Minato gripped the kunai Haruki had handed him, steadying his breathing as he locked eyes on their targets in the distance.
A and Killer Bee.
Both were tall, built like tanks, and had dark skin.
Bee was a bit shorter, though, with sunglasses perched on his face and two swords slung over his back. A was just finishing off a thick cut of roasted meat, the flames around them casting flickering shadows on the trees.
The scent of cooked meat wafted in the air, probably some wild animal they'd caught.
They were clearly taking their time and enjoying themselves.
A faint green flash blinked in the distance.
Mikoto's Sharingan caught it instantly, her three tomoe spinning slowly.
"Minato," she said. "Sensei's signal."
He gave a small nod. It was time.
After days of preparation, Haruki's plan was finally in motion. Their job now was to lure A and Bee close to the Sand Ninja base and more importantly, make them go all out.
"Kushina, be extra careful," Mikoto said, turning toward her with a serious look. "I think they're targeting you specifically."
She was a few years older than the others, and she understood the weight of what being a Jinchūriki meant. The Uzumaki clan's powerful sealing jutsu and their compatibility with tailed beasts made them walking targets.
"I know," Kushina nodded. "I'm ready."
"Alright then. Let's begin." Minato dashed off into the trees.
Kushina carefully let her chakra pulse flare out, just enough to draw attention.
And it worked.
Killer Bee stopped mid-chew, lowering his skewer and staring ahead behind his sunglasses.
"Bro, it's those brats from before. They're close, but I don't think they saw us. Just passing through, maybe."
"Oh?" A wiped his greasy fingers on a cloth.
"Didn't the villagers say that Uzumaki girl's worth something? Might be worth bringing her back."
He stood up casually.
Then, in an instant, a violent blast shook the air.
Blue lightning exploded from beneath his feet, tracing up his body like wildfire.
The sheer pressure cracked the ground. His chakra flared so hard the air shimmered around him. One second he was by the fire, the next, he was already in front of Kushina, cutting through the air.
His right hand, glowing with an intense electric charge, came down on her with terrifying speed.
But the attack was intercepted.
Sparks flew as Minato appeared out of nowhere, pushing A's hand to the side with the kunai in his right hand. At the same time, his left hand darted forward, the tip of his second kunai aimed directly at A's throat.
It hit dead on but didn't even scratch the surface.
A barely glanced at it. His Lightning Release Armor rendered the stab useless. With a grunt, he raised his right elbow, now surrounded by crackling blue chakra like a sledgehammer of lightning.
He brought it down in one brutal motion.
Minato's kunai flew from his hand, and the blow crashed into him with a thunderous crack. The sheer force shook the ground and sent dust flying.
His head was smashed deep into the earth.
A wooden log lay where Minato's body should've been.
"Bro, watch it!" Bee shouted as he sliced through Mikoto's fireball with a flash of his blade. The vertebrae on his back twisted unnaturally, and a thick, flesh-colored tail shot out, whipping through the air like a living weapon.
That same tail intercepted Minato just as he appeared above A's head, his Rasengan spinning with deadly force.
The spiraling chakra collided with Bee's tail. The Rasengan ripped through layers of flesh and chakra-enhanced skin, drawing blood.
"Gah!" Bee winced, sharp pain shooting up his spine as the tail recoiled instantly.
He didn't stay still.
With impressive agility, Bee flipped backward like an acrobat, narrowly dodging Mikoto's follow-up Phoenix Fire Jutsu. The flames scorched past him, licking at his heels.
But just as he landed, his body jolted.
Out of nowhere, chakra chains shot up from the ground, snaking toward him with sealing kanji glowing faintly along their lengths.
"Damn sealing jutsu!" Bee cursed. He could feel the reaction from the Eight-Tails within him. Its chakra flared up in irritation, already beginning to lash out through his body.
In an instant, red chakra burst from his pores, forming a demonic cloak around him.
The weight of it distorted the air around him. His power skyrocketed.
With a surge of speed, he broke free from the chains, vanishing into a blur.
But Kushina was nowhere in sight.
His gaze locked onto Mikoto, one of the attackers still visible.
He charged.
The red cloak-enhanced Bee shot forward like a missile.
Mikoto's Sharingan flickered. Her eyes barely kept up with his movement, but strangely, she smiled.
Then they both vanished.
"Bee!" A shouted, stunned.
His brother had disappeared in the blink of an eye. He turned back toward Minato, who stood calmly, one hand raised.
"You… that was you, wasn't it?" A narrowed his eyes. "You used your technique to teleport him."
Minato didn't answer directly. He just smiled faintly and looked toward one of his scattered kunai as it flared with chakra.
