Four Konoha shinobi stood, facing a kid with a veil covering his face. Behind him, three Suna shinobi lay on the ground, injured, their eyes fixed on the yellow-haired man leading the Konoha team.
The team consisted of three young shinobi and the man with yellow hair.
"You should step aside, kid," the yellow-haired man, Minato, said. "Our mission is to retrieve the scroll. There is no need for bloodshed."
The kid replied with politeness in his voice, "I am sorry. I have a little sister and a cat waiting for me back home, and their survival depends on everything I can help the village with."
Minato's eyes softened for a moment, a flicker of respect passing through them. Then a determined glint replaced it. He reached into his pouch, pulled out a three-pronged kunai, and threw it at the kid.
The kid stared directly at him, unflinching, unaware of the danger speeding toward him. Minato focused, intending to activate his Flying Raijin technique to teleport to the kunai's position, right in front of the kid.
But nothing happened. His body didn't move. He tried again, reaching for his chakra, but it was gone. Completely sealed off.
"What the…" Minato muttered, his mind racing.
The kid's voice cut through the air, calm but firm. "I am sorry, but I can't fail now."
With a blur of hand signs, the kid inhaled deeply and unleashed a torrent of wind from his mouth. "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
The gust roared forward, tearing up the ground. Minato, unable to summon chakra for a jutsu, leaped to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack.
He glanced at his team. Kakashi, quick as ever, had raised an Earth Style Mud Wall to shield himself and the others. The wall held firm against the wind, dirt crumbling from its edges.
Minato's eyes darted back to the kid. Those black eyes were locked onto him. The kid's hair lifted slightly, as if caught in a faint breeze, though the air around them was still.
Minato's mind worked fast. He noticed something else when the kid blinked, just for a split second, the pressure on his chakra lifted. He could feel it again, briefly, before it vanished once more.
His eyes widened as the pieces clicked together. 'If what I think is happening…'.he thought, 'this could cause chaos in the entire shinobi world.'
The kid's ability was unlike anything Minato had encountered. It negated chakra, rendering a shinobi's most vital tool useless.
'A dojutsu,' he realized, one that could suppress chakra as long as the kid maintained eye contact.
In a one-on-one fight, this ability could make the kid unstoppable. No jutsu, no techniques, just raw skill against a powerless opponent.
But in a group fight, the kid would struggle to maintain focus on multiple targets. Blinking also broke the effect, even if only for a moment. It was a limitation, but the power of such an ability itself was a threat unlike any other.
Minato had his mind running. 'If this kid survived, if this ability spread, it could shift the balance of power across the nations.'
Konoha's elders would demand the kid's elimination. A dojutsu like this was too dangerous to let live. It could nullify the strongest techniques, and render even the most skilled shinobi helpless. The scroll that they were currently after seemed trivial in comparison.
Yet Minato hesitated. The kid's words echoed in his mind: "I have a little sister and a cat waiting for me back home, and their survival depends on everything I can help the village with. I can't fail now."
The words carried weight, a resolve Minato understood too well. He had his own family waiting in Konoha, Kushina, his students, his friends. His duty was to them, to the village. Letting this kid walk away could endanger everything he swore to protect.
But then another voice surfaced in his memory. Jiraiya, his sensei, had spoken of a vision from the Toad Sage. "There is a prophecy, my boy," Jiraiya had told to him once. "Someone with blue eyes and someone with lazy black eyes will not only change the ninja world but also protect it."
Minato's blue eyes had always marked him as special, at least in Jiraiya's view. His sensei believed he was the one with blue eyes, destined to reshape the shinobi world.
And this kid, with those black eyes, there was something about them. They weren't ordinary. It was a dojutsu even.
'Could he be the other one Jiraiya spoke of? The one with lazy black eyes, meant to stand alongside the blue eyed person in fulfilling the prophecy?'
Minato's resolve wavered. Killing the kid would secure Konoha's safety, at least for now. But what if his sensei was right? What if this kid was part of something greater, a path to peace that Jiraiya sensei had dedicated his life to pursuing? Minato couldn't ignore the possibility.
The prophecy wasn't just a bedtime story. It was a guide, a hope for a future where the cycle of war and death could end. A world where his future child would live in.
He looked at the Kid from Suna. The kid stood firm, his veil fluttering slightly as the wind from his jutsu faded.
The Suna shinobi behind him remained on the ground, their eyes darting between their last remaining hope and the Konoha team.
Minato's students stayed behind the mud wall, waiting for his signal. Kakashi was analyzing his every movement.
Minato weighed his options. If he spared the kid, he'd grow stronger, more skilled with this dojutsu. If Minato killed him, he'd eliminate a threat but risk destroying something vital to the future his sensei envisioned.
He thought of Kushina, her smile, her unwavering belief in him. He thought of the village, the faces of those he swore to protect.
And he thought of the kid's words again. They weren't so different, were they? Both of them fought for those they loved, for the people who depended on them. The kid's resolve, his willingness to stand against four Konoha shinobi for the sake of his family, gnawed at Minato's conscience.
Minato lowered his kunai, just slightly. His team noticed, their postures shifting, uncertain. The kid didn't move, his eyes still fixed on Minato.
Minato made his decision. The mission was important, but the future was more. Jiraiya's prophecy, the kid's resolve, the faint hope of a better world, they all pointed to one path.
To be continued....