Chapter 40 — The Ultimate Clash of Two Unbeatable Teams
Rin's cheeks warmed faintly at Shisui's teasing words.
She glanced instinctively at Obuya. He stood calm and composed, his expression as steady as ever, showing no sign of embarrassment or attachment to material tokens. Seeing his indifference, Rin quietly let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.
Yet beneath that relief, a subtle sting of disappointment tugged at her heart.
Still, she carefully stored the sealing scroll Obuya had given her. She had accepted it without hesitation, and though she had no idea what kind of genjutsu lay sealed within—or how powerful it might be—she treated it as something precious. Not merely because of its strength, but because of who had entrusted it to her.
With Obuya and Shisui now accompanying the convoy, the entire escort team felt an overwhelming sense of security. The lingering tension that had shadowed their journey seemed to dissolve completely. Their steps grew lighter, their pace noticeably faster.
Once they exited the Shinboku Forest, the terrain shifted dramatically. The towering trees gave way to open plains, stretching endlessly beneath the pale sky. After another half-hour of travel, the eastern horizon began to glow. The morning sun rose slowly, casting golden light across the vast grasslands and heralding the beginning of a new day.
It should have been peaceful, but war rarely allowed such luxury.
"Look! There's a fight ahead!"
One of the ninja in the formation whispered sharply, pointing toward the distance.
Far ahead, violent flashes of light tore through the dawn haze. The earth trembled faintly beneath their feet.
"Another ambush?" someone muttered. "But… who would be strong enough to intercept the assassins?"
Unease spread through the group.
"What speed…"
Shisui narrowed his eyes, surprise evident in his voice.
Even for someone renowned for his Body Flicker Technique, the velocity of the figures clashing in the distance was astonishing. Their movements were so fast they seemed to tear through space itself.
A streak of gold flickered across the battlefield, making Rin gasped.
"The Golden Flash! It's Teacher Minato!"
Indeed, the brilliant golden shimmer could belong to only one person—Minato Namikaze, Konoha's famed Yellow Flash.
Obuya's gaze sharpened.
"And his opponents…" he murmured, eyes tracking the surging bolts of lightning that split the air. "Their speed is no less terrifying."
"There are two of them," Shisui said, his Sharingan spinning into existence as he focused on the distant clash. "Both using Lightning Release."
The battlefield lay several hundred meters away, yet the intensity of the chakra being unleashed was palpable even from here.
Suddenly—
BOOM!
Three figures materialized in the aftermath of a high-speed exchange, frozen for the briefest instant.
It was indeed Minato, standing calmly at the center.
Before and behind him stood two massive, broad-shouldered men, their bodies wreathed in crackling lightning chakra. Their muscles were coiled tight, their stances synchronized like mirror images—one attacking from the front, the other from the rear.
"Double Lariat!"
In less than a heartbeat, the two lightning-clad figures vanished and switched positions mid-strike. Their movements were so precise and fast that even experienced Jonin could not follow the transition.
Minato stood in the center, he did not appear to move.
The lightning blades passed through his position yet he remained untouched.
"As expected of Lord Minato!" Shisui exclaimed, awe slipping into his voice.
Ordinary eyes would have concluded Minato had simply endured the strike.
But Shisui's Sharingan saw the truth.
At the precise instant the twin attacks converged, Minato had vanished—reappearing at a marked location through his space-time technique—only to return at the exact moment the attackers completed their crossing strike. His movement had been so instantaneous that it left no visible gap in his presence.
To the naked eye, it seemed as though he had never left.
The man wearing dark sunglasses and carrying seven swords on his back exhaled slowly.
"So this is the Yellow Flash," he said gravely. "Until now, our combination has never left a survivor. You are the first to evade it—and remain unscathed."
Shisui glanced at Obuya.
"So it's them."
