For once, the training ground felt too quiet. That was probably a bad sign, cause usually, quiet meant focus, usually, quiet meant preparation. Usually, quiet meant a shinobi was about to do something intelligent, precise, and extremely dangerous.
In this case, it meant Minato and I were standing across from each other in the middle of a training ground, both grinning like idiots while two girls watched from a safe distance with snacks, ice cream, and expressions that suggested they had already accepted we were both mentally ill.
Which was fair.
We probably were.
Minato rolled his shoulders once. I flexed my fingers. Across the field, he smiled. Not that polite smile he gave villagers. Not the calm one he used when pretending he wasn't about to ruin someone's day. This one was sharper. Excited. The smile of someone who had been waiting for this.
I knew it well. I'd seen it hundreds of times. Usually right before he beat me. My loss streak against Minato was long enough that if someone wrote it on a scroll, the scroll would need reinforcements.
Academy sparring?
Lost.
Accuracy drills?
Lost.
Races?
Lost.
Strategy games?
Lost.
Actual spars after we became Team Jiraiya?
Lost, lost, lost, lost, and then lost again just to make sure I understood the pattern.
It wasn't like I never came close. I came close all the time. Close enough to taste victory. Close enough to reach out...Only for Minato to step aside, smile, and show me he´d been toying with me by politely kicking me in the teeth.
Metaphorically.
Usually.
But today felt different. Not because I was stronger. I was. Not because he was weaker. He absolutely wasn't. It felt different because, for the first time, I didn't feel like I was chasing something impossible. I was standing across from him. Not below him. Not behind him. Across.
I had confidence.
Kushina sat on a bench near the edge of the training ground, her ice cream held halfway to her mouth. Yukino sat beside her, hands resting on her lap as her pale eyes fixed on us with the intensity of someone watching two very familiar disasters prepare to collide.
Kushina glanced at her. "Are they always like this?"
Yukino didn't look away from us. "Yes."
"That was fast."
"They are very predictable."
I raised my voice. "I heard that."
Yukino calmly replied, "You were meant to."
Minato laughed.
Traitor.
I lowered my stance.
Minato mirrored me.
No more joking.
No more games.
The air shifted. We had been competing all day, but that had been light. Fun. Throwing games. Movement contests. Trick shots. This was different. This was us going all out.
Minato's right hand drifted near his pouch. "Ready?"
Mine stayed open at my side. I grinned. "You bet."
His smile widened. "Good."
Then he vanished.
Not with the Flying Thunder God.
Not yet.
Just speed.
Pure speed.
One second he was across the field.
The next, he was in front of me, low and fast, left hand feinting toward my shoulder while his right leg swept toward my ankle.
Same opener.
Different angle.
I stepped over the sweep and shifted my weight to counter and Minato's feint became real. His fingers clipped my sleeve and tugged just enough to ruin my balance. My counterpunch passed his cheek by less than an inch as he ducked under it, stepped inside my guard, and drove two fingers into the inside of my wrist.
Numbness shot through my hand and I clicked my tongue.
He followed with a palm strike to my ribs.
I blocked with my elbow.
Mostly.
The impact still pushed me back two steps, but Minato didn't let me breathe. He came in again. Fast. Annoyingly fast.
I blocked a jab. Parried a low strike. Twisted away from a kick aimed at my knee. Threw a punch at his jaw. He tilted his head just enough for it to miss.
Just enough.
His expression didn't change.
That was what made fighting Minato irritating. He didn't dodge dramatically. He didn't waste motion. He moved like he already knew where my attack would be before I finished throwing it. Because most of the time, he did.
His fist tapped my shoulder. Then my chest. Then my side.
Not full power, but clean, costly hits.
Three exchanges.
Three points.
I jumped back, feet skidding across the dirt.
Minato straightened slightly and smiled. "You're still opening with your left shoulder when you want to bait a counter."
I narrowed my eyes. "And you're still annoying."
