Kannabi Bridge.
As long as Kannabi Bridge is destroyed, the Hidden Leaf Village will secure victory, and the Earth–Fire battlefield will come to an end.
Is Namikaze Minato really that ambitious? Trying to end the war right from the start—how arrogantly bold.
Akashō could understand Minato's urgency to earn merit and become the Fourth Hokage, and he also understood Minato's confidence in his own strength. But sending Kakashi and those few "small fry" on such a critical mission—wasn't that basically sending them to their deaths?
Minato knew how important Kannabi Bridge was. Did the Hidden Stone Village not know? Wouldn't they have stationed heavy defenses there?
If not for the serious look on Minato's face, Akashō would've suspected he had some kind of grudge against Kakashi and the others.
…Wait, speaking of which, wasn't he going too?
While Akashō was thinking, the two sides had already split up, each heading toward their respective objectives.
Well, Kakashi had Minato's Flying Thunder God kunai. In the end, they'd probably still need him to come in and clean things up.
But splitting up like this… suited Akashō perfectly.
Trailing at the very end of the four-man squad, Akashō quietly formed hand seals.
Shadow Clone Technique.
Two shadow clones silently appeared behind him. They nodded at him, then turned and ran in the opposite direction—toward Minato.
"Akashō, what are you doing? Hurry up and catch up!"
Kakashi turned around, noticing Akashō had fallen dozens of meters behind, and frowned as he called out.
"Coming!"
With a faint smile on his lips, Akashō sped up to rejoin them.
The Shadow Clone Technique—Akashō had obtained that scroll from Minato after that "fishing enforcement" incident.
Of course, he had only pretended to glance at it out of curiosity, then memorized it. Afterward, he practiced it secretly in his mind through simulation. On the surface, no one knew he had already mastered the jutsu.
But that didn't matter.
What mattered was whether this plan could achieve the results he wanted.
Legend Creation Plan—activated!
...
When Minato arrived at the target location, he found Hidden Stone Village ninja launching a fierce assault on the Hidden Leaf Village camp. Fewer than a hundred Leaf ninja remained, struggling to hold their defense against the overwhelming enemy force.
"Sorry, I'm late."
Minato used Body Flicker to appear beside Nara Shikaku's trio, instantly filling them with joy.
"Minato, you're finally here!"
"Mm."
Minato took out a scroll. With a puff, several ninja tool pouches appeared, which he distributed to them.
"Throw all the kunai in these pouches to the enemy side. After that, leave everything to me."
Then, right in front of the Leaf ninja, Minato put on a dazzling display—instantly eliminating dozens of elite Hidden Stone jonin.
"So that's why Orochimaru hasn't shown himself. Turns out he went to the Lightning–Fire battlefield to replace you."
As the thousand-strong Hidden Stone force retreated, two figures—one red, one purple—stepped forward side by side.
The Five-Tails Jinchūriki, Han. The Four-Tails Jinchūriki, Rōshi.
"Yellow Flash, I wonder how your strength as a newly advanced Kage-level ninja compares to that old veteran Orochimaru."
Han crossed his arms and spoke in a deep, rumbling voice.
"Heh, so you're still alive."
Before Minato could respond, an arrogant voice rang out from the other side, instantly drawing the attention of both armies.
Turning to look, they saw two figures emerging from a nearby forest—one tall, one short. The tall man wore a cold smirk, unfamiliar to Minato. But the cat-eared girl beside him, smiling sweetly—Minato recognized her immediately.
"Neferpitou?"
"Bertholdt Hoover!!!"
Han roared furiously, his earlier arrogance gone, replaced by rage and killing intent as he stared at Bertholdt Hoover.
"What are you yelling for?"
Bertholdt Hoover dug at his ear in annoyance.
"Making such a racket—don't you have any awareness as someone who already lost to me?"
Meanwhile, both sides' ninja forces erupted into chaos upon hearing his name.
"Bertholdt Hoover—the God of Destruction!?"
"Isn't that the monster who fought two major village camps alone and nearly wiped out five thousand defeated Hidden Stone troops!?"
"Don't even mention it—I barely survived him myself. That thing is basically a humanoid tailed beast. Fighting him? You'd need nine lives…"
"Damn it, why is he here too!?"
"Who's that next to him? His companion? Never heard of her."
"No idea. With those cat ears and tail… could she be the Two-Tails Jinchūriki?"
"Man, she's kinda cute."
"This is a damn war—what the hell are you thinking!?"
Hearing the chatter, Minato couldn't help but twitch at the corner of his mouth.
Cute?
Wait until she rips your head clean off—then tell me if she's cute.
So the one beside Neferpitou is Bertholdt Hoover—the God of Destruction?
Minato had never seen Bertholdt Hoover before. The only clear description was of his transformed Colossal Titan form, which was unmistakable. So at first, he hadn't recognized him and assumed he was just another new member.
"Long time no see."
Neferpitou waved at Minato with a cheerful smile.
Minato, however, kept a dark expression and said nothing.
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
+100 chapters and support me on Patreon(.)com/Jixo