A Double Loss

A deafening explosion rang out, followed by a tremendous scream. A, who was locked in combat with Minato, immediately recognized the voice – it was the Eight-Tails' voice, and Killer B's voice as well.

He wanted to go and support Killer B, but Minato Namikaze was incredibly difficult to deal with. No matter what he tried, he couldn't launch an effective attack on Minato.

The unsolvable aspect of Space-Time Ninjutsu lies in this: there is no way to counter it. It truly allows one to fight or leave at will.

Previously, due to his momentary negligence, a Rasengan Cloud Village had already Jonin tragically under Minato's Rasengan. Now, hearing Killer B make such a sound, he knew that they had no chance of winning this First Shinobi World War.

"Buina, retreat immediately! Tell the ships not to wait for us anymore." Ai punched Minato back and gave the retreat order to his companions not far away.

The Cloud Village named Buina calmly glanced Jonin A, then looked at the mushroom cloud rising in the distance, nodded, and turned to rush towards the sea.

Minato never expected that this Cloud Ninja would escape. Today's battle went exceptionally smoothly, and he intended to leave all these Cloud Ninja in the Land of Rivers.

However, there was no Flying Thunder God Kunai in that direction, so he could only chase after it in Body Flicker. But A was no pushover either; in terms of speed alone, Minato couldn't match A.

Thus, the two battlefields, which were not far apart, finally became one-on-one situations.

"Ai, have you thought about the current situation? You could have returned to the Land of Lightning smoothly, so why did you have to come and attack Konoha?"

This was exactly what Minato was curious about. Cloud Village sent a hundred men to the Land of Wind to plunder supplies. They wreaked havoc on Sunagakure's territory for more than two months. Although half of them died in battle, they were mostly Chunin, and the spoils were quite substantial.

After all, in the eyes of the higher-ups, Chunin can be produced in batches. As long as there are enough resources, once a batch dies, another batch will quickly appear. As long as the Jonin don't die, the village's foundation will remain.

At this point, they should have protected their gains and returned to the village as soon as possible to consolidate their victory. Why did they have to go through all that trouble to attack Konoha?

Was this all to coordinate with the Cloud Ninja's attack at the front lines and give Konoha a warning?

What could Ai Neng say? Could it be that he simply disliked Konoha and loathed its despicable inaction, which led him to launch a sneak attack on Konoha Camp?

Unexpectedly, the plan, which was going smoothly, was disrupted by one accident after another. First, Skeleton Giant blocked their way, and now they were ambushed halfway. The Cloud Village suffered a great loss this time.

"Since you're unwilling to talk to me about these things, then I won't. Let's settle this with our skills!"

After saying that, Minato's figure vanished from the spot in an instant.

Upon seeing this, Ai immediately became vigilant, his eyes quickly scanning the surroundings for the locations of the Flying Thunder God Kunai that he had memorized.

One second, two seconds passed, but the figure did not appear. After Ai had been on guard for almost half a minute, his expression suddenly changed drastically.

"Damn it, that despicable Minato Namikaze!"

After uttering the curse, his entire body crackled with lightning as he rushed towards Killer B's location in the distance.

On Taiichi's side, facing the enormous Eight-Tails alone was much easier for him. The Eight-Tails did not have an absolute advantage in combat power over him; it was just using its Yamato and thick skin to entangle with Taiichi.

Killer B was already regretting it at this point. He had been blinded by anger and shouldn't have Complete Tailed Beast Transformation. Against an opponent like Taiichi, it would have been better to fight him in human form.

With his current size and strength, he's completely unable to hit anyone, so it's all in vain. He doesn't even dare to cancel his Tailed Beast Transformation now, for fear that Taiichi will seize the opportunity to kill him in one blow.

Just as Killer B was having a headache, something terrifying happened: Minato Yellow-haired Ninja, suddenly appeared Taiichi Minato Namikaze.

The two seemed to have anticipated this, and immediately separated, launching their fiercest attack on Killer B.

Just moments ago, he was worried about Ai's life or death, but under the pressure of his own life or death, Killer B immediately focused all his attention.

Water Style, Fire Style, Rasengan —one Ninjutsu after another, seemingly without Chakra, rained down on Killer B, causing him to cry out in pain.

However, the Eight-Tails up to its name. Its vitality, defense, and even size are far superior to Shukaku's. The two have been fighting around the Eight-Tails for so long, and all they've heard is its cries, but they haven't seen it seriously injured.

"Taiichi, we're running out of time," Minato called out, knowing that Ai was about to arrive.

Taiichi also went all out, One-Handed Seal and releasing the Yin Seal on his forehead. With a sufficient supply of Chakra, the Short Sword in his hand was immediately enveloped in Bright Gold flames.

