… in extremely unpeaceful poses.
When Munekata had mentioned Flying Thunder God kunai, Rei had used the wide-area silence of his mist to kill both of them without a sound—Honda, already paralyzed; Inoue, trying to flee. He couldn't let Minato retrieve them and take them back to Konoha to spill anything they shouldn't.
And if you counted the two ANBU traitors Rei had killed even before the fight started…
Every mission target Konoha needed was already gone.
The mission had failed—completely.
Of course, if Minato could capture Rei and drag him back to Konoha, that would count as completing the mission. In fact, since Rei knew far more than those traitors, Konoha would probably reward Minato even more for overachieving.
But after personally testing how absurdly tanky Rei was…
Minato decided it was better to abandon that thought.
If Kushina—who excelled in sealing arts—were here, then maybe there would be a chance.
So when Rei suggested stopping, Minato only hesitated briefly before nodding.
"You're right. There's no need for us to keep fighting to the death…"
"But the war between Kirigakure and Konoha has already formally begun." Minato's eyes sharpened. "That forces me to consider whether I should do everything I can to keep you here."
"Oh?" Rei raised an eyebrow, briefly surprised—then rolled his eyes at Minato's solemn face, openly unimpressed.
"Give it a rest, Namikaze Minato. You think I can't tell how much chakra your 'Rasengan' burns? You've been teleporting nonstop, and you found chances to hit me with five of them. How much chakra do you have left? Enough to figure out a way to actually put me down? You really don't know the answer yourself?"
Having his chakra shortage exposed so bluntly didn't anger Minato.
Instead, he stared at Rei's bare upper body for a moment—quiet, long, weighted.
Then he spoke, slow and sincere.
"I really don't want a monster like you—someone who won't go down—appearing on the main battlefield between Konoha and Kirigakure."
"Likewise," Rei replied casually. "I don't want Kirigakure's shinobi adopting Iwagakure's rule either."
Minato's eyes narrowed slightly.
Rei had turned away, sighing as he searched for the tool pouch he'd thrown earlier, intending to pull out a spare set of clothes. But Minato's expression had shifted—thoughtful, calculating.
"I don't want you on the battlefield… and you don't want me collapsing your comrades by myself."
"…So there's a way to reduce the damage you can cause."
Rei paused mid-motion and looked up, confused.
"What're you muttering about? If we're not fighting, can't we just go home?"
"I'm sorry." Minato's tone turned coldly resolute. "But for Konoha's eventual victory in this war against Kirigakure, I have to do whatever I can."
The moment the words fell, Minato vanished.
A yellow flash—too fast for the eye.
He appeared above a Flying Thunder God kunai positioned in Rei's blind spot, raised his right hand—covered in a special marking—and slammed it toward Rei's back.
Minato wasn't expecting this ambush to deal real damage.
He only needed to leave an unremovable Flying Thunder God mark on Rei.
With that, he could track Rei's movements throughout the war… and whenever Rei appeared on the main front, Minato could forcibly remove him from it.
Slap.
Minato's palm landed on Rei's back.
But the price was immediate.
A bone spike burst from Rei's spine—violent, instantaneous—and pierced straight through Minato's right hand.
"Got you—"
Not good!
Minato's heart jolted. He activated Flying Thunder God at once, barely slipping away from Rei's follow-up strike. Then, using Sarutobi Chizuru's Flying Thunder God kunai, he returned to the three wounded survivors and escorted them as they retreated away from the forest and the mist.
Rei stared at the air in front of him—the space his hand-blade had split open, still faintly carrying Minato's lingering presence.
Slowly, his lips curled into a satisfied, calculated smile.
"Hah… worth it. All that probing, that verbal tug-of-war…"
"This is exactly what I needed."
His eyes narrowed, sharp with triumph.
"I finally dragged it out until First Strike came off cooldown… and found my chance to land damage first, Namikaze Minato."
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