It wasn't often that he felt anxious heading onto the battlefield, but as Lord Fourth led him through the snow covered forests, Minato noticed a small stirring in his chest. He tucked it away, hiding it behind a stoic determination. The morning had dawned cool, crisp, and grey when the Hokage had called for him and the news regarding Kumogakure's troop placements had been relayed to him.
He was more surprised that Lord Fugaku ignored the counsel of Shikaku to assemble a small force for this "meeting" that the Raikage proposed or at the very least, a squad to serve as his personal bodyguard.
The Uchiha's answer had been cool and succinct. "No need. If lightning dares to strike, he'll face the fire that follows." His dark eyes then drifted to Minato. "I'll have you accompany me."
Now, they were bounding through the snow-covered trees, the winds growing colder the further north they went. He'd only traveled this far north once before as a boy. He remembered the scarlet threads of fate left behind by Kushina that had led him to her and her captors. His love for her had only matured since then and even now on a mission, the only thing that he wanted to do was return to her side. The anxiety he felt nagged at him and his instincts told him that something was off.
There was no real reason for Ā to press for a strip of land that offered very little value outside of an expanded border. Both Yugakure and Shimogakure were miniscule shinobi villages, smaller than even the other proxy villages of Kusagakure. Hot springs were admittedly decent luxuries, especially in the winter, but it wasn't worth waging a war. It had to be a cover for some other ulterior motive. Minato thought he saw black birds flying above the treeline when Lord Fugaku's voice garnered his attention.
"You've faced the Raikage before in battle, correct?"
"Yes," Minato replied, glad to have something else on his mind.
"And?"
"He's a pretty formidable shinobi. During the war, I had to stay on my toes whenever I ran into him."
The Hokage turned toward him with narrow glance. "You're much too humble sometimes. I know that you're being respectful given his station, but...how difficult of an opponent is he, really?"
He always did have an odd way of reading people, Minato mused before saying, "I wouldn't say that he was 'difficult'. If it were a duel between you two, I think that you would fare well, Lord Hokage. But, he never fights alone."
Lord Fugaku nodded. "The Hachibi's host accompanies him too, I've heard. Is he the one to watch?"
"Jinchuriki are naturally powerful foes when they're volatile. But, I think that when they've bonded closely with the beast inside them, their power increases exponentially. That is, however, dependent upon the beast," Minato said.
"And how have you tested this theory of yours?" The question had a dark undertone to it that put him on alert.
"I've fought four of the nine bijuu and their hosts in my lifetime. Of those four, the Raikage's brother is the only one that could draw on the power of his without losing control or the ability to differentiate from friend or foe."
The Hokage was quiet for a while then said, "Did he ever fully transform into his Hachibi form during any of your battles?"
Minato blinked. "No."
The Uchiha's eyes gleamed if only briefly as if something had sparked in his brain. He turned his head, but not before revealing a slight yet eerie look of satisfaction. If a plan had come to mind, the Hokage didn't share it as the two continued their travels towards Hi no Kuni's border.
They paused when they'd finally reached the frozen plains that marked the edge of their territory. Fugaku glanced back at Minato and the blonde man dipped his head and knelt to the ground, digging a finger into the snow until he could feel the cold earth beneath it. He closed his eyes and focused for a millisecond, sending out a small wave of chakra that bounced back to him.
His brow slightly furrowed. "They aren't hiding their presence," he said. "I can sense them all, even from here."
"How many?"
"At least three hundred, give or take a few that may actually be serving as scouts that would need to hide themselves."
"Can you find them?" The Hokage was staring out into the field as a small gust of wind blew his white cloak and the red flames danced.
"Sure," Minato replied. Lord Fugaku reached into a pouch on his hip and retrieved a scroll. It was tighly wrapped and sealed with his own personal emblem.
"Find one and give them this. It is only for the eyes of the Raikage," the Uchiha said, turning to Minato. "If his intentions were to actually meet with us for negotiations, he'll leave his army where they are and meet us here."
And if he doesn't, his hand is exposed, and we can respond appropriately, Minato surmised. It was an interesting move, forcing Ā to stand on his word or reveal his true objective. One that both Konoha shinobi knew was not to simply meet. With a dip of his head, Minato took the scroll and left the Hokage standing in the snow.
