Chiyo!
Looking at the short, middle-aged woman standing a short distance away, even Hatani was taken aback. He hadn't expected the Hidden Sand to dispatch someone of her caliber for this specific mission.
However, seeing the sharp, venomous gaze she leveled at Sakumo Hatake, Hatani realized Sakumo's earlier suggestion had been spot-on. With Sakumo acting as the ultimate "Main Tank" to hold Chiyo's aggro, there was a very real chance she wouldn't even spare a glance for the retreating Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"I didn't expect the one escorting that old monkey to be you, Sakumo Hatake. But perhaps this is providence. Even the heavens want to see me avenge!"
Sure enough, without a moment's hesitation, Chiyo unfurled a scroll. In a burst of smoke, she summoned her ultimate masterpiece: The Secret White Secret Technique: The Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu!
"Die!"
The ten white puppets manifested instantly. Aside from two hulking figures clearly meant for defense, the rest lunged toward Sakumo with killing intent. As for Minato and Hatani, they didn't even register in Chiyo's vision.
The other two Suna shinobi, however, didn't share her tunnel vision. In fact, they were visibly relieved that Chiyo had claimed Sakumo for herself.
In the current Hidden Sand, there weren't many shinobi left with the courage to face the White Fang. Even the notoriously arrogant puppeteers felt their hearts tremble at the mere mention of his name. It was fortunate that Chiyo was the only puppeteer in this ambush—and even more fortunate that she was the one who hated Sakumo enough to be fearless.
"Watch the fan."
Seeing the ninja opposite them hefting a fan nearly half his height, Hatani murmured a warning to Minato.
"Wind Style: Wind Cutter!"
Before Hatani could even finish his sentence, the man unslung the fan and delivered a powerful swing. Simultaneously, the other Suna ninja—carrying a shinobi blade—drew his weapon and lunged forward, using the vacuum blades of the Wind Cutter as cover.
Minato reacted instantly, drawing several kunai and hurling them toward the approaching swordsman. His aim was masterful; the projectiles arced perfectly to bypass the horizontal sweep of the Wind Cutter. However, the Suna Jonin was no amateur; he parried and dodged the kunai with fluid grace.
Watching the exchange, Hatani knew the man was already a corpse.
Sure enough, just as the Wind Cutter was about to reach its mark and the fan-user began to smirk at the thought of the brothers being shredded, Minato's silhouette vanished. He reappeared instantly behind the swordsman.
In Hatani's estimation, the swordsman—lacking the animalistic instincts of someone like Killer B—would be dead in the next second. He expected the man to die with eyes wide in shock, fear, and confusion as Minato's kunai pierced the base of his skull.
But then, Hatani's eyes widened.
To his absolute surprise, the moment Minato disappeared, the swordsman performed a sudden, blind wrist-flick, thrusting his blade directly backward. It was as if he had precognition, predicting exactly where Minato would manifest.
Clang!
Fortunately, Minato's reaction speed was peerless. Even with the blade lunging at him unexpectedly, he managed to parry the strike with his kunai.
How is that possible?!
Hatani was so stunned that he seemed to ignore the Wind Cutter which was now inches away from bisecting him.
But a second later, the shock shifted to the fan-wielder.
Before his disbelieving eyes, the Wind Cutter—a jutsu capable of slicing through tempered steel—simply vanished the moment the young boy reached out a hand to "block" it.
What happened next was even more staggering.
With a casual wave of his hand, Hatani unleashed the exact same Wind Cutter. It manifested out of thin air, hurtling back toward the Suna ninja at even greater speed.
"Substitution Jutsu!"
The man didn't dare attempt to counter his own move with more wind. He frantically wove signs, swapping places with a log to avoid being shredded by his own technique. He stared at the boy, who looked as calm as if he were simply taking a sip of water, his mind reeling with suspicion and dread.
In his twenty-year career as a shinobi, he had never seen—or even heard of—anything like this.
Who is this brat? And how did he do that?
Hatani's ability to pull this off was, naturally, the result of the "remodeling" his body had undergone when he invited the wind in.
The greater the risk, the greater the reward.
After nearly being torn apart and walking right up to death's door, the wind had expanded Hatani's vessels and pathways to twice their original size. Not only did this grant him a massive boost to his previously mediocre chakra reserves, but it also allowed him to absorb wind directly through his tenketsu.
He could now absorb any Wind Style jutsu created by enemy chakra, provided the total volume didn't exceed his body's new, expanded capacity.
To draw a comparison, it was similar to the Preta Path of the Six Paths of Pain. However, while the Preta Path could absorb all elements, Hatani was specialized solely in Wind.
Furthermore, relying on his deepened affinity with the element, he could "return" the absorbed jutsu in its original form. This required no hand seals and consumed zero chakra. It was the ultimate "return to sender," reminiscent of the legendary Murong family's style from wuxia lore: Returning the blow in kind.
While Hatani and the fan-wielder were locked in their mutual astonishment, Minato was equally surprised that his Flying Raijin had been anticipated by someone seeing it for the first time. However, his shock lasted only a fraction of a second before he triggered the jutsu again, his form flickering out of existence.
Minato's tactical genius was high enough to analyze Obito's abilities and devise a counter in minutes; he wasn't about to lose his nerve just because an enemy had a bit of intel on his teleportation. For different enemies, he simply used different tactics.
The swordsman, believing he had seen through Minato's "flashy but useless" trick, immediately lunged toward the nearest kunai on his left the moment Minato vanished.
But he failed to notice one crucial detail. When Minato disappeared, the kunai he had used to parry the swordsman's blade didn't vanish with him. It was currently in mid-air, falling toward the ground.
Flash!
Minato reappeared at the exact same spot. Or rather, he appeared right beside the falling kunai.
"Nani?!"
The swordsman, having "cleverly" turned his attention to the kunai on the left, had exposed his softest flank to Minato. Having already committed to his strike, he had no chance to change direction.
Minato's left hand caught the falling kunai while his right hand drove it home.
A perfect "Kidney Shot." A one-hit kill.
Before the blood could even spray from the wound, Minato vanished once more.