Before A could move, the scenery around him twisted unnaturally.
The next second, he was pulled into a different location.
He stood atop the water surface, but it stretched endlessly around him, broken only by distant, haunting screams.
A's expression darkened. He instantly rose into the air using chakra, scanning the eerie surroundings.
To his left, he spotted Bee engaged in a high-speed battle with Mikoto.
The girl was holding her own, using illusions, fire jutsu, and the terrain. But with the Eight-Tails aiding Bee, she was being slowly overpowered.
Still, she was buying time.
A's attention turned further.
In the distance, Dozens of Sand Ninjas flailed in the rising water, caught off guard. Leaf ninjas rained attack down on them from elevated terrain and trees.
Bodies floated in the water, many already lifeless.
The flooding had hit them hard. They had prepared for a traditional siege, not for a river turned into a weapon.
A clenched his fists.
"This… is no child's plan."
It was a battlefield designed by a tactician. And all the pieces were moving just as intended.
"Where are you looking?" Minato spun the kunai between his fingers, his tone casual, almost playful.
A grunted and pulled his gaze away from the Sand Ninja battle.
"Doesn't concern me anyway. Let them all die if they want."
And with that, the fight resumed.
Minato darted through the battlefield like a blur, flickering from place to place. His kunai gleamed in his hands, but they never struck directly, only teased, baited, and retreated.
A charged like a storm, his lightning-enhanced body smashing through anything in his way. But no matter how fast he moved, Minato always slipped just beyond his reach, leaving afterimages and stunned Sand Ninjas in his wake.
"Damn brat, is all you know hiding?!" A roared after minutes of chasing.
Minato didn't answer. He just flashed away again, weaving through the chaos, constantly forcing A to redirect.
The Sand Ninjas caught in the middle weren't so lucky.
With A's raw power crashing through their ranks, at least a dozen were already down, left bloodied or broken from friendly fire. Worse yet, none of them could follow the two streaks of lightning and yellow light tearing across the battlefield.
On the cliffs above, Sakumo watched with narrowed eyes.
"Well done," he muttered.
Only a few knew Minato in this war, and Sakumo was one of them.
Haruki nodded calmly beside him.
Minato exceeding expectations was… expected.
Haruki turned to the waiting ninjas.
"Don't hold back your chakra. Launch long-range attacks to suppress the Sand Ninja formation. Don't worry about hitting Minato. He won't get caught."
Sakumo didn't hesitate and relayed the command.
"Rain hell on them!"
With that, the Leaf ninjas doubled down.
Fire, wind, and lightning attacks howled through the air. Explosions erupted across the battlefield, further pushing the Sand Ninja back.
But Haruki's real play hadn't even begun.
This was just the first layer, the water.
Lightning and water canceled each other out somewhat when it came to A. His lightning chakra diffused, reducing its effectiveness.
But A wasn't the one Haruki had in mind.
In the shadows, Haruki's clone crouched in ankle-deep water, weaving hand seals swiftly and silently.
Adamantine Sealing Chains.
It was one of the rewards he got from the system.
He glanced toward Kushina in the distance. She was performing the exact same jutsu.
From opposite ends of the battlefield, the two of them struck together. Chains exploded from the water like glowing serpents.
"Not this again!" Bee snarled as he spotted the approaching chains. They shimmered like golden lines on the water's surface, closing in from every direction.
If not for Kushina's interference, he would have crushed the Uchiha girl already.
But these chains were different.
They didn't come from one direction. They came from everywhere.
"What the hell?!"
Panic flooded Killer Bee's instincts as the first chain coiled around his arm, another around his leg.
'No. No. This is dangerous. I can't get caught!'
He gritted his teeth.
The Eight-Tails' chakra surged, and with a deafening roar, crimson energy exploded outward.
Tentacles burst from his back, twisted and thrashing. His body expanded violently as he began to transform into the Eight-Tails itself. A tsunami of chakra and seawater erupted around him, sending shockwaves across the battlefield.
The fighting stopped.
Everyone turned to stare, Sand Ninja, Leaf Ninja, even A and Minato.
A massive octopus demon stood in the floodwaters, casting a shadow over everything.
Water crashed in all directions as the beast moved but the chains remained.
No matter how hard he struggled, the sealing chains didn't snap.
"Bee!" A shouted, his face grim.
But inside Bee's sealed space, Gyuki's voice rang out in alarm.
"It's not just her!" the Eight-Tails growled. "There's another one hiding in the shadows!"
________________________
Soldiers, keep the story moving forward with your [Power Stones]
Support me at patreon.com/SparkyXD and read upto 30 Advanced Chapters