Kumo's reconnaissance team was easy for him to find. Spread out in a wide half circle, the squad of four were perched at the edge of the forest on the other side of the frozen plain. Minato quietly descended behind the leader, marked by a black and cream striped band on his arm, and raised his kunai beneath the man's chin.
The squad leader shuddered, a response that Minato had gotten all too familiar with. The Kumo-nin seemed to barely be able to bring himself to gulp or turn his eyes.
"Don't say anything," Minato warned, adopting a cold tone to his voice. "Take this scroll and give it to the Raikage. It's for his eyes only." He withdrew his blade and then added, "Don't try anything reckless or foolish." He patted the man on the shoulder, leaving a near invisible Hiraishin seal.
He left the Kumo-nin quivering from fear, the cold, or both and returned to Lord Fugaku's side. When he arrived, the Uchiha was leaning against a tree with his arms folded.
"Slower than I expected," he said. Though slight, the levity in his voice told Minato he was joking.
"I had to give a little pep talk," the jonin replied. "But, I think the message got across."
The Uchiha dipped his head. "Good."
Things were quiet for a few minutes before Minato ventured to strike up a conversation. "How is your family?"
Fugaku blinked and then looked at him in what appeared to be surprise before his face softened. "Well," he said. "Our sons fought during a taijutsu training session."
"I heard," Minato replied. Naruto had come home ecstatic, relaying the story of his victory with an innocent glee. Minato had been surprised to learn that it was Sasuke Uchiha that his son had bested. "Though, I believe it was more of a sparring match than an actual conflict between them."
The Uchiha half scoffed and chuckled at the same time. "Semantics." He sighed softly. "I don't have much time to train the boy, between handling the affairs of the village and the clan. He tags behind Itachi and Shisui when he can, but I'm not sure if that's sufficient."
"He's done pretty well then if he's learning by sheer observation," Minato offered. "I'm sure he'll excel as he gets older and gets under a good jonin."
"Hm." Fugaku seemed to ponder on this for a moment, then said, "I think I have someone in mind."
"Oh?" Minato said. "Who?"
"Someone you know quite well."
He couldn't mean...
Before he could finish the thought, he heard the sound of thunder in the air. There was no blizzard or storm building in the clouds, at least not a natural one. Minato narrowed his eyes and brought his senses to attention.
"He's coming," he said. The Hokage pushed himself from the tree and stood up straight. Curiously, he did not activate his Sharingan, even when the source of the thunderous sound landed in an explosion of ice, dirt, and snow.
When the white cloud cleared, two figures stood in the middle of a small crater. The Raikage waved a hand, dissipating the debris. Beside him, his brother, "Killer" Bee grinned when he saw Minato. Ā shot him a hard glance, but the younger man ignored him.
Fugaku was unmoved. "Lord Raikage, I've travelled quite a distance to answer your call for a parley between us."
"And I am glad that you have," Ā said gruffly. "Konoha has much to answer for."
The Hokage raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps I have forgotten," he said. "Which of our villages used a peace treaty as a cover to attempt to abduct a toddler?"
The jab made Ā's jaw clench. "Be careful, Lord Hokage."
"Of what?" Fugaku replied. "The last time our villages met for peace, Kumogakure met our olive branch with a serpent. You must understand if I have misgivings about your intentions here."
"I've come here without my army at my back," Ā answered.
"Please explain what three hundred Kumo shinobi are doing entrenched in our agreed neutral zone and pressing on Hi no Kuni's border." Fugaku's tone was cool, yet sharp, like a sword drawn from the snow.
Ā furrowed his brow. "We are responding to an attack on our village," he said. "An attack led by shinobi from your village."
Minato noted that this was the first time that the Hokage's expression seemed to change, but not in any form of guilt. But, genuine shock.
"There was never an order for any Konoha shinobi to even cross into your lands," he said. Fugaku paused and then continued, saying, "We have been engaged in some activity on our border, but never close to–"
"I killed your son, Uchiha."
