Although he had grown somewhat used to Yūki Seisui's shameless banter, this time Minato really couldn't hold it in.
Seeing Minato's expression, a head-pat emoji popped above Seisui's head.
"Gotcha."
"You damn bastard!" Minato jumped in place. "Today, I'm going to teach you how to behave!"
"Heh." Seisui chuckled lightly and shook his head. "Think you can, little brother?"
Without another word, he reached into the air toward Minato.
This time, he only transported Minato to the dueling arena.
Outside, Uchiha Haru and the others exchanged silent glances.
Meanwhile, inside the arena,
Seisui looked at Minato and suggested, "How about we only use ninjutsu?"
"Fine!" Minato agreed instantly.
"If it's just ninjutsu, I will win!"
"Don't make bold claims so soon."
Seisui shook his head, clapped his hands together, and in the faraway land of the panda clan, two shadow clones burst into white smoke.
A white light began to glow over his body, and black-and-white spiral markings formed around his eyes.
Though he hadn't fully mastered Sage Mode, he had always left two clones with the panda clan to refine senjutsu chakra. Using it briefly in battle was no problem.
He quickly gauged the senjutsu chakra stored in his body.
Hmm… enough for two minutes in Overlord Mode.
"Minato, get ready for a head pat!"
"The one getting head-patted will be you!" Minato snapped back, a head-pat emoji now floating over his head.
In the dueling arena, even Minato could use emojis.
"Then let's see who's faster!" Seisui's head flashed with repeated head-pat emojis as he condensed a Rasengan in his palm and charged forward at blinding speed.
"Youth is the Overlord Rasengan!"
Still rushing forward, he called out, "Minato!"
"Seisui!" Minato shouted back, pulling out two kunai, holding them in reverse grip, and sprinting to meet him.
As he ran, he tossed several kunai.
Though they had agreed on "ninjutsu only," Minato barely had any in his arsenal, only Rasengan and Flying Raijin as high-level techniques.
Kunai were his weapons, integral to his Flying Raijin style.
"You want to fight me head-on?" Seisui grinned. "Answer me!"
"Minato!"
"Seisui!" Minato roared back. "This time, you have no chance of winning!"
"In the face of my Sage Arts, you're the one with no chance!"
The two closed in on each other.
By now, Minato's thrown kunai were already in front of Seisui.
"Hmph!"
"Child's play!"
Seisui ignored them and charged straight at Minato.
Perfect! Minato's eyes lit up, and in an instant, he vanished, appearing right behind Seisui.
"Seisui, this time you lose!"
Minato thrust his Rasengan toward Seisui's back.
"Minato, what made you think that?" Seisui suddenly twisted his head around, completely unfazed by the attack, and brought his own Rasengan down toward Minato's head.
Minato's Rasengan struck first, and just as he thought he had it in the bag, everything changed.
The white light around Seisui's body condensed at the point of impact, completely blocking the Rasengan.
It left only a superficial scratch… which healed instantly, as if nothing had happened.
Minato's eyes went wide, as though he'd seen a ghost.
He tried to dodge, twisting his head and rolling his body backward.
Too late, because he turned his head, Seisui's Rasengan grazed his spiky hair and slammed directly into his chest.
Minato froze, then looked down, there was a gaping hole in his chest, blood flowing freely.
The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was the head-pat emoji floating above Seisui's head.
A short while later, Haru and the others looked at Minato, squatting on the ground like a frostbitten eggplant, completely silent.
"Rough day, huh?" Nara Shikaku shook his head, though he still respected Minato.
No matter how many times he's beaten, he keeps coming back for more. That's not something I could do.
Maybe that's why he's so strong… Talent, and relentless effort. How do you surpass that? Monsters like Seisui… they're rare. In fact, I've only met one, him.
"Little brother Minato, what happened to you?" Seisui crouched beside him, feigning concern with a sly grin. "Do you like this emoji?"
Another head-pat popped above his head.
"You… bastard!" Minato's face twisted in anger. "I'll definitely beat you and become Hokage!"
"Then you can tell me 'you'll regret this' just like Elder Danzo."
"Convince your friends if you like," Seisui said, crossing his arms with a smirk. "But don't fool yourself. You're the one who'll be saying 'you'll regret this,' Minato!"
Up in the trees nearby, Danzo, who had been planning to talk to Seisui about joining Root, froze mid-step.
"Damn brats!"
"Hmph!" He turned and left in the opposite direction. He no longer wanted to recruit either of them.
"One day… you'll both kneel and call me Hokage-sama!"
Neither Seisui nor Minato knew Danzo had been there. If they had, maybe they'd feel a little guilty, after all, that would've been rubbing salt in his wounds.
But they didn't know. Instead, Minato turned his head away, unwilling to look at Seisui.
"I'm going to find Kushina!"
"I'm not being your alarm clock anymore, Seisui!"
"No problem." Seisui took Haru's hand. "Haru will wake me up, right?"
Haru's cheeks flushed, and she nodded. "Mm."
"You damn bastard!" Minato stomped away, tossing back one last threat. "Once I master sealing techniques, it'll be your turn to panic!"
"Pfft." Seisui couldn't help but laugh.
"Fine, fine, I'll be waiting!"
Catch up to me? Maybe in ten thousand years.
