Naruto - Minato Namikaze SI - Chapter 188 - Counterattack Against Kumo 03.

[Chapter Size: 2800 Words.]
Third Person POV
Konoha, Year 40.
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Quickly, all reinforcements filled the area, with more than a thousand Konoha ninjas coming right behind as they advanced at full speed toward the group of Kumo ninjas fighting against the northern elite.
They had already lost their morale after losing hundreds of ninjas in the last Bijuudama that Minato had redirected into their midst.
They were in crisis, and they quickly felt the pressure as the ninjas attacked those who couldn’t escape quickly enough, either being struck by jutsus or caught in taijutsu.

“For Konoha!” the collective cry echoed as the Kumo ninjas stared in frustration.

“!!” In his fight with Sakumo, the Third Raikage was clearly displeased as he watched his army losing all its advantage, turning into a group being decimated.

“Hm?!” Sakumo barely had time to react as he saw the Raikage increase his Lightning Release even further, reaching a level that even Sakumo couldn’t properly respond to.

Unable to react in time, Sakumo received a devastating punch from the Raikage. He had only the reflex to imbue his blade with chakra to prevent it from breaking under the absurd force of that punch. The impact was so intense that he was hurled backward like a rag doll, breaking the ground as he landed, carving it with his body.

Quickly, the Raikage dashed toward the retreating Kumo army, attempting to reorganize his troops.

“Damn Konoha ninjas!” he roared with a thunderous voice, raising his hand high before reaching the enemies. He gathered lightning in his fingers and shot it toward the sky.
A thunderous explosion erupted, sending a massive lightning bolt almost a thousand meters into the air as if he were signaling. He then advanced mercilessly, striking down anyone pursuing the disadvantaged Kumo troops as they retreated.

Amidst the chaos, the Raikage encountered the first Konoha ninja who hadn’t had time to retreat. With a single punch, the ninja was killed, his head separated from his body, and the Raikage moved on to the next.

The battlefield quickly became a bloodbath as the Raikage continued killing ninja after ninja. Until he noticed a strange Konoha ninja defeating several Kumo ninjas. This ninja displayed a peculiar fighting style, surrounded by a chakra emanating from his body while his skin was red. He seemed to avoid killing his opponents, incapacitating them with precise strikes.

Meanwhile, the Kumo ninjas barely had time to react before being struck by the young Konoha ninja’s final kick.

The Raikage quickly ignored the other ninjas he had intended to kill and charged directly at him to eliminate this threat. His objective was clear: to prevent Konoha's forces from advancing further.

He raised his fist to crush his next target. Duy had just defeated his opponent when he sensed great danger coming his way, even while using the Fourth Gate. He barely had time to look at his advancing adversary, who was coming at him with a fist, time slowing to a crawl.

Duy couldn’t react to his impending death from that attack. But before the Raikage could strike, something unexpected happened.

Suddenly, someone appeared, pushing the Konoha ninja to the ground and narrowly deflecting the Raikage’s devastating punch. That thunder-imbued fist struck the air, creating a pressure explosion around them.

Surprised, the Raikage saw a blond-haired boy appear at high speed, placing himself between him and the Konoha ninja.

Minato, upside down, appeared, pushing Duy down to dodge the Raikage’s punch, while twisting his body to ensure his arm wasn’t struck by the enemy’s blow.

He saw the Raikage pass by him as Minato managed to touch the lightning-clad shoulder despite the potential harm. But Minato didn’t stop, his hand sustaining only minor damage, leaving faint lines of light.

All of this happened as if in slow motion. The Raikage could barely keep up with the precise movements of the young ninja, shocked to see someone reacting even faster than himself.

Then he moved past them like a blur and turned to observe Minato, realizing the young ninja had escaped his grasp in an instant. Most who witnessed this scene only saw everything happen in the blink of an eye, leaving Minato behind as the Raikage had already covered over 20 meters, unable to strike Duy, who stood dazed, unsure of what had just happened and how he escaped that certain-death feeling.

"This boy... again..." the Raikage murmured, quickly advancing toward the next line of unsuspecting ninjas, leaving Minato behind for now.

As he approached the ninjas, who could only turn their surprised eyes toward him and await their deaths—since Sakumo was no longer holding back Kumo's strongest ninja—something similar to before happened again. But this time, it wasn’t someone appearing beside the ninja; it was someone directly in front of him, even before he got close.

‘It can't be!’ the Raikage thought, stunned. Not only was it the boy from earlier, but there was a sharp glow in the boy’s hand. Minato was there, holding a freshly crafted Rasenshuriken, catching the Raikage off guard and striking his chest. The Raikage was too close to react in time.

Suddenly, his body was hurled backward by the force of the S-rank jutsu, halting his advance and throwing him back to the area where he was rallying Kumo's ninjas.

All around, witnesses stared, astonished. The Raikage fell heavily into a distant area where some of his ninjas were still retreating. In the next moment, a massive explosion erupted, destroying an area over 50 meters wide. The shockwave shook the battlefield.