The words hung in the air. Minato held his breath. The Raikage tossed a bloody Konoha headband at Fugaku's feet. He stared down at it for what seemed like an eternity. Then, a soft, wispy vapor left the Hokage's mouth.
"What?"
Ā's face was hard as stone. "First, I was approached by two shinobi who demanded I give up my brother to avoid a war. When I refused, your son and two other ANBU from your village attacked me and my bodyguard. They should have known better." The Raikage stepped out of the crater. Minato had forgotten how tall he was. "This is my proposal. Hi no Kuni will cede this land to me and my village. You will surrender to us someone from your village with a dojutsu kekkai genkai. And, you will rescind the outrageous terms of the peace treaty that we were forced to accept. If you refuse, my army will march into Konoha and take what I demand by force and the Hachibi will leave your precious village as a forgotten stain on the map."
Lord Fugaku raised his eyes. This time, the bright crimson glow of the Sharingan was there. "You should've known better," he echoed.
Lightning sparked in the air as Ā launched himself forward. Before he could come within striking distance of Fugaku, Minato intercepted him, flashing in front of the Kumo-nin and kicking him away. He noted the large tentacle of the Hachibi extend from Killer Bee's back and as it began to crash down towards them, Minato grabbed Fugaku and threw one of his Hiraishin kunai into the trees.
He heard the ground rumble as he and the Hokage flashed into the forest canopy. His eyes cut to Fugaku, and he could see that the man was visibly upset. "Lord Hokage..." The Uchiha glared at him, but said nothing. Minato had questions, but no time to asked them. Ā burst through the trees, cloaked in crackling blue chakra-enhanced lightning.
He's a bit faster than he used to be, he thought. The Raikage aimed a blow at him, but this time, Lord Fugaku responded.
Minato felt the heat on the nape of his neck before he teleported himself and the Hokage away. When they'd landed again, the jonin stared in amazement at the massive wave of flame and the scorched ground it left in its wake.
"He has to be lying," the Hokage said, his voice chilled by grief. Minato turned to him and saw Fugaku shaking his head. "I've never sent any of our people on missions to Kumogakure, let alone any ultimatums."
Details Kakashi had shared with him came to mind. The scroll containing information regarding the Eight Trigrams Sealing jutsu, who wrote it, where it was being sent, and Fugaku's efforts to retrieve it. If it were meant to be sent to Kumogakure, at this point now, Ā would not be so coy as not to demand the Kyūbi from them now. But, if Orochimaru or Danzo had not intended to share those secrets with an enemy nation, then...
"Who was the scroll Kakashi retrieved intended for?" Minato asked.
The Hokage looked at him incredulously for a moment before realization washed over his face. He took a moment to answer and Minato could see him working through several different options and outcomes in his head until he finally opened his mouth. "Intelligence that we gathered suggested that Danzo and Orochimaru had made contact with an enemy outside of our village. We all initially assumed that it was Kumogakure since both traitors had coordinated with them to abduct Hiashi's heiress."
"But, you don't think that now?"
"No," Fugaku said. "Before Danzo's death, a contingent of his Root operatives were sent to the west. Unfortunately, that's all that we were able to decipher from his missing documents and our interrogation of Orochimaru."
West... Minato pondered on that for a moment. There were only two major Shinobi powers towards the west and one of them was an ally in Sunagakure. Iwagakure had been an enemy in the Third World War, but they had accepted and honored the peace treaty without any reports of their shinobi crossing borders or engaging in any actions that would have violated the agreement. But, if it wasn't either of them, then...
There was only one other option that he could think of.
A howl filled the air and shook the forest canopy. Minato's eyes widened as he felt a surge of chakra building in the distance. Out in the middle of the snowy field, massive octopus tentacles slammed into the ground, and he saw the bull's head of the Hachibi thrashing as its mouth opened. Dark chakra began to swirl around its maw, flickers of blue and red energy merging and helping it expand.
So they're going that far then... Minato frowned and looked to Fugaku. "They're preparing an attack, one that we shouldn't try to avoid." His mind searched quickly through all of the random locations he'd marked for occasions like this and made a decision. "I'll redirect it."
