The Land of Lightning, the Hidden Cloud Village—
"Again."
A slammed his fist and sent a Cloud ninja flying.
"Not enough. Not enough. Again."
"With strength like this, how are you supposed to fight the Hidden Leaf Village?"
"Do you want to experience defeat again?"
A's words sounded like they were directed at others, yet also at himself.
...
At the training ground, outside—
Dodai watched the Fourth Raikage training relentlessly, could only sigh helplessly, and then left.
Arriving at the research department—
"Dodai-sama, should we really continue researching the chakra cannon? The team's enthusiasm is pretty low. The last cannon we developed didn't even get a single shot off—instead, it became a trap for our own Hidden Cloud Village. The Yellow Flash, Namikaze Minato, slaughtered our comrades right at our cannon positions."
A researcher stepped forward to ask.
"We continue. We must continue. The more the enemy targets and fears it, the more it proves how necessary our research is. Think about it—why did the Hidden Leaf Village send Namikaze Minato to attack our position? Isn't it because they feared we'd fire the cannon?"
Dodai paused, then continued,
"The fact that our chakra cannon didn't fire a single shot doesn't mean it's useless. It just means Namikaze Minato is too strong. You've all seen what he's done on the Hidden Mist and Hidden Sand battlefields. Our research department needs to add another project—how to restrict the Flying Thunder God."
"Dodai-sama, what about sealing techniques?"
"Dodai-sama, the Eight-Tails' ink has sealing properties—can we invite Killer B-sama to assist with research?"
"Or maybe we could study Magnet Release. As long as Namikaze Minato's kunai can't reach us, he won't be able to use the Flying Thunder God Technique."
Dodai laid out the agenda.
The rest would be left to the researchers. Professionals should handle professional work.
Dodai's responsibility was simply support—and funding.
He looked at the cannon models displayed in the research department.
It's not like I don't want to give up on you… but without you, what else can the Hidden Cloud Village rely on?
Tailed Beasts?
Across the entire ninja world—
The One-Tail was killed by Konoha's Inuzuka Ryoha and is now in the process of reviving.
The Two-Tail was beaten to death by Konoha's Hyūga Hiyasu and is now reviving.
The Three-Tail and Six-Tail were eliminated by the Aburame clan and are now reviving.
The Four-Tail, Five-Tail, and Seven-Tail were taken down at the cost of Senju Hideki's life and are now reviving.
At present, the only Tailed Beasts still alive are the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails—and the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki belongs to Konoha.
Can Tailed Beasts really defeat the Hidden Leaf?
As for individual strength—
The Third Raikage was already the strongest ninja in the Hidden Cloud's history.
But that green jumpsuit ninja—who exactly is he?
And that forbidden technique surrounded by red steam—who can guarantee Konoha only has one person like that?
Sometimes, what seems like a firm choice is really just the absence of any other choice.
...
The Hidden Stone Village and the Hidden Rain Village have fallen into a prolonged stalemate.
The Hidden Rain has the advantage in direct combat strength, while the Hidden Stone holds the terrain advantage.
Ōnoki cannot kill Hanzō, and Hanzō cannot defeat Ōnoki.
The Land of Earth will remain trapped in the vortex of war for a long time.
...
The Hidden Mist Village—
The conflict between its factions can no longer be concealed.
A major war could break out at any time, reshuffling everything.
Though it's unclear why both leaders—who are merely puppets of Uchiha Madara—are still fighting so fiercely, if one had to explain it, you could say they're competing for favor— competing for Uchiha Madara's favor.
...
As for Konoha—peaceful and tranquil.
After living carefree like this for two years, everyone seemed to have reached adulthood.
And with that… came a certain stage.
Along with it—someone's nightmare arrived.
Namikaze Minato stared at the eleven invitations in his hand—
"January: Wedding invitation of Inuzuka Ryoha and Inuzuka Rinko."
"February: Wedding invitation of Nara Shikaku and Nara Yoshino."
"March: Wedding invitation of Yamanaka Inoichi and Yamanaka Saeko."
"April: Wedding invitation of Akimichi Chōza and Akimichi Kazumi."
"May: Wedding invitation of Aburame Shikuro and Aburame Nanako."
"June: Wedding invitation of Aburame Shibi and Aburame Umeko."
"July: Wedding invitation of Hyūga Hiashi and Hyūga Kazuko."
"August: Wedding invitation of Hyūga Hizashi and Hyūga Anma."
"September: Invitation to the school entrance ceremony of Uchiha Kamito's grand-nephew—Uchiha Itachi."
"October: Invitation to Uchiha Kamito's disciple acceptance ceremony."
"November: Invitation to the celebration of Uchiha Kamito's goddaughter's 2 years, 7 months, and 20 days milestone."
Minato then looked at the one invitation he hadn't sent out yet—
"December: Wedding invitation of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina."
By December… where am I supposed to get the money to hold a wedding banquet and entertain guests?
Why did I schedule it in December?!
I should've gotten married in January!
I have to pay gift money for eleven straight months!
Why is my life so miserable…
So he immediately got up to seek help from Konoha's richest man—the coal boss—
No… that sounds disrespectful.
The coal industry tycoon—Aburame Shiken.
Aburame Shiken originally planned to just give him the money directly.
But at that moment—a flash of inspiration struck.
Namikaze Minato: This is NOT the time for inspiration—just give me the money!
"Minato, giving someone a fish is not as good as teaching them how to fish. I have an idea—want to try it?"
"You… you… go on."
...
The next day—a shop in Konoha held its grand opening.
"Golden Flash" — officially opened as a delivery specialty store.
At the Hyūga residence—
A flash of golden light—
"Hiyasu, your delivery."
"Alright, thanks, Minato."
"No problem. Don't forget to leave a five-star review."
After Hyūga Hiyasu handed over the payment, Minato vanished again in a flash of golden light.
Looking at the takeout in his hands, Hiyasu said,
"As expected, Minato is perfectly suited for this… and he seems to enjoy it too."
With that, he turned back—
to supervise someone's brutal training.
Sigh… what goes around comes around.
"Seven hundred ninety-one."
"Seven hundred ninety-two."
"Seven hundred ninety-three."
With a thud—the training figure collapsed to the ground—then immediately got back up.
"With 100 kg of weight, if I can't do a thousand push-ups, then I'll do a thousand frog jumps instead!"
"Burn, my youth!"
"Guy, time to eat."
"Hiyasu-niichan, if I don't complete my training, I won't eat."
Hiyasu felt a headache coming on.
Better prepare the evening therapy and medicinal bath… this dumb kid might train himself into injury otherwise. I won't be able to answer for it if that happens.
...
Meanwhile—still working hard, Minato counted the money in his hands.
"Five ryo per delivery… I can complete 2,486 orders a day, but there are still many customers I can't reach. No, I have to train harder in Flying Thunder God—this speed is still too slow!"