Unlike the sharp weapon Minato Namikaze held in his hand, Fumori masaki only had a wooden sword, and it was very crudely made, even "blunter" than an ordinary wooden sword, more like a stick.
Although injecting wind-style chakra can turn even the dullest object into a sharp weapon, Fumori masaki obviously wouldn't harm his student that way. The Wind Release he used wasn't just "sharp"; properties like "gaseous" and "flowing" had been mastered by him a long time ago.
Fumori masaki could guarantee that no matter how he fought, he wouldn't inflict serious injuries on Minato Namikaze. Conversely, it wasn't as important for himself, because he was just a shadow clone, and nothing would happen to him no matter how he was hit.
Fumori masaki could hold back, but Minato Namikaze didn't need to. His instruction to Minato was to attack with full force. Facing a shadow clone, Minato naturally had no psychological pressure and could go all out without any reservations.
After blocking the thrown Hiraishin kunai, Fumori masaki charged towards Minato Namikaze. Both were wind-style ninjas, and his pure Body Flicker Technique wouldn't be inferior to Minato's. Due to the difference in age and physical ability, he was actually faster than Minato.
Minato Namikaze tried his best to move in other directions, but Fumori masaki still caught up. Fumori masaki raised his wooden sword and swung it at Minato Namikaze.
Minato Namikaze raised his Hiraishin kunai to counter, and it collided with the wooden sword, producing a fierce sound—the sound of wind-style chakra rubbing against each other. Under the advantageous strength, Minato Namikaze's body was pushed back, but he happened to turn to Fumori masaki's right side and stabbed the kunai towards Fumori masaki's abdomen.
"Impressive. Even with ordinary chakra infusion, it already has this much power." Fumori masaki easily blocked the incoming kunai, praised him, and then, while deflecting the kunai, kicked towards Minato Namikaze.
Before he could touch Minato Namikaze, Minato's figure disappeared, teleporting to another location using the Hiraishin. He took a breath and said, "I'm still far from Teacher Kazemori."
If the chakras used are of the same attribute, the way to determine victory is generally by looking at nature transformation—mainly chakra volume—and shape transformation—mainly chakra control. In terms of shape transformation, the difference in what both parties used was not significant. What truly created the gap was the amount of chakra infused and the strength of both parties.
Fumori masaki was in a constant Sage Mode. His physical abilities were enough to withstand a powerful punch from Tsunade. If it weren't for the shadow clone equally distributing chakra and deliberately holding back, Minato Namikaze would have no chance of winning with his strength. If Minato Namikaze's Wind Release was strong enough to cut the wooden sword, then there might be other possibilities, but Minato Namikaze clearly couldn't do that.
Fumori masaki's praise was because Minato Namikaze's Wind Release had progressed further.
Otherwise, with that last strike, Minato Namikaze should have been sent flying, instead of being able to use it to shift his body and counterattack.
Due to the difference in strength between them, Minato Namikaze had long developed a hit-and-run, body-shifting guerrilla fighting style, which was the only way he could perform more tactical maneuvers besides the Flying Thunder God Technique.
As soon as Minato Namikaze's voice fell, Fumori masaki raised his hand and used a Wind Release: Air Cannon. In essence, it was a simplified use of Wind Reversal. The Wind Release: Wind Reversal technique is best used when released upon collision with an enemy. Simply releasing the Wind Release attached to a weapon in everyday situations cannot be called Wind Reversal.
Under Fumori masaki's control, the linearly shot air cannon burst into countless tiny air currents, completely engulfing the area where Minato Namikaze had just thrown the Hiraishin kunai. No matter where Minato Namikaze moved, he would inevitably become a target of the air currents.
Fumori masaki noticed that when Minato Namikaze had just moved, he left a Hiraishin mark beside him. Under his training, Minato Namikaze had developed to the point where he could leave Hiraishin marks even with his feet.
The most capable parts of the normal human body for chakra output are the feet and hands. If Minato Namikaze were from the Hyuga clan, then all the acupoints in his body could output chakra, and he might even be able to train to the point where any part of his body could leave a Hiraishin mark just by brushing against something.