"Did he defeat the Raikage?" some Konoha ninjas asked, stunned by what they had just witnessed.

Minato landed calmly on a nearby tree. As he descended, he already knew what was coming.

“Minato!” Mikoto exclaimed, rushing toward him.

“...” Minato didn’t look at her, focusing instead on the cloud of smoke created by his jutsu.

“Are you okay... Did you manage to defeat him?” Mikoto asked as Duy also approached them.

"I'm fine... About him... He can't be cut... That doesn’t work on him," Minato replied calmly, his eyes fixed on the spot where movement quickly stirred under the worried gazes of the Kumo ninjas watching their leader in the aftermath of the explosion.

But amidst the smoke, the Raikage emerged, clearly furious. He looked at Minato, now over 200 meters away from where he had been thrown, with a mix of anger and curiosity.

‘That didn’t hurt me...’ The Raikage assessed the damage to his body—just scratches—despite being caught in the explosion. However... ‘How did he appear in front of me without warning? This isn’t just the Second Hokage’s jutsu I read about in the reports...?’ The thought lingered in his mind as he tried to grasp the possibilities of the Flying Thunder God Technique beyond what the reports had described.

Meanwhile, Minato, from the other side, locked eyes with the Raikage in a silent challenge, realizing his attack had been ineffective.

“Well, let’s test this,” he murmured, raising his hand and clenching his fist. A layer of Haki began to envelop his hand as his gaze returned to the Raikage in the distance.

In an instant, Minato disappeared, and the Raikage widened his eyes as he noticed this. At that very moment, he felt a slight pain from a precise punch to his chest. Surprised, he quickly looked down and saw the young ninja already there, without any warning.

‘What’s happening?’ This was once again the Raikage’s frustrated thought as he felt the impact of the strike.

Minato had tested his mastery of Haki against the Raikage’s lightning armor and felt the chest of his opponent slightly cave in under his punch. Even the Raikage felt a sharp pain in that spot. His bones seemed to crack under the impact.

‘He broke through my defense?’ Once more, the Raikage was astonished by Minato, grappling with the fact that this strange punch had penetrated his lightning cloak—something even the Bijuus or Sakumo couldn’t easily accomplish.

The Raikage momentarily retreated, stepping back from the boy to counterattack, stomping hard on the ground before charging again. This time, he attempted to strike Minato with a punch at less than a centimeter’s distance. But once again, Minato vanished, reappearing beside his companions as the Raikage struck only air once more.

"Are you okay? I saw you hit him," said Mikoto, concerned. Other ninjas began to approach, equally astonished by Minato's actions.

He sighed, a little disappointed. "Yes, but it seems my attacks didn’t work very well," Minato replied seriously as he looked at his comrades.

He let his gaze linger for a moment, then looked down at his fist, where the Haki dissipated. ‘Well, I can’t expect much more from my Haki yet. I need to develop it a lot further...’ he thought.

Meanwhile, Sakumo had finally recovered and was approaching the front lines. He looked quite disheveled, with a streak of blood on his face, clearly a result of the blow he had taken.

"Commander Sakumo!" The jonin near Minato looked at their commander with concern.

"I'm fine," said Sakumo, noticing their worried expressions. He wiped some of the blood off his face and continued, "Just regroup. I want everyone ready to face another Kumo attack."

"Understood!" the ninjas responded before moving away to carry out his orders.

Suddenly, a Hyuuga rushed toward them, his eyes focused on the distance. "Commander! There's an entire group heading our way!" he exclaimed, alarmed.

Sakumo frowned, assessing the situation. "Prepare to engage them! Everyone, get into formation!" he commanded, planning how to counterattack as he reorganized the troops. He then turned toward Minato.

"You did very well back there. You managed to stop their advance and weaken the enemy's efforts. More than that, you pushed the Raikage back when he was unstoppable, killing our ninjas. Thank you," Sakumo said sincerely. "But there’s no time to talk now. Just keep protecting our troops," he added, and Minato nodded in acknowledgment.

Sakumo moved off to regroup Konoha’s forces.

On the battlefield, where Kumo’s ninjas were reorganizing for a counterattack, the Raikage appeared. His Thunder Release chakra cloak glowed intensely. He looked at his chest for a moment, intrigued by what had happened.

"How did that boy manage to reach me so suddenly? And how was he able to bypass the defense of my cloak?" the Raikage murmured, still perplexed.

"Raikage-sama!" A ninja suddenly called out, pointing to him from the side. "You have a mark on your shoulder!" he said, making the Raikage’s eyes widen as he realized what it could be.

‘Yes, there’s a mark. That’s how he reached me—it’s the same as with his seal-tag kunai. It must’ve been when he touched my shoulder... clever boy,’ the Raikage thought, clearly impressed.

"Erase it, quickly!" the Raikage ordered urgently. He began reinforcing his chakra layer even further, suspecting that the boy might be waiting for the moment he let down his guard to attack again. He could feel the young ninja’s gaze fixed on him the entire time.