He threw three Flying Thunder God Kunai at the top of the Eight-Tails's head. Then, the Kunai in the air, one became two, two became four, until they became hundreds of Kunai flew upwards.

This change startled Killer B, who lashed out with his tail, knocking away seventy or eighty Kunai, but one of the real Flying Thunder God Kunai managed to escape.

Immediately afterward, Taiichi flashed and appeared above the Eight-Tails' head, raising his Short Sword high and frantically pouring Chakra into it. The Bright Gold Flame Blade extended along the Short Sword, growing to more than three meters long in the blink of an eye.

With a swing of Taiichi's longsword, it slashed down furiously towards the Eight-Tails -Eight-Tails' head, clearly intending to cleave it in two.

At the critical moment, the Eight-Tails tilted its head and used its hardest horn to block Taiichi's blade. However, Taiichi was not to be outdone. He poured in Chakra and enhanced his Chakra Enhanced Strength. The flames on the blade shone brightly. Finally, with a roar from Taiichi, the long sword cut the horn in two.

"Awooo!" The painful howl echoed through the heavens and earth. The Eight-Tails Gyuki was extremely aggrieved. It was already ugly enough after the Third Raikage cut off one of its horns, but today it had another one cut off. Now it was perfect, they were symmetrical!

The enraged Eight-Tails instantly seized control of the body, its eight tails lashing wildly above its head, weaving a dense net.

Taiichi had originally intended to strike again while the momentum was still there, but now he realized it was best to slip away first. It was such a pity to miss this chance for a decisive blow.

Taiichi looked into the distance and saw a figure flying towards him with sparks and lightning, reaching the Eight-Tails in just a few blinks.

"Bee, stop fighting! Let's get out of here!" Ai shouted at Killer B, who was still wildly waving its Eight-Tails, trying to bring him back to his senses.

Killer B lived up to his Perfect Jinchuriki; even though Gyuki was still angry, Killer B immediately took over the body.

The waving tentacles stopped, and Ai immediately jumped onto the top of the Eight-Tails' head. Then, Killer B controlled the eight tentacles to shrink, wrapping himself into a ball with them.

Taiichi and Minato naturally heard Ai's shouts, but they weren't about to let the two retreat so easily.

Taiichi, Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet.

Minato, Wind Style: Great Breakthrough.

The Bright Gold flames, aided by the wind, instantly transformed into a vast sea of fire, engulfing the Eight-Tails that had initially curled up.

Seeing that the flames were about to engulf the Eight-Tails' body, it began to spin wildly in place. Its massive size generated a powerful airflow, like a tornado connecting the sky and the earth. The space within a radius of hundreds of meters was affected by this violent airflow, and even the trees were uprooted.

The Tailed Beast Eight Scrolls.

This is the Eight-Tails' ultimate move, a powerful tool for clearing out the entire area. Minato and Taiichi were forced to use the Flying Thunder God to retreat frantically.

Once everything had calmed down, Minato and Taiichi returned to the center of the battlefield, leaving only a thick, severed tail behind them.

"They escaped?" Minato asked suspiciously.

"This is the Eight-Tails' ability to escape by cutting off its tail; killing it won't be easy," Taiichi explained. "But we didn't come away empty-handed."

Taiichi pointed to the severed tail in front of him, and the severed horn that had been cut off not far away.

"These are all excellent research materials; we should each have one."

Upon hearing this, Minato smiled and nodded. The two of them used Sealing Jutsu to seal the two severed limbs, Taiichi for Taichi and one for Minato.

After everything was tidied up, Taiichi once again used his Chakra Perception to scan the entire battlefield. However, he inadvertently discovered that on the distant beach, a ship was slowly sailing away from the sea.

Although the two groups fought for a long time, in reality, it was a very quick battle, and the actual fighting time was not long.

The Cloud Jonin Cloud Village delivered the message had only just informed the ship a short while ago, and the ship had only sailed a short distance.

"Senior Disciple Brother Minato, it seems our gains today are more than just this!" Taiichi smiled and pointed towards the sea. "That ship hasn't gone very far."

Minato's eyes lit up, and he immediately understood Taiichi's meaning. Without hesitation, he shouted "Chase!" and charged out first.

Taiichi and followed suit.

The two covered less than two kilometers in a short time. Seeing the ship in the distance, they didn't hesitate and immediately Water Walking to catch up.

The ninjas who remained on the ship had already evacuated, leaving only ordinary people from Kumogakure. Taiichi and Minato naturally wouldn't massacre these people. After leaving a Shadow Clone to watch over them, the two of them swaggered over and began searching the entire ship.

