RUMBLE!
Across the vast expanse of open ocean, successive explosions sent towering waves crashing in all directions. The very sea itself seemed to recoil from the tremendous forces at play, massive volumes of water displaced by impacts that could level mountains. Whirlpools formed and collapsed as the ocean floor trembled from the shockwaves above.
At the center of this aquatic maelstrom stood a colossal figure that defied comprehension—a divine warrior of translucent blue energy that rose from the waves like some ancient god of destruction. Its ethereal form towered hundreds of feet above the water's surface, each movement capable of reshaping the battlefield itself.
Yet what made the sight truly incredible was the tiny figure darting around this titan with impossible speed and agility. Compared to the massive Susanoo, the human form appeared no larger than an insect, yet somehow this minuscule opponent was matching the behemoth blow for devastating blow.
When these two seemingly mismatched forces clashed, they quite literally tore the ocean apart. If such a battle had taken place on solid ground, the resulting devastation would have scarred entire continents and reshaped the world's geography forever.
Land of Water
The Land of Water consisted of countless islands scattered across the ocean like pearls on blue silk, and on the outermost island that served as an early warning post, Hidden Mist Village maintained a crucial sentry station to guard against seaborne threats.
For Kirigakure, the endless ocean served as both natural fortress and impossible burden. While the water provided excellent protection against land-based invasions, the sheer scope of the maritime border made complete surveillance an insurmountable challenge.
This was precisely why coastal defense had become the Hidden Mist Village's highest strategic priority in recent years.
"This chakra presence..."
The ninja stationed on the remote island felt the collision of two overwhelming chakra signatures almost simultaneously, the sensation hitting them like physical blows to the chest.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Every Kirigakure operative on the island immediately abandoned their posts and converged on the outer defense perimeter, their eyes scanning the endless horizon with growing concern and disbelief.
The sea appeared deceptively calm from their vantage point, betraying no sign of the titanic struggle taking place beyond their visual range.
"What's happening out there?" the defense commander—a seasoned jonin whose scars spoke of countless battles—demanded of the sensor ninja beside him.
The sensory specialist's face had gone pale with shock. "Sir, there are two massive chakra signatures colliding somewhere far out at sea. The energy output suggests they're engaged in active combat."
As soon as the words left his mouth, every Mist ninja present felt their blood run cold.
"Most of us aren't even sensor-types, yet we can all feel these chakra fluctuations clearly," the commander said, his voice tight with growing alarm. "The participants must possess power beyond anything we've encountered."
It was difficult to imagine what kind of opponents could generate such tremendous energy signatures. Even their own Mizukage, formidable as he was, operated on an entirely different scale compared to what they were sensing now.
The assembled Kirigakure forces exchanged worried glances, each trying to process the implications of what they were detecting.
Who could the combatants possibly be? Based on their experience, only direct confrontations between Tailed Beasts produced chakra collisions of this intensity. But that scenario made no sense—the Tailed Beasts were strictly controlled assets of the major ninja villages, and the idea of two such creatures battling freely in international waters was virtually impossible.
"Wait... one of those chakra signatures seems familiar," the sensor ninja said suddenly, his eyes widening with recognition and disbelief.
"Who is it?" the commander demanded, spinning around to face his subordinate.
"The Fourth Hokage of Konoha," came the trembling reply.
The sensor ninja had served as part of Kirigakure's delegation during the recent Chunin Exams, giving him direct exposure to Minato Namikaze's chakra signature. However, during that peaceful encounter, he had never imagined that the Yellow Flash possessed such overwhelming power.
The scale of energy he was detecting now dwarfed anything he had sensed during their diplomatic meeting.
"What?!" the commander's expression shifted from confusion to alarm. After a moment of stunned silence, he quickly turned to address one of his subordinates.
"Send word to the Mizukage immediately," he ordered. "Tell him that something catastrophic must be happening in Konoha!"
The commander's gaze returned to the deceptively peaceful horizon. "We need to get closer and determine what's actually happening out there."
"But sir," one of the junior ninja protested hesitantly, "given the intensity of those chakra collisions, approaching the battle zone could be fatal if we're caught in the crossfire."
"I understand your concerns," the commander replied grimly, "but we have our orders directly from the Mizukage himself."
His expression grew resolute. "The Hidden Mist Village exists in its current stable state only because of Konoha's timely assistance during our recent troubles. We owe them a debt that cannot be ignored."
He paused, letting the weight of his words sink in. "More importantly, if Kirigakure fails to identify the enemy bold enough to challenge Konoha at this level, our own village and country could face the same devastating threat in the future."
