Konoha Camp.
Yūto handed the bloodstained intelligence scroll to Minato. Minato undid its seal, skimmed it, and immediately knitted his brows.
The contents shocked Minato. Kumogakure actually planned to release the Eight-Tails on the front line.
Because Kumogakure had handled its intelligence work so well, Konoha had never learned that the Eight-Tails had been sealed inside Killer B.
Thus, as far as Minato knew, the Eight-Tails was sealed inside some sort of container.
Minato continued reading the intelligence on the scroll and discovered that Kumogakure's transport unit would pass through Takekuri Gorge that day.
He immediately made his decision. They had to intercept the Eight-Tails at Takekuri Gorge. They could not let the Eight-Tails appear on the battlefield!
Seeing that Minato intended to take the initiative, Yūto could not help reminding him, "Lord Minato, a Kumogakure ninja carrying intelligence appeared near the camp. Could this be a trap?"
Minato shook his head and smiled wryly. "Even if it is, we have to intercept them. Yūto, you probably don't understand the power of a tailed beast."
"Just one tailed beast can easily destroy a city."
"If he appears on the battlefield, Konoha will lose for certain!"
Seeing that Minato understood the problem with the intelligence, Yūto did not investigate further and turned to leave.
After Yūto left, Minato immediately summoned the jonin in the camp.
Intercepting a tailed beast would require nearly every ninja in the camp to mobilize. Even as the front-line commander, Minato did not dare make that decision lightly.
Soon, the front-line jonin gathered in the tent.
Minato slapped the intelligence scroll down hard on the table and said gravely, "Kumogakure plans to release the Eight-Tails at Takekuri Gorge. We must intercept them immediately!"
A jonin from the Hyuga Clan was the first to object. "The source of this intelligence is questionable! A Kumogakure operative prepared to die appearing near our camp is far too deliberate. This is very likely a Lure the Tiger Away from the Mountain stratagem!"
The Uchiha Great Elder sneered. "A mere tailed beast is nothing before the Sharingan! If Kumogakure truly dares to release the Eight-Tails, I shall suppress him myself!"
Shikaku Nara frowned as he analyzed the situation. "If the Eight-Tails really appears, the battlefield will spiral completely out of control. But the timing of this intelligence is too convenient. Kumogakure may well have laid an ambush at Takekuri Gorge."
Akimichi Choza slammed the table and sprang to his feet. "But what if the intelligence is true? Once the Eight-Tails goes on a rampage, the entire front line will be reduced to scorched earth!"
Shibi Aburame adjusted his sunglasses. "My insect swarm has detected a Kumogakure squad moving toward Takekuri Gorge, but their chakra signatures are abnormal. We cannot rule out a trap."
As the argument grew increasingly heated, Minato suddenly called out, "Everyone!"
He looked around at them. "Even if there's only a one percent chance, we must stop the Eight-Tails from appearing. I'll lead the team myself. Everyone else will hold the defensive line. That's an order!"
In the end, the jonin reached a consensus.
Minato would lead an elite team to Takekuri Gorge at full speed, while the remaining troops heightened their vigilance and stood ready to provide support at any moment.
Every jonin in the camp except those of the Uchiha Clan joined Minato's elite team.
Before departing, Minato solemnly told the Elder, "Elder, while I lead the team to Takekuri Gorge, I'll be leaving the camp's defense to the Uchiha Clan."
The Elder's Sharingan activated on their own as he declared proudly, "Rest assured. I'll make sure any Kumogakure scum who dare attack never return."
Minato smiled wryly at his words. "There's no need to kill them all. Simply drive them away."
The Elder snorted and flicked his sleeve. "Weakness! Mercy toward your enemies is cruelty toward yourself. Outsiders have no business telling the Uchiha how to act."
Seeing this, Minato said no more, though he offered one final reminder before leaving. "If you encounter a powerful enemy, make sure you wait for me to return and reinforce you."
