Chapter 145 – Fierce Battle and the Birth of the Rasengan
Following the direction Taichi pointed, the others looked ahead.
To them, it appeared no different from the other paths.
But no one questioned him.
Trust was absolute.
The squad pressed forward.
As they closed the distance, Taichi noticed the thermal traces growing clearer in his heat vision. Though the enemy used multiple diversion tactics along the way, in Taichi's sight there was only ever one true trail.
Near noon—
Hizashi finally spoke.
"Eight kilometers ahead. Visual confirmation on the spy."
A surge of energy rippled through the team.
After hours of relentless pursuit—
They finally had him.
Taichi dismissed his thermal vision. His eyes returned to normal. Tracking would now be handled by Hizashi's Byakugan—maintaining partial flame transformation for that long had already drained a considerable amount of chakra.
They accelerated.
The distance shrank rapidly.
Then—
Hizashi's expression changed.
"Careful—exp—!"
The warning never finished.
BOOM.
An explosion detonated from the flank.
A body was hurled through the air.
And of course—
It was Kizuna.
Taichi vanished instantly.
He caught Kizuna midair before he hit the ground. A quick scan—minor burns, no structural damage.
Others gathered.
Taichi performed brief treatment.
Nothing serious.
But—
They were exposed.
In Hizashi's field of vision, the spy had clearly increased speed, fleeing desperately toward the Land of Lightning.
"Take the pills. Full pursuit!" Minato ordered immediately.
No hesitation.
The team swallowed Taichi's specialized soldier pills and reformed into a streamlined pursuit formation.
"Kizuna, stay behind me," Taichi ordered coldly.
Doubt had begun to form.
From here on—
It became a brutal straight-line chase.
Avoid what could be avoided.
Destroy what couldn't.
Kunai shattered traps without slowing momentum.
The gap continued shrinking.
Then—
Hizashi delivered new intel.
"Eight kilometers ahead—additional Kumogakure forces. Fast. They will reach the spy before we do."
"Damn it!" Yōhei cursed.
"So close."
Minato remained calm.
"Numbers? Strength?"
"Two squads. Eight total. Two jōnin leaders, six chūnin. Including the spy—that makes three jōnin."
Minato assessed instantly.
Nine versus six.
They were outnumbered—
But not outmatched.
"Once they link up," Minato said firmly, "none of them can be allowed to escape."
"Yes!" ×5
Formation shifted.
Encirclement pattern.
Minato, Hizashi, and Taichi took point—clearly preparing to intercept the enemy jōnin first.
Yōhei, Saori, and Kizuna would handle the rest.
Kizuna, notably, remained positioned behind Taichi.
No more mistakes.
---
The two forces converged.
Kumogakure arrived first and completed the handoff.
The stolen deployment map changed hands before Konoha could intervene.
Its location was now unknown.
Only one option remained.
Total annihilation.
The formation adjusted subtly.
The air grew heavy.
Across from them, the Kumogakure ninja showed no fear.
They had superior numbers.
And several of the Konoha shinobi were visibly young.
Confidence surged among them.
They formed ranks and charged.
Both sides advanced without hesitation.
Before physical contact—
Ninjutsu collided.
Lightning techniques erupted from Kumogakure.
Lightning spheres.
Lightning nets.
Piercing lightning needles.
Mixed among them—wind and fire techniques.
Konoha's display looked fewer—
But far more refined.
Taichi opened with full output:
Fire Release: Dragon Flame Bomb.
Brilliant golden flames burst forth.
Like a blazing dragon tearing through thunder, it ripped open a gap in the lightning barrage and surged toward the Kumogakure line.
The enemy reacted instantly.
The heat alone was suffocating.
They scattered to avoid the frontal impact.
But avoiding was easier said than done.
Taichi twisted his wrist.
The blazing dragon snapped sideways.
It bypassed the lead jōnin—
And swept directly across the advancing chūnin.
In less than a heartbeat—
The frontmost chūnin was engulfed.
He didn't even have time to scream.
Reduced instantly to charred black remains.
A shocked voice rang out from Kumogakure's ranks:
"Damn it! That flame is insane! Don't let it touch you!"
No one needed that reminder.
Everyone could feel how terrifying those flames were—especially with one of their own already reduced to ashes.
After the initial exchange of ninjutsu, Konoha gained a slight advantage.
Minato, Taichi, and Hizashi seized the opening immediately and closed in on their respective targets.
And in that instant—
The gap between the two sides became painfully obvious.
---
Minato's Side
Minato flicked a Flying Thunder God kunai with his left hand.
At the same time, he lunged forward, right hand thrusting horizontally with another blade.
The Kumogakure jōnin ignored the flying kunai entirely. He merely shifted slightly and swung his short sword toward Minato's incoming form.
Then—
Minato vanished.
The jōnin's eyes widened.
A sharp pain pierced his throat.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw it—
Minato standing behind him.
Kunai embedded deep in his neck.
The Flying Thunder God had already marked its position.
It was over in less than a breath.
---
Taichi's Side
Taichi's confrontation was even more brutal.
No probing.
No testing.
He charged straight for vital points.
Ignoring the enemy's attack entirely.
With the Fire Transformation Technique as insurance, he forced a mutual vital strike exchange.
The result—
Taichi was briefly paralyzed by lightning chakra running through the enemy's blade.
The enemy—
Collapsed.
