Two hours later, after hearing his secretary report that Minato hadn't asked any more questions but instead had set up a grill and started barbecuing at the entrance of Kumo, the Third Raikage unexpectedly didn't get angry, he merely gave a helpless smile.
It seemed he had truly underestimated this young man.
In his plan, Minato would either cause a scene because he was being ignored, or turn around and leave, or keep insisting on meeting him.
Either outcome would have pleased him.
But now, Minato's reaction was genuinely giving him a headache.
After all, he didn't actually want to go to war with Konoha, nor did he want to give them a reason to start a war, this was only meant to be a test.
"Forget it, go invite Minato in."
Five minutes later, his secretary ran in on the verge of tears. "Raikage-sama, Minato has already left. Before leaving, he said he came with a mission of peace, but it seems Kumo does not wish for peace."
"He said he now understands our village's attitude, and will report the truth to the Hokage when he returns."
"That brat!" The Third Raikage slammed the table, standing up in anger. "Does he think Kumo is a place he can come and go as he pleases?"
"Then, what should we do?"
"What do you think? Of course we chase him down, I'll go myself!"
With that, the Third Raikage leapt straight through the window, charging in the direction Minato had left. His speed was so fast it was invisible to the naked eye, leaving only a lightning-like blue streak in his wake.
---
"Minato, are we really just leaving like this?" Fugaku asked. "When we get back, Shin definitely won't let us off."
"This was my decision, what does it have to do with you?" Minato said with a light smile. "Besides, we won't be able to leave anyway."
Hizashi, who was beside them, suddenly sensed something, quickly activating his Byakugan to look behind, then smiled. "That guy's chasing us, what now?"
"Of course, we fight!" Minato said excitedly. "If I thought he was coming to kill me, then hitting him because of a misunderstanding would be perfectly reasonable, right?"
With a strange grin, his figure suddenly vanished from where he stood.
At that moment, the Third Raikage was filled with helplessness.
Back when Hiruzen was still Hokage, he could handle Konoha with relative ease.
But in just half a year, everything had changed, now he found himself having to bow to them.
Still, the situation was stronger than his will, what could he do but endure it?
Yet the next moment, a figure suddenly appeared in front of him, throwing a heavy punch straight at his face.
He hurriedly used his Lightning Release Body Flicker Technique, narrowly avoiding the blow.
"What are you doing?" Seeing clearly who had ambushed him, the Raikage was furious.
This guy, was he really trying to provoke a war between their two nations by attacking the Raikage himself?
"We were already planning to leave and let things go, but you actually came after us. Do you think we won't fight back?"
"I wasn't..."
"What do you mean 'wasn't'?"
"You mis..."
"Enough talk! If you want to fight, then fight!"
Seeing Minato's figure suddenly vanish again, the Third Raikage couldn't tell whether this slightly airheaded man was doing it on purpose or had truly misunderstood.
But since the other had already attacked him, there was no way he would just sit there and take it.
At this moment, the two were in a vast, open wilderness. Dark clouds loomed overhead, and a heavy, oppressive atmosphere hung in the air.
As a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, he moved in an instant. With his astonishing speed, he shot toward Minato like a flash of lightning. His right fist carried immense power, tearing through the air itself and producing a sharp, piercing whistle.
However, Minato had long been prepared. The instant before the Third Raikage's blow could land, he activated the Flying Thunder God Technique, vanishing from his spot and leaving only an afterimage behind.
The Third Raikage's punch struck nothing, but the force of it kicked up a massive cloud of dust from the ground.
But this was merely the prologue, the true battle had only just begun. Still in his Lightning Release Chakra Mode, he repeatedly used his Lightning Release Body Flicker Technique.
Wherever Minato appeared, he would instantly give chase. Their speed was so great that Fugaku and Hizashi, watching from the sidelines, felt their scalps tingle. It wasn't as though they'd never seen Minato's speed before, they had even seen Hanma fight Shin.
But the Third Raikage was clearly far stronger, forcing Minato to take things more seriously than usual.
If not for one having the Sharingan and the other the Byakugan, plus their advantageous positions, they wouldn't have been able to catch even a glimpse of the two fighters.
However, just as Fugaku and Hizashi had finally begun to follow the movement of the battle, the Third Raikage suddenly accelerated again, concentrating a massive amount of lightning into his hand. With four fingers together, he directly pierced through Minato's body before the latter could react.
Yet in the very next instant, a powerful sense of danger flared in his mind, and he immediately attempted to dodge.
But the "body" he had pierced had already turned into a mass of white, viscous substance that clung tightly to his hand.
His right hand crackled violently with lightning, its destructive force tearing the sticky substance apart.
But by then, Minato's figure had already appeared behind him.
To his shock, Minato had also entered Lightning Release Chakra Mode. Imitating him, Minato gathered a massive amount of lightning into his right hand, four fingers together, and thrust toward the Third Raikage's abdomen.
Hell Stab, Four-Finger Nukite.
The Third Raikage had no time to dodge. In desperation, his chakra erupted in a flash, activating the strongest form of his Lightning Release Armor.
Just as he finished, Minato's four fingers struck his abdomen. With a tremendous impact, he was sent hurtling backward.
But Minato instantly appeared above the retreating Third Raikage and smashed a punch toward his face.
At this moment, with no foothold beneath him, the Third Raikage was unable to counter, and Minato seized the opportunity to land several heavy blows in a row.
After a while, the Third Raikage finally touched the ground and immediately used the Lightning Release Body Flicker to escape the battlefield, staring at Minato in disbelief.
