A hypnotic dance performance, enhanced by Kei Yamanaka's custom-made D-rank genjutsu "Demonic Illusion: BGM" (designed to add immersive background music), kept the audience captivated and prevented the dance from feeling monotonous.
Both of Minato Namikaze's dances received unanimous praise from all the spectators present.
Once they'd shared a few light-hearted jokes, Might Guy and Kakashi returned once more to their rigorous training.
Only Obito hesitated before approaching Kei with a question—could he teach him those two songs and their matching dances?
No particular reason.
He just thought their teacher danced really well, and it'd be a shame if no one else learned them.
As expected, that afternoon, Obito was given extra scrutiny by Minato during lunch for loading up on rice before getting any side dishes, and was forced into over an hour of extra practice.
That afternoon, Minato Namikaze and Kei Yamanaka didn't spar again, instead both silently analyzing their recent experiences.
Crow Style Flying Thunder God and regular Flying Thunder God Kunai had respective strengths and weaknesses in actual combat.
The former offered agility and speed, greatly boosting the intensity of the attack.
There was no need to re-throw kunai after every strike, nor was there any effort required to recalculate flying thunder god drop points each time.
In high-speed battles, this made the user appear even faster.
Of course, its disadvantages were obvious too. Often times, the crows' flight paths became predictable, and when getting too close to the enemy, they could easily be killed off.
As for the latter—
Repeated throwing of the Flying Thunder God Kunai ensured every strike achieved exactly the desired effect, making attacks far deadlier.
The spatial drop points also became harder to anticipate, leaving enemies unable to mount effective counterattacks.
But the downside came when facing large numbers of enemies or extremely fast ones; frequent throws and complex calculations of landing positions would cause the frequency of space transfers to increase dramatically.
Moreover, while the time consumed per throw wasn't much, repeated usage meant facing opponents with extremely fast ninjutsu activation could easily expose timing gaps.
Minato couldn't help but feel concerned.
In that recent fight, he'd used the Flying Thunder God at least three to four times more than his dear friend!
There were three main reasons behind this result.
First, when facing Kei's strength enhanced by the Suishō no Jutsu, he found himself at a disadvantage.
This forced him to rely heavily on spatial displacement techniques—pulling back, dispersing force, and accelerating—to compensate for the power deficit with sheer speed.
Secondly, those summoned crows truly were troublesome!
He'd already started considering whether he should start raising some crow summons himself.
In Konoha, crows bred as summoned beasts had been developed over many generations.
Special herbal formulas were used to accelerate their growth during their early development stages, and appropriate summoning training allowed them to become battle-ready within just three months.
Though the chakra stored within them paled compared to Mount Myoboku's frogs,
their explosive bursts of speed, paired with the summoner's unpredictable and sudden attacks, even he found them troublesome to deal with.
Third—and most importantly!
His Flying Thunder God formula definitely needed security measures against theft!
At the very least, the kunai used in sparring sessions with Kei Yamanaka must be secured with these measures!
Those Flying Thunder God Kunai were tailor-made for his personal throwing style, period!
Kei Yamanaka actually used his Flying Thunder God formula to teleport ahead and threw the kunai so far that he had to go retrieve it himself. Is that even fair play?
Is he just out here walking his ninja hounds for fun?
And more than once, when he thought he finally had an opening, Kei simply escaped by teleporting using his spatial coordinates.
Only turning the situation into an even greater disadvantage for him.
Minato Namikaze was well aware.
If the battle continued dragging on like this, his disadvantage would only grow worse.
That's why he risked everything, trying to mark Kei directly with the Flying Thunder God technique.
He just didn't expect that Kei Yamanaka, who had predicted this very move long ago, would use it as an opportunity to set a trap.
And trapped him immediately.
"Looks like I've gotten a bit lazy over the years!"
Minato looked at his dear friend sitting cross-legged on a rooftop in the distant, wearing a thoughtful expression.
Privately vowing to train harder from now on.
He didn't dislike dancing per se, but if it came from his dear friend, he'd definitely enjoy it much more.
"Ah~ I remember Mount Myoboku has a ninjutsu called [Frog Heika Control Technique]?"
Minato rubbed his chin.
Quickly identifying the perfect alternative to the Mind Body Disturbance Technique.
Next time! Yeah! Next time, he'd make sure his dear friend gave him a proper performance!
"Ah-choo~"
Kei Yamanaka suddenly sneezed without warning.
Rubbing his itching nose, he instinctively glanced toward Minato, who was scribbling something onto a scroll inside the lakeside pavilion.
This guy wasn't that innocent little sunshine anymore!
Lately, his moves had gotten increasingly brutal!
Who in their right mind uses taijutsu aimed straight for the opponent's lower regions?
Thankfully, his Hydrification Technique was well-practiced; otherwise, the results would've been catastrophic...
"Chakra... chakra..."
Sighing, Kei Yamanaka felt even more eager to acquire a skill listing that boosted chakra reserves.
They say when you're broke, precision strikes are your only option; when you're loaded, you unleash raw firepower.
If only he had as much chakra as Minato...
In that recent fight, why hold back so much? Why hesitate to use the Flying Thunder God repeatedly?
But if he possessed chakra reserves comparable to Hashirama Senju...
Hehe~
Imagine what real saturation attacks look like?
"I should tell Shikaku later today to choose a mission in the Land of Iron."
Muttering under his breath, Kei Yamanaka continued thinking.
He'd already made nearly all the preparations.
Once a suitable mission came up,
he could openly leave Konoha and head straight to the Land of Iron to search for Madara Uchiha!
Time slipped by quickly amid the peaceful rhythm of daily life.
The comfort of the training cave completely masked the tension building toward the Third Great Ninja War.
Mornings were for sparring with Minato, afternoons for solo training or mentoring the Three Little Troublemakers.
Evenings were spent wrapped in Kushina's warm embrace, savoring these rare moments of peaceful leisure together.
Before he realized it, time had already reached mid-November.
As Kei Yamanaka was wondering
why neither of the two tasks he'd assigned had been completed yet—
Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen summoned him again through Anbu to the Hokage Office.
In the large office, smoke curled through the air.
Hiruzen Sarutobi clenched a pipe between his teeth, his back turned toward the golden sunset as he exhaled thick plumes of smoke.
The brilliant evening light failed to illuminate him. Instead, it cast his face into shadow and made him appear somber and burdened.
Recently, the border outposts of the Land of Fire had been subjected to occasional disturbances.
It was obvious.
One of the hidden villages could no longer wait and had begun probing Konoha's defenses.
But this wasn't a chance encounter filled with petty provocations, nor was it a deliberate ambush lying in wait beyond their route.
These were border outposts!
These were Konoha's symbols of authority and the Land of Fire's territorial dignity!
If they failed to mount a decisive counterstrike or shift focus elsewhere...
"Kei, I need you to go to Kumogakure for a top-secret mission. There, a covert operative known by the codename 'Wandering Shrine Maiden' will assist you and provide intelligence support."
Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke with an unusual gravity and restraint.
The scroll he flicked forward with a wave of his hand bore no official seal or designation, yet each line contained such dangerous information that even a mildly timid ninja might suffer heart palpitations from merely reading it.
"...Yes, sir!"
Yamanaka Kei pursed his lips, cursing Nara Shikaku under his breath with every insult he could think of.
Damn it all...
He'd been waiting for over ten days.
And now instead of the Land of Iron, the mission was headed to the Land of Lightning?
Great...
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