"And then, we go on the offensive," the Hokage said. There was a certain, ominous glow in his Sharingan that gave Minato pause, but, he nodded in agreement.
The Bijuu Bomb launched towards them, tearing through the remnants of the forest and incinerating the field. Lord Fugaku braced himself behind Minato as he held up one of his Hiraishin kunai and awaited the chakra sphere's arrival. Quickly weaving hand seals, he created a barrier, absorbing the massive ball of energy until nothing remained. Seconds later though, the earth beneath them shook and a bright red light flashed in the sky.
Using it as a cover, Minato put a hand on the Hokage's shoulder and picked his target.
The mark he'd left on "Killer" Bee during the last war wouldn't fade and was always accessible to him. It was a secret of the Hiraishin that only he and Kushina knew, evidenced by the look of bewilderment that showed on both Kumo shinobi's faces. To the Raikage's credit, he managed to react to Minato's kunai blow, coating his arm in electrically charged chakra. Bee raged in his Hachibi form, lifting an enormous tentacle. He stopped mid-swing and Minato could feel Fugaku's chakra surge and grow cold.
He remembered the look he'd had when he asked if Bee had ever transformed into what he was now during their battle. He almost certainly had a plan.
And I don't need to be in the way…
And neither did Ā. Minato's first order of business was removing him the Raikage from the battlefield while the Hokage enacted whatever plan he had. He quickly honed in on one of his kunai that he'd thrown into the trees and teleported both of them away. Ā caught himself on the ground and sucked his teeth as Minato landed in front of him.
"I should've known you'd want to face me on your own," the man said with a smirk. His lightning cloak crackled around his body as he flexed. "Let this be the last time that we face each other on the battlefield."
The Raikage was in front of Minato in an instant and the blonde shinobi's eyes widened slightly. He'd gotten faster. And he was going in for the kill. His punch was still too slow to touch him. He flashed behind Ā, charging a swirling blue sphere of chakra in his hand. He pushed the Rasengan into the larger man's back, expecting him to go spinning into the forest.
Instead, the jutsu dissipated into his hand.
Interesting. So a standard Rasengan isn't enough to get past this lightning cloak of his, Minato surmised. The Raikage had managed to improve the technique's durability by a fairly large degree. Without an opposite nature transformation, getting past it would be difficult. But not necessarily impossible.
He disengaged before Ā could counter him, darting backwards. Lightning sparked above his head and Minato frowned. A yellow flash of light replaced his body and he landed in a tree branch overlooking the crater where he once was. In the distance, he heard Killer Bee roaring and saw a wave of fire briefly rise over the treeline. They're still engaged…
Then all he had to do was make sure that Ā didn't get in the way of their battle, at least until whatever Fugaku had planned came to fruition. But in order to do that, he would have to get past the Raikage's defense. Minato had been working on something for the past few years that might succeed in that regard, a technique he'd held close to his chest and revealed to no one, except Jiraiya-sensei. If it worked, then…
He felt something spark in his brain and sink into the pit of his stomach. He recognized the sensation immediately.
Kushina…
He could sense his seal had been partially breached by the chakra of the Kyūbi which also meant that his wife was in danger. His mind shifted from holding the Raikage at bay to getting to her side. Ā rose from below splitting the tree that Minato was sitting in. His teeth were bare and his jaw clenched, parting only to say, "You're mine!"
Perhaps another time, the jonin thought.
He teleported to the Hiraishin seal that he'd placed on Bee and then fashed to Fugaku's side. The Hokage was in the midst of launching another fire ball at the Hachibi when Minato appeared behind him.
"Lord Hokage," he said. "Kushina's been captured."
Smoke flowed from the Hokage's mouth when he turned to him. "You have my leave. Go."
Minato didn't hesitate.
Kushina's bright red hair was the first thing that came into view, followed by a black cloak with red clouds nearly passing by him. Minato reached out and removed Kushina from the cloaked figure's grasp and heard a surprised "Oh?"
Minato held Kushina in his arms as the figure landed in a tree multiple paces from them. The relief in his wife's scarlet, fox-like eyes was near enough to bring tears to his eyes.
