No one had ever told Yagura that his opponent was, effectively, equipped with a power-limiting ring at the base—and that what had just been released was far more energy than he'd ever anticipated.
The current output of lightning had already surpassed the ordinary definition of Lightning Release.
This was Lightning Release—
and then something beyond it.
If a normal person were standing within this range, there would be no suspense whatsoever.
They would already be cooked beyond recognition.
Even an average shinobi wouldn't survive such an attack.
But Yagura was no ordinary shinobi.
With his immense chakra reserves and defensive capacity, it was unrealistic to expect him to be instantly electrocuted into oblivion.
Even so, just resisting this level of lightning was draining his chakra at a terrifying rate—far faster than when he unleashed his most powerful techniques.
Was he numb?
Very much so.
In fact, he had already lost control over his own body.
Hagoromo's hand was clenched tightly around the metal hooked staff, and the current flowed freely through that conductive path, surging straight into Yagura's body.
Yagura could not move.
Whatever expression was on Yagura's face—shock, disbelief, confusion, or sheer agony—
Behind Hagoromo's mask, his expression remained unchanged.
Cold.
Detached.
Despite what some people might assume, Hagoromo's personal code contained no rule about sparing children.
Blocking the lightning directly?
That wasn't a problem.
His next move was already prepared.
He intended to finish the battle with a physical-dominant strike.
The distance between them was minimal—only the length of the hooked staff.
From Yagura's perspective, Hagoromo's extended arm looked as though it was about to pierce straight through his chest.
Thick arcs of lightning coiled around Hagoromo's forearm, converging at the tip of his thumb.
This is bad.
Yagura sensed overwhelming danger.
But immobilized by the current, he couldn't dodge or resist. The chaotic chakra inside his body made it impossible to immediately form hand seals or activate a jutsu.
In the next instant, it felt as though a single orange-yellow beam would erase everything.
Why use such an overwhelming finishing move when the enemy couldn't even move?
Wouldn't any small jutsu suffice?
This came down to Hagoromo's limitations.
First—
He was not a Kekkei Genkai user.
He could not freely combine chakra natures or use multiple releases simultaneously. When he was maintaining Chidori Current, he couldn't layer Fire Release or other chakra transformations on top of it.
Second—
When fully unleashing his electrical discharge state, his brain was already operating at maximum capacity to handle the calculations.
At that level, he couldn't simultaneously control standard ninjutsu.
For now, these abilities were incompatible.
Perhaps after years of training, he might integrate them—but not yet.
So instead of half-measures—
He chose to end it decisively.
One shot.
Blood blooming from a baby-faced shinobi might even look… striking.
After a brief charge-up—
The Lightning Release was ready.
At that moment, time itself seemed to freeze.
Then—
The unexpected happened.
In that one-in-ten-thousandth of a second, only an extremely fast shinobi could have interfered.
And not necessarily an enemy.
There existed a jutsu in this world—
a space–time ninjutsu of terrifying speed—
Flying Thunder God.
Just as Hagoromo was about to erase the future Fourth Mizukage from existence—
Minato Namikaze appeared directly in front of him.
Perfectly placed.
Blocking the shot.
What is this—are you trying to eat the blast?!
Hagoromo finally understood why Flying Thunder God was considered a high-risk technique.
Teleporting blindly into someone else's firing line was practically begging to be killed.
At that point, turning Yagura into a former baby-faced shinobi no longer mattered.
Preventing friendly fire was the priority.
The attack was already more than halfway released.
Stopping it was impossible.
So Hagoromo forcibly twisted his body, desperately adjusting the direction of force—
While simultaneously recalculating and correcting the electromagnetic trajectory.
Minato wasn't foolish.
The instant he arrived, he realized he had appeared in the worst possible spot.
He had to evade.
But Hagoromo's electric field didn't care about friend or foe.
Even the Yellow Flash would get fried if he stayed inside it.
With no time to spare, Minato's only option—even with godlike speed—was to forcibly contort his body mid-motion.
Fortunately—
Through the combined efforts of both of them—
The attack missed.
A brilliant orange beam streaked past Minato's side, accompanied by a violent electromagnetic hum and a faint tearing sound.
Though the trajectory passed more than a meter above the sea surface, the shockwave carved a massive scar across the water.
The friction-generated heat caused vast quantities of seawater to vaporize instantly.
Hagoromo immediately shut down all active techniques.
This kind of absurd accident…
He didn't even know what expression he was supposed to make.
So he stared silently at the sky.
Control yourself.
Don't let anyone see you cry.
At least—
He hadn't hit Minato.
Hagoromo was shaken.
Minato was even more shaken.
After all—
Imagine it.
Konoha's Yellow Flash, killed by a teammate's "experimental hobby cannon."
What a tragic joke that would have been.
The moment Hagoromo released his power, Yagura vanished from the battlefield.
Silence followed.
After nearly two minutes, Hagoromo finally spoke.
"Minato-senpai… before you teleport in, can't you predict the situation at the destination?"
What he really meant was—
Do you know how close you just came to being one-shot?
If Minato had died here, Hagoromo wouldn't have survived long either.
Kushina would have strangled him personally.
Surprisingly, Minato remained calm.
"In some cases, I can make a rough prediction," he said.
"In others, I can't. I can only react after arrival."
Thanks to Minato's instantaneous response—and Hagoromo's forced correction—
They had avoided what would have been a ridiculous—
No, tragic—
Outcome.
Honestly, they probably should have shaken hands.
Good teamwork.
"Wait," Hagoromo said suddenly.
"How did you even teleport to me? Flying Thunder God requires a marker, doesn't it?"
"Because you have one on you," Minato replied.
"..."
Hagoromo narrowed his eyes.
Since when?
Is Minato spying on me? Or is Konoha monitoring me?
Minato.
Surveillance.
Monitoring.
Is this the legendary 'Minato Incident'…?
Seeing his reaction, Minato quickly clarified.
"Flying Thunder God markers are permanent," he explained.
"The one I placed on you last time is still there."
"…Huh?"
And just like that—
Hagoromo remembered.
Yes.
There was a Flying Thunder God marker on him.
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