Yellow Flash

In the forty-seventh year of Konoha, at the end of spring and the start of summer, the air was heavy with the sense that a storm was coming. In the hills along the border between the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Fire, Konoha's border forces had already put up simple but effective fortifications. A weight hung over everyone's heart: a large-scale attack by Kumogakure could break out at any moment.

Inside the command tent, Namikaze Minato was discussing tactics with several jonin. His sky-blue eyes were still clear and gentle, but now held a trace of gravity. Having just seen his fiancée, Uzumaki Kushina, off, Minato knew this mission would be exceptionally dangerous. Their opponents were the two most infamous members of Kumogakure's younger generation—A and Killer B, known as the AB Combo.

"According to our intelligence, A has mastered Lightning Release. His speed and strength are both terrifying. As for Killer B, though he's young, he can already control the Eight-Tails' power to some extent, making him difficult to predict." Minato pointed at the map, his voice steady. "Our mission is to hold them back, not wipe them out. Use the terrain, establish layered defenses, and delay them as long as possible while we wait for reinforcements."

"Lord Minato, if the AB Combo attack together, we..." One of the jonin sounded worried.

Minato gave them a reassuring smile. "Leave A and B to me. You need only follow the plan and hold off the Hidden Cloud vanguard." His voice was confident, a confidence born of his absolute command of the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Meanwhile, several dozen miles away, at the Hidden Cloud camp.

"You damn fools! You bastards! This time, I'm gonna show those Konoha guys how awesome the rapping bro is! Yeah!" Killer B danced around, improvising a clumsy rap.

"B! Quiet!" A growled. Lightning flickered over his body, and he radiated a terrifying aura. "We strike at dawn tomorrow, as planned. I'll deal with Namikaze Minato. You tear through their defenses."

"Got it! Don't worry, big bro!" Killer B stopped joking, a serious glint flashing in his eyes. He knew how important this battle was. It was also a crucial opportunity to prove the AB Combo's strength to the entire Shinobi World.

Night deepened, and the air of an approaching decisive battle quietly spread.

At dawn, just as the sky began to pale, a muffled rumble of thunder drew closer, shattering the morning calm.

"Enemy attack—!"

The shinobi in Konoha's watchtower had barely sounded the alarm when a thick bolt of blue lightning, like a sword of divine punishment, tore through the mist and slammed into the tower! Boom! The wooden-and-stone structure was instantly reduced to dust!

"Attack!" A charged at the head of the force, his body shrouded in wild blue Lightning Release Chakra. Like a rampaging beast, he barreled toward Konoha's position with overwhelming force. The ground cracked beneath him, the air warped, and ordinary shinobi could see nothing but a blur as he passed.

"Lightning Style: Lariat!" A roared, transforming into a Z-shaped bolt of lightning as he raced back and forth along the front of Konoha's defenses. His fists swung like hammers, blasting several Konoha Chunin who were trying to form Hand Seals into the air. The sound of bones breaking rang out clearly.

At almost the same moment, Killer B appeared on the flank like a ghost.

"Yo! The Eight-Tails, Killer B, is here! You fools! Tremble! Acrobat!" He wielded seven short blades wrapped in lightning, weaving them in a dazzling dance. Like a giant spinning top of lightning, he smashed through one side of Konoha's defensive formation. A dark red Tailed Beast Cloak flickered around him, granting him strength and speed beyond the ordinary.

The main Hidden Cloud force followed close behind, their battle cries shaking the heavens. The front line of Konoha's defenses was instantly plunged into a desperate fight.

Just as Konoha's defenses were about to be torn apart, a golden flash appeared without warning at the very heart of the battlefield, directly in the path of A's charge, like the rising sun breaking through the clouds!

The golden light faded, revealing Namikaze Minato. He held a specially made three-pronged kunai and calmly watched A charge toward him with overwhelming force.

"Namikaze Minato!" A's pupils contracted, but he only charged faster, lightning blazing around his right fist. "Just who I wanted! Lightning Style: Lariat!"

The punch gathered Lightning Release Chakra to its utmost limit, with enough force to split mountains and shatter rocks.

Yet in Minato's calm blue eyes, A's lightning-fast movements seemed to slow. At the instant A's fist was about to reach his face—

"Flying Thunder God Technique!"

