"Hey, how did Sensei know right away that guy was from the Cloud?"
Obito nudged Kakashi with his elbow, whispering.
"He's not even wearing a forehead protector. Is there some secret trick or something?"
"I told you to stop sleeping in class." Kakashi dragged a hand down his face, radiating secondhand embarrassment. "Look at his skin color. That deep bronze? You basically only see that in people who've lived in Kumogakure all their lives. Sensei just put two and two together."
Cloud-nin were actually pretty easy to pick out. That distinctive bronzed skin made blending in a nightmare.
"Read a book when we get back," Kakashi sighed. "If you don't, I'm seriously worried you're going to die on some mission one day."
"S–shut up, Kakashi!"
Obito's face flushed bright red, equal parts anger and humiliation.
"Of course I knew that! I was just… too nervous and forgot, okay?!"
"Save it, you two."
Minato's calm voice cut between them.
The usual gentle warmth in his eyes had hardened into something sharp and focused.
"We're in the middle of a battle. And I've heard that name before—Killer B. He's part of Kumo's new A–B combo. Rumor says he's the future Raikage's right arm. Don't underestimate him."
"A–A–B combo?" Obito repeated, looking hopelessly lost. "That's a weird name…"
Rin winced.
She leaned close to his ear, whispering:
"It's A–B combo, not A–A–B. 'A' and 'B.' It's a Cloud tradition. Every Raikage goes by 'A.' And 'A' has to find someone who matches him perfectly in combat—his 'B.' Only the two together can show their full power."
Obito's eyes went blank for a second.
Then one crucial part sank in.
"So… in other words," he said, "this guy's really strong?"
"Very strong," Kakashi said quietly.
His expression had gone stiff. His hand was already on the hilt of his short sword, body angled protectively in front of Obito and Rin.
"I can feel it. The chakra in his body is insane. Just standing here, my whole body's shaking."
Only then did Obito and Rin really notice.
Kakashi had been standing half a step ahead of them the whole time, silently taking the brunt of that crushing pressure.
Cold sweat beaded on his face. Obito could see the back of his shirt sticking to his skin, soaked through. The veins on his hand stood out starkly as he gripped his sword; the muscles in his arms and shoulders were wound so tight he looked like a bowstring about to snap.
"Why would Cloud's A–B combo suddenly appear at Konoha's border?"
Minato's brows drew together.
He took a step forward, shielding his team with his body, but his gaze never left Killer B for an instant.
"Too bad," B sang, shoulders swaying to a beat only he could hear. His oversized shades and tall, gelled-up hairstyle made him look even more ridiculous.
"Killer B ain't here to talk it out, you see~
Konoha shinobi~ You already saw me~
So now you all gotta die, or Big Bro'll scold me~"
"…Does this guy have a screw loose?" Obito muttered. "You know you can just talk, right? Acting like that's exhausting."
"Idiot! You big idiot! Super idiot!"
B waggled his shoulders harder and threw Obito a middle finger.
"You—!"
Obito almost exploded on the spot, but Rin latched onto his sleeve and held him back with both hands.
And then—
Minato moved.
One heartbeat he was standing in front of his team.
The next, he was behind Killer B.
The speed was so extreme that even B himself hadn't reacted in time. He was half a beat late, like someone who'd missed the first note of a song.
"So fast!"
Shock flickered across B's face, his usual carefree grin vanishing.
"Apologies," Minato said calmly.
"Since you refuse to explain your presence here, I'll have to bring you in by force."
His kunai flashed, sweeping toward the back of B's neck at a razor-sharp angle.
Shing!
On pure instinct, Killer B folded.
His massive body contorted into a staggering, impossible shape, letting the kunai scythe across his cheek and miss by a hair.
Minato's eyes narrowed.
He hadn't expected a guy built like a bear to bend like a snake.
"Don't underestimate Killer B~!"
As the steel kissed the air beside his face, B's torso snapped back like a released spring.
Muscles bunched along his right arm, swelling beneath dark skin like coiled cables. Thick veins writhed like dragons; lightning chakra surged over his fist with a furious crackle, filling the air with the smell of ozone.
He planted his feet, legs gouging deep furrows into the ground.
Then his arm whipped forward like a black iron club, the air screaming as it caved around the strike.
"Lariat!!!"
BOOM!
Raw power ripped the air apart.
The shockwave alone kicked up concentric ripples, dirt exploding outward in a cloud. Anyone who took that hit head-on was getting at best broken bones—and at worst, turned into paste.
"Minato-sensei!"
"Sensei!"
Obito and Rin both cried out.
Minato's face didn't change.
The kunai marked with his formula spun in his fingers.
Flying Thunder God.
Space-time ninjutsu did not play by the same rules as ordinary combat. When it came to positioning, to initiative, it was cheating in a way no one else could match.
That was Minato's greatest advantage.
His body blurred, vanishing just as the Lariat tore through the space he'd been standing in.
B hit nothing but air.
Momentum carried him forward, his bulk working against him as he fought for balance. The wide, committed motion left his flank gaping open.
Minato's hand had already moved.
His left hand released another kunai. His right palm spread, chakra condensing into a whirling, concentrated sphere.
He was one breath away from teleporting to the kunai and ramming a Rasengan into Killer B's ribs—
When something slammed into the battlefield like a falling meteor.
BOOOOM!
Lightning roared.
A tall, broad-shouldered figure crashed down in a storm of crackling blue chakra, the impact leaving a crater in the ground.
Contorted air and splintered stone shredded outward in a violent ring.
Lightning armor.
Lightning-nature chakra wrapped the newcomer head to toe like a raging cloak, turning him into a walking storm.
"B! I'm here!"
The voice boomed over the battlefield, deep and brash.
Blue-white lightning danced over the man's skin, hugging every edge of his ridiculous muscle mass like a second skin. His hair was swept back in a wild blond crest; a short beard framed his jaw. Bronze skin, blunt features, and the kind of physique that looked carved out of a mountainside.
For a moment, as Minato and the man's eyes met, the air itself seemed to vibrate between them.
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