"Are you Minato Namikaze?" The voice was deep and gravelly. The man's face was hidden behind a mask that only exposed his eyes, an unnatural sight of green irises and red sclerae. And the headband he wore bore the symbol of Takigakure with a slash through it.
A missing-nin… There was something very off and different about this man.
"I am," the Konoha shinobi replied.
"Good," the cloaked man replied. "This is very good." He stretched and Minato heard his bones crack.
I see. "You drew me here."
"I had a hunch that you would come," the man said. "No matter how tightly secured the seal for the Kyūbi is, there was always the chance that the beast that powerful could potentially break through and influence it's host. So, you would have to put some kind of failsafe. And a shinobi as famed for his speed and teleportation like yourself would place a seal within your seal that would reverse summon you."
Minato shared a glance with Kushina then looked back at the man. He'd left the perch he stood. Descending from above, the cloaked shinobi…stretched his arm to reach him, black tendrils separating and Minato leapt away, still holding his wife in his arms. The man's arm didn't stop, twisting around the length of the tree trunk as Minato darted away.
He noted that the other arm had burst toward him and was growing closer. The cloaked man had extended his legs as well.
As he closed the distance, Minato allowed everything to slow for him. His brain cycled through multiple possibilities for retreat. The easy thing would be to teleport he and Kushina away and leave the man in the forest alone. However, something told him that doing that would be a great disservice to the village he'd vowed as a shinobi to protect. This man, whoever he was and whoever he represented, was dangerous.
Powerful enough to defeat Kakashi's team and elusive enough to escape with Kushina without a soul following him. And the cloak that he wore…
The man's arms destroyed the canopy and Minato dipped down to where he stood.
His plan came to him quickly. First, he'd reverse summon Kushina to one of their safe houses using the Hiraishin seal imbued in the Kyūbi's binding. Then, he'd deal with this missing-nin and get answers if there were any to obtain.
The Yellow Flash weaved past the man and put his hand to Kushina's stomach. When her eyes rose to meet his, he smiled.
"I'll see you a little later," he said.
She disappeared in a red flash of light, leaving just Minato and the masked man alone on the forest floor.
"You Konoha shinobi have a habit of sending away your distractions. This is the second time today that one of you teleported someone away while facing me," the man said. "I hope that you won't decide to run."
"I won't," Minato said. "And even if you do…" He appeared in front of him in an instant, his Rasengan swirling in his right hand. "You won't escape me." When the jutsu made contact with the man, his eyes widened. Then narrowed. He didn't move. This was the second time today. Minato could tell from the impact that the man had done something to alter his body, similar to how Ā had cloaked himself in lightning.
"Running away from a bounty? Doubtful." He swung a punch at Minato that the jonin easily avoided before stepping back. As he dodged backwards, he took two of his Hiraishin kunai in hand, throwing one at the man and the other into the sky to be an escape route if needed. The masked shinobi raised his hand and deflected the blade aimed at him then darted forward. Minato noted the metallic sound when it came into contact with his skin.
Some kind of jutsu to harden his body, he concluded. He'd encountered similar jutsu during the war, facing several Iwa shinobi who believed that a simple rock armor would keep them safe from him. He needed to hit him before he could retract the technique.
The kunai he'd thrown in the air had begun its descent.
The next few moves took half a second.
Minato had been practicing for years, honing one of his chakra natures into his Rasengan. He'd admittedly taken some inspiration from Kakashi's Chidori, fusing lightning chakra into the sphere to create something new. He'd given some thought to the name, though, he hadn't been able to come up with one until this very moment.
As the masked shinobi closed the distance, Minato teleported to the kunai that he'd reflected. His sudden reappearance drew the man's gaze towards him and as his eyes drifted, Minato came forward.
Then disappeared, teleporting to the falling kunai that was now inches away from where the masked man was standing. This time when he connected with his technique, Minato could feel the man's armor crumble immediately and he heard the shinobi let out a shocked groan of pain.
Falling, Vanishing, Radiant, Flashing Spherical Heavenly Thunder God Spear Rasengan.