Obuya did not reply, his body dissolved into a streak of blue lightning, tearing across the plains toward the battlefield. Shisui vanished almost simultaneously, using his Body Flicker Technique to close the distance.
Back with the escort team, Obito stared wide-eyed.
"Who are those two?"
Kakashi's expression darkened.
"Isn't it obvious? They're the second 'invincible duo' to shake the ninja world this past year. The unstoppable combination from Kumogakure."
His voice lowered.
"Killer B and A."
The earlier technique—Double Lariat—had shaken Kakashi deeply. He knew with painful clarity that if he had been in Minato's place, he would not have survived.
Rin watched the battlefield with clenched hands, her heart pounding.
She believed in Obuya. Yet hearing that their opponents were legendary figures still made fear coil in her chest.
---
On the battlefield—
Killer B and A sensed something and turned simultaneously.
A streak of blue lightning pierced through the rising dust.
Before they could fully react, Obuya appeared beside Minato, the air around him humming with charged chakra. A heartbeat later, Shisui materialized at his side.
"Lord Minato," Obuya said calmly, eyes fixed on their opponents, "leave this to us. You have a greater mission to complete."
Minato regarded them briefly. There was no surprise in his gaze—only calculation.
"The Hidden Mist has dispatched thirty Jonin to reinforce their front lines," he said. "If I do not arrive in time, thousands of Konoha shinobi could be wiped out."
His eyes sharpened.
"I'll leave this battlefield to you."
Obuya and Shisui nodded.
In a flash of golden light, Minato disappeared.
"Trying to run?" A roared, lightning armor erupting around his body.
The crackling chakra enveloped him completely—his Lightning Release Armor enhancing his speed, strength, and durability to monstrous levels. Using his unique Lightning release body flicker, he launched forward with blinding acceleration, rivaling even Minato's famed speed.
But Obuya had already anticipated the move.
The moment A shifted, Obuya transformed into a bolt of pure electricity, colliding head-on with the charging Raikage.
"You dare block me?" A's voice thundered. "Then die!"
"Choryu Burst!"
Lightning condensed violently into his elbow, focusing devastating power into a single point.
Obuya did not retreat.
His fist became a nucleus of crackling energy. On the surface, it was lightning. Hidden within, however, was something far more dangerous—his amplified Explosion Release.
The two streams of chakra met.
BOOM!!!
The impact detonated like a falling meteor.
The earth shattered in a massive radius, stone and soil blasted skyward in a mushroom-shaped shockwave. The concussion forced Shisui and Killer B to leap backward to avoid being swallowed by the blast.
Within two hundred meters, the ground was obliterated. Grass and vegetation were incinerated. A massive crater formed at the center, smoke and dust spiraling upward.
From afar, the escort team shielded their faces as debris rained down around them.
"S-So terrifying…" one of them stammered.
At the heart of the devastation— Obuya stood unmoving.
Not a single step had shifted beneath his feet.
Opposite him, A had been hurled backward by the force of the explosion. Though his Lightning Armor absorbed much of the damage, the sheer concussive power had penetrated deeply.
He landed heavily, sliding across the broken earth. His steps faltered, retreating several meters before a massive hand steadied him.
Killer B caught his brother's shoulder.
A's face had paled slightly. Blood rose in his throat, though he forced it back down. Externally, he appeared uninjured—but the internal shock was undeniable.
In the distance, Minato paused mid-flight and glanced back.
His expression flickered with surprise.
Obuya's growth… had surpassed even his expectations.
Realizing the threat before them, Killer B and A abandoned any thought of pursuing Minato.
Their attention locked fully onto the two blue-clad shinobi standing before them.
Killer B adjusted the swords strapped across his back and spoke with newfound seriousness.
"If I'm not mistaken… you two are Konoha's 'Thunder Flash' and 'Shisui of the Body Flicker,' aren't you?"
In recent months, fewer people used Obuya's name. Instead, across battlefields and enemy camps alike, their title had begun to circulate.