"I've fought you too many times, Shiro." He lifted one hand, almost apologetically. "I can read you like a book."
My jaw tightened. From the bench, Kushina leaned toward Yukino. "Is that true?"
Yukino nodded. "Minato always takes the upper hand at the start. He knows Shiro's habits better than anyone."
Kushina watched as Minato came in again and forced me to block three rapid strikes in a row. "And Shiro?"
Yukino's eyes narrowed slightly. "He knows that, too."
Good girl.
I grinned.
Minato noticed and his eyes sharpened, but he realized a second too late and I threw a smoke bomb at the ground. The field vanished in white as Minato immediately jumped back.
Smart.
Too smart.
But not smart enough this time.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Four bodies moved.
Four of me.
The smoke scattered as we rushed him from different angles.
Minato's gaze flicked across us once and the corner of his mouth twitched. ¨These guys again, huh?"
Then the first clone reached him. Minato ducked under a punch and drove his palm into the clone's stomach.
Poof.
One down.
The second came in from the side with a spinning kick. Minato caught the ankle, twisted, and slammed the clone into the ground.
Poof.
Two.
The third tried to bind him with wire from behind. Minato leaned forward, let the wire pass over his shoulder, caught it with two fingers, and yanked. The clone stumbled and Minato's elbow caught it in the face.
Poof.
Three.
He turned toward me and smiled. "Shiro, I'm a little disappointed, there's nothing new here…"
He punched me straight in the chin, sending me flying and spinning across the ground. "You done?"
Poof. Four.
His eyes widened. For the first time in the fight, Minato looked surprised.
Good.
Very good.
Because the real me wasn't in front of him.
I was behind him.
Steel wire snapped tight around his torso, arms, and chest and Minato's head turned.
Too late. I pulled the wire and formed the hand signs.
"Lightning Style."
His eyes widened. "Shiro, you…!"
"Current Bind."
Lightning surged through the wire and Minato's body locked. The sharp crackle of electricity tore across the field as blue-white arcs crawled over his arms and shoulders. His jaw clenched. His knees bent. For half a second, maybe less, I saw genuine pain flash across his face.
He stayed stuck like that for several seconds, then through what seemed like sheer power of will, he vanished.
A yellow flicker.
A whisper of space folding.
Gone.
The lightning snapped through empty wire and scorched the ground.
I turned sharply.
Minato stood by a tree at the edge of the clearing, one hand braced against the bark, breathing harder than before.
There was a seal there.
Of course there was.
He'd placed it when no one was looking, because he was Minato.
The bastard.
Still, his hair was slightly frizzed and his sleeve was smoking. A thin burn mark ran along his forearm.
I grinned.
Kushina shot to her feet. "Minato!"
He lifted his free hand without looking away from me. "I'm fine, don't worry."
Yukino exhaled quietly. "That was a good trap."
Kushina looked at her. "You knew?"
"No." Yukino's lips curved faintly. "But Shiro wouldn't use smoke unless he wanted Minato to assume something."
Minato straightened slowly. His breathing steadied, but his eyes had changed. Less amused now and more focused.
"Four clones, huh?" he said.
"Yep."
"You stayed hidden in the smoke bomb?"
"Yep."
"And used my knowledge of your old limit of three against me..."
"Yep."
Minato smiled. "That was pretty good, Shiro. Great, really. But you should've capitalized more. I won't let my guard down a second time."
I let the wire fall from my hand. "Told you to take me seriously."
"I am."
"Not enough."
His smile sharpened. "Oh?"
I rolled my shoulders. "Now I start too."
I inhaled.
Chakra surged as my muscles tightened and heat crawled up my spine.
"Gate of Opening."
The first lock snapped.
"Gate of Healing."
The second followed.
The world sharpened, and the air became clearer. The distance between us felt shorter.
Minato's eyes narrowed.
Kushina's ice cream lowered.
Yukino sat straighter.