A moment later, Minato let out a cry of surprise, Taiichi immediately Flying Thunder God to Minato's side upon hearing the sound.

Following Minato's gaze, several large boxes of Sealing Scroll came into view.

"These... could they be the looted supplies that Cloud Village plundered in the Land of Wind this time?!" Taiichi said in disbelief.

Minato chuckled and immediately unsealed a scroll, from which a large amount of ore material emerged.

"That's true!" Taiichi's words were full of joy. This time they had really made a fortune, while the Cloud Ninja had lost everything.

The two exchanged another sly grin and quickly packed up all their belongings. However, when they thought about how to transport these things back, they were stumped.

That makes sense; if there weren't many items, the Cloud Ninja would have taken them with them when they retreated, and wouldn't have left them any.

What a happy problem!

"How about I have the Toad take it back to Mount Myoboku first?" Minato suggested.

"Great idea!"

The two chuckled again.

By the time the supplies on the ship and the corpses of the Cloud Ninja from the battlefield were completely collected, it was already evening.

The task of cleaning up the battlefield took longer than the actual fighting.

Having accomplished everything, the two exchanged a glance and vanished from the spot in an instant.

When they reappeared, the two had already returned to the Konoha Camp.

Without delay, Taiichi rushed back to the Central Army Tent, where he ran into Minato, who was also on his way.

The two walked into the tent together, and seeing Jiraiya still looking worried, they shouted, "Jiraiya- sensei, we're back!"

Still preoccupied with the losses at the previous Camp, Jiraiya didn't even notice Taiichi two entering, and was startled by their loud shout.

He was about to get angry, but when he saw the two of them smiling, he immediately realized something was wrong. This must be something good, otherwise, given Minato's personality, he wouldn't be fooling around with Taiichi.

Fortunately, Taiichi didn't know what Jiraiya was thinking, otherwise he would probably have argued with Jiraiya. Was he the kind of person who would act recklessly?

"What good news is this? How many Cloud Village bastards have you slaughtered?!"

The two exchanged a glance, Taiichi gestured for Minato to report. Minato happily replied, "Besides the new generation of the AB Duo and a Cloud Village Jonin, all the Cloud Ninja attacked us this time were intercepted and killed by us."

Jiraiya's eyes widened instantly, his face filled with disbelief.

Several staff officers who were still discussing post-war deployments in a corner of the tent stopped their discussion and turned to look at Minato in shock.

This is absolutely unbelievable!

If it hadn't been Minato who said that, they would have accused him of falsely reporting his war achievements.

"No exaggeration?" Jiraiya couldn't help but ask. It wasn't that he didn't believe Minato, but the results were so great that even he found it hard to believe.

"Although there was an element of luck in the battle, the results are real." Minato nodded again to confirm, and then took out the Sealing Scroll containing the corpses of the Cloud Ninja and placed it in front of everyone.

"Ah~ Hahahaha!" Jiraiya threw his head back and laughed loudly, his little tongue almost sticking out of his throat.

This was a complete release of pent-up emotions; Taiichi and Minato, his two disciples, had redeemed him from the embarrassment he had previously lost.

"Jiraiya- sensei, that's not all," Minato continued. "We seized all the supplies that the Cloud Ninja looted from the Land of Wind, including five large boxes of Sealing Scroll, all containing sealed ores."

Jiraiya was speechless. Had the Cloud Ninja accepted a mercenary mission from Konoha?

Having traveled all the way to the Land of Wind, only to end up sending people and supplies, Jiraiya felt embarrassed.

"Where are the supplies located?" Jiraiya asked. These supplies were quite valuable and needed to be handled carefully.

"Don't worry, teacher, I've put the supplies at Mount Myoboku," Minato said confidently.

"Good, good, good." Jiraiya's three "goods" proved Jiraiya delight. He turned to Taiichi, who had been standing to the side, and said, "Taiichi, go back to the village immediately and report this good news to the Hokage-sama."

After saying that, he turned back to the table, retrieved a scroll, and handed it to Taiichi. "This is my report scroll about Yohei. Take it back to Konoha with you."

Taiichi's eyes lit up as he took the scroll. He hadn't expected Jiraiya be so efficient, managing to get things done in his spare time. He was indeed a reliable and good teacher.

"No problem, Jiraiya- sensei, I'll go back right away and report this great news to the Hokage-sama."

As he spoke, he activated the Flying Thunder God, and his figure instantly disappeared from the spot.

Looking at the spot where Taiichi had disappeared, the advisors couldn't help but share the same thought, "Taiichi is truly a lucky general! He's only just arrived, and he's already resolved such a serious matter!"