‘That boy... He’s younger than my son, maybe by about seven years... I can’t let him grow stronger. If I allow it, he’ll become a much bigger problem in the future,’ he murmured to himself.

"Come here!" he shouted, summoning two jinchuuriki. Tashi, the jinchuuriki who had been defeated by Sakumo while transformed into the Nibi, and another, of the Hachibi, appeared before him swiftly. "I want you both to launch an attack in full bijuu form!" the Raikage ordered.

The Eight-Tails’ jinchuuriki hesitated before replying, "Raikage-sama, I can’t fully control the Hachibi. He’ll take over my body, and I’ll die."

"I know that. But you can transform for a short period, can’t you? I understand you’ll die afterward, and he’ll be freed. Even so, I want you to do this for the village. Can you?" the Raikage asked, his voice firm.

The jinchuuriki nodded solemnly. He knew his fate was sealed, but this was the Raikage’s order, and he was willing to carry it out, even if it cost him his life.

The other jinchuuriki, of the Nibi, murmured as he looked at his superior. "Raikage-sama, if he can still use those seals, that boy might teleport our bijuudamas right into the middle of our own army."

"Yes, I’m well aware of that," the Raikage replied. "But from what I’ve observed, he can only redirect one attack at a time. That’s why I don’t want you to launch bijuudamas. Use your bijuu’s other abilities instead," he ordered.

"Understood. We will prepare," the jinchuurikis said in unison.

Meanwhile, Sakumo and the Konoha ninjas were regrouping their forces, numbering over a thousand in total. At the same time, the enemy forces were finally receiving reinforcements, boosting their troops' morale.

"Their army is now larger than ours!" said a sensory ninja, approaching Sakumo.

"Yes," Sakumo replied with a serious expression. "But we will show them that Konoha’s strength is not measured by the number of soldiers."

"All right, prepare for battle!" Sakumo exclaimed as the more than a thousand Konoha ninjas organized themselves, adjusting their positions and readying for the confrontation.

"They’re coming..." Sakumo murmured, watching the battlefield. He was shocked to sense the absurd amount of chakra accumulating on the other side. Suddenly, two jinchuurikis began transforming, and in an instant, Matatabi and the Hachibi appeared.

"This is bad..." Sakumo muttered, watching the colossal creatures take shape. Both jinchuurikis had partial control over their bijuus, and the massive forms made Konoha's troops seem like mere ants before them.

"Minato, tell me you can stop this!" Duy pleaded, his voice trembling with fear.

"No, I can only handle one attack at a time. If they launch multiple attacks at once, I won’t be able to stop them," Minato replied, his expression serious, already imagining the enemy's plan.

"Minato!" Sakumo's voice called out as he returned to the front lines. He approached quickly. "Can you do Sanjuu Rashomon?! I read in a report that you’ve learned to cast that jutsu. I can summon two gates myself. If we work together, we can make it work!" he suggested.

Minato thought for a moment and nodded. The reports confirmed he had mastered Sanjuu Rashomon, an S-rank jutsu, during his last visit to Konoha.

Meanwhile, the Kumo ninjas advanced, waiting for the bijuus to launch a devastating attack against Konoha. The moment the attacks began, the jinchuurikis coordinated their moves. Matatabi unleashed a rain of blue flames that burned everything in its path, while the Hachibi fired a massive energy ball expanding directly from its mouth.

"Quick! Let’s do it now!" shouted Sakumo.

He and Minato moved to the front lines. With their hands joined, they both performed rapid hand seals. Then, slamming their hands onto the ground in unison, seals began appearing. In the next moment, gates started to rise from the earth—one, two, three—and finally four massive gates, each with demonic faces carved into them and ringing bells attached. The gates formed a defensive line.

In the following instant, the bijuu attacks collided violently with the gates. The first gate exploded almost immediately. The second held for a brief moment before being destroyed. The third gate managed to withstand the attacks longer but eventually fell after a series of powerful explosions. The final gate, however, endured until the end, though it was deeply cracked.

"We managed to hold off the attacks!" Sakumo murmured, relieved.

But before he could relax, Minato sensed imminent danger through his Observation Haki. In the next moment, someone appeared beside the last gate. It was the Raikage, advancing at incredible speed and stomping the ground with enough force to create a shockwave.

Minato barely had time to react. He crossed his arms in front of his body to block the Raikage's punch but was thrown back several meters by the impact.

"Minato!" Sakumo shouted as he saw the Raikage relentlessly pursue Minato. The Raikage passed by everyone else in an instant, ignoring the other ninjas and heading straight for his target.

Minato realized the Raikage had deliberately distanced himself from the rest of the troops, luring him into a one-on-one confrontation.

"All right, it looks like I’ll have to deal with this alone..." Minato murmured, watching the thunderbolts heralding the Raikage’s approach. The Raikage advanced like an unstoppable force through the forest.

Minato allowed himself to be attacked intentionally, confident that he could handle the Raikage now, knowing that the enemy was drawing him away from the others.