The wall near where Minato was sitting blew up because Deidara missed his target by far. Minato was quick on his feet, appearing on the other side of the Kage's suite, to protect himself from getting injured.

When he turned around to see the damage done to the structure, he realized that Deidara hadn't thrown an explosive in their direction by mistake. Rasa was threatened with a kunai under his chin, kunai held by the other Kaze's hand, that seemed to be extended, with a jutsu perhaps. Anbu guards from both Konoha and Suna reacted, but Yama's Anbu blocked their way, as well as a wall of water that MInato didn't have time to analyze whom it came from.

We're under attack, was all Minato could think of. He heard the crowds screaming. An explosion in the distance somewhere in the village. Minato's breaths fastened. Konoha, his home, was under attack. By Yama.

The first thing he could do was to help the Kazekage, who seemed to be struggling, hands tied behind his back now. Minato and Rasa had worked together for a dozen years now, Rasa was his ally, and if Suna's Anbu couldn't come to help him, it was Minato's job to do so. He trusted himself to be quick enough. He had marked his own seat, so he reappeared there, and jumped at the throat of the Yama Kage. Minato didn't know his name yet, he only had meetings with representatives from that country before. And those representatives always referred to that leader by "The First", just like Rasa and Minato were both, "The Fourth".

Rasa freed himself, and with the little sand he could gather around the area, started to immobilize the Yama Kage. Minato took that guy's hat off and tried to pull his mask down with the hopes of revealing who was under it. It had to be one of Minato's enemies, or something.

Minato revealed a man with dark skin.

"The Yellow Flash of Konoha. Your head is worth billions of ryo. And trust me that I'll have your bounty price by the end of today."

His green eyes were staring at him with a murderous look, and Minato knew he had to move. That man was already freeing himself from Rasa's hardened golden sand. Minato didn't know what that man's goal was, but the Yama Kage would have to play chase with him if Minato was his target. And the Hokage intended to help as many people along the way. It was his duty, as the leader, to protect the village.

As Minato hurt or killed any Yama ninja on his tracks in the arena, he noticed how the entire village seemed to be invaded. Guilt filled Minato's guts. He was the one who decided to trust that new hidden village, and invite them to the chunin exam. Shikaku wasn't very enthusiastic about it. He should have listened to his advisor. Maybe they wouldn't be in this position. Even Kakashi had expressed concerns. It seemed that Sasori had indeed seeked refuge there, and didn't infiltrate the exam as an imposter after all. Was he part of Yama's plan all along? If so, why had Sasori attacked Rasa's children, and Yama's Kage attacked Rasa himself? Were they trying to attack the Kazekage's family, or Konoha? Both?

Deidara continued causing damage to the arena's structure, hurting civilians and children on his way. Minato recognized an enormous bird that seemed to be drawn with a ninja on it, trying to play chase with Deidara. Minato realized it must be Sai, and thought the genin was courageous. Minato didn't have the time to look at Sai, though. He had a whole village to protect.

Minato helped some children to free themselves after a wall near him collapsed.

"Do you see that girl there with pink hair?" Minato told them once they were able to walk, pointing to Sakura who was taking cover a little further down the stairs. "Go to her. She is a medical ninja in training. She will be able to stop your arm from bleeding."

Minato trusted Naruto's teammate to get those children to a refuge where she would heal the injured. He had to rely on everyone who could fight, or help in any way. Minato felt guilty for not being able to save everyone, and especially for putting his whole village in danger. He couldn't know Yama prepared an attack, but he still felt he had made the decision to have them around. It wouldn't have happened, if he had listened to Kakashi and canceled the exam.

Minato decided to return to the Kage's suite. Yama needed to pay by having their leader down. Suddenly, as the Kage was still trying to kill Rasa, Minato realized who that man was.

"How did we not know it was Kakuzu from the bingo book?" he suddenly yelled at a close Anbu guard and Fugaku.

None of the ninjas could answer, too busy trying to get rid of their enemies. Yama's delegation seemed to have come with even more Anbu squads than Konoha even had. Just how big was Yama? Enemy shinobi were circling them, making their way into the Kage's suite. Where the hell were Minato's usual Anbu squads? They couldn't be all defeated already?

Minato fought as he could Kakuzu and his friends. Minato felt like he was a little rusty, after years of office work without seeing a field. But he could feel his surroundings had been marked with his kunai, so he was able to move and avoid any attacks directed at him, making a massacre into the enemy's lines. Minato realized he had a missing kunai this morning, one that he used for his Flying Thunder God jutsu, and he started to suspect one of his counselors might have taken it from him and marked the area for safety. Minato suspected Shikaku the most, he had been the most reluctant to invite Yama for the Chunin exam. And Minato had to admit the Nara man had been right.

Minato reappeared next to Kakuzu and tried to slice his throat. His enemy's skin seemed to be hardened, but Minato hoped that if his next attacks were fast enough, he'd make it through. Rasa, Fugaku, a guy named Yashamaru and a few Konoha ninjas in the Hokage's close guard were busy trying to get rid of the numbers of ninjas infiltrating the suite. How many of them were in the bingo book? A ball of stress formed in his stomach. Minato was about to run his way through them to kill them when another ninja from Yama barged in.

"Lord First, the Uzumaki woman doesn't have the Nine Tail Beast. They fooled us!"

"Kill her and find the jinchuriki!" Kakuzu growled. "How much is she worth, forty millions? I'll take anyone!"

Minato was appearing behind Kakuzu to stab him in his chest when he heard that, so he struck even harder, his kunai slicing through the skin into Kakuzu's flesh. He took out his kunai and immediately used a rasengan that he put through the hole he had created in Kakuzu's chest. Minato then teleported himself in a yellow flash to where he thought Kushina could be. His wife was in deep danger. Skilled shinobi were actively trying to stop Yama's anbu, and Minato was confident his strike on Kakuzu was fatal, or else, Fugaku or Rasa would finish him off. Minato, even though he wished he could be everywhere to make up for his mistakes, couldn't be in two places at once. And he couldn't bear losing his wife. It made him selfish, but he had to do something to protect her. With Kakuzu down, Konoha and Suna would win the battle due to their alliance.

He also thought of his sons. If they were fighting Yama, Minato's only hope was that they wouldn't show greater chakra reserves than a normal Uzumaki, so that no one realized they shared Kurama's strength.

Deidara was flying above Kushina in what appeared to be a chase, Kushina struggling to run through all the destroyed walls that had collapsed. Minato had yet to be noticed, so he had the advantage. Deidara started to fly without moving, as if he enjoyed seeing his target panicking. It was the perfect timing for Minato. He threw a Rasengan in the bird's direction, and Deidara was so cocky of a teenager that he didn't even see him. He flew off his bird in a free fall, with nothing to save him. Minato hoped the fall would be fatal. Sai flew right at Kushina.

"Climb, we'll try to escape!"

Minato felt a presence behind him and turned around. It was a Yama ninja, but Minato was the fastest between them two and he sliced his throat with his kunai. He then watched Sai flying away. He teleported himself into his office. He only had taken a few kunai with him, as he was supposed to be judging genins in the first place, not fighting. He took all he could gather. The view from his office was awful. Buildings were on fire, ninjas were fighting everywhere. Minato felt he couldn't talk, because his voice would crack. He was desperate to help his village, and defend it. They couldn't lose.