A short blade buried through his heart.
The jōnin convulsed once—
Then went still.
Taichi frowned slightly.
Another weakness confirmed.
Under large-scale Water Release, Fire Transformation drained enormous chakra.
Under Lightning Release—
It could cause paralysis.
If multiple enemies were present…
Or if paralysis hit before full flame conversion—
That would be fatal.
He would need to be more cautious moving forward.
---
Back to the Battlefield
With two jōnin dead in the first exchange—
The remaining spy jōnin immediately shouted:
"Retreat! Disengage now!"
But by then—
They were fully entangled.
Retreat was no longer a choice.
Taichi immediately pivoted toward Hizashi's fight.
Minato wasn't idle either.
Five Flying Thunder God kunai scattered outward—
A flash of golden light.
Five chūnin clutched their throats simultaneously.
Collapsed.
The speed was so absurd that even Konoha's own side barely processed it.
The spy jōnin's heart sank into despair.
Reinforcements?
More like sacrifices.
In moments, they had been dismantled.
Surrounded front and back—
He understood.
There would be no escape.
If death was inevitable—
He would take someone with him.
His fighting style shifted instantly.
Reckless.
Desperate.
Facing Hizashi's Gentle Fist—
He did not dodge.
He took the strike head-on—
And drove his kunai forward with lethal intent.
Hizashi twisted at the last second—
But the blade still sank into his left shoulder.
A muffled groan.
Hizashi struck back fiercely, forcing distance.
Even he hadn't expected such suicidal aggression.
The spy tried to press the advantage—
But Taichi arrived.
Golden blade flashing.
Relentless pressure.
The spy's chakra flow faltered—Hizashi's earlier strike had disrupted it.
Taichi wasted no time.
His sword ignited in brilliant gold.
No finesse.
No tricks.
Just overwhelming force.
Three clashes—
On the third—
The spy's chakra stuttered.
His kunai shattered.
His hand—
Severed cleanly.
A scream began—
And cut off abruptly.
Taichi had already stepped in.
Left fist—
Monstrous Strength.
CRACK.
Bone fractured audibly.
The spy was blasted into the air.
Blood and organ fragments sprayed like crimson mist.
He hit the ground twitching.
Taichi appeared beside him.
One glance.
No saving him.
A clean thrust ended it.
Mercy, of a sort.
---
Aftermath
"Taichi, treat Hizashi. Everyone else—find the deployment map," Minato ordered immediately.
Searching a jōnin corpse was dangerous work. Traps. Poisons. Hidden triggers.
Healing, however—
That was Taichi's domain.
He removed Hizashi's outer layer and examined the wound.
Green chakra glowed.
"Nothing critical. No structural damage. Just flesh."
He applied Mystical Palm, accelerating clotting and tissue repair.
Hizashi lowered his gaze.
"I became a liability."
Taichi shook his head.
"Minato-senpai and I relied on surprise. If the enemy had been prepared, victory wouldn't have come so easily."
Minato joined them.
"Information wins battles. Flying Thunder God depends on unpredictability. Once anticipated, its effectiveness drops."
He was being modest.
Even with preparation, most ninja couldn't react to him.
But the sentiment was appreciated.
Taichi changed the subject.
"Minato-senpai, your Flying Thunder God has improved tremendously. Last year you couldn't chain that many jumps."
Minato scratched his golden hair with a smile.
Then—
His expression shifted slightly.
"I've noticed its limitations. So I've been developing something new."
Interest sharpened around the firelight.
"I want to create a technique that requires no hand seals. Pure chakra. Massive destructive force."
He raised his hand.
Chakra gathered visibly.
Within seconds—
A swirling blue sphere formed.
Taichi's eyes sharpened.
It wasn't complete.
The rotation was uniform—single-directional.
Not yet the chaotic dual-rotation he remembered.
"This is as far as I've reached," Minato admitted. "High-speed rotation and compression. Combined with Flying Thunder God… it should become unavoidable."
He pressed it against the ground.
Under pressure—
The sphere destabilized.
Burst outward.
Even incomplete, it blasted a half-meter crater into the earth.
The others stared.
If incomplete power was this destructive—
What would completion look like?
A seal-less technique.
Terrifying.
Minato suddenly turned to Taichi.
"You're skilled in technique development. Any ideas on stabilizing it?"
Taichi blinked.
He hadn't expected that.
But he knew the training process.
He extended his hand.
Chakra gathered.
A blue sphere formed.
Gasps echoed.
Yōhei and Kizuna attempted the same.
Chakra gathered—
Then fizzled uselessly.
They withdrew awkwardly.
For Taichi—
This stage was trivial.
But he closed his eyes, pretending to think.
No need to shatter egos instantly.
Silence filled the clearing.
After a long pause—
He opened his eyes.
The sphere began fluctuating violently.
On the verge of collapse—
He adjusted the internal flow.
Rotation shifted.
Balanced.
Stabilized.
The glow intensified.
A low hum resonated.
Most didn't notice the difference.
But Minato did.
His eyes widened.
"Test it!"
Taichi stepped toward a tree.
Pressed the sphere forward.
"Shhk."
It sank into the trunk without resistance.
Everyone blinked.
That's it?
Then—
The tree collapsed.
From the point of contact outward—
An entire section of the trunk had been pulverized into fine powder.
Silence fell.
The Rasengan—
Had just taken its first true step toward completion.