"Already?" Yukino asked. "That's the Second Gate."
I grinned. "Third Gate."
Pressure exploded through my body.
The Gate of Life opened.
Chakra flooded my limbs like fire. My skin flushed. The ground beneath my feet cracked slightly as my muscles screamed awake.
Minato's expression grew serious.
I formed hand signs and Lightning gathered at my feet.
Something else I kept working on since learning I had ligning release was reverse engineering the Raikage's lightning cloak. Certainly what I had wasn't anywhere near a cloak. Not yet. I wasn't even close to copying the Raikage's Lightning Release Armor. That thing was absurd. Full body enhancement, reaction speed increase, defensive durability, pure physical acceleration wrapped in lightning.
I wanted it.
Obviously.
Because I was still sane. Unfortunately, wanting something didn't make it easy.
So I was building smaller pieces first.
A step.
A fist.
A burst.
Tiny fragments of a cloak I couldn't yet wear.
Lightning crackled around my sandals and bit into the dirt. "Lightning Style."
Minato's hand moved toward his pouch.
"Thunder Step."
The world blurred.
I crossed the distance between us in an instant.
Minato's eyes widened.
My fist came forward wrapped in lightning.
"Lightning Style: Storm Fist!"
He vanished as my punch hit the tree behind him.
The trunk exploded.
Wood splintered outward in a violent burst as lightning tore through the bark, blowing a chunk out of the side. The entire tree groaned.
Minato appeared on a stone marker across the field, crouched low, eyes wide.
A bead of sweat slid down his temple.
I slowly turned toward him, then grinned. "There it is."
Minato straightened cautiously. "There what is?"
"The bullshit."
His eyebrow lifted. "The what?"
"The teleportation bullshit."
Kushina choked on her ice cream.
Yukino covered her mouth.
Minato stared at me for half a second, then laughed. "That's not what it's called."
"It should be."
"It's the Flying Thunder God."
"Teleportation bullshit."
"Shiro."
"Minato."
He sighed, then reached into his pouch.
My grin widened as he threw one kunai.
Then another.
Then another.
Marked kunai scattered across the field, embedding into trees, dirt, logs, and the fence around the training ground. Some went high. Some went low. Some spun through the air before landing at weird angles.
His array.
His real fighting style.
The thing that made Minato impossible to deal with.
My heart thudded in my chest.
Not fear.
Excitement.
I made him use it.
Kushina stared across the field. "That's a lot of kunai."
Yukino's eyes narrowed. "He is setting the field."
"For what?"
"For Minato."
The next second proved her right.
Minato vanished.
He appeared to my left.
I turned.
Too slow.
His fist clipped my ribs.
He vanished again.
Behind me.
I ducked, but his heel still grazed my shoulder.
Gone.
Above.
I crossed my arms as his kick slammed down, driving me to one knee.
Gone.
Right side.
I spun and threw a backhand.
He wasn't there anymore.
A palm hit my spine.
I stumbled forward.
Another strike caught my jaw.
My vision flashed white.
I growled and lashed out with a lightning-coated kick.
He vanished before it connected.
Then appeared at the edge of my vision and tagged my shoulder with two fingers.
A mark?
No.
Just a hit.
A reminder.
He could have.
Annoying bastard.
I slammed my foot down and formed hand signs.
"Lightning Style!"
Minato appeared above me with a kunai raised.
Too predictable.
"Web Pulse!"
My palms hit the ground.
Lightning exploded outward in a branching web.
Blue arcs tore across the dirt, racing between kunai, stones, roots, and metal points like threads of angry light. The marked kunai around me shook violently, then ripped free of the ground and flew outward as the lightning overloaded the metal.
Minato vanished mid-drop, appearing on a distant branch as half his kunai were sent spinning away.
He crouched there, watching the last sparks fade.
I stood slowly, breathing harder now.
My ribs hurt.
My jaw hurt.
My shoulder hurt.
