Endless

When Kei ran into trouble, Minato Namikaze was facing a thorny problem outside the Uchiha Clan's encirclement.

Earlier that day, he had been chatting happily with Fugaku, the Uchiha Clan's leader, at the Uzumaki Clan's compound. The mood had been excellent. Who could have guessed that news would suddenly arrive that Uchiha Kei and Danzo had clashed outside Konoha?

For a moment, he had no idea what was going on.

Fugaku feared that Uchiha Kei might cause a catastrophe, so he had asked Minato to go to the scene. He had even pleaded with him to bring Kei back safely, no matter what.

It seemed Kei was quite important to Uchiha Fugaku.

There was nothing for it. He was a ninja known for his speed, after all. After accepting Fugaku's request, Minato set off without a moment's delay, entrusted with the fate of the Uchiha Clan.

With a thrown kunai and a Flying Thunder God flash, Minato raced toward his destination at top speed.

When he was only a kunai's throw away from the site of the conflict, his Flying Thunder God Technique suddenly failed.

That had never happened before.

Minato quickly came to a stop and tried to figure out what was wrong with his Flying Thunder God Technique. He realized it wasn't his technique that had malfunctioned; someone had interrupted it—or even blocked his ninjutsu.

Things were looking bad. There had to be great danger on the front line.

Fortunately, he wasn't too far from his destination. He could cover the remaining distance with a few Body Flicker Techniques.

But just as he was about to set off again, an Uchiha suddenly attacked from the woods.

A man with a pair of Sharingan made no attempt to hesitate. In one clean, decisive stroke, his blade flashed past, its viciousness and coldness on full display.

If Minato hadn't been a ninja with extraordinarily quick reflexes, that strike might have killed him.

Minato dodged the blow with a flash and didn't get angry. Seeing that his attacker was an Uchiha, he hurriedly explained, "Chotto matte! I'm here on Clan Leader Uchiha Fugaku's orders to help you. Please don't misunderstand."

Minato assumed a fierce battle had broken out ahead, hidden by the trees, which was why this Uchiha was so tense.

If he explained his purpose right away, he could clear up the misunderstanding.

But the man before him didn't care. Instead, he barked, "No one may pass."

Minato studied the mature-looking man.

He was young, but his face looked seasoned. A strange, earring-like protrusion stood out on his right earlobe. He had a handsome, stern face, yet something about him seemed odd and out of place—as if two different faces were visible on a single head.

His face was completely uncovered, yet it seemed to bear the shadow of two expressions. No matter how Minato looked at him, the man didn't seem like the sort to be trusted.

No wonder people always called the Uchiha the evil Uchiha. One glance was enough to make them seem so untrustworthy.

Minato didn't consider himself someone who judged people by their looks, but the man's face still unsettled him.

When the man ignored everything he said, Minato knew there was no point in talking. There was no way this could end peacefully.

Minato immediately assessed the situation.

Although he had been sent by the Uchiha, the clash involved an important figure from the Hokage's faction and an important figure from the Uchiha faction.

Since an Uchiha was blocking the road, the Uchiha had probably come out on top, which meant the Hokage's faction was the one taking a beating.

But Minato still couldn't simply leave and report back to Fugaku. He hadn't yet figured out what was happening with Danzo, and he wouldn't know what to tell the Third if asked later.

Even if he didn't like Danzo, who was always doing unsavory things behind the scenes, he couldn't just stand by and let something happen to him.

With the Uchiha Clan's leader having authorized and requested his help, Minato had every right to explain what had happened.

Even if he forced his way through, no one would hold it against him.

Since this unreasonable Uchiha wouldn't let him pass, there was nothing else for it.

Sorry, Uchiha. You evil lot are going to have to lie down quietly.

To prevent more people from being sacrificed, I can only sacrifice you.

A kunai scattered, and then a flash of light burst forth.

"Spiral Flash Super Round Dance Howl Style Three!"

When the flash faded, the cold Uchiha lay on the ground.

Minato scratched his head. "Oh, I didn't hold back! I hope I didn't kill him. Well, that's that!"

He finished speaking and prepared to Body Flicker onward.

But just as Minato activated his technique, a familiar blade flashed out from behind him.

The man who had taken seven or eight Rasengan was standing behind him, completely unharmed.

Minato hurriedly bit his tongue and used the pain to break free of the genjutsu.

"Hm? I wasn't caught in a genjutsu!"

How was this possible? Anyone else would have been reduced to minced meat after taking seven or eight Rasengan. Why was this man completely fine?

Minato would never know that the reason only one person had been sent to stop him was that Uchiha Kei knew a group attack wouldn't work against him.

The ninja who had stepped forward to fight Minato was called Uchiha Tenshen, the deputy leader of Iga. He had the same commanding and controlling abilities as Ogen. He was a ruthless man who would stop at nothing to ensure the victory of the Iga Clan.

He had also mastered an immortality technique that made him immune to physical attacks. He might look young, but he was actually a few years older than Granny Ogen.

[Uchiha Tenshen, Ninjutsu B, Taijutsu A+, Genjutsu B]

In the world of Basilisk, he could automatically revive some time after dying.

Now, with chakra supporting him, he was immortal as long as his chakra didn't run out.

Chakra was produced by extracting energy from cells. And when faced with the limitless metabolic capacity of the immortality technique, this man could recover nearly endless amounts of chakra.

That wasn't quite the right way to explain it.

Take the Tailed Beasts, for example. They all had endless chakra, but some were stronger than others. The difference came down to their output.

In other words, "endless" meant that the rate of recovery was far greater than the rate of consumption.

So even though both had endless chakra, the Nine-Tails was still stronger than the One-Tail because its output was greater.

Uchiha Tenshen was like a human Tailed Beast. The chakra he needed to revive himself was far less than the amount he regained through the immortality technique.

So, to kill Uchiha Tenshen, one needed to use a destructive ninjutsu powerful enough to leave him with not even a trace of ash.

That was why Uchiha Tenshen dared to step forward and intercept Minato Namikaze despite being no match for him. He was certain Minato didn't have any large-scale ninjutsu. The future Hokage had never been an all-around ninja, but rather one who excelled in a few specialties.

Minato's only way of killing Tenshen was the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, a technique that would take both of them down.

But this wasn't a matter of life or death for Konoha. Would Minato really risk his life over one Uchiha and one unpopular Danzo?

So, from the moment Minato arrived, this was destined to be a battle without end.

One couldn't touch the other, and the other couldn't be killed.

With Tenshen there, Minato couldn't do a thing.