Yellow Flash, Returns!

Relying solely on a kunai inscribed with a technique formula, Minato Namikaze could use it as a coordinate and appear in an instant.

This had completely transcended the concept of "speed"—it was essentially a teleportation based on a fixed spatial coordinate... If there were any, perhaps only two, things that could be called weaknesses, they would be the special kunai and the sudden air repulsion generated when a human form abruptly materialized in space.

A person's volume is roughly 0.05 cubic meters. Their abrupt appearance would displace the air originally occupying that space, causing the air to be squeezed outward and produce a slight disturbance.

This disturbance was the only precursor an enemy could perceive the moment the Flying Thunder God was activated!

Minato Namikaze appeared beside Nohara Rin without a trace of hesitation. In the same instant he materialized, one hand had already thrown a Flying Thunder God kunai. A flash of black light cut through the night, accompanied by a brief "whoosh" that rang out and faded.

Yet as Minato Namikaze threw the Flying Thunder God kunai, his other hand caught a different kunai in a forward grip, the blade trailing behind his fist, and hooked his arm inward on the spot!

It traced a sharp arc of black light.

The black light had only moved about ten centimeters when Minato Namikaze vanished, reappearing in the next instant before a Rock Ninja.

The kunai, already mid-swing, sliced across the Rock Ninja's neck, then smoothly flew behind another Rock Ninja.

His other hand precisely caught the kunai that was about to strike the throat-slit Rock Ninja.

A flash!

Another flash of black light.

The Rock Ninja here had been completely reaped, leaving only a field of corpses. Uchiha Kin thought to himself: "Yellow Flash... as expected of the Yellow Flash..."

"He... this isn't just quick reflexes in battle; it's his grasp of the battlefield, his extraordinary ability to predict the flow. In essence, every time he uses the Flying Thunder God technique, just like just now, he's already begun the motion before throwing the Flying Thunder God kunai.

"The moment he appears before an enemy, that technique has actually already been half-executed.

"Zero-frame startup... Flying Thunder God... Right now, it's still just the Flying Thunder God kunai. If he advances further and figures out how to casually mark the Flying Thunder God technique directly on an enemy's body, that would be truly terrifying."

Thinking this, he couldn't help but glance at Obito... That guy was the "lucky one" who had enjoyed such a casual mark.

Years later, that mark still hadn't disappeared—how absurd was that!

Minato Namikaze asked, "Kin, how are you?"

"Not bad, just some light injuries... We should be grateful the Rock Ninja's individual combat ability isn't very strong, otherwise what you'd find would probably just be my corpse!" Uchiha Kin said with a sigh of emotion.

Uchiha Kin then recounted the story he had prepared to Minato's squad, offering this version of why he had come out:

The two of them had been not far from the camp. Hyuga Ken, while messing around, activated his Byakugan and happened to spot a group of Rock Ninja acting suspiciously.

So the two followed them, but were discovered by the Kamizuru Clan's Ninja Bee, and the Rock Ninja came after them. Hyuga Ken said, "You're a Medical Ninja, important to Konoha. Take the intel back; I'll lead them away."

As for how Hyuga Ken, who had "led away the pursuers," was doing, Uchiha Kin said he didn't know. He simply omitted Uzumaki Mikayo and the other Rock Ninja.

He briefly described his own struggle of wits and courage against this group of Rock Ninja.

"So, the Explosive Tag detonation—that was your doing?" Minato Namikaze asked.

Uchiha Kin said, "They didn't dare make a commotion... Otherwise, I wouldn't have been a match for them."

If those Rock Ninja were alive, they would have jumped up in fury and accused him of "twisting the truth," but since they were dead, whatever Uchiha Kin said became the truth.

Kakashi glanced at Uchiha Kin but said nothing, merely thinking he was being overly modest—based on the kunai handling technique he had just witnessed from Uchiha Kin, anyone with eyes that weren't blind and a heart that wasn't blind could tell how skilled he was.

At the very least, he was more reliable in strength than a certain Uchiha teammate of his...

Still, since the Rock Ninja had also been taken down in an instant, he couldn't easily judge their strength.

After thinking for a while, he said, "Then this group of Rock Ninja must have been elites."

Following that, Minato Namikaze raised a question: "What were they doing here?"

"I don't know!"

Obito said, "Who cares what they were doing? They're all dead anyway. As long as they're dead, their schemes are as good as foiled by us."

Everyone was speechless... But, well, it kind of made sense.

The five of them returned to the camp, and Uchiha Kin was met with inquiries from the commander. He repeated the same story he had told Minato Namikaze before heading back to rest.

Jasmine and Golden Chrysanthemum came to visit. "Captain, we're so glad you're okay." "It's all that Hyuga Ken's fault; if not for him, the captain wouldn't have been in danger."

"Alright, he was still my former teammate after all. This isn't his fault..." Uchiha Kin chatted with them for a while before sending them away. In his heart, however, he was calculating—

The "Byakugan" in his plan had been successfully obtained, and he had two more than expected.

His original plan hadn't included "killing Hyuga Ken"—as long as Hyuga Ken didn't actively try to kill him, he was still willing to cooperate with that guy, and even help him out while pursuing his own goals.

Unfortunately, Hyuga Ken wanted him dead, so he had no choice but to reluctantly take two extra pairs of Byakugan.

With the "Byakugan" in hand, he could now begin the second step of his plan!

And it was a crucial step:

The Three-Tails!

That's right, Uchiha Kin's target was the Three-Tails.

"Rin... I'm truly sorry about this!" Uchiha Kin sighed inwardly. If he could, he wouldn't want to sacrifice anyone.

But under the threat of the clan's extermination, he didn't want to die, and so such sacrifices became unavoidable.

He could only say "sorry" in his heart. "Still, I'll try my best to keep you alive. After all, swapping a heart isn't that hard for me. It's just that from now on, you probably won't be able to show yourself in front of Konoha's ninja..."

After finishing his own plan, he thought about Minato Namikaze's eerily unpredictable Flying Thunder God and instinctively pondered:

If I were the one facing the Flying Thunder God, how would I handle it?

Retreat!

The moment an abnormal disturbance appeared in the air around him, he retreated in the opposite direction without any hesitation.

That seemed to be the only chance of survival...

At the same time, a group of Konoha ninja—four squads totaling sixteen people—began searching the forest where Uchiha Kin and the Rock Ninja had clashed, operating by squad.