"The technique that redirected the Nine-Tails' attack… that was a space-time barrier."
"It's Minato!"
"Good. Let's move in too!"
Many Konoha shinobi had clearly seen the Tailed Beast Bomb vanish midair, swallowed by a space-time barrier. In an instant, they understood.
The Fourth Hokage had arrived.
They didn't know how the Nine-Tails had broken free from its Jinchuriki and appeared in the village, but as long as the Fourth Hokage was here, there was still hope.
Standing atop the Hokage Monument, Namikaze Minato realized something just as critical.
"I need to report the situation to the Third Hokage as soon as possible."
But the moment the thought crossed his mind, a hand suddenly reached out from behind him, grabbing for his shoulder.
Minato had already sensed it.
He spun, thrusting a Kunai backward without hesitation.
And then his eyes widened.
The blade passed straight through the man's body.
It was like cutting through smoke.
In the same instant the Kunai sliced through empty air, the masked man's hand solidified and clamped down on Minato's wrist.
He caught him.
That ghostlike technique made everyone watching go pale.
They had already seen the masked man's space-time ninjutsu before, yet witnessing it again was just as unsettling. This time, though, they could see more.
Because this time, he was fighting the Fourth Hokage.
"Space-time ninjutsu," Uchiha Itachi muttered, eyes narrowing. "No hand seals. No external medium. It should be the Mangekyo Sharingan."
He analyzed rapidly.
When he had previously encountered the masked man claiming to be Uchiha Madara, he had already sensed overwhelming ocular power, no weaker than his own.
At the very least, Mangekyo Sharingan level.
No… that line of thinking was flawed.
If the man truly was Uchiha Madara, having the Mangekyo Sharingan would be the most natural thing in the world.
If he didn't, that would be the real problem.
The clan's records had never detailed Madara's Mangekyo ability. There were too many variations to predict.
"Impossible to guard against…"
Itachi quickly wrote that down, then began considering a countermeasure.
"The moment he materializes."
He spoke calmly. "When Uchiha Madara is inside that special space, he's untouchable. But he can't attack in that state either. The instant he wants to strike, he has to become solid. That's the opening."
His gaze sharpened.
"The key is figuring out how long he can maintain intangibility. Once we know that, he's not so hard to deal with."
In Itachi's eyes, the masked man's ability was mysterious and troublesome, but his actual offensive power wasn't overwhelming. If you seized the right moment, you could bring him down.
The only other danger was being dragged into that space.
"Minato… what would you do?" Jiraiya murmured, watching the masked figure appear in the diary's projection.
Back in the scene—
"Your opponent is me. And this ends now."
The masked man activated his eye technique, attempting to pull Minato into his dimension.
But in the next heartbeat, Minato vanished.
The masked man grasped nothing but air.
"He slipped away. Fast hands and feet."
His voice turned colder.
"Next time, I'll absorb you instantly. The moment I touch you."
Everyone watching felt their focus snap into place.
Another crucial piece of information.
When the masked man had dealt with Danzo's subordinates before, they had been swallowed almost instantly. Yet against Minato, he failed.
Which meant his technique wasn't truly instantaneous.
There was a gap.
Most people simply couldn't detect it, much less exploit it.
Minato could.
His reaction speed had reached an extreme. Even compared to most Uchiha with the Sharingan, he was faster.
That was why he could wield Flying Thunder God so flawlessly.
Even Kaede Kitahara, who had also mastered Flying Thunder God, couldn't keep up with such chaotic combat using only his natural vision. He needed the Sharingan to enhance his dynamic sight.
Minato relied on nothing but pure reflex.
By the time everyone mentally recorded that insight, Minato had already used Flying Thunder God to teleport back to the place where Uzumaki Kushina had given birth.
One of his marked Kunai was still there.
He landed awkwardly, clearly having arrived in a hurry.
"So my attacks pass through him… yet he can solidify and pull me in. What kind of jutsu is that?"
He rose to his feet, thoughts racing.
Before he could sort them out, the air not far ahead began to twist.
The masked man stepped out from the distortion.
"Let's see where you run this time."
His crimson Sharingan gleamed with icy indifference.
"He can use space-time ninjutsu too…"
Minato's mind worked furiously.
He could instantly relocate Kushina. He had slaughtered the Third Hokage's direct Anbu forces and slipped past the highest-level barrier. He knew the Nine-Tails' seal would weaken during childbirth. He broke the seal and subdued the Nine-Tails. He could move freely in and out of Konoha without being stopped by the barrier.
Among the people Minato knew, there was only one person who fit all of that.
"You're Uchiha Madara?" he said sharply. "No… that's impossible. He's been dead for years."
Even as he spoke, he watched closely, probing for information.
The masked man lowered his hood.
"Who knows? Maybe not…"
His tone was deliberately ambiguous.
"So it doesn't matter who you are anymore," Minato said coldly. "Why target Konoha?"
The probing continued.
"If you insist on an answer," the masked man said, glancing at the sky, "call it a whim. Or perhaps a long-planned design."
"For war… and for peace."
From his sleeve, a chain slid free. He wrapped it around his arm.
Minato's eyes sharpened.
He can control the Nine-Tails. His space-time ninjutsu surpasses even mine and the Second Hokage's. And his ideology is dangerous. If I don't stop him here, he'll be a greater disaster than the Nine-Tails itself.
If I teleport back to the village, he'll follow.
He can't control the Nine-Tails forever. The Third Hokage will have to handle the village.
I'll keep him here.
Minato didn't get the answers he wanted, but one thing was clear.
Retreat was no longer an option.
Since the enemy also possessed space-time ninjutsu, simple escape wouldn't solve anything.
There was only one path left.
Defeat him here.
His thoughts raced, piecing together a battle plan.
"The Nine-Tails is free. You have no hope left."
The masked man lunged.
Minato's Kunai thrust forward. It should have pierced the mask.
The masked man faded into intangibility. The blade passed through harmlessly.
At the same time, the chain snapped around Minato's body.
But Minato was no ordinary shinobi.
In a blink, he performed the Rope Escape Technique, slipping free.
They separated.
Just one brief exchange had revealed much.
Those watching felt their hearts twist.
They already knew the ending. The Fourth Hokage and his wife would die.
Even so, they couldn't stand the thought of this so-called Uchiha Madara gaining even the slightest upper hand.
"My physical attacks are ineffective. His body only becomes solid when he attacks. That means the only opening is the instant our attacks collide."
Minato analyzed swiftly.
"For him, attacking carries risk. And since he's controlling the Nine-Tails, he won't want a drawn-out fight. Whoever's strike lands first will decide everything."
Everyone was stunned.
They had studied the masked man's previous fights at length, carefully dissecting his patterns before reaching conclusions.
Minato had figured it out in just a handful of exchanges.
Calm. Precise.
No wonder Jiraiya had once called him the most perfect ninja.
By now, Minato's battle plan was complete.
He charged forward, Flying Thunder God Kunai in hand, and hurled it ahead.
The masked man remained composed.
He turned intangible again, one hand reaching for Minato.
This time, he intended to drag him directly into that special dimension.
At the same moment, Minato's other hand formed a Rasengan.
As the masked man's fingers brushed close—
Minato vanished.
The masked man's eyes widened.
When Minato reappeared, he was already above him.
He had teleported to the Kunai he'd thrown earlier.
A fatal miscalculation.
The Rasengan slammed into the masked man at full force.
"Damn… he followed the Kunai…"
The realization came too late.
One move behind.
"Well done, Minato."