If Minato Namikaze had no other way to block, he would only be able to move to the place where he had just left a Hiraishin mark. Fumori masaki believed Minato Namikaze wouldn't make such a choice. After such a long period of training, Minato Namikaze already knew Fumori masaki's sensory abilities, and the Hiraishin marks he left couldn't be hidden.
Therefore, Minato Namikaze could only choose to block with other methods. He had no other way to escape. The Body Replacement Technique is essentially a high-speed movement technique. When the air currents completely blocked the movement space, he couldn't use techniques like the Body Replacement Technique to escape and could only take these attacks.
Minato Namikaze quickly formed hand signs, and a large number of black tadpole-like formulas rapidly spread around him, enveloping his entire body. When the air currents touched these black formulas, they all disappeared.
"Flying Thunder God Guiding Lightning! Have you already mastered this technique?" Fumori masaki was a little surprised. To keep the training surprising, he didn't constantly monitor Minato Namikaze's training progress. Apart from daily guided training, some training results were only known by Minato Namikaze himself. Often, after Minato Namikaze demonstrated his training results to Fumori masaki, Fumori masaki would point out the next direction in the subsequent battle review.
Flying Thunder God Guiding Lightning, as the suffix "Guiding Lightning" suggests, its purpose is to transfer people or objects that touch the formula to other places.
Ordinary Hiraishin transfers oneself, while Hiraishin Guiding Lightning transfers others. It is a defensive counterattack move in the Hiraishin series, which can not only transfer attacks for defense but also use it to attack opponents.
The diverted air currents immediately rushed out from the Hiraishin mark near Fumori masaki, attacking Fumori masaki. At such a close distance, Fumori masaki couldn't re-control them.
Fumori masaki once again created an air wall to block the incoming air current impact. At the same time, Minato Namikaze in the distance threw a Hiraishin kunai and then formed hand signs.
"Kunai Shadow Clone Technique!"
The number of kunai rapidly increased, carrying wind-style chakra with a bluish whirlwind, descending like a torrential blue rain from the sky.
Fumori masaki had witnessed this technique in the TV version of "Naruto." At that time, Minato Namikaze used this move to bombard the giant puppet of Mukade, leaving it completely disfigured. He never expected to be facing this technique himself now.
Its prototype was the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique, created by Hiruzen Sarutobi inspired by the Shadow Clone Technique. Its original intention was to create a barrage of shuriken attacks, but in Minato Namikaze's hands, besides firepower bombardment, it had other uses.
Because the thrown objects were Hiraishin kunai, as long as enough chakra was expended, every kunai shadow clone would carry a Hiraishin mark! In other words, these kunai shadow clones could also be used as marking points for Hiraishin transfers. Inserting intangible Hiraishin kunai into tangible Hiraishin kunai provided more room for Hiraishin manipulation.
During a discussion between master and disciple, a conjecture was raised: whether Hiraishin marks could briefly move their positions. Fumori masaki remembered that in the anime version of "Naruto," Minato Namikaze's Hiraishin marks could slowly crawl. Although the speed was relatively slow, it could serve the purpose of shifting the mark's position.
If this could be achieved, even if all these kunai shadow clones disappeared, the Hiraishin marks on them could still be transferred to other places, and the enemy would hardly notice, which would further highlight the elusive nature of the Hiraishin.
However, achieving this seemed to require a great deal of effort, but Minato Namikaze felt it was feasible, and therefore, he was also practicing it.
Fumori masaki boldly used an air wall to block the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique. Minato Namikaze chose his timing perfectly, just as Fumori masaki was blocking the sudden air current impact, leaving Fumori masaki no time to even use the Body Replacement Technique to escape.
As the explosion gradually dissipated, Fumori masaki felt Minato Namikaze's presence appear beside him. He quickly condensed a defensive Eight Trigrams Wind Wheel, a high-density air pressure barrier, but he saw Minato Namikaze pressing a Rasengan that was different from before, carrying a powerful wind spiral.
Bang—
Fumori masaki was immediately blown away, sliding a distance on the ground before finally stopping.