Everything hurt.
Good.
That meant the fight had started properly.
Minato smiled from the branch. "That was new."
"I've had a productive two months."
"I can tell." He dropped lightly to the ground.
For a moment, neither of us moved. The field between us was scarred already.
One tree half-destroyed.
Dirt cracked.
Grass burned.
Kunai scattered everywhere.
From the bench, Kushina looked at Yukino. "They're not actually trying to kill each other, right?"
Yukino didn't answer immediately. "Kushina."
"Yeah?"
"Move the snacks farther back."
Kushina paused, then immediately grabbed the snack bag and scooted the bench back several feet.
Smart girl.
Minato raised his right hand.
Chakra gathered.
Spun.
Compressed.
A perfect sphere of blue formed above his palm.
The Rasengan.
My eyes narrowed.
"Already using it, huh?"
"You said no holding back."
"True."
I raised my own hand.
Chakra formed.
Rotation.
Power.
Containment.
The Rasengan bloomed over my palm, stable and bright.
For one second, both of us stood there with the same technique in hand.
Mine.
His.
Ours.
We were about to rush at each other, but then the world flashed.
Not from the Rasengan.
From the side.
A paper bomb exploded near the fence.
The blast didn't hit me.
It wasn't meant to, it just needed to make me look as one of Minato's marked kunai launched out of the smoke, spinning wildly toward my blind side.
My eyes widened as I dodged it and let it pass, but I already knew the idea behind it.
A mark.
Of course.
He had used the explosion to move the kunai.
Minato vanished from his position and he appeared beside the flying weapon behind me, hand already thrusting forward with the Rasengan spinning inches from my ribs.
He had me.
For a tiny, horrible instant, he had me.
My body moved before thought finished, Gates opening in sequence.
Fourth.
Fifth.
I needed speed!
So, I twisted and my own Rasengan came up at his. The two spheres collided and the blue chakra screamed while the impact detonated between us.
Wind exploded outward, tearing dust from the ground and ripping leaves from the trees. My arm felt like it was being crushed from wrist to shoulder. The rotating forces ground against each other for a fraction of a second before both Rasengan destabilized.
The blast threw us apart.
I hit the ground, rolled twice, and slammed shoulder-first into the dirt.
Minato crashed through a patch of grass and skidded backward on one knee.
Silence followed.
Then Kushina shouted, "ARE YOU BOTH INSANE?!"
I pushed myself up on one elbow, coughing dust. I shouted at him. "Hey! Minato, what the hell, man! That could have killed me!"
Minato looked up, breathing hard. "Well, I was confident in your abilities."
I stared at him.
That was fair.
I hated that it was fair.
Still.
"You're an asshole."
He smiled. "Accurate."
Yukino's voice carried from the bench, quieter but sharper. "Both of you are bleeding."
I looked down. My sleeve was torn. My forearm had a shallow cut from the shockwave.
Minato's shoulder was scraped, his cheek bruised.
Nothing serious.
Yet.
I stood slowly.
The Fifth Gate still burned through me.
Lightning still crackled faintly at my feet and hands.
Minato rose opposite me, rolling his wrist once.
My mouth curved into a grin. "Basic Rasengan's impressive, right?"
Minato tilted his head slightly. "Basic?"
I raised both hands. "But I've got something more interesting now."
His eyes sharpened with curiosity.
Of course they did.
I formed a sign.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu."
Four clones appeared around me.
Kushina blinked. "Four again."
Yukino leaned forward. "What is he..."
Two of the clones raised their hands and began forming a Rasengan each. The other two shifted beside them, hands flickering through seals.
Yukino's pale eyes widened. "That's his Shuriken Railgun setup."
Kushina looked at her. "His what?"
Yukino didn't look away. "He uses lightning to launch metal projectiles at terrifying speed."
Kushina stared at the two forming Rasengan. "But those aren't metal."
I grinned.
Here it comes…!