Battle with the Raikage

"So, you are the child of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze. No wonder you look so much like him," the Raikage said.

Naruto kept his guard up, watching the Raikage warily as he asked, "You knew my father?"

"Of course I knew him. He was the opponent I admired most in my entire life. I once thought he would end the chaos and wars of this world and become a savior. It is a pity he died. When a man dies, he is nothing, leaving nothing behind but regrets and sighs," the Raikage recalled.

Naruto looked at the Raikage, his expression solemn. "You are wrong. Even though my father died, he left me his precious will. I have inherited his will and his ideals, and I believe that I will become the savior of this world and end the sorrow brought about by its chaos and wars."

The Raikage laughed as if he had just heard the funniest joke in the world. "Hahaha! You say you will become a savior? That you will end the wars of this world? That is hilarious. A brat like you dares to speak such nonsense?"

Naruto replied firmly, "Yes, a brat like me, because I have the potential to make such a claim."

"Hmph. If you can injure me, I will acknowledge that you have such possibility and potential. Furthermore, I promise you that as long as I am the Raikage, I will not launch a war against Konoha. But if you cannot injure me, you will have to stay in Kumogakure and become my subordinate. How about it, brat? Do you dare to bet?" the Raikage said with disdain.

"Lord Raikage is bullying people again. How could a brat like that possibly hurt Lord Raikage? Even if he has potential, it is impossible right now," Yugito, who was watching the battle from the side, remarked.

Killer B responded in a rap: "You fool, you idiot, yeah, oh, yeah. Big brother is bullying, oh, ah."

Naruto watched the Raikage vigilantly and said seriously, "I accept."

As soon as he finished speaking, he flashed to the Raikage's side and struck out with a Rasengan. However, the Raikage dodged with speed far greater than Naruto's. Naruto's Rasengan hit the ground, instantly blasting a massive crater and kicking up a thick cloud of dust.

Using the dust as cover, the Raikage flashed to Naruto's side. "Lariat!" The Raikage slammed his arm, reinforced with lightning-style chakra, hard into Naruto's body. Although Naruto managed to block it just in time with his Adamantine Sealing Chains, he was still sent flying over ten meters, crashing into a rock and shattering the massive boulder with the force of the impact.

"Is that it?" the Raikage asked, puzzled.

But as the dust settled, Naruto was still standing, though his body was covered in wounds.

Naruto pulled several kunai from his ninja tool pouch and threw them at the Raikage, his figure vanishing at the same time. The Raikage dodged a few of the kunai, but he could not evade Naruto, who had followed up using the Flying Thunder God.

Naruto's Rasengan struck the Raikage's back, but Naruto froze; his Rasengan had not left a single scratch on the Raikage. The Raikage swept his Lariat backward, but Naruto dodged it with the Flying Thunder God. Naruto looked at the Raikage in disbelief.

"What? You seem surprised, heh," the Raikage said smugly.

Naruto regained his composure and said, "I didn't expect your body to be so sturdy. It's truly incredible. I thought only the Third Raikage's body was the closest to a Tailed Beast, but your body doesn't seem to be any worse than his."

The Raikage was surprised. "I didn't expect you to know about the Third Raikage. Many brats these days don't remember him. While my body hasn't reached the level of the Third Raikage, you cannot hurt me with your current strength. How about it, brat? Are you going to surrender?"

"Surrender? Don't make me laugh. I won't surrender," Naruto said firmly. It seems ordinary methods can't hurt the Raikage, Naruto thought to himself. What should I do?

At this moment, the Nine-Tails inside Naruto spoke: "Naruto, you truly cannot hurt him with your current strength. But have you forgotten about me? You are a Jinchuriki, not an ordinary human. You are my host, Kurama's host—the Jinchuriki of the strongest Tailed Beast, the Nine-Tails. You are not alone."

Hearing the Nine-Tails' words, Naruto smiled. "That's right, I am the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki, Kurama's partner. Let's defeat the Raikage together and bring peaceful coexistence to Konoha and Kumogakure. Come on, Kurama."

"Hmph, that's more like it. But I must warn you: with your current physical endurance, you can only handle the chakra of four of my tails. No more, or you will lose control because your body cannot withstand it. After all, you are only five years old," the Nine-Tails warned.

Naruto replied, "Four tails are enough. Don't forget, I still have the Sharingan and the White Eye that I haven't used yet."

Seeing that Naruto wasn't moving, the Raikage flashed to his side and threw a punch at Naruto's face. But just as the fist was about to connect—

Suddenly, an astonishing amount of Nine-Tails chakra erupted from Naruto's body. The chakra blocked the Raikage's fist and transformed into a tail, sweeping toward him. Seeing the chakra erupt, the Raikage realized Naruto was a Jinchuriki and, not daring to take the hit head-on, retreated to dodge the sweep.

The Raikage finally turned serious. "A Jinchuriki. And it seems he is a perfect Jinchuriki like B. But he is only five; he shouldn't be able to fully withstand all the Tailed Beast's chakra."

Yugito and Killer B, who had been watching from the sidelines, were also too stunned to speak. At this moment, Gyuki, who resided within Killer B, said to him: "I didn't expect this brat to be the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki. B, you and this kid should get along well."

"Oh, yeah, you fool, you idiot. Both are Tailed Beast Jinchuriki, both are friends, oh, ah."

