"Minato, you're back!"
On the other side of the battlefield, Rasa—furious after failing to catch up with the Third Raikage—caught sight of Minato returning with a group of reinforcements. Without hesitation, he flew toward him.
"This must be the current head of the Uchiha clan. Please, help me kill that monster!"
In this desperate moment, Rasa had no time for pleasantries. Every second of delay meant more Sand Shinobi lives lost.
"Understood!"
Minato and Fugaku exchanged a glance and nodded in unison.
"I'll go stop him first. The rest of you, follow me immediately!" Minato commanded, then disappeared in a yellow flash, racing ahead with the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Everyone on the battlefield, bracing themselves for death against the unstoppable Raikage, suddenly saw that same yellow flash charging straight into the fray—into the heart of the storm.
And to their shock…
The fearsome figure, the one who had bulldozed through the Sand Shinobi army like a thunderstorm, was finally stopped!
"That yellow flash—could it be the legendary Namikaze Minato?"
"He actually stopped that monster by himself!"
"He's so powerful!"
Minato's sudden appearance and decisive action brought a wave of hope to the battered Sand Shinobi. For the first time, they truly understood the strength of having Konoha as an ally.
This was the power of the strongest village—Konoha, who once fought all four major villages during the Second Great Ninja War and still held the upper hand.
"As expected of you, Brother Minato!" Fugaku, chasing behind with Rasa, couldn't help but admire.
With such strength—and his role as envoy to the Sand—was Minato perhaps the strongest candidate to become the next Hokage?
Rasa felt reassured by what he saw and silently agreed with that thought. But now wasn't the time to worry about politics.
"You old bastard... I've finally caught you!" Rasa growled, forming hand seals.
"Magnet Style: Gold Sand Spear!"
Golden sand swirled and condensed rapidly into spear-like shapes, which shot forward at high speed toward the Third Raikage!
"Hell Thrust: Four-Fingered Assault!"
The Raikage blocked Minato's Flying Thunder God Kunai with one hand and had no time to dodge. With his left, he countered Rasa's attack, using four fingers to meet the golden spears head-on.
Even under this two-pronged assault, the Third Raikage stood his ground. But gradually, he noticed Minato and Rasa beginning to show signs of fatigue.
This was the moment he had been waiting for.
"Hell Thrust: Three-Fingered Strike!"
"Hell Thrust: Two-Fingered Jab!"
Seeing a flaw in their defense, the Raikage unleashed a fierce counterattack, piercing straight through both Minato and Rasa's chests in rapid succession!
But something didn't feel right.
The sensations—the piercing of flesh, the crack of bone, and the splattering blood—all felt real.
Yet the two of them went down far too easily.
This wasn't right!
A strong sense of unease gripped the Raikage.
Just as he tried to make sense of it, a thundering shout echoed from the distance.
"Magnet Style: Gold Dust Funeral!"
Before he could react, the ground beneath his feet shifted. He began sinking.
Then, a tidal wave of gold dust engulfed him!
Rasa's strongest bloodline limit technique had activated.
Standing with murder in his eyes, Rasa raised his right hand slowly, his voice low and filled with cruelty.
"Die!"
He slammed his hand down.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The gold dust responded to his fury, compressing suddenly and exploding with tremendous force!
Fugaku, standing nearby, dispelled his Sharingan, returning his eyes to normal. It had been him who cast the illusion earlier, giving Rasa the opening he needed to use his forbidden technique.
But Minato remained on high alert. For some reason, he felt uneasy.
The Raikage... wouldn't die so easily.
Sure enough—
"HAHAHAHA! This feels so good, absolutely amazing!"
A loud, maniacal laugh rang out. All three men's pupils shrank in shock.
As the smoke cleared, they saw the Third Raikage still standing—bloodied, bruised, but upright.
His white beard was stained red, his Lightning Armor flickered weakly, and he panted with effort—but he was alive.
If not for the visible injuries, one would think he hadn't been hurt at all.
"Sand Shinobi... that was a decent move. It's been a long time since I had a fight this enjoyable. Feels great!"
Then he turned to Fugaku.
"And you... brat from the Uchiha Clan... You tricked me. Not bad!"
Finally, he looked at Minato.
"You can actually keep up with my speed. Impressive. If I'm not mistaken, Sarutobi's grooming you to be the next Hokage, isn't he?"
The Raikage's tone became oddly nostalgic.
The Land of Fire—blessed with abundant resources, a pleasant climate, and a strong economy—had always been far ahead of the other great nations.
Why?
They were all shinobi villages. Why should Konoha have everything?
The Raikage had long dreamed of catching up to and surpassing Konoha—whether through strength, strategy, or land.
But during the Second Great Ninja War, Konoha's power crushed that dream.
One against four—and still came out ahead.
The memory still burned in his mind.
So after the war, he kept a low profile. He waited and planned for years, saving strength for this very moment—when Sand Village was leaderless and vulnerable.
If he could take down the Sand, he could flank Konoha from two sides!
Surely, the other two villages would join in. After all, who wouldn't covet the Fire Nation's bounty?
But now, Konoha's reinforcements had shattered his ambitions.
Cloud Village had suffered heavy losses.
And to make matters worse—before his eyes stood Konoha's future, brighter and stronger than ever.
For a moment, the Raikage was overcome with complicated emotions.
"Damn it all! If the heavens favor Konoha so much, then today I'll destroy their future with my own hands!"
He roared.
An intense, oppressive aura exploded from his body—one that reeked of destruction.
This was the Raikage's Forbidden Technique, a technique each Raikage could only use once in their lifetime.
By pushing lightning through every cell of his body, he shattered his physical limits—at the cost of never being able to fight again.
"Hell Thrust: Four-Fingered Punch!"
Minato's instincts screamed.
His vision blurred as he barely teleported away in time using Flying Thunder God.
"Hell Thrust: Three-Fingered Shot!"
"Hell Thrust: Two-Fingered Jab!"
The Raikage relentlessly pursued him, each strike faster than the last.
Even with this overclocked speed, Minato managed to dodge—but only barely.
This couldn't last.
With the Forbidden Technique activated, the Raikage only had minutes to live.
And Minato's continuous teleportation was approaching its human limit.
"Hell Thrust: One-Fingered Strike!"
The final, most lethal thrust.
The Raikage burned the last of his chakra to deliver an attack faster than sight—a speed akin to teleportation.
There was no time to dodge!
SHHK!
The sound of flesh being pierced.
Raikage looked down.
He had run his hand straight through a silver-haired youth wearing a Konoha headband.
Kakashi.
At the last moment, Kakashi had used Flying Thunder God to throw himself in front of Minato.
During his missions with Minato, he had once asked about Flying Thunder God as a form of flattery and learning.
Minato had given him a special kunai in return.
That gift had just saved his life.
"Where the hell did this brat come from!" Raikage growled, trying to fling Kakashi aside.
But—
"Seal!"
Despite the wound in his chest, Kakashi unleashed a sealing technique directly into the Raikage's left chest, disrupting his chakra circulation.
Then, he kicked off Raikage's chest using the rebound to tear free from the piercing arm!
The Raikage froze.
His chakra flow was halted. Even his Lightning Armor flickered out.
"Flying Thunder God Slash!"
SWISH!
A flash.
Minato darted past him, a Flying Thunder God kunai slicing across his chest.
The Raikage looked down at the deep wound piercing his heart.
His expression twisted—not from pain, but from realization.
So this is how it ends...
Ai, I'm leaving the village to you now...
Father... I'm sorry... I have to go first...
With his heart no longer pumping blood, the Third Raikage collapsed, lifeless.