"If Red Blade and Yellow Flash were to fight, who would win?"
Such was a topic that came up numerous times on drinking tables.
The two known as the greatest prodigies of the current era. One was a rogue, while the other was a potential Hokage candidate.
Though their statuses differed as much as the distance between sky and earth, no one knew who could be considered to be stronger.
"Of course it would be Red Blade! Be it through a sneak attack, he defeated Hanzo of the Salamander!"
"No one knew the specifics of the battle between the two. Hell, I heard that Hanzo didn't even summon the salamander when he's called the Salamander!"
"Are you saying that Yellow Flash can win against Hanzo?!"
"He's said to be the fastest man in the entire world! Of course hecan!"
The dispute went on and on, but no one truly knew the answer to who's the stronger one.
Today, here, at this place, unknown to Minato, the battle has begun—and although people won't know, soon, the answer to that question will be out.
'Flying Thunder God Technique.'
Minato kicked Akashi's arm such that Akashi lost the grip over Minato's wrist. Using that chance, Minato flipped back to create a distance.
However, Minato wasn't whom Akashi's gaze was locked upon. Rather, it was the tri-pronged kunai on the ground.
'The jutsu responsible for making Minato the fastest ninja in the world.'
The speed by which Minato teleported to wherever the seal of Flying Thunder God was attached was unbelievably fast.
By all means, it was nigh impossible to visibly sight Minato's teleportation and react to it when one were to be an average ninja.
Even if one has a reaction speed fast enough to react to Minato's assault, that probably requires a great magnitude of focus. One is bound to become tunnel-visioned in that state, and even so, it is easy to let one's focus slip when Minato's teleporting attacks continue.
'However,'
Even if Minato's travelling speed from his original position to the seal on his tri-pronged kunai is unbelivably fast, the speed at which he throws said kunai was just as fast as any other.
Considering how Minato can only teleport to the seal, there was a specific timing by which Minato could attack Akashi when he threw the kunai.
That was the reason why Akashi was able to predict Minato's attack and act accordingly.
'Now what, Minato?'
In this first clash, Akashi was the unofficial victor, having read Minato's thoughts.
Minato's face became stoic as he too realized—that his foe was playing a mind game with him.
'What will you do, Minato? Teleport to the same kunai again? Or throw another one such that my chance of guessing it correct becomes a 50/50 chance?'
As Akashi thought, Minato took out another tri-pronged kunai. With sharpened eyes, he then flicked it toward Akashi just like before.
Then, Minato underwent a series of hand seals.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone!"
The number of tri-pronged kunai grew from one to numerous. With them being 'shadow clones', they contained the identical mechanism and chakra amount as the original.
That meant that at this moment, Minato could teleport to any of them, making it essentially impossible for Akashi to predict as to which one Minato will teleport.
However, Akashi wasn't playing as Minato threw the kunai and used a ninjutsu.
He too was undergoing a series of one-hand seals with his left hand as his right hand still held onto Kiba.
'Fire Release.'
There was a sudden burst of red-hot fire on the grassy plain centering Akashi.
The grass burned. The smoke arose.
Then, the smoke suddenly expanded, engulfing the entire forest surrounding Akashi and Minato.
'Hiding in Smoke.'
Before Minato could teleport, his vision was obscured.
Now, Akashi was asking—to which one will you teleport? When you don't know my location?
Minato, with a calm expression, began to perform another jutsu in response instead of utilizing his Flying Thunder God technique.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
A huge volume of wind burst out of Minato's mouth, pushing the smoke away from the site.
And that was just the response that Akashi was looking for, as he spewed out a huge ball of fire just then.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball!"
Minato's gale served as a fuel for Akashi's already gigantic fireball.
It grew to an incredible magnitude, one huge enough to cause Minato's eyes to widen.
'Even Uchiha doesn't use this jutsu like this...!'
Instinctively, Minato used the Flying Thunder God technique, flashing out of the region that received a fiery explosion just after.
CLANG.
The only kunai to which Minato could teleport to was the furthest one back that he threw at Akashi in the beginning. The rest were either dispelled by Akashi's fireball or had its seal burned beyond recognition.
So Akashi knew to which one Minato would teleport. Minato, too, knew that Akashi would be there when he teleported, so he was ready to block Akashi's strike with his kunai.
Problem is, Akashi's sword was Kiba. This blade was known to emit electricity 24/7.
The electricity ran down the kunai, and onto Minato's skin. From an excruciating pain, Minato was forced to let go of kunai and quickly retreat, holding his burned right hand as he did so.
"Ugh..."
'And will you look at that.'
Akashi thought to himself as he saw Minato frowning from the pain,
'There was the option of using Body Replacement or Body Flicker technique should you be good enough at them. Yet, there you are, relying on Flying Thunder God simply because you're far too used to its convenience.'
