"Boom!"
Amidst the deafening roar, two figures leaped into the air and began to maneuver at a speed too fast for the naked eye to follow.
Most of the Konoha Ninja present were dumbfounded by what they saw, because one of them was none other than Namikaze Minato, known as the Yellow Flash. During the Third Shinobi World War, Konoha ninjas had become accustomed to seeing countless enemies instantly killed by Minato with his superhuman speed before they even had a chance to react. Where did this monster from the Cloud Ninja ninja come from?
Fortunately, not everyone was unaware of the Cloud Ninja's identity. His comrades who had fought alongside Minato in the battle to retrieve the Nine-Tails during the Third Shinobi World War recognized him, and Qi was absolutely certain of the Cloud Ninja's identity—Ei, the future Fourth Raikage of Kumogakure!
In the original work, Rui is a character who has reached the pinnacle of speed and agility. Among the many characters in the original work, the only ones who can rival him in speed, in Qi's memory, are Minato and his son. Uzumaki Naruto relies on the power of the Nine-Tails, while Minato uses the Flying Thunder God Technique. Just based on these two points, one can see how powerful Rui is.
Of course, Naruto's performance in the battle was somewhat exaggerated, because Ei at that time was already in his later years and was not comparable to him now...
At this moment, everyone else present had become mere spectators. Both Cloud Ninja and Konoha Ninja retreated, leaving a large open space for the two. Only two figures, one adorned with gold and the other with blue, flashed across the arena, constantly changing positions. Each contact produced a muffled thud, and the surrounding air vibrated with tremendous force, revealing the immense destructive power involved...
Seeing this, Qi naturally decided to stay even further away. To be honest, he wasn't fond of Taijutsu -type ninjas because his unique energy was the nemesis of Taijutsu. However, Rui was an exception. This guy's speed was too abnormal. Unless Qi learned the Flying Thunder God Technique, there was simply no way to deal with such speed. Even the Body Flicker Technique wouldn't work. Rui's speed had reached a level close to the speed of light. Minato, as the number one expert in the Body Flicker Technique of Konoha, could only rely on the Flying Thunder God Technique to fight against Rui at his peak.
So he winked at Kakashi and Obito, then turned around and prepared to change venues.
However, there was someone in the arena who had been watching him the whole time, so just as he was about to move to another spot, he found a Fire Style coming straight at him...
This ordinary fireball couldn't do anything to him, and after he casually blocked it with an ice wall, he was surprised to find that the attackers were not Cloud Ninja or Rock Ninja, but three Mist Ninja!
This is unbelievable! According to Yahiko's information, the Mist Ninja were just there to loot and grab some benefits; they should have been watching from the sidelines. Why are these three so eager to participate? And... Mist Ninja using Fire Style techniques is truly rare!
" Kagetsu Qi, we meet again!"
The leading Mist Ninja, a girl who looked vaguely familiar to Qi, sneered at him and uttered something that greatly surprised him.
"I hope you've made progress over the past year or so, otherwise you might not get any reinforcements."
This statement was quite blunt, but more importantly, it revealed a crucial piece of information: the girl seemed to recognize him...
"Do you know me?"
Qi looked at the female ninja, who seemed to have some endocrine disorders, with surprise. After thinking hard, he couldn't recall when he had offended a Mist Ninja. His interactions with the Mist Ninja were limited to the days when he was constantly running for his life.
Who are you?
Confirming that he truly didn't recognize him, he asked in bewilderment, while turning around to look for Yakushi Zen had been standing beside him.
He quickly realized he couldn't count on this guy, because a Cloud Ninja was having a friendly sparring session. It was truly amazing that a medical-nin was so agile; this medical team leader, who had personally trained Yakushi Kabuto, was definitely not an ordinary medical-nin...
Fortunately, there were three opponents, and his own side had Kakashi and Obito, so he wasn't worried about being at a disadvantage in a one-on-one fight.
"What? You don't recognize me?!"
Terumi Mei was absolutely furious at this moment. This kid's contempt for people knew no bounds. They had at least fought once, how could he forget her so completely!?
"Hmm... I see. Then let me think about it some more..."
For some reason, seeing the other person's bitter and resentful expression, Qi felt a little embarrassed, which was rare for him.
He began to try to recall, but frustratingly, although the girl in front of him did look somewhat familiar, he just couldn't remember which one she was...
"Damn it! My name is Terumi Mei! Have you forgotten the battle at the port of the Land of Water a year ago!?"
Finally, unable to bear it any longer, Terumi Mei roared fiercely. Looking at his obsequious face, she really didn't think he would give her a satisfactory answer.
"Thanks to you and your apprentice, my master was targeted by the Mizukage under this pretext! He almost lost his position as the leader of the Anbu!"
"You're Terumi Mei!?"
Upon hearing these three words, Qi finally remembered the incident when he left the port of the Land of Water. At that time, his strength was not yet strong, and he narrowly defeated Terumi Mei.
It's not entirely his fault that he didn't recognize her. Firstly, Terumi Mei's appearance has changed drastically, and secondly, as he settled down in Konoha and was constantly on missions, his memories of fleeing in the Land of Water had largely faded.
He was most reluctant to recall that period of memory. Ever since the Anbu leader let him and Ogata leave, he had no resentment towards the Mist Ninja. After all, it was obvious that the Feudal Lord of Water had forced the Kirigakure to do that. Otherwise, even if the Mist Ninja were bored, they wouldn't deliberately cause trouble for their own country's ninja. Even rabbits don't eat the grass near their burrows. They were all additional sources of military strength for the Land of Water, so there was basically no conflict of interest for the Kirigakure, which managed the military strength for the Land of Water.
Since there was no longer any need to hold a grudge, he naturally chose to forget it.
"You remember now?"
Terumi Mei, extremely angry, laughed instead.
"You guys are ruining yourselves and others! If it weren't for your excessive ambition, the reputation of the ninjas of the Land of Water wouldn't be what it is now, to the point that even the daimyo can't be trusted!"
What on earth is this girl doing...? I just forgot your name, why are you accusing me like this?
Qi suddenly felt annoyed. Did he look like an idiot?
"You'd better understand that without my maternal clan, it's uncertain who would be the Feudal Lord of Water today!"
Recalling the Yuki Clan, now utterly slaughtered, and the Kaguya Clan, Kimimaro, he suddenly felt deeply uneasy; a nameless rage slowly rose from the depths of his heart.
"Discarding a used tool after it's done its work, arbitrarily fabricating charges—does that make them the righteous side?!"
A genuine killing intent slowly emanated from his eyes; however, at this moment, he was unaware that his mindset regarding this matter had undergone a subtle change...
"Although I'm not interested in family or anything like that, I still don't like what you just said!"