The crater that he'd created from the jutsu had uprooted the surrounding trees, exposing the soft soil beneath the snows. The impact ripped the masked man's cloak to shreds, exposing his back. Minato noted the four masks on his back before one opened its mouth and exploded.
Fire engulfed the forest and incinerated the snows. A powerful wind gust followed, strengthening the flames and turning the trees to ash. Minato hadn't anticipated the attack so throwing an escape kunai hadn't been an option. But, he had managed to get out of range with a quick Body Flicker. He teleported back to the cloaked man as he rose up, using the Hiraishin seal he'd left on his body after using his last Rasengan.
But, what he saw almost took him aback.
Long, black tendrils stretched out of the masked shinobi's body. Blood dripped from his mouth as two white masks, both accented with different colors, flowed to the end of each tendril. Another laid shattered at his feet.
Red, yellow, and light blue…
The last attack had been a combination of a powerful fire jutsu followed by wind to amplify it. If the pattern held, the last mask probably produced lightning-based ninjutsu. That, on top of the Doton Minato had already countered. He was sure that his attack had enough power behind it to kill in addition to being the natural counter to the Doton technique the masked man had used to coat his body. To the jonin's surprise though, the yellow mask cracked and shattered into pieces. This seemed to somehow rejuvenate him.
So, he can use the elements connected to the masks housed on his back, but they serve as a form of insurance that extends his life. It didn't make sense to only have four of the five elements, though. One of his masks had already been destroyed earlier. Or, the masks weren't necessarily the target at all. This man just needed to be killed again and again until he ran out. You must have been able to kill him once, Kakashi. Minato resisted the urge to smirk with pride. That means the rest is up to me…
He'd assumed that the man may have figured out that he could teleport to wherever his kunai were. His feats during the Third War would have made it impossible to hide that fact. The man also knew that he could leave his seal embedded within another to move instantaneously to that position as Minato had done for Kushina. It was also safe to assume the man knew that he could reverse summon objects that were marked with his seal. Even if he had gathered all of that from their skirmishes, it would be a stretch to think that this man had any sufficient counters. Still, there was no reason to operate from a position of superiority. Rather than drag this out…
I can kill him three times with one jutsu.
He still had the chakra reserves left and another technique to officially try that he hadn't before. Minato had been able to fuse his lightning elemental nature with the Rasengan with some difficulty, only due to the sporadic and sometimes chaotic nature of electricity. However, he'd also been able to add his secondary elemental nature, creating an offshoot technique far more powerful than the former. If his predictions for Naruto turned out to be true, he hoped to be able to teach him the technique one day.
Minato drew several Hiraishin-marked kunai from his pouch and locked them between his fingers. When he threw them, they spiraled around the masked man. His light blue mask opened and unleashed a powerful swirl of wind, blowing the knives off their trajectory. It'd done a good job of spraying them in random places and Minato suspected that the man may have thought himself clever. But, the Yellow Flash's aim was not to use those kunai to attack.
But as a distraction.
While the masked man was briefly hidden by the tornado-like winds he created, Minato infused a Rasengan with Fūton that only grew stronger as it fed off his opponent's attack. He quickly honed the chakra, shaping it until it resembled a large shuriken. He didn't wait for the wind to dissipate. The masked shinobi would be sitting in the eye of the storm.
Minato met him there.
The man turned, eyes widened as he probably realized all too late that he had been marked earlier on in the duel. The shuriken-shaped Fūton: Rasengan slammed into the man's body, slicing and cutting through him. Once it connected, Minato teleported outside of the dome to one of the kunai that had been scattered.
Then, he waited for the winds to cease.
The Taki missing-nin laid in a bloody heap, his chest rising in short yet slow breaths. His masks were gone and scattered into the wind. Minato approached, blade in hand. He stopped in front of the man's body and knelt to look at him.
"I don't suppose you have any last words for me?" he asked, his voice cold.
The masked man simply stared at him until the light in his eyes faded away and his body's breaths stopped. Minato waited for nearly a minute then jabbed his kunai into the man's neck to confirm his death.
Then, he gathered himself, letting his body calm from the adrenaline rush.
And he disappeared in a flash of golden light to his wife.