"Perfect, a chance to warm up."
Before the words had even faded, Kiyohara—possessed by Rogue Kiyohara—moved. He was so fast he left an afterimage where he'd been standing.
He didn't charge in a straight line, but followed a curved path, rushing the three Iwa chūnin first.
"So fast!"
One of them barely had time to shout before he threw a hurried punch.
Possessed Kiyohara didn't dodge. His right hand hooked and pressed with deceptive casualness, borrowing the man's strength and hurling him straight into a nearby comrade.
Then he dropped low under the third man's kunai thrust and snapped a kick into the ninja's knee joint.
Crack!
The sickening sound of bone breaking rang out, and the Iwa shinobi collapsed with a scream.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears!"
Sumashi reacted instantly, forming seals. Several sharp stone lances thrust up from the ground beneath Kiyohara's feet.
But Kiyohara moved like he'd seen it coming. Just before the spears erupted, he tapped his foot and sprang aside, and in the same motion flicked the stolen kunai at Sumashi's face, forcing him to stop his next seal and block.
"What is with this kid?!"
Sumashi was rattled.
The brat in front of him—his movements, his eyes, his battle sense—was completely different from moments ago.
This was the reflex of someone forged in a hundred battles.
On the sidelines, Kurenai and Rin stared, stunned.
Rin covered her mouth, disbelief filling her eyes.
"How did Kiyohara suddenly get so strong?"
Kurenai's jewel-like eyes were wide as well, shocked.
On the field, Kiyohara clashed head-on with Sumashi, using subtle redirection to bleed off most of the Fist Rock's power. But his physical base and chakra were still limited; the impact knocked him back several steps, and his arm tingled with numbness.
Handling multiple opponents at once was burning through him fast.
"My past self is still too flimsy…"
Possessing the body, Rogue Kiyohara could clearly feel its limits. Even running it at full output, he couldn't sustain this pace long.
Sumashi saw the fatigue and sneered.
"He's a spent arrow. All together—finish him!"
The remaining dozen Iwa-nin closed in again, throwing everything they had.
At that exact moment—
A golden flash appeared in the middle of the battlefield, as if it had always been there.
No warning. No buildup. He was simply there.
He had bright blond hair, a green flak vest, and a calm, reassuring handsomeness.
Namikaze Minato.
He didn't even glance around. The special kunai in his hand simply blurred into afterimages.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Three Iwa chūnin had their throats cut almost simultaneously. Their faces still froze in shock as they toppled.
Sumashi's pupils shrank; a blast of pure danger shot up his spine, making every hair stand on end.
"The Yellow Flash!!"
His body reacted on instinct, moving to dive into the earth with a Doton and flee.
But Minato was faster.
"Flying Thunder God, Second Stage."
His form flickered—and he was behind Sumashi, special kunai slicing across the man's back.
Boom!
Sumashi flew like a severed kite, smashed through a tree, and went limp, dead.
Minato repeated the motion, cleaning up the rest in the same effortless style.
It all happened in the span of a heartbeat.
Moments ago, the situation had been on a knife's edge. With one man's arrival, it flipped completely.
At that point, Rogue Kiyohara released the possession, and control returned to Kiyohara.
He couldn't shake the feeling his "armor" had just fallen off…
"Haa…"
He panted hard. Rogue Kiyohara had been driving his body at full throttle, and now everything ached.
"As expected of Namikaze Minato."
Kiyohara thought, watching him.
The Iwa-nin who had pushed them to the brink were just small fry to Minato—trash cleaned up with a wave.
After all, Minato was one of the three strongest civilian-born shinobi.
As for the other two, Kiyohara ranked them as Eighth Gate Guy and Sage Kabuto.
None of the three had any bloodline limit; they got where they were on sheer talent and grind. And yet, in the end, they still ended up as "support," buying Naruto and Sasuke time and openings.
Minato turned, looking at the gasping, exhausted Kiyohara, then at the shocked Kakashi, Kurenai, Rin, and Genma.
An apologetic look crossed his face.
"Sorry. I'm late."
Seeing the cave-in behind them and the Sharingan in Kakashi's left eye, Minato could already guess.
Obito had most likely… fallen.
"Thank you, Kiyohara."
Minato's gaze rested on him.
From a distance, he'd seen Kiyohara alone dragging multiple Iwa-nin.
Without him, Kakashi and the others never would have lasted long enough for Minato to arrive. Kakashi wouldn't be standing now—he'd have collapsed from chakra exhaustion.
"I was only doing what I should. I won't abandon any comrade—that's my ninja way, Minato-sama," Kiyohara said, shaking his head.
Now that Minato was here, the mission was basically 99% done.
All that was left was for him to lead them to the bridge and blow it. Then Kiyohara could go home and collect his commendation.
Time to really sell that "Will of Fire" spirit.
Sure enough, Minato froze for a moment at Kiyohara's righteous words.
He couldn't help but be moved by Kiyohara's level of resolve.
"Good thing you made it, Minato-sama. Otherwise we'd never have gotten out," Genma said, picking his fallen senbon up, wiping it on his sleeve, and putting it back between his teeth.
He felt like he'd just done a lap around the gates of hell—one step away from checking into Pure Land.
Minato fell silent at that for a few seconds, then said:
"No. I'm not the real hero here."
In truth, he felt guilty.
Kakashi's and Kiyohara's squads had done the heavy lifting—collecting intel, carrying his marked kunai deep into enemy territory.
Only then could he wipe out the gathered Iwa troops in one go, saving huge amounts of time and effort.
"Then who is?" Genma asked, baffled.
"Kiyohara. Kakashi. Obito. All of you. You're the real heroes," Minato said, shaking his head.
Especially Kiyohara—his performance this mission had surpassed even the Uchiha Obito and the White Fang's son Kakashi.
Minato saw a younger version of himself in the boy. Once upon a time, he'd grown step by step in just this way.
"Alright, we should move. Once we blow the bridge, we can head home," Minato said.
"We're finally going back," Kurenai said, a small, relieved smile appearing on her face.
By tomorrow at the latest, they'd be on the road to Konoha again.
~~~
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