Minato vanished into thin air.

A's supposedly decisive punch smashed into the ground, blasting a crater several meters across and sending dirt flying. He whipped around. Minato had appeared beside a specially made kunai ten meters behind him.

"What an incredible Space-Time Ninjutsu!" A was stunned, but his fighting spirit only grew. "Let's see how long you can keep dodging! Lightning Style: Lightning Body Flicker!"

A's speed surged again. He became a true bolt of blue lightning, attacking Minato from every angle in a relentless storm. Fist, foot, elbow, knee—every part of his body became a weapon, wreathed in deadly lightning.

Minato's figure flashed across the battlefield like a ghost. He did more than simply dodge: he repeatedly threw specially made kunai, planting them precisely at crucial points around the battlefield. Each kunai marked a Flying Thunder God coordinate.

"Flying Thunder God: Second Step!"

After one flash, Minato didn't stop. Using the kunai's trajectory, he made a second and even a third instantaneous deflection! His movements became completely unpredictable. One moment he appeared above A, his kunai aimed at the crown of his head; the next he appeared behind him, striking at his legs.

Every one of A's attacks hit empty air, while Minato's counterattacks always came from the most difficult angles, forcing A to defend himself. Their battle had already surpassed the understanding of ordinary shinobi. All they could see was golden light and blue lightning crashing, chasing, and separating across the battlefield at dizzying speed. Only the violent impacts and bursts of energy proved how fierce their clash was.

"Big bro! I'm coming to help! You fool!" Seeing A make no headway, Killer B shook off the Konoha shinobi around him. A deeper, dark-red Tailed Beast Cloak covered his body, and a tail made of Chakra even sprouted from his back. He opened his mouth—

"Tailed Beast Bomb: Mini Version!"

A highly compressed sphere of purplish-black Chakra rapidly formed in front of his mouth. Though small, it radiated a destructive energy that made everyone shudder. Whoosh! The mini Tailed Beast Bomb shot toward Minato at incredible speed, cutting off every route of escape.

"Lord Minato, look out!" the Konoha shinobi cried.

Minato's gaze sharpened, but he didn't panic in the face of an attack powerful enough to destroy a small mountain. His hands formed Seals so quickly that they blurred.

"Flying Thunder God: Guiding Thunder!"

Just before the Tailed Beast Bomb struck him, another specially made kunai he had thrown arrived first, piercing the edge of its energy core with perfect accuracy. At the same time, a kunai coordinate he had placed in a distant, uninhabited valley was activated.

Hum! Space warped. The destructive Tailed Beast Bomb vanished in an instant along with Minato. The next moment, an earth-shaking explosion erupted in the valley several kilometers away, and a mushroom cloud rose into the sky.

"What?! He teleported the Tailed Beast Bomb?!" Killer B stared in disbelief. It was the first time he'd seen anyone deal with a Tailed Beast Bomb that way.

"B! Don't lose focus!" A roared, seizing the chance to close in on Minato again. "Lightning Style: Liger Bomb!" A massive lightning axe came crashing down from above.

Minato had just finished using Guiding Thunder. It looked as though he'd exhausted his momentum and hadn't yet recovered. But as if he had eyes in the back of his head, he threw a kunai behind him without even turning around.

"Flying Thunder God: Mutual Instantaneous Revolving Technique!"

The kunai shot behind A, and Minato instantly switched places with it. He dodged the lightning axe and appeared in A's blind spot!

"Rasengan!"

A sphere of rapidly rotating Chakra pressed toward the small of A's back.

"Hmph! Lightning Release Armor!" A concentrated his Lightning Release Chakra on his back and took the hit head-on.

Bang! A violent burst of energy threw them apart. A's Lightning Release Armor rippled violently but didn't break. He used the impact to surge forward, closing the distance again. Minato's Rasengan hadn't been enough to finish the job.

The battle reached a stalemate. Minato's Flying Thunder God Technique was unpredictable, keeping him out of danger, but A's Lightning Release Armor was astonishingly strong, and he was every bit as fast. Combined with Killer B's unpredictable Tailed Beast Chakra attacks, they gave Minato considerable trouble. Minato's aim was to hold them back, not kill them, so he used his speed advantage to keep them occupied and split them up.

