"Yang Xing gets it. Good. The rules are simple. I have a bell here, as you can see." Minato Namikaze raised an object and smiled broadly. "Whoever touches this bell gets a lunchbox."
"Touch it?"
"That's right. I want you to get it, but with your current abilities, it'd be hard for you to even touch me, wouldn't it? So I've changed the rules a little. Whoever manages to touch it wins. Remember, there are only three lunchboxes."
"I understand."
"Also, the losers will be punished. I might even send you back to the Academy, so remember what I've said. We'll start after I count to ten."
"We're starting now?" Rin Nohara looked flustered. She clearly wasn't ready.
"Rin, you need to remember that on the battlefield, the enemy won't give you time to prepare." Minato Namikaze didn't give the group a chance to get ready. His expression darkened as he immediately began counting. "Then I'll start counting now. One, two, three, four, five... ten! Begin!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The moment his words rang out, Minato Namikaze vanished from where he stood. Even more astonishing, a series of shuriken shot out from that very spot, as if he'd been ready to throw them at a moment's notice.
Clearly, only Kakashi could react and move like that.
Keeping his cool, Kakashi merely glanced at the shuriken that had missed, said nothing, and leaped after Minato in a certain direction.
Obito hesitated for a moment, then immediately followed close behind Kakashi.
To be honest, Yang Xing had no idea how Minato Namikaze had moved, but he knew Kakashi had definitely seen it clearly. Following Kakashi was the only way to find Minato Namikaze.
But seeing the person beside him hesitate and remain still made Yang Xing stop, too.
"Hey, if we don't go after them, we'll have to go back to the Academy."
"But I..."
"Just follow me. I know where that guy is."
"Huh?" Though she didn't understand why he said that, Rin Nohara glanced at Yang Xing's determined expression as he dashed off and decided to trust him this once.
At the very least, she didn't want to come in last.
After a few leaps, there was no way Yang Xing could catch up with Kakashi and the Fourth Hokage. In fact, he'd never intended to catch up with them in the first place. If he kept chasing them like that, he'd only exhaust himself.
And there was no need to keep up with the Fourth Hokage to find him. This wasn't a race.
The Fourth Hokage wouldn't use his full strength in the contest, anyway.
So Yang Xing kept a steady pace.
After a few bounds, all four of them had entered the woods.
Towering trees stretched toward the clouds, surrounded by a lush forest.
Perched on a branch, Minato Namikaze watched the four of them darting through the forest and heading his way with keen eyes. A faint smile touched his lips.
"Next, I'll see how they interact." He touched the bell and adjusted its position, muttering with a smile, "The most troublesome one should be that little brat Kakashi. He doesn't realize it himself, but I can't just leave him alone. And there's that kid Yang Xing, too. He should be harder to deal with than the other three, though they don't know it. Well, I really wonder what these four will be like when they grow up. This team is bound to become very strong."
"Kakashi's coming. I'll get moving first and give him a little trouble." Hearing a rustle in the bushes, Minato Namikaze leaped into the air. Two kunai shot out of the grass like lightning.
Thud!
As the sound rang out, two kunai buried themselves in the tree trunk.
Seeing Kakashi rush toward him, Minato Namikaze smiled. "Kakashi, being brave is all well and good, but don't you know that sometimes it makes you fall right into someone else's trap?"
Kakashi answered with another kunai and charged upward without hesitation, forming Hand Seals as he went.
"A Water Style technique?"
"Well, that's a pretty good choice here. But at your current level, there's no way you can hit me or catch up with me."
"Water Style: Water Wave."
Hiss!
A surge of water shot out. Minato Namikaze hadn't expected Kakashi to aim at the tree trunk. It slowed his forward rush, and he immediately hurled a kunai ahead of him, murmuring, "Flying Thunder God Technique."
Crack!
In the blink of an eye, Water Wave struck the tree trunk. The reflected stream of water spread across the area several meters in front of Minato Namikaze's original path. An ordinary jonin wouldn't have been able to dodge it, but Minato Namikaze was far faster than any ordinary jonin.
The water fell, leaving behind only a faint voice and a figure that quickly disappeared into the distance.
"That was a nice trick, reflecting the water with your jutsu, but you're still too inexperienced. I'm going to look for the others now. Try to catch me if you can."
Watching the figure vanish within seconds, Kakashi gritted his teeth and immediately chased after him.
In the world of shinobi, strength reigned supreme. Shinobi devoted to power constantly pushed themselves to hone their jutsu and grow stronger. That was the way of this world.
"Hey, why are we hiding?" Rin Nohara was confused as she watched Yang Xing crouch behind the bushes, keeping his eyes on Obito from a distance. "Aren't we supposed to find the Fourth Hokage? Isn't that Obito up ahead? The Fourth Hokage isn't here."
"We're setting an ambush. Shh, don't let that idiot up ahead spot us."
"Obito's a little silly, but don't call him an idiot." Rin Nohara was a little unhappy with Yang Xing's comment. She was also confused by what he was doing. "And why can't he see us?"
"Because... Okay, here he comes."
Someone up ahead moved swiftly, his movements fluid and his speed impressive. Even the way he hid was so light-footed that it was hard to notice he had already come up behind the person he'd been chasing.
From a distance, the Fourth Hokage spotted Obito and frowned. He muttered under his breath, "That's strange. Yang Xing and Rin didn't follow Obito. Where did those two go?"
Even the Fourth Hokage hadn't noticed that two people were watching him without moving, just over ten meters behind him.
"Lord Fourth Hokage!"
"Heh heh, found him! A big, wild Fourth Hokage! Go, Poké Ball—no, shuriken!" Yang Xing laughed and threw a shuriken without hesitation. It spun through the air with a sharp whistle.
Whoosh! Thud, thud!
Unfortunately, even the faint sound alerted the Fourth Hokage. He moved with even greater speed, leaping into the air to dodge the shuriken and somehow flipping in midair before dropping straight toward the spot where Yang Xing and Rin Nohara were hiding.
"Trouble. Run!" Without a moment's hesitation, Yang Xing grabbed Rin Nohara's little hand and turned to flee.
Feeling Yang Xing's movement and recalling what had just happened, Rin Nohara began to see him differently. Maybe this guy really was pretty strong.
Unfortunately, Yang Xing's words still made her waver. "Don't chase me! I was wrong! I didn't mean to do that! Yamete!"
Rin Nohara: "..."
Maybe!
Before you continue