Hands on his hips, Seisui felt exhilarated, as he always did after beating Minato.
Shikaku and the others exchanged pained looks.
Holding hands in front of three single guys… really?
Yamanaka Inoichi glanced at his love guidebook, now missing a page, and silently noted down Seisui's lines for today.
The Panda Sage had already left when Seisui and Minato entered the arena.
He'd only come to watch Seisui show off. If not for fear of getting smacked, Seisui would've told him, Watch closely and learn.
"Can't stand it," Shikaku muttered before leaving with Choza and Inoichi. As he left, Inoichi even gave Seisui a thumbs up.
Once the others were gone, Seisui stretched and turned to Haru.
"Let's go to your place."
It was only mid-afternoon, just right for dinner.
With his current strength, he no longer feared Uchiha Setsuna.
"Alright."
Haru had no objections, and the two of them walked hand-in-hand toward the Uchiha compound.
Meanwhile, Setsuna sat alone at a table, sipping tea.
Keeping busy is good… He had thought his granddaughter was only going to pick up her Chunin vest, but she still hadn't returned.
It clicked instantly.
That damned brat must have abducted her!
"Cursed little punk!" Setsuna muttered.
The deeper the bond, the stronger the power! If you love Haru, then become her nourishment!
He half-closed his eyes and sat motionless, someone might've thought he was dead.
Who knew how much time passed before the door slid open and Haru's voice called, "Grandpa, we're back!"
The word 'we' caught Setsuna's attention instantly.
His dark expression shifted to a gentle smile as he looked at his granddaughter.
"Tired? Have some water first." He handed her a cup of tea before turning his gaze to Seisui.
The moment his eyes met Seisui's, he released his killing intent.
This was a veteran shinobi of the Warring States era, his killing intent was so potent, Seisui had never felt anything like it.
Not that I've felt anyone else's killing intent before…
In the shinobi world, killing intent was very real. When Orochimaru defected, Kakashi had been paralyzed by it. During Kakashi's fight with Zabuza, both Sasuke and Naruto had nearly been driven to end their own lives by Zabuza's killing intent.
Setsuna's was far stronger.
The air grew heavy. But when Seisui saw Haru calmly sipping tea, unfazed, he realized, it was just his imagination.
His smile vanished, replaced by a cold, focused expression.
This was how he countered killing intent, by entering a battle-ready state and ignoring it through sheer reason.
Seeing this, Setsuna knew, his killing intent had no effect on this brat.
"Hmph." Setsuna gestured. "Sit."
Seisui smiled again and sat down. Haru joined him, sitting right beside him.
Setsuna's eyelid twitched, his dislike for Seisui deepening.
"This time, I just want to ask, what are your plans for the next three years?"
He already knew from Haru that they wouldn't be taking any missions.
Seisui blinked and glanced at Haru, silently asking, You didn't tell him?
Haru smiled and answered for them. "We're going to train hard."
"Get stronger."
Hearing this from his granddaughter made Setsuna even more irritated.
Of course you're going to train! Why else would you refuse missions for three years?
He had intended to pressure Seisui, but Haru had blocked for him.
The room fell silent.
Finally, Setsuna sighed.
"You want to grow stronger. I understand. Why not let me take you out for some real training?"
Seisui smirked inwardly. Your intentions are obvious, old man.
But this was a misunderstanding, Setsuna truly meant to train them. Well… maybe injure Seisui enough for Haru to awaken her three-tomoe Sharingan, but nothing worse.
"Grandpa!" Haru frowned. "He has his own training plan!"
"Fine, fine." Setsuna relented. "Then do as you wish."
His plan was ruined. He decided to just treat this as a chance to meet the brat.
"Drink." Setsuna handed Seisui a cup of tea without expression.
Haru wasn't surprised, her grandfather treated everyone like this.
But Seisui eyed the cup warily. What if he poisoned it?
Elsewhere, the Panda Sage lay on a pile of bamboo, muttering as he reread something he'd copied down. "How'd that kid think of this line? Could he really be a genius?"
Before he could dwell on it, a loud BOOM echoed in the distance. A mushroom cloud rose into the sky.
"So noisy."
But he didn't intervene.
At the blast's center stood Panda Wu, glowing white, unharmed.
"How'd it explode again?" he scratched his head.
He'd been practicing inscription of explosive seals, five seals worked fine, but the sixth always made the bamboo tube blow up.
"Maybe my writing's too big?" He tried again with smaller seals and less chakra, but the sixth still exploded with a BANG.
"Annoying!" Wu kicked the bamboo toward a nearby stone wall.
It smashed against the wall, and he noticed the seal markings had fused into the clay.
Fascinated, he rushed over, pried the clay off, and kneaded it in his hands.
"Still not exploding?"
When he infused chakra, the clay began to glow, then BOOM!, a stronger blast than the bamboo bombs.
"Excellent!" Wu grinned. "Next time Seisui comes, I'll show him my power!"
But Seisui, at that moment, was locked in an awkward staring contest with Setsuna.
Haru had gone to wash up, leaving only the two of them.
"Ahem." Setsuna broke the silence. "Don't bully Haru. Understand?"
"Yeah. I won't."
Silence fell again.
If this floor were dirt, I could dig a three-bedroom apartment with a balcony right now…
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100 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter
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