The Elder turned his back without answering, but the fighting spirit flickering in his Sharingan said it all.
Team Minato moved swiftly. The journey to Takekuri Gorge would normally take half a day, but with everyone disregarding their chakra consumption, they arrived in less than an hour.
Hidden on the outskirts of Takekuri Gorge, a Hyuga jonin activated his Byakugan to scout the distant Kumogakure troops.
To ensure the plan went off flawlessly, Dodai had not informed the transport unit of it.
The transport unit believed they really were transporting the Eight-Tails, and every one of them wore a guarded expression.
The Hyuga jonin focused his Byakugan on the center of the formation, where he saw a powerful, ominous mass of chakra.
"There's no mistake. It's a tailed beast!"
Hearing this, Minato instead breathed a sigh of relief.
As long as the intelligence was genuine, that was good. Once they captured the Eight-Tails, the scales of war would tip completely in Konoha's favor!
Minato immediately ordered them to end the fight quickly and retreat as soon as they captured the container sealing the Eight-Tails.
Everyone acknowledged the order and sprang out.
In the distance, Killer B and A had already been waiting for some time.
Upon seeing Minato launch his attack, A immediately led his men to block the entrances and exits of Takekuri Gorge.
Realizing they had been ambushed, Minato's heart sank. This is bad.
His gaze sharpened, and the Flying Thunder God Kunai in his hands rained down across the battlefield.
A looked around at the kunai embedded all over the ground and snorted disdainfully. "Cheap tricks!"
"Minato Namikaze, today is the day you die!"
Violent lightning release chakra erupted from A's body, blue electricity coiling around him.
He activated Lightning Release Chakra Mode and charged straight at Minato, moving so fast he almost became a blur.
Minato's pupils contracted sharply. In his haste, he only had time to throw a single kunai.
A's fist, wrapped in lightning, was about to strike Minato square in the face.
Whoosh!
Minato vanished in an instant, and A's fist struck only air.
"What?!" A's eyes widened in shock. Before he could react, a sudden whistle cut through the air behind him. Minato had teleported to the kunai he had just thrown, and the kunai in his hand drove straight toward A's back, aimed at his heart!
"Big brother, watch out!"
At that critical instant, a thick octopus tentacle suddenly thrust between them.
Bang!
Minato's kunai sank deep into the Eight-Tails' tail, but failed to harm A in the slightest.
Beneath his sunglasses, Killer B's eyes gleamed with fighting spirit. "Yo~ Minato Namikaze, hurting my big brother won't be that easy~"
Minato looked at Killer B and thought of his girlfriend, Kushina.
He said solemnly, "A, you have a good partner."
With that, he turned to leave.
"Minato Namikaze, do you think you can get away with a few one-sided remarks?!"
A's lightning release chakra surged throughout his body, blue electricity tracing a blinding path across the battlefield.
His eyes swept over the battlefield, committing the location of every Flying Thunder God Kunai firmly to memory.
Three on the tree trunk to the northwest, two in the cracks of the rocks to the southeast, five on the ground directly ahead...
"You won't escape this time!"
A roared, his figure turning into a streak of lightning as he lunged straight at Minato.
His fist, wrapped in violent lightning release chakra, was about to strike Minato in the back.
At that critical instant, Minato vanished again.
A's lips curled into a cold smile. He had already anticipated Minato's teleportation route. It had to be the nearest kunai on the ground!
He forcibly changed the trajectory of his fist in midair, turning it toward the kunai three meters away.
However.
"What?!" A's pupils suddenly contracted. The golden-haired figure he expected did not appear.
"Behind him!" a Kumogakure ninja suddenly shouted.
To his shock, A discovered that Minato had appeared out of thin air behind Killer B, the kunai in his hand aimed straight at the back of the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki's head!
Minato had already secretly left a Flying Thunder God Mark on Killer B's octopus tail.
"B! Watch out!"
A hurriedly turned, but it was already too late to come to his aid.
Before you continue