He flashed around the battlefield, sometimes using Wind Style: Vacuum Great Sphere to disrupt Killer B's efforts to form a Tailed Beast Bomb, sometimes using the Shadow Clone Technique to confuse his opponents. Meanwhile, his real body focused on attacking the ordinary Hidden Cloud forces and disrupting their formation. A and Killer B were forced to chase Minato around the battlefield, unable to direct their forces or break through Konoha's defenses effectively.

"Damn it! Stop running and fight!" After failing to land a hit for so long, A grew increasingly irritable, his Lightning Release Chakra turning even more violent.

"Big bro, calm down! His jutsu is too troublesome!" Killer B dropped his joking manner too, his expression grim. He tried to increase his strength by producing more Chakra tails, but Minato always interrupted his buildup with Flying Thunder God at the crucial moment.

Minato was like a master dancer, moving across the knife's edge and keeping the AB Combo pinned firmly to the main battlefield. His Chakra reserves, tactical mind, and mastery of Space-Time Ninjutsu were on full display.

While the main battlefield raged, the fighting in the side valley was just as fierce. The interception force led by Uchiha Fugaku was under immense pressure against the Hidden Cloud elite led by Dodai.

Dodai's Lava Release was both offensive and defensive. He could defend with Rubber Wall and restrain opponents with Adhesive Chain, making him extremely difficult to deal with. With their numerical advantage and Dodai's command, the Hidden Cloud forces repeatedly tried to break through by force.

Fugaku's Three-Tomoe Sharingan was fully activated, observing every detail of the battlefield. He didn't charge recklessly, instead holding the center like an unshakable rock.

"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"

When the Hidden Cloud forces gathered to charge, he unleashed a vast sea of flames, forcing them back.

"Genjutsu: Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique!"

When an enemy jonin tried to organize a strike, a powerful illusion instantly immobilized him, allowing the elite Uchiha to finish him off.

Fugaku's tactics were simple but effective: he used the Sharingan's insight and Genjutsu in combination with his clan members' superb Fire Release and Shurikenjutsu to wage a precise defensive counterattack. He paid special attention to Dodai himself. Whenever Dodai tried to reshape the battlefield or suppress them with large-scale Lava Release, Fugaku always interrupted him with perfectly timed Fire Release or Genjutsu.

"Uchiha Fugaku... You certainly live up to your reputation." Dodai's expression was grave. The opponent's Sharingan seemed able to see through his every intention, leaving him feeling as if his hands were tied. On the flank, the Hidden Cloud forces were firmly held outside the valley by Fugaku, unable to advance a single step.

The battle continued from dawn until the afternoon. The main battlefield and the flank both reached a stalemate. Thanks to Minato and Fugaku's impressive performance, Konoha's defenses remained firm despite considerable casualties. The Hidden Cloud's momentum gradually wore down as their attacks failed to break through.

Dodai surveyed the battlefield and realized that continuing the assault was pointless; Konoha reinforcements could arrive at any moment. He decisively sent a signal to the main battlefield.

A received the signal. Looking at Minato, whose breathing remained steady and whose gaze was still clear, A felt deeply reluctant, but understood that they could no longer achieve their tactical objective.

"Namikaze Minato... Next time, I'll smash your Flying Thunder God!" A issued his threat.

"I'll be waiting," Minato replied with a slight smile.

Under Dodai's command, and with the AB Combo covering their retreat, the Hidden Cloud forces withdrew from the battlefield in good order. Konoha had successfully repelled the first large-scale attack.

After this battle, the name of the Yellow Flash, Namikaze Minato, resounded throughout the Shinobi World. He had faced the Hidden Cloud's AB Combo alone, holding them off and even gaining a slight advantage. His strength was universally recognized. Meanwhile, Uchiha Fugaku had held the flank with his powerful Sharingan and Fire Release, and the name Wicked Eye once again spread far and wide.

However, the Hidden Leaf Leadership had no time to celebrate. This battle had left no doubt about the threat posed by Kumogakure, and even more worrying was that Iwagakure's main force had yet to appear. The shadow of the Third Shinobi World War had already fallen over the entire Land of Fire.