As Uha looked at the young man in his twenties standing before him, his eyes lit up ever so slightly.
Good grief.
He never used to think so, but now, seeing him in person…
He realized he had been wrong.
Minato Namikaze really was that handsome.
Almost forty or fifty percent of his own looks.
At the Hokage's questioning, Uha simply shook his head.
"I didn't steal your Sealed Jutsu Scroll. I just took a peek and put it back. Don't go making baseless accusations."
"As for those three jōnin? I was merely curious about what your scroll looked like, but they immediately ganged up on me like they were out for blood. Lucky for them I'm the forgiving type I let them live. You're welcome, by the way."
Golden light flickered around Minato. In mere seconds, he had teleported the injured Ino–Shika–Cho trio to the Medical Corps.
Whoosh!
With another flash of light, Minato reappeared, calm and composed.
Clap, clap, clap.
Uha applauded enthusiastically.
"Impressive. The legendary Yellow Flash really is fast. What a waste you're not delivering food for a living."
Minato blinked, confused.
"Delivering food?"
"Not important."
Uha waved it off.
"So what now? Do we fight, or do we shake hands and walk away?"
Minato remained silent, but gestured toward the masked Anbu beside him.
They immediately began combing through the debris of the demolished shack.
Soon enough, they retrieved a large scroll from the rubble.
Minato let out a breath of relief.
He had only just taken office he couldn't afford to lose the Sealed Jutsu Scroll under his watch.
If the village advisors caught wind of it, he would surely be held accountable.
Even though the scroll hadn't technically been stolen, the boy in front of him had clearly copied everything and managed to seriously injure three elite jōnin in the process.
As Hokage, he had to respond.
But this young man's power... was unfathomable.
His spiritual energy was vast as the ocean.
He had reversed Yamanaka Inoichi's secret technique in an instant, causing him to faint from backlash.
Then he had effortlessly defeated the coordinated assault of Akimichi Chōza and Nara Shikaku with a single spell.
What kind of technique was that?
A giant obsidian coffin, which shattered after engulfing the two of them leaving them lying there, battered and broken.
And the most disturbing part?
The spell didn't require hand seals.
Worse yet, Minato had no idea how many other such techniques this young man possessed.
The unknown was always the most dangerous.
This was getting tricky.
Minato, who had always been cautious and calm, now found himself at a loss.
"You're seriously dragging this out. How annoying."
Uha frowned in frustration.
"Where's Hiruzen Sarutobi? And what about the Toad Sage, Jiraiya? Or the Slug Princess, Tsunade? Get all of them here. You too, Minato. The four of you can come at me together."
"Otherwise, I'm leaving. I've got better things to do than hang around your little Konoha village."
His voice was calm, but it made Minato tense up.
Was this guy serious?
Challenging four Kage-level shinobi by himself?
Minato's voice was cautious.
"Lord Jiraiya and Lady Tsunade are both away from the village. Lord Hiruzen is… bedridden. Resting at home."
"Oh? That so?"
Uha gave a small smile, but inwardly, he was unimpressed.
Jiraiya and Tsunade being away? Sure, he'd believe that.
But Hiruzen bedridden? What a lousy excuse.
As expected…
That old coot was no saint either.
Letting Danzo run wild had already caused enough damage.
Say nothing of the rest just in the original timeline, Shisui's death alone was half on him.
Shisui had privately requested a meeting with Hiruzen, hoping to use Kotoamatsukami to stop the Uchiha Clan's coup before it began.
But afterward, the old man had summoned Shisui again, claiming he needed to consult with the elders.
That delay gave Danzo the perfect chance to strike.
And Shisui ended up dead.
Had Hiruzen kept his mouth shut, things might've ended differently.
But deep down…
Wasn't it also true that he feared the power of Shisui's Mangekyō?
Revealing the technique's name in front of Danzo might as well have been a green light.
"Bedridden"? More like hiding behind excuses, sending the younger Minato to face danger alone.
The more Uha thought about it, the angrier he became.
He raised a hand and pointed.
"Hadō No. 4-"
"Byakurai!"
Zzzraaaap!!
A streak of crackling blue lightning burst forth, blindingly fast and full of force.
But Minato was faster.
With a golden flash, he vanished in an instant.
Appearing over a hundred meters away, he stared back in shock.
Another no-hand-seal technique?!
Could this guy really cast such powerful jutsu without weaving even a single sign?
Before Minato could collect his thoughts
Uha brought his hands together once more and shouted,
"Hadō No. 63-"
"Raikōhō!"
Electricity surged in his palms, forming a massive sphere of crackling energy before launching forward like a thunder cannon.
If Byakurai was a mountain stream
Then Raikōhō was a roaring river!
BOOOOM!!!
The thunder cannon exploded outward, deafening and relentless.
Minato used Flying Thunder God again and easily dodged.
Still no hand seals!
Good grief!
It was like…
Clap your hands and summon whatever spell you yell.
Minato was shaken, but something began to nag at him.
My Flying Thunder God can dodge almost any attack. His spells, while powerful, all have startup time. There's no way they can hit me unless...
Unless he knows they won't.
He's using me for target practice?!
That thought made Minato genuinely annoyed.
He was the Fourth Hokage, after all.
The Yellow Flash. And this guy was treating him like a training dummy?
"Hmph…"
Minato's smile thinned. He raised his special kunai.
"Time you learned just how terrifying the Flying Thunder God really is."
Whoosh!
Gold light blinked. His figure vanished.
In the blink of an eye, he was behind Uha.
He thrust his kunai at Uha's back.
Clang!
A sharp metallic ring echoed.
The blade hadn't pierced his skin.
Hadn't even left a scratch.
"His skin's that hard?! Like solid steel?!"
Minato was stunned.
But his hands kept moving. Chakra gathered into his palm.
A spinning sphere of compressed energy appeared
Rasengan. A no-hand-seal jutsu of his own.
"Then how about this? Let's see you ignore this."
With confidence, Minato drove the Rasengan into Uha's back.
Thud!
A dull impact.
The force transferred clearly, but to no effect.
The Rasengan failed to break through Uha's Steel Skin.
"Minato, your speed is great, but your power is lacking."
"Honestly... for all the time you spent forming that fancy ball, you'd be better off slapping a thousand explosive tags on me."
As Uha spoke, he turned, lifting his right hand and pointing again.
Minato remained calm.
"Your techniques may be strong and seal-free, but what's the point if they can't hit me?"
He began forming a single hand seal to teleport again.
But
This time, Uha was too fast.
"Bakudō No. 99-"
"Kin!"
The air trembled.
The space around Minato distorted, then shattered like glass.
Crack! Crack!!
In less than a second, a strange four-sided prison materialized.
Its walls were fully transparent.
Each corner burned with ghostly white flames.
Minato stood frozen inside, stunned.
His Flying Thunder God Technique had stopped working.
Uha tilted his head with a wry smile.
"The last guy who bragged about being unbeatable with space-time jutsu… ended up working under me."
"Minato... always remember this."
"No jutsu is truly invincible."