Minato's sudden appearance thoroughly demonstrated the true meaning of surprise.
So right now, he was feeling rather depressed. It wasn't that he resented Minato showing up—the man had come to help, after all—but it didn't change the fact that hishard won battle had slipped out of his grasp.
As for his slight bout of paranoia regarding being monitored, that theory only flashed through his mind for a second. The illogicality of it immediately shot the possibility down.
He was a very strong supporter of the Third Hokage's faction. He had no anti-ninja, anti-society, or anti-Konoha tendencies. While he might not be the most dedicated worker on every mission, he at least never completely botched anything. Konoha had no reason to spy on him.
Besides, even if they were going to spy on someone, would they really deploy a ninja of Minato's caliber? Especially during a time when elite combat power was so precious?
As the saying goes, idle hands are the devil's workshop. People only have the time and energy for political infighting during peacetime—the classic case of having nothing better to do.
Right now, external pressure eclipsed everything. Even the arrogant Uchiha had to obediently march onto the battlefield, their survival depending entirely on their own skills. Even Danzo, who was always itching to make headline news, had to obediently hold his toxic schemes inside his bladder for now.
As for the Flying Thunder God marker stamped on him, whatever, he'd just leave it there for now. It might actually save his life one day. Minato rarely ruined things; Today was just a bad day.
"An enemy that forces you to bring out a techinque like that must be quite extraordinary..."
"Brief me on the situation here."
After calming down from the lingering shock, Minato immediately asked for a sitrep.
"Did you run into Kakashi earlier, Minato-senpai?" he asked instead of answering directly.
Otherwise, there was no logical explanation for why the man had teleported directly to his side...
It seemed Kakashi had moved incredibly fast.
"Yes, he's currently delivering the intel to Orochimaru-sama back on the island. I've already heard the gist of it from him... My original position wasn't too far from here, so we happened to cross paths on the water," Minato explained.
He wasn't the only one who suspected the Hidden Mist had initiated a mass evacuation after that signal. Minato shared the same theory, which was why he had come searching this specific stretch of ocean and bumped into the boy so quickly.
"Earlier, the two of us actually caught up to a rallied group of Mist ninjas. From a rough visual sweep, the group included..." He quickly rattled off the names of the ninjas he had identified earlier.
"Basically, every single one of those enemies is at the Elite Jonin level or higher..." Hearing the roster, Minato instantly made his assessment.
"Correct, which is why we didn't get too close and immediately opted to retreat... But somehow, our cover was still blown, resulting in a Mist ninja breaking off to pursue us. Considering the pursuer was likely the strongest of their group, I had Kakashi carry the intel back while I stayed behind to hold the line alone."
He continued, "And my judgment proved correct. The enemy who came after us was almost certainly Yagura of the Hidden Mist."
As he spoke, he casually swung the weapon the enemy had left behind.
Minato's gaze shifted to the bizarre ninja tool. A highly specialized signature weapon like that was indeed perfect for confirming an identity.
"That weapon... it definitely belongs to Yagura," Minato confirmed. If that was the opponent, he completely understood why the boy had resorted to using a move like that.
"That technique of yours... The Railgun..." Minato looked like he wanted to say something, but the words died on his lips.
In reality, he was just incredibly disappointed that such a magnificent ninjutsu already had a name.
Let's put it this way: Minato was absolutely atrocious at naming things.
That in itself wasn't a huge problem. Everyone had things they were good at and things they weren't.
The problem was, he also had an obsessive compulsion to name things.
Combine those two traits, and the results were usually fatal.
Thank god he had already casually slapped a name on it himself. Otherwise, what if Minato had decided to officially dub the Super Electromagnetic Cannon something like the "Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon"?
At this point, Minato also fully realized that his sudden entrance had actually ruined a perfect opportunity to eliminate a massive threat.
Unfortunately, an opportunity missed is an opportunity lost forever.
The exact moment Minato arrived, the attack missed, and the Lightning Style was shut down to prevent friendly fire, Yagura melted into the seawater and vanished without a trace.
He couldn't sense the enemy's trajectory, but he highly doubted the guy would double back. He had almost certainly cut his losses and fled.
Minato's flashy entrance, combined with his signature blonde hair, was more than enough to scare Yagura off.
Under normal circumstances, if Yagura had been at full strength, he probably wouldn't have minded testing his skills against the legendary Yellow Flash. But in that moment, after experiencing that final ultimate attack, he had already acknowledged that the masked boy was an opponent of equal caliber. If you added the famous Minato Namikaze into the mix, did he have even a sliver of a chance at winning? Absolutely not. So, analyzing the situation perfectly, he chose to run for his life.
"Minato-senpai, what's our next move?" he asked.
Although Minato didn't hold the official command over this entire operation, he was clearly the one who needed to make the call right now.
Minato watched as the boy casually twirled Yagura's weapon a few more times. Then, apparently deciding it wasn't ergonomic enough, he casually tossed the legendary item straight into the ocean...
Minato's eyelid twitched involuntarily.
Congratulations to Konoha Chunin Kamishiro Hagoromo, you have successfully unlocked the title: "Ninja Tool Discarder."
Honestly, his philosophy was simple: if he could kill an enemy, he would. If he had to force a kill, he'd force it. But if he couldn't kill them, he wouldn't stress over it. If the enemy ran away, he didn't feel particularly regretful... Fundamentally, it wasn't that he lacked motivation; it was that he lacked a clear purpose.
Ending the warring era? Achieving world peace? To be completely honest, he had never really thought about those things because he always felt like they were someone else's mission. For him right now, being a ninja was basically just like clocking in for a nine-to-five job.
This mindset would persist until he inevitably experienced certain life-altering events.
Faced with the question, Minato also felt somewhat conflicted. The reality of what had happened to the Byakugan was basically written on the wall at this point. This mission could officially be called off right here and now.
The Byakugan had been in the hands of the exact same ninja this entire time: a Hidden Mist sensory ninja named Ao. He was the one who delivered the final blow to the Hyuga main branch ninja, and he was the one who secured the precious loot and carried the Byakugan all the way back to the Hidden Mist.
Minato considered their options for a moment before speaking. "Head back to the Land of Whirlpools. I'm going to push forward and scout the situation ahead by myself."
He had still decided to do some forward reconnaissance, but there was basically zero chance of any further combat engagements, which meant there was no need to bring a Chunin along.
As for Minato himself, regardless of what kind of enemies he encountered, he could choose to disengage and retreat at any given moment.
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