Ironically, by attaining one of the strongest jutsus in the world, Minato's mindset has gone weaker—he has, to some extent, forgotten the essence of ninja.
To deceive and look underneath the underneath.
Akashi closed his lone eye.
CLANG.
Minato quickly let go of the kunai right after its clash against Akashi's Kiba, preventing himself from getting electrocuted once more.
Akashi wasn't the one to give his enemy the time to think and react. With his incredible proficiency at kenjutsu, he slashed and stabbed fluently and practically.
The sparks flew in this dry environment as one by one, the gashes around Minato began to increase.
Minato, with a cold sweat on his back, realized that his body was slowing down from the little bits of electricity that was invading his body whenever Akashi's Kiba managed to nick his skin.
'I cannot let this man have the range...!'
Minato saw that the tri-pronged kunai that he threw initially, the one that gave Akashi the chance to electrocute his right arm, was yet there.
Now that the blade-to-blade fight has gone for some time, the distance between them and the tri-pronged kunai was sufficient enough.
Minato therefore—while evading Akashi's Kiba—prepared to teleport to the kunai,
...Until Minato saw that Akashi's lone eye beyond his mask was headed at that same kunai, as if he was expecting Minato to teleport to it.
'...What?'
Minato's mind stopped for a second there as he realized that he's been read, once again.
His heart thumped. His body froze for a blink of an eye.
And that was enough for Akashi to slam the hilt of Kiba onto Minato's head, causing him to fumble.
Falling and rolling uncontrollably, Minato slammed into a tree bark. Then, the dust arose on the site, covering Minato's appearance from Akashi's sight.
Akashi secretly formed a hand seal on his back.
Puff!
Subsequently, three Minatos came out of the dust, holding the blue spiralling ball—rasengan—on their right palms.
Akashi dodged the first rasengan and stabbed Kiba into that Minato's chest. With a puff, it dispelled.
From Akashi's back, the second one then attempted to strike him from the back, but Akashi swiftly turned and grabbed that Minato by the neck. Turning further, Akashi then had the third one slam his rasengan onto the second one's chest. With a puff, the second one dispelled as well.
Immediately after, Akashi, with a burst of speed, sliced Kiba through the third one's neck, severing his head from below. With a puff, the third one dispelled as well.
Just then, hands broke out of the ground and grabbed Akashi by the ankles. Pulling Akashi down such as he was now embedded into the ground, a rock lying on the ground suddenly puffed, and out of the smoke, Minato revealed himself with rasengan on his right palm—ignoring the painful sensation on that arm.
He then flicked out a tri-pronged kunai. Holding it on his left hand, he threw it at Akashi's forehead as he remained embedded on the ground.
'Rotation. Centripetal force. Pressure that keeps such energy contained in a form of a ball. Basics of chakra control combined, eh, Minato?'
Just when the tri-pronged kunai was about to pierce through Akashi's mask, Minato appeared right above him.
"Rasengan!"
BOOM.
At the last second, Akashi replaced his body with a tree stump. As Minato's rasengan struck the tree stump, it ground said stump into shreds, showcasing just how lethal the technique was.
"Huh?!"
Minato was staggered to see that once again, his foe reacted to his Flying Thunder God technique, and this time around, with a mere Body Replacement nonetheless.
He couldn't believe it. This time around, he imbued his tri-pronged kunai with wind chakra to enhance its speed by several folds. As if that wasn't enough, the chakra on kunai was purposely kept very low so that it runs out of chakra mid-flight and slows down vividly.
Akashi saw through the movement of the kunai and reacted accordingly. His sense of perception and critical thinking in danger was unparalleled, and Minato, for the first time after having become a jonin, was feeling pressured by an enemy—one in number at that.
Now that Akashi was standing at some distance away from him, completely unscathed, Minato couldn't help but think,
'This man... Taka, was it?'
An unforgettable name it'd become, Minato thought—
...before his vision abruptly went black, and he fell to the ground with a thud, knocked out.
There stood Akashi, right behind Minato who fell from a hard force.
"If you were given a time to form clones, why can't I as well?"
When Minato formed three shadow clones within the smoke just before, so did Akashi, forming one shadow clone and have it take his spot.
All Akashi did afterwards was to wait. He watched as his clone defeated Minato's three clones, got trapped, and escaped with the use of Body Replacement.
Then, when Minato let his guard down, Akashi simply struck him from the back. That's all there was to it.
"Anyhow,"
Akashi sheathed Kiba at his back instead of sealing it, such that he could take it out whenever he needed.
"Rasengan and Flying Thunder God... aren't you creative, Minato."
Without a further interest, Akashi walked away, toward the harbor where the noises of a battle continued to resound.
Minato was the only one lying in the forest, unknown of the fact that the overwhelming enemy whom he fought, Taka, was none other than Akashi himself.