Self-Exerting Curse Binding Seal

"Whoosh!"

"Thud, thud, thud..."

Golden and red flashes flickered nonstop through the Forest of Death. Each time the kunai clashed, sparks flew.

"Huff, huff, huff..."

Namikaze Minato shook out his arm and said with a wry smile, "Is this pure strength something you acquired recently?"

Sora, standing on a tree across from him, smiled as he replied, "I've had very little time. One day was barely enough to get familiar with it. Even so, I've already mastered the control needed to condense Chakra into a small point and unleash it."

"I see."

Minato nodded. "In that case, I'll have to show you what I can really do."

Sora shrugged. "I was all set to grab some barbecue and head out, but you insisted we have this fight."

Minato shook his head slightly and pointed to the large characters on the back of his cloak. "As the Fourth Hokage, I have to at least try to keep you here. Otherwise..."

The two of them looked toward the shadows nearby. They had not greeted Minato, the Fourth Hokage; they were simply watching everything from hiding.

It was obvious they were Root Division shinobi, the Darkness of Konoha under Danzo's command.

Too bad the old geezer Danzo hadn't come himself. Otherwise, Sora could've thought of something...

"Whoosh!"

In an instant, the golden and red figures flashed through the trees again.

Their clashes came without the slightest warning. With Flying Thunder God: Second Step, every kunai served as a marker, and the speed of Space-Time Ninjutsu was on full display.

They had the same Flying Thunder God and the same reaction speed. There was simply no way to determine a winner.

"Rasengan!"

Wind Release Chakra swirled irregularly inside the blue sphere as it hurtled down toward Sora.

Faced with the Rasengan bearing down on him in an instant, Sora simply drove his fist into it.

"BOOM!!"

A tremendous crash rang out, and the blow sent Minato flying.

Sora's fist continued on, slamming into the ground. The earth seemed to shake, and a deep crater formed in an instant.

"It's over..."

"It's over."

They spoke at the same time. Minato staggered to his feet and glanced at the formula on his arm with a smile. In an instant, the words "Uzumaki Sora" changed to "Blade of Ninja Love."

The same thing happened to Sora. The formula shifted, and the two of them smiled.

Minato limped over and looked at the hand Sora had used to take the Rasengan head-on. The wound was already healing rapidly; before long, it had completely disappeared.

"Creation Rebirth? No, you don't have a Yin Seal. This is the First Hokage's..."

Sora casually shook out his hand. "The Rasengan is an unsealed jutsu, so it's the perfect technique to pair with Flying Thunder God. When you used it, I had no choice but to take it head-on. But that hit must've hurt you, right?"

Minato glanced at the marks left by the impact on his body. Then he lifted his head slightly and smiled. "Self-Exerting Curse Binding Seal."

As soon as the words left his mouth, black curse markings spread across Sora's entire body in a regular pattern.

For a moment, Sora couldn't move.

"From the very beginning, we both knew that stamping each other with the Flying Thunder God Formula wouldn't do either of us any good."

"What I didn't expect was that in just one day, you'd already mastered the First Hokage's immense vitality and Chakra. That punch was every bit as powerful as Lady Tsunade's Strength of a Hundred."

"I laid down the Self-Exerting Curse Binding Seal the instant we made contact. That's why I said it was over. It won't last long. How about you leave now and let me call it a win?"

Sora glanced at the black markings on his body and smiled. "So this is what you planted with that little trick just now? Using your own reaction speed as the standard—you really don't have much confidence in yourself."

The next second, even with his entire body sealed, Sora slowly raised his arm.

Minato frowned slightly. "The First Hokage's power? That physical strength and that terrifying healing ability are a real headache. What was the First Hokage thinking?"

Only Sora and Minato understood what he meant.

The moment Hashirama Senju's power had been revealed, Minato had naturally understood where it came from.

What he couldn't understand was why Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, had chosen to trade away such terrifying power.

Red hair. The Uzumaki...

Looking at Sora's hair, Minato began to understand. But that only made the whole thing even more impossible to figure out.

"Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, was once called the God of Shinobi by the entire Shinobi World. Those who didn't live in that era can't understand how terrifying that title was."

As Sora spoke, he began to strain against the markings. The black curse marks were actually being forced back inch by inch.

"BOOM!!"

Amid a tremendous crash, Sora broke free of the restraints and looked at Minato. "A power that can turn a desert into a forest in an instant can't be stopped by a mere Sealing Jutsu."

"I haven't gotten familiar with the nature transformations for a few of the elements yet. Otherwise, I'd get to experience what it feels like to slap a Tailed Beast across the face."

Minato swallowed. He knew about the Nine-Tailed Fox sealed inside Kushina; he'd even been to the place where the Nine-Tailed Fox was sealed.

Could you really just beat a monster like that whenever you wanted?

Just how powerful had the First Hokage been?

At that moment, Sora slowly raised his hand. Chakra began to condense and spin rapidly in his palm.

Minato stared at him in a daze. Was that a Rasengan?

Had he learned it just by watching once?

"Bang!"

The spinning ball of Chakra burst apart. Sora shook his head in disappointment as the injured hand healed quickly.

"That last exchange gave me quite a few ideas. I should be close now. Once I develop this jutsu further, it'll be pretty powerful."

Sora lowered his hand and looked toward the two figures concealed in the shadows. "You two Root Division rats, pass a message to Danzo for me. If he wants to stay alive, he'd better keep himself underground and stay out of sight. If I catch him outside again, he won't be so lucky next time."

As soon as he finished speaking, Sora vanished from where he stood. Red flashes began appearing throughout the forest.

Before long, he retrieved all the specially made kunai he'd thrown earlier. Only Minato's remained where it was.

"These things are pretty expensive..."

After leaving those words behind, Sora disappeared into the forest.

"Sensei."

Minato looked at the two who had finally dared to come over and smiled. "He's actually pretty easy to get along with... right?"

Kabuto nodded vigorously. "Big Brother is just like the matron. He's a good person."

Kakashi shot him a glance. "You sure have a simple definition of a good person..."

Kabuto glared back at him. "He's got great power, but he doesn't use it to bully the weak. He even dares to stand up to Konoha's High Command! That's what makes someone a good person. That's what I think."

"Pat."

Minato put a hand on Kakashi's shoulder as he was about to argue. "Kabuto's right. That's why I trusted him back then."