"You bastad!" A (the future Fourth Raikage) roared, leaping to his feet. He stomped the ground and charged at Setsuna like a caged tiger released.
"Bring it on!" Setsuna's eyes lit up. This was the first time since returning to the Naruto world that he'd seen someone take his full-power strike head-on without significant damage. He truly is worthy of being the future Raikage.
The two hurtled toward each other like cannonballs. A's right fist crackled with lightning, the whistling wind cutting toward Setsuna's face. Setsuna didn't dodge or flinch, slamming an equally ferocious punch toward A's face.
BAM!
The dull, heavy sound of fist hitting flesh echoed through the forest, causing the hearts of some of the less-experienced Cloud Ninja to skip a beat, fearing A's neck might break.
However, the two combatants were barely affected. Their heads snapped back slightly, but they instantly returned to the fight.
Setsuna slammed a punch into A's abdomen. A's eyes bulged, and saliva uncontrollably leaked from the corner of his mouth. Yet, he clenched his abdominal muscles around Setsuna's arm and launched a flurry of punches at Setsuna like a storm.
Setsuna was just as brutal. He didn't bother trying to pull his arm out, instead headbutting A repeatedly in the face. This savage style of fighting made everyone watching hold their breath.
There were no flashy techniques, only bone-jarring, impact-to-impact collision.
They fought like two tireless mechanical puppets, each strike sounding like metal clashing against stone.
"The Lightning Release Armor, huh? That's more like it." Setsuna knew the ordinary Lightning Chakra Mode A used before wasn't his full power; the current Lightning Release Armor was his strongest state.
But the stronger his opponent was, the more enjoyable the fight became for him, both physically and mentally.
He had to admit, having spent so long in the Dragon Ball world, he had been infected with the Saiyans' warlike "bad habit"—though he wasn't quite as "reckless" as they were.
While Setsuna was enjoying himself, A was having a much harder time.
"Where did this guy even come from?" The more A fought, the more alarmed he became. His Lightning Release Armor consumed a massive amount of chakra, yet his opponent was matching him using only pure physical strength.
At this rate, his chakra would be exhausted before long.
"This is bad, A is going to lose the advantage." As A's cousin, B (Blue-B) knew A's condition well. He immediately told Killer B: "B, let's jump in together."
"Idiot! Baka! Konoha-moron..." Killer B rapped as he drew his weapons.
However, just as B and Killer B moved, B was struck by a sudden premonition of danger. A huge Octopus Tentacle suddenly shot out from behind him, flinging him away.
At almost the exact same moment, a flash of yellow appeared where he had been standing, slicing off the tentacle.
"The Flying Thunder God Technique? Since when?" B was drenched in cold sweat. He had assumed they were hunting Minato Namikaze, never realizing that Minato had somehow placed a Flying Thunder God Seal on him.
"You should worry about yourselves first. My kunai might not pierce A's defense, but killing you won't be difficult," Minato Namikaze warned, holding his signature kunai.
"You think one man can threaten a hundred of us?" B yelled back, voice cold.
"It's not a threat. I'm just telling you the future that's about to happen. Try to stop me," Minato said. The instant he finished speaking, he appeared next to a Cloud Ninja. Before the ninja could react, the kunai had already pierced his body.
"Damn it! Stop this now!" B was furious, but Minato's actions were not halted by his anger.
In the next moment, Minato reappeared beside another Cloud Ninja.
"Idiot! Baka! The same old move..." Killer B observed his surroundings keenly. The moment his visual nerve registered the yellow flash, he moved, wielding seven blades clutched in various parts of his body, rushing forward in an agile, bizarre stance.
"B, calm down!" B yelled. How could such a formidable opponent leave such an obvious opening?
Killer B was slightly startled by B's shout, and sure enough, he noticed a crackling sound coming from the "Minato Namikaze" standing right in front of him.
"Oh no! That's an Explosive Tag!" Killer B was horrified and quickly dodged sideways, but he was still caught in the blast and thrown backward.
"B!" A's focus fractured when he noticed Killer B's movement.
As he was about to collide with Setsuna again, A suddenly used Lightning Flash, teleporting to Setsuna's left side. He delivered a swift hand-chop to Setsuna's neck.
"Lightning Strike Horizontal Chop!"
Setsuna seemed unable to react and was hit squarely by the chop.
The Cloud Ninja who witnessed this cheered loudly, completely disregarding the danger of being assassinated at any moment.
"Haha! That Konoha ninja is dead!"
"Lord A's move can break even the Eight-Tails' horn!"
However, Setsuna simply leaned his upper body forward with the force, dissipating the momentum. He then whipped his right leg back like a lash, sending A flying several hundred meters away with a single kick.
The smiles on the faces of the Cloud Ninja instantly froze. They couldn't believe their eyes.
"Seriously? I went out of my way not to use any techniques and you tried to get tricky on me," Setsuna said, standing up and shaking his head. He had wanted to enjoy the visceral feeling of their fist-to-fist exchange for a bit longer.
A stood up again, looking noticeably more disheveled than before, with blood trickling from his mouth. But he didn't dwell on his own state and quickly looked toward the spot where Killer B had been blown away.
On the other side, Killer B shakily got back up, half his body stained with blood, but from A's perspective, he was at least not in any immediate danger of death.
While A was relieved, his mood was incredibly grim.
He never imagined that he and over a hundred ninja would be "surrounded" by just two Konoha ninja.
If he were only facing one of them, it wouldn't be so bad. As long as he contained the Taijutsu specialist, his subordinates could easily overwhelm him with ninjutsu.
But the presence of the elusive Minato Namikaze meant his subordinates were all fearing for their own safety and couldn't spare a moment to help him.
"There's no other choice. B, fire the signal flare for backup," A said, practically biting the words out.
Hearing A's command, B was also relieved. What he had feared most was A stubbornly refusing out of pride.
As the signal flare shot into the sky, Minato's expression grew serious: "Setsuna, we should probably leave now too. That Third Raikage is certainly not an easy person to deal with."
There was another reason he hadn't mentioned in front of the Cloud Ninja.
His chakra was nearly exhausted again, and he was running out of Soldier Pills. If they didn't retreat soon, he wouldn't have the chakra left to use the Flying Thunder God to escape.
"I know," Setsuna nodded. The Third Raikage was indeed a difficult opponent. At the very least, Setsuna wasn't confident he could withstand a ninjutsu barrage from ten thousand ninja.
Of course, with his Sky Dancing Technique (an ability derived from Dragon Ball's flight technique, likely Bukūjutsu), he would never allow himself to be cornered like that.
"Even if we have to leave, we need to leave them with a profound memory!" Setsuna said with a slight smile, his voice calm, yet it sent a chill down the spines of the Cloud Ninja.