"Let's go, Minato."
A parent knows their child best. Although Minato wasn't his own son, he was still a disciple.
Seeing the other Konoha shinobi follow the Third Hokage back to Konoha Village, Minato remained rooted to the spot, his expression heavy with concern.
Jiraiya, noticing him, immediately understood what he was thinking.
"Jiraiya-sensei, I don't know why, but I have a really bad feeling about this."
Minato forced a smile at Jiraiya, his gaze drifting far off toward A, who was pinned in the Valley of the End.
"You mean the Cloud Village? Don't worry unnecessarily.
Not to mention they're facing Garp-sama, the current Hidden Cloud is no more than a couple of cats at most. Besides the Third Raikage, they aren't a threat.
Even if we were to confront them, we'd hold an absolute advantage."
Jiraiya patted Minato on the shoulder.
He wasn't overthinking it.
Even after the death of Hashirama, Konoha's strength had gradually declined, but during this period, from the First Ninja War up to before the Nine-Tails Incident, Konoha had always had overwhelming superiority over any other village.
The reason Konoha struggled in the three Great Ninja Wars, constantly on the retreat, was simply because they were fighting three or even four villages at once.
At this point, in Jiraiya's view, with Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and Kirigakure staying out of it, even a single Hidden Cloud wouldn't be able to stir more than a few waves.
"I can't explain why… I just have a sense of unease. A's situation seems like it could trigger an unprecedented upheaval.
It could very well be scarier than the Third Great Ninja War."
Despite Jiraiya's reassurances, Minato only grew more tense, not relieved.
"Are you serious? That A pinned in the Valley of the End?"
Jiraiya frowned. He couldn't see how A could possess such energy.
Just the son of the Third Raikage causing something more terrifying than the Third Great Ninja War?
"It's not caused by him exactly. But it's connected to him."
Minato said, his expression thoughtful.
"Alright, don't overthink it.
Nothing's set in stone yet. Maybe Garp-sama will change his mind in a few days, and there'll be a chance to turn this around."
Seeing Minato's eyes fixed on A, Jiraiya's expression suddenly darkened.
"Minato, don't say I didn't warn you.
You absolutely cannot do anything foolish, like secretly letting A go.
I can cover for you in many things, but this… not even if I bring Orochimaru and the others along could we cover it."
He looked around to make sure no other Konoha shinobi were nearby, then lowered his voice to speak solemnly to Minato.
"Don't worry, Jiraiya-sensei. Even if I'm anxious, I'm not so foolish as to let my instincts make me do something stupid like that."
Seeing Jiraiya's warning tone, Minato quickly reassured him.
"That's good!"
Jiraiya nodded, then, ignoring any further protest, pulled Minato along. Worried, he resolved to keep a close eye on Minato over the next few days.
...
While Jiraiya, half-reluctantly, was pulling Minato back, the Third Raikage, having rested briefly on the ground, immediately ran toward the Valley of the End.
"What kind of cursed branch is this?"
Meanwhile, A, pinned in the Valley of the End, gritted his teeth as he grasped the black branch piercing his abdomen and anchoring him to the statue.
Despite the searing pain, he pulled with all his strength.
But the branch seemed fused with the massive statue itself; no matter how he tugged, he couldn't remove it from his body.
Shiiish…
Seeing that he couldn't pull it out, A's eyes narrowed. His right hand clenched into a fist, and the lightning chakra mode activated instantly.
The next moment, he slammed his fist onto the branch in his abdomen with all his strength.
Crack…
Instead of shattering as he expected, the branch held firm. The moment his fist struck, all five fingers of his hand fractured, and a cloud of blood erupted from his hand.
"How is this possible? That's just a normal branch
How can even the Lightning Strike fail to break it?"
The Third Raikage, who had just arrived at the Valley of the End, stared in disbelief.
He knew better than anyone how strong A was. In the Cloud Village, aside from himself and the late Killer B, A was unmatched.
Even against the current Five Kage, he could hold his own.
Yet under the lightning chakra mode, his Lightning Strike could not even budge a single branch casually thrown by Garp.
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed it to his dying day.
"Father, you shouldn't have done that just now."
A looked away, his eyes flickering, unwilling to meet his father's gaze.
"It's already set in motion. No point dwelling on it. The important thing now is to get you out first."
The Third Raikage interrupted A's self-reproach, then raised a finger.
"Hold on. I'll use a single-strike technique to smash the branch holding you!"
He activated Thunder Armor, pointing his finger at the black branch in A's abdomen.
"Hmph, smash the branch? Who do you think you are? That's Garp's Black Blade!
Don't think that just because you're the Third Raikage you can break it, even the resurrected First Raikage couldn't snap the branch lodged in that kid's abdomen."
But just as the Third Raikage's single-strike technique was about to hit the branch, a voice full of disdain and arrogance suddenly rang beside the father and son.
...
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