The battle was fierce!
As the Tailed Beast Ball was unleashed, the Third Raikage charged at Minato, wielding his hell spears. Minato glanced to the side, a subtle smile flickering in his eyes.
His pupils contracted slightly—his opponent's attack was mere inches away from striking him. At that critical moment, Minato suddenly flipped his body, twisting mid-air in a graceful maneuver.
With perfect timing, he deflected both incoming strikes, his speed surpassing that of his two adversaries. As he completed his motion, he extended his right hand toward the Third Raikage.
The Raikage momentarily caught a glimpse of Minato from the corner of his eye, but he remained unfazed, his confidence unshaken. After all, his legendary Lightning Style Armor had withstood the power of the Rasenshuriken before. What attack could possibly break through?
However, from a different perspective, A—his son and successor—noticed something that made his eyes flicker with intrigue. In Minato's outstretched palm, a faint light shimmered—it was the Flying Thunder God mark!
A scoffed inwardly. Did Minato actually think he could place the mark directly onto the Third Raikage's body? That was nothing short of suicide.
With the Lightning Style Armor's sheer defensive prowess, the idea of imprinting the mark was laughable. Even if Minato somehow succeeded in placing it, the intense lightning chakra surging through the Raikage's body would surely destroy it in an instant.
Moreover, any direct contact with the Lightning Style Armor meant that Minato's flesh would be scorched by the volatile lightning chakra.
Yet, despite all logic, Minato's marked palm landed against the Third Raikage's left shoulder.
A sharp crackling sound erupted—Shhh!
The moment the Flying Thunder God mark made contact with the Lightning Style Armor, a surge of electricity converged on the spot. But something unexpected happened.
Instead of disintegrating, the mark remained intact. The lightning, despite its aggressive nature, failed to erase it.
The reason?
Minato had imbued the mark with chakra in Sage Mode, using nearly half of his reserves to ensure its stability. The unique composition of senjutsu chakra, which fused natural energy with his own, surpassed the potency of the Third Raikage's pure lightning chakra.
This made the difference critical—when the mark met the Lightning Style Armor, Minato swiftly withdrew his hand. He observed with satisfaction as the white, jade-like seal embedded itself within the Raikage's armor, unscathed by the crackling lightning energy.
Even though the Raikage's armor could withstand a Rasenshuriken, it was powerless against a mark that wasn't designed as an offensive technique.
This entire exchange lasted but a split second. The three combatants momentarily disengaged, taking cautious steps backward.
The Third Raikage and A turned their gazes toward the Tailed Beast Ball still hovering in the distance. Dark veins of energy coiled around it as it absorbed even more chakra.
Their expressions darkened.
Damn it!
Both of them clenched their fists, now fully aware of Minato's intentions.
Suddenly, the Third Raikage sensed something peculiar. He glanced toward A, their eyes meeting in an unspoken exchange.
A hesitated before turning his gaze toward his father's back.
His pupils shrank.
"The mark… it didn't disappear?!" A exclaimed in shock.
At his son's words, the Third Raikage's gaze snapped toward Minato.
A faint smirk played on the Fourth Hokage's lips.
"The mark of the Flying Thunder God… will never disappear."
Those words sent a chill down the spines of both the Third Raikage and A.
Minato had successfully marked the Third Raikage.
A realization dawned on the father and son duo—Minato could now teleport to the Third Raikage's position at any time.
The Third Raikage's eyes narrowed. With a low growl, he channeled an immense surge of lightning chakra into his back, hoping to erase the seal through sheer energy overload.
But nothing happened.
Minato had poured half of his Sage Mode chakra into the mark—no simple burst of lightning would erase it.
A's muscles tensed. He expected Minato to take advantage of the situation and teleport behind his father for a lethal strike.
But the Yellow Flash did nothing of the sort.
Instead, he raised both hands, palms cupped together, and began forming a sphere of chakra.
A deep humming sound reverberated through the battlefield.
A squinted. Something was off.
The chakra sphere in Minato's hands was much smaller than a typical Rasengan.
What's he playing at? A thought.
Given its size, that attack wouldn't even scratch the Third Raikage's armor, let alone break through it.
Yet, Minato had dedicated both hands to forming this attack—something he usually didn't need to do for a standard Rasengan.
"Wait..." A's eyes widened in realization.
This wasn't an ordinary Rasengan.
Unlike the Rasengan, which relied on rotation, this sphere remained eerily still.
It was a pure, condensed mass of chakra—a technique that shared similarities with the Tailed Beast Ball currently forming in the distance.
In fact, Minato's chakra sphere appeared even more refined than the Eight-Tails' attack!
A sharp breath escaped A's lips.
If Minato could condense chakra to such a degree…
It might be powerful enough to pierce through the Third Raikage's legendary defense.
The Third Raikage must have realized this as well, because his expression grew even darker.
No matter how much lightning chakra he poured into his armor, the Flying Thunder God mark refused to fade.
"We can't let him continue!" A muttered, eyes darting toward his father.
The Third Raikage nodded grimly.
A silent agreement passed between them.
Then—
Swish!
The two shinobis surged forward in unison, their bodies wreathed in lightning, their movements cutting through the air like bolts of thunder.
Seeing their approach, Minato suddenly pivoted and sprinted toward the Eight-Tails.
ROAR!
The Eight-Tails bellowed as it continued to gather an enormous amount of chakra, forming its next Tailed Beast Ball.
A's heart pounded.
Killer B…
He knew that in order to turn the tide of this battle, B had been pushing himself beyond his limits, training relentlessly to master the Tailed Beast transformation and perfect the Tailed Beast Ball.
But Minato noticed something.
The longer the Eight-Tails took to form the attack, the more unstable the chakra sphere became.
From his keen observation, he could tell—this was Killer B's third attempt at forming a Tailed Beast Ball.
And judging by its erratic energy fluctuations, it was likely his last.
If he failed to launch it now, he wouldn't be able to muster another one.
Minato exhaled.
His eyes flicked back to the two hurtling toward him, their combined killing intent locked onto him.
Then, he focused on the Third Raikage.
His true target.
A surge of murderous intent burned in Minato's gaze.
This was his moment.
And he wouldn't let it slip away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Support me at [email protected]/goldengaruda and check out more chapter of this or more early access chapter of my other fanfic translation.
New fanfic :
Marvel : The God Of Punishment System
I Am Raditz
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~