Yugito said to Killer B, "Master, I didn't expect him to be a Jinchuriki too. And looking at him, he seems to be able to control his Tailed Beast well."

Killer B continued his rap: "Oh, yeah, you have to work hard, yeah, don't be outdone, yeah, yeah, Tailed Beasts are all friends, yeah." After finishing his rap, Killer B extended his fist toward Yugito.

"Yeah, I will work hard," Yugito said, extending her fist to bump against Killer B's.

At this moment, Naruto launched the first attack. His hand reached forward, and the Tailed Beast Cloak covering his arm extended toward the Raikage.

The Raikage dodged repeatedly, but the claw formed by the Tailed Beast chakra followed him relentlessly, as if it wouldn't stop until it caught him. While dodging the chakra claw, the Raikage kept closing the distance to Naruto. Suddenly, he flashed to Naruto's side.

He kicked Naruto hard in the abdomen, but Naruto was not slow; he blocked the kick with his Adamantine Sealing Chains just in time, and more than twenty chains shot out from his body toward the Raikage, forcing him back.

The twenty-plus Adamantine Sealing Chains coiled around the Tailed Beast Cloak, wrapping it up. This was something Naruto had replicated based on the Viper Nine-Tails Mode from his previous life.

It added a layer of protection to the Tailed Beast Cloak and increased its offensive power. Moreover, the Adamantine Sealing Chains were a sealing technique, making them even stronger than the Viper Nine-Tails Mode. If Naruto could withstand the full Nine-Tails chakra right now, he wouldn't even need to fight the Raikage.

Seeing that Naruto could actually combine a Tailed Beast with a bloodline limit, the Raikage praised him: "I have to say, you are a genius. To be able to combine the Uzumaki Clan's bloodline limit with a Tailed Beast—this can indeed hurt my body. But don't forget, my greatest strength is not my body, but my speed."

With that, the Raikage flashed behind Naruto and delivered a heavy blow. Naruto was sent flying instantly, crashing through countless rocks.

However, Naruto was not injured. He quickly adjusted his body and extended his chain-wrapped arm to grab the Raikage, but the Raikage dodged it again. Naruto lashed out, adding the four tails behind him into the mix, but he still couldn't catch the Raikage, though he completely altered the surrounding landscape.

"I told you, my greatest strength is speed. With your speed, you will never catch me," the Raikage said confidently.

"Naruto, end the battle quickly. This is your first time using this mode; you won't be able to hold it for long," the Nine-Tails reminded him.

"I know," Naruto replied to the Nine-Tails. He then gathered a massive amount of chakra in his mouth, preparing to use a Tailed Beast Bomb.

Seeing Naruto prepare the Tailed Beast Bomb, the Raikage retreated rapidly. Naruto fired the Tailed Beast Bomb from his mouth, but the Raikage dodged it quickly. The explosion kicked up a massive cloud of dust, and Naruto immediately ducked into the haze while launching countless chains to ambush the Raikage.

"I said your attacks can't hit me. And you've just exposed your location. It's over, brat," the Raikage said, having dodged all the chains and appearing behind Naruto.

Once behind Naruto, the Raikage launched a barrage of attacks, even shattering the Tailed Beast Cloak. Naruto was shaken by the attacks and coughed up blood. But just as the Raikage let his guard down, thinking he had won, he saw Naruto's eyes suddenly shift into the three-tomoe Sharingan.

The moment the Raikage looked into Naruto's eyes, Naruto activated a genjutsu and simultaneously opened his White Eye.

Although Naruto's current genjutsu could only trap the Raikage for a brief moment before he broke free, even that short window was enough for Naruto to gather his remaining chakra.

Just as the Raikage snapped out of it, Naruto had already gathered all his chakra and struck toward the Raikage's heart meridian; the White Eye allowed him to strike chakra into the enemy's meridians to inflict heavy damage.

The Raikage spat out a mouthful of blood as Naruto's chakra struck his heart meridian. Meanwhile, Naruto collapsed, his chakra reserves exhausted and his body severely wounded by the Raikage. In truth, had it not been for the sheer force of his will, Naruto would have fallen long ago.

The Raikage looked at Naruto with a complex expression and let out a sigh. He turned toward the rocks behind him and said, "Are you not coming out yet?"

"Heh, as expected of Lord Raikage, you actually discovered me. I thought I had hidden myself quite well," Jiraiya said as he stepped out from behind the rocks.

The Raikage said with dissatisfaction, "Hmph, I noticed you the moment you entered Kumogakure. Jiraiya of the Sannin, I simply didn't act because I was curious why you had come to my village. It wasn't until this brat appeared that I realized you came here for his sake."

Jiraiya chuckled and said, "Indeed. I came for Naruto. The kid is too impulsive, and I was afraid he might offend Lord Raikage, so I arrived ahead of time. After all, he is my student."

"You may take him and go," the Raikage said indifferently.

Jiraiya walked to Naruto's side, scooped him up, and said, "Then I thank Lord Raikage. I shall take my leave now." With that, he headed toward the village gate.

The Raikage watched Jiraiya's retreating back and said, "Tell that brat that I will handle the Hyuga affair with the utmost severity, and as for the wager, he won."

Hearing the Raikage's words, the corners of Jiraiya's mouth curled up slightly as he replied, "I will pass the message on to him."