The battle between Minato and the masked adversary wasn't just being detected by the Water Country's forces. Across the elemental nations, the samurai of the Iron Country and the sensor teams of the Cloud Village were all picking up the same impossible energy readings.
Every intelligence network in the ninja world quickly reached the same conclusion: in the current era, only one man possessed the power to engage in combat at this magnitude.
The legendary shinobi who had earned the title "Yellow Flash" more than a decade ago was once again demonstrating his overwhelming might to a world that had perhaps forgotten just how terrifying he could be when truly unleashed.
At the epicenter of this world-shaking conflict, the masked man piloted his perfect Susanoo in desperate combat against Minato. Each exchange sent destructive aftershocks rippling outward, darkening the sky and making the very air tremble as if reality itself might shatter under the strain.
The ethereal chains wielded by the complete Susanoo had been pulled taut and transformed into enormous spectral blades, each one capable of cleaving through mountains. When they struck downward, they literally carved trenches through the ocean's surface.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
But Minato was no longer relying on evasive maneuvers. Instead, he had become the center of a chakra storm, gathering natural energy on a scale that defied comprehension. The sphere forming in his hands grew larger and larger until it reached a diameter of more than ten meters—a Rasengan of truly mythical proportions.
Compressed wind chakra condensed around the massive technique, creating visible blades of cutting force that made the air itself howl like a living thing. The ocean around Minato began to boil from the sheer energy output, creating steam clouds that rose like the breath of some primordial beast.
CRASH!
The perfect Susanoo's blade descended with enough force to split islands, and indeed the sea's surface parted like torn fabric beneath its edge.
However, Minato had timed his movement with supernatural precision. In the instant before the attack could connect, he vanished in a flash of golden light, reappearing beside the massive rift his opponent had carved through the water.
"Sage Art: Ultra-Large Rasengan Shuriken!"
With tremendous force, Minato hurled his massive technique directly at the towering Susanoo. The attack moved like a miniature sun, trailing spirals of compressed wind and natural energy that distorted the very air around it.
Even for the perfect Susanoo, such an attack represented a genuine threat. The wind chakra infused within the oversized Rasengan created visible waves of cutting force that promised devastating damage upon impact.
The masked man's eyes widened behind his spiral mask as he recognized the true danger. Even his ultimate defense wouldn't emerge unscathed from a direct hit by such a technique.
"Kamui!" he roared desperately.
The Mangekyō patterns in his visible eye suddenly crystallized with desperate focus, and blood began to stream down his face from the tremendous strain. Using his space-time ninjutsu at this scale was pushing his ocular powers beyond their safe limits.
Just before the massive Rasengan Shuriken could connect with the Susanoo's form, a large section of space directly in front of the technique began to warp and twist. Reality itself seemed to bend inward, creating a spiraling vortex of distorted dimension.
The ultra-large technique made contact with the spatial distortion and erupted in blinding light, but even with enough raw power to level several mountain ranges, it couldn't overcome the fundamental forces of space-time manipulation.
Buzz!
Finally, under the inexorable pull of dimensional warping, Minato's devastating attack was pulled into the alternate dimension and vanished completely.
"Cough! Cough!"
However, the masked man within his perfect Susanoo began coughing violently, blood speckling the inside of his mask. The ethereal warrior's radiance dimmed noticeably as its pilot struggled to maintain the technique.
Even with the support of the Gedo Statue's power and the First Hokage's cells enhancing his physical capabilities, maintaining the perfect Susanoo while simultaneously using Kamui was pushing him beyond his absolute limits.
What truly shocked him was that despite accessing this ultimate form of power, Minato Namikaze was still matching him technique for technique. The Yellow Flash's growth over the years had been absolutely terrifying.
Splash!
At that moment, he suddenly realized that beneath the waves created by Minato's previous attack, the displaced seawater was being held apart by some incredible force, as if an invisible hand was keeping the ocean divided.
Peering through the massive gap in the water, the masked man caught sight of Minato floating in the exposed space below, his hands pressed together in a complex seal formation.
The Fourth Hokage's face, marked with the distinctive eye shadow of Sage Mode, was undergoing a subtle but profound transformation. Where once there had been orange pigmentation around his eyes, now something far more potent was manifesting.
Dark golden light began to emanate from Minato's form, growing brighter and more intense with each passing second. The very air around him seemed to thicken with power as he prepared to unleash something that would forever change the scope of their battle.
Whatever technique the Yellow Flash was preparing, it promised to dwarf everything that had come before.