Don't underestimate these three years—after all, Minato was only nineteen right now, still in a period of explosive growth in power. Reaching a semi-Kage level three years ahead of schedule meant he now had that much more time to aim even higher. In other words, by the end of the Third Ninja War, Minato's strength would definitely surpass what it was in the original timeline.
And now, thanks to Hoshiyomi's guidance, Minato had already grasped the rudiments of the Rasenshuriken. With this technique, his previous weakness—his lack of large-scale AOE attacks—was gone. His future now clearly had the potential to reach beyond Kage level.
Seeing that his two biggest worries had been resolved, Hoshiyomi finally let out a breath of relief. Since those problems were taken care of, he could shift his focus fully onto the war. Just as he was about to consult Tsunade for updates, urgent intelligence from the frontlines arrived.
The Third Raikage was done with meaningless attrition battles. Eager to crush Sunagakure once and for all, he had personally entered the battlefield three days earlier, arriving at the Kumogakure encampment in the Land of Wind. His goal was clear—smash through the Sand, then turn his forces against Konoha in alliance with Iwagakure.
This news sent Sunagakure into a panic. Rasa was not a fool—he could still vividly remember the sight of his sensei, Ryūnosuke, reduced to a charred corpse by Hoshiyomi's lightning. His sensei's Magnet Release had been far superior to his own, yet even he had stood no chance against Hoshiyomi's mastery of Lightning Release.
And now, if someone like him—who was weaker than his own sensei—were to face off against the strongest Lightning Release user of the era, the Third Raikage, wouldn't he just be marching to his death?
Realizing that neither he nor Bunpuku could handle the Raikage, Sunagakure immediately dispatched envoys to Konoha that very night, begging for aid to halt the Raikage's advance.
In the Hokage's office, Tsunade frowned, tapping her desk with her slender fingers.
"What do you all think of this? The Third Raikage is no easy opponent. Even with Rasa and Bunpuku assisting, he'll be extremely difficult to deal with."
Sakumo reviewed the intelligence and sighed.
"The Third Raikage is indeed a formidable enemy. Facing him early, just to help Sunagakure, may not be the wisest choice. Why don't we stick to our current policy? Send just a token force, let Sunagakure's Kage-level fighters wear him down, and when Kumogakure is weakened, we can strike. What do you think?"
Nara Shikaku, after a long silence, slowly shook his head.
"It's not that simple, Lord Sakumo. You're only considering how to let Sunagakure consume Kumogakure's strength, but not Sunagakure's attitude. They've already been driven to the brink and have expressed their dissatisfaction with Konoha's limited support.
If we let the Third Raikage keep pressing them unchecked, I fear they may snap and turn against us. If that happens, we'll end up with yet another enemy.
I believe we should take the safer route. This offensive from the Third Raikage must be stopped. We need to show through action that Sunagakure still has hope to survive. Only then will they continue to restrain our enemies for us."
Shikaku's analysis was reasonable and well-grounded. Tsunade, Sakumo, and Orochimaru all nodded after listening. But that only brought them back to the same problem.
Tsunade rubbed her temple with some frustration.
"That's true… but the question is—who do we send against the Third Raikage? He's called the 'Strongest Spear', unmatched in taijutsu across the shinobi world. Orochimaru and Sakumo might not be the best matchups. Jiraiya is tied up on the Iwagakure front. Orochimaru, perhaps you and Sakumo should both go? With the two of you, plus Bunpuku and Rasa, surely that would be enough to deal with him."
Sakumo hesitated at this.
"But if both of us go, won't Konoha's interior be left too exposed? And besides, I have a blood feud with Sunagakure's Chiyo. The moment that old woman sees me, she might just lose her mind completely."
Tsunade had originally wanted to say that with herself and the old man around, nothing major should go wrong. Worst case, they could swap out Sakumo for Jiraiya, letting Orochimaru and Jiraiya form a team.
But before she could finish, Hoshiyomi—who had been silent the whole time—suddenly spoke up:
"No need to make things so complicated. Just leave the Third Raikage to me. I'm confident I can handle him."
Hoshiyomi thought his timing was perfect, that this would be a great chance to show off. But to his surprise, as soon as he spoke, the others all turned toward him with startled expressions.
"Hoshiyomi? When did you even get here?"
???
Hoshiyomi was completely dumbfounded.
"Hey, hey, I've been here since the start of the meeting, just sitting off to the side listening in. Don't tell me none of you noticed me?"
Instead of feeling embarrassed, Tsunade and the others replied self-righteously:
"And you still have the nerve to say that? Do you even know how many meetings you've skipped this past year? If you hadn't spoken up just now, we would've forgotten this village even has someone of your level!"
Hoshiyomi scratched his neck awkwardly at that (tiny-neck-shrink.jpg).
But after the banter, everyone's eyes lit up. As unreliable as Hoshiyomi had seemed in the past, he wasn't wrong—among them, he really was the one most likely to defeat the Third Raikage.
His multi-element sword energy wouldn't be restrained by the Raikage's lightning release, his taijutsu was top-class, and with his space-time ninjutsu, the Raikage's overwhelming speed wasn't a threat either.
More importantly, Hoshiyomi hadn't revealed his full power in years. In fact, even Tsunade and the others had no clear idea of his true strength. They still remembered that fleeting display of his Sage Mode—if even Jiraiya's half-baked Sage Mode could temporarily surpass Orochimaru, then Hoshiyomi's unique, perfected Sage Mode, hailed by Fukasaku as "unprecedented," must be on an entirely different level.
The thought left even Tsunade filled with curiosity. As for the possibility that Hoshiyomi might lose to the Third Raikage? That idea wasn't even in the realm of consideration.
Everyone present had already silently accepted it—Hoshiyomi's strength was definitely above the Third Raikage's.
And indeed, this was the truth. By now, Hoshiyomi's swordsmanship had reached: Master-level Swordsmanship: 495/500.
At that level, he was practically invincible below the super-Kage level. And with Sage Mode, even if he couldn't outright defeat a super-Kage, he could at least fight to a draw and retreat unharmed.
In fact, the reason Hoshiyomi volunteered to deal with the Third Raikage was precisely because of this. He was eager to push his swordsmanship to Grandmaster level—and the Third Raikage was the perfect "final experience pack" he needed to break into the super-Kage level!