Hagoromo had previously acquired some understanding of the Hidden Cloud's AB Combo.
For generations, the Raikage, upon assuming the mantle, would change their name to "A". Simultaneously—or rather, even earlier—he would select a ninja from within the Hidden Cloud to act as his partner or brother, whose name would be changed to "B".
Hagoromo didn't know who the Third Raikage's "B" was, but considering the current state of the Great Ninja War, it was likely that person had perished long before the Raikage did.
As for the current AB Combo, the "A" was the son of the Third Raikage.
Deducing backward, since he was already a member of this duo and had assumed the name 'A', it proved he had already been established as the candidate for the Fourth Raikage. Considering the Third Raikage's heroic final stand to block the Hidden Stone, this confirmation likely happened a long time ago.
As for the "B", known as Killer B, his actual name didn't matter. The crucial point was his unique identity.
He was the Jinchuriki of the Eight-Tails. And according to Konoha's intelligence, he was a Jinchuriki who could perfectly control the power of his Tailed Beast, which was rather absurd.
The Fourth 'A' had the strength to subdue the Hidden Cloud ninjas, and his partner was a perfect Eight-Tails Jinchuriki. In other words, this duo would not be easy to deal with; Jiraiya was absolutely right in calling them incredibly troublesome enemies.
"The Jinchuriki is the priority target for elimination. As for A, considering he will soon become the Fourth Raikage, we must try to avoid taking his life during the engagement."
After guessing the enemies' identities, Minato began issuing tactical orders as the squad moved at high speed.
The instruction to avoid killing the future Fourth Raikage clearly stunned the other squad members for a moment. However, Hagoromo quickly realized what Minato was considering.
He was thinking ahead to ending the war.
If they ultimately wanted to reach a peace agreement, the Hidden Cloud needed someone in charge who could make the decisions. Currently, the most optimal candidate was the current 'A'. Based on the intelligence Konoha had gathered on the Hidden Cloud, he was arguably the only suitable candidate.
Therefore, he needed to stay alive.
Of course, keeping 'A' alive had its pros and cons. Firstly, he was an incredibly powerful Kage-level combatant, posing a massive threat on the battlefield. Secondly, leaving him alive would unite the Hidden Cloud under a single purpose, making them act as one body and even harder to fight.
But ultimately, these were matters for people like Minato and the Third Hokage to weigh. Such strategic balancing didn't concern Hagoromo; he simply needed to execute his orders.
Furthermore, Minato's statement wasn't an absolute order, just a prioritized preference. What they actually did would have to be judged in the heat of battle. It wasn't as if the future Fourth Raikage absolutely couldn't be killed. Based on Minato's wording, at the very least, beating him until he lost an arm or a leg was perfectly acceptable.
As for the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Killer B... A Jinchuriki who wouldn't go berserk and could rationally utilize the Tailed Beast's power was a super-threat on the battlefield, making him the absolute highest priority target for the Minato squad to hunt down.
Since the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki was so overpowered, if they didn't kill him, who else would they kill?
"Something's not right," Shibi Aburame suddenly spoke up again as the distance closed. "Minato, although there are two enemies, one of their chakra levels is quite ordinary..."
"While it's decent for an average ninja, compared to the other one, the difference is massive. It doesn't seem like the balanced strength the intelligence described for the AB Combo."
This new development didn't halt Minato's steps. He fell silent in thought for a moment before saying, "Regardless of whether it's that duo, there is undeniably one powerful combatant among the two. That is our target. Therefore, the operation remains unchanged."
Shibi Aburame's sensing was extremely accurate. Since there was genuinely a powerful combatant present, whether it was A and B or not, Minato's squad needed to eliminate them.
It was currently early morning, and the weather looked beautiful. The morning sun was already peeking through the gaps in the forest canopy.
Under the guidance of Shibi Aburame's sensing, the Minato squad quickly located the two enemies.
"Are you sure it's these two?" Even though the enemies had entered his line of sight, Minato still asked via coded hand signals.
Shibi nodded without hesitation.
Since that was the case... an enemy was an enemy, and an attack was imperative.
"Who's there?" a young female voice demanded in an alert tone.
As her voice fell, Minato and Choza Akimichi stepped out from the trees.
Given Minato's deeply ingrained image—capable of moving Konoha's children to tears of joy and terrifying other villages' children into crying—the moment he appeared, the opposing side clearly recognized him.
"It's Konoha's Yellow Flash... What should we do? Retreat?" one of them asked.
Facing Minato, although she was very young, this reaction was commendable. She didn't panic, even though everyone knew the man standing before her was practically invincible.
"It's already too late. Turning our backs to flee from a ninja like this will only result in being assassinated from behind. Rather than that, it's better to fight him head-on and die in battle," the other replied.
Every village had ninjas who feared death, and ninjas who faced the strong without fear. But for such a young female ninja to utter those words, one could only say: this was a true Hidden Cloud ninja.
"If possible, I don't want to kill you. Unfortunately, this is a battlefield, and you are from the Hidden Cloud," Minato said. His gaze fell upon their headbands, which represented their identities, and which would simultaneously bring them death.
His tone carried a sense of pity. Even though they didn't need his sympathy, the two enemies could tell that Minato's words came from the bottom of his heart; this was his genuine emotion, not any sort of act.
What Minato found regrettable was that the two female ninjas across from him—one looking about Hagoromo's age, the other even younger—were about to die.
Such is war. Even when it's helpless, some things must be done.
Konoha had no intelligence on these two, so Minato didn't recognize them. But since his teammate judged one of them to be a severe threat, then she was a severe threat that had to be eliminated.
In reality, between the two of them, the one named Yugito Nii was the so-called severe threat, because her identity was the Hidden Cloud's new Two-Tails Jinchuriki.
And since this was her first time appearing on the battlefield as a Jinchuriki, Konoha currently had no intel on her. Yet, running into Minato on her very first deployment of this kind... she had truly hit the jackpot.
The other blonde ninja was Samui, currently only a Chunin.
Minato's words were effectively the order to attack. Although he and Choza Akimichi were at the front, the first to launch an attack was actually Hagoromo, hidden in the woods.
From Shibi Aburame's perspective nearby, he saw Hagoromo reach back with his left hand. A flash of lightning sparked behind his back, and suddenly, he was gripping a solid iron bow—and it truly was an iron bow, as even the bowstring was made of iron.
Then, his right hand reached out, and he produced an iron arrow.
In the early morning, water droplets bouncing lightly on the leaves occasionally dampened the tips of Hagoromo's hair. Now, he was about to alter the shape of this wondrous little world bathed in sunlight.
He drew the bow, nocked the arrow, and aimed directly at Yugito Nii's head.
Then, lightning violently erupted from the bow and arrow.
In the next instant, the lightning arrow had already appeared before Yugito Nii's eyes, rapidly expanding within her pupils.