How is this brat so strong?
Minato, for his part, also stared in disbelief at the Third Raikage.
How is this guy so tough?
Damn, this was insane, after taking that many hits from him, the man didn't even have a scratch?
Looks like Shin had been right: without using Samehada, the Third Raikage was the hardest of all the Kage to bring down.
"How do you know the Lightning Release Chakra Mode?" the Raikage asked, rubbing at the dull ache in his abdomen in shock.
"Oh, that?" Minato said casually. "My brother taught me. Is there a problem?"
"Shin..." The Raikage clenched his teeth so hard it felt like they might crack. "You people from Konoha are shameless, actually stealing Kumo's jutsu!"
"Stealing ? No, no, no, my brother learned them fair and square. Back then, A demonstrated them a few times, and with my brother's talent, of course he could master them just by watching once."
"..."
The Third Raikage was about to say more when his guards arrived at the scene. Seeing the mess all over the place, they all wore stunned expressions.
On their way there, they had already felt the intense surges of chakra.
They didn't know exactly why, but who wouldn't realize that the Third Raikage had clashed with Minato and his companions?
Yet now, Minato was standing there completely unharmed, and it was the Third Raikage who looked a bit disheveled. That made their brains short-circuit.
This was their invincible Third Raikage.
He had personally made a move, and after fighting for so long, how could Minato possibly still be standing?
Could it be that the Third Raikage had only been sparring with him?
Just then, the now-calm Third Raikage asked irritably, "Why did you ambush me?"
"You've got some nerve asking me that!" Minato replied angrily. "I just wanted to leave, and you came after me to kill me!"
"Who the hell was trying to kill you? I came to invite you to visit Kumo!"
At this moment, the Third Raikage had completely lost the thought of opposing Konoha, he didn't even think about causing trouble in secret anymore.
Minato alone was this terrifying, his strength no less than the Raikage's, and there was also the even more fearsome Shin.
If war truly broke out, what would Kumo fight with?
Not to mention, Konoha didn't only have those two, there was also Tsunade, Sakumo, Fukuyama, Orochimaru, and others.
He was a man with a violent temper, but he was also extremely shrewd, someone who could think rationally even in the heat of rage. So even though he felt stifled and angry, he could only offer them both a way to save face.
Because he could tell, Minato was making a show of force, not truly trying to completely break relations.
The key point was... that show of force had been very damn successful.
"Huh?" Minato looked confused, scratching his head. "Really?"
The Raikage's guard reacted quickly and said, "Of course it's true."
"Earlier, the Raikage had urgent matters and wasn't in the village, so you weren't given the proper welcome."
"When he returned, he was furious, immediately scolded those who slighted you, and came straight to find you."
"And yet, instead of being grateful, you attacked him viciously. Isn't that going too far?"
"Put nicely, this was a misunderstanding. Put bluntly, this was blatant provocation."
"Uh..." Minato looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, I really didn't know just now."
"When I saw you rushing over, I thought you were trying to kill me. It's my fault, I was too stupid. I didn't hurt you just now, did I? Does your stomach still hurt? Your face? I shouldn't have hit you. I've always heard that Kumo is full of martial spirit and likes to make friends through combat, so how about we just call today a friendly spar between the two of us? Let's say it's a draw. A great man like you wouldn't hold a grudge against a kid like me, right? If you're still angry, I'll just stand here and won't fight back, you can hit me all you want, how about that?"
With every sentence Minato spoke, the Third Raikage's expression grew darker.
On the surface, Minato seemed to be admitting fault with every word, offering him a way to step down gracefully. But in reality, each sentence was a show of strength.
To the Raikage's ears, the meaning was: I'm giving you an olive branch, take it, and don't you even think about throwing it away.
As for that so-called "If you're still angry, I'll just stand here and won't fight back, you can hit me all you want", that was just talk. If the Third Raikage really tried to make a move, Minato would have no problem smashing his pride into the dirt right in front of his own men.
What the Third Raikage couldn't understand was, why was this kid so terrifying?
He had always thought his own son was already a prodigy, but compared to Minato, his son was nothing.
At this moment, true despair set in for him, and he was reminded again of the state of the shinobi world when Hashirama was still alive.
Why was it that back then, no village started a war?
Because Hashirama alone could subdue any hidden village.
Now, Shin possessed that same overwhelming presence Hashirama once had.
No longer trusting his allies, he could only choose to swallow his pride, for now.
"I would like to invite you to visit Kumo as my guest. What do you say?" the Third Raikage asked, suppressing all his emotions.
"The threshold for entering Kumo is too high, so I'll pass. Besides, our Kage is in a hurry for me to return and report," Minato replied bluntly, giving him no face at all.
His brother had told him, strength is truth.
When you have the ability to make others fear you, no matter how unhappy they are inside, they'll still treat you with a smile.
Whether you decide to give them face or not, that's entirely up to your mood.
"Very well," the Third Raikage conceded. "Do you have any message to pass on to me?"
"This is from my brother," Minato said, tossing a scroll to one of the Raikage's guards.
The guard inspected it carefully, found nothing suspicious, and handed it over to the Raikage.
When the Third Raikage saw the contents, his face froze.
Ten billion ryō, five thousand highland cattle, thirty thousand highland sheep, various mineral resources, and the female scientist Saraka.
The list of demanded reparations was exactly the same as the price he had once been willing to pay when sending A to Konoha with a marriage proposal, the only difference being the added name of Saraka.
Even without thinking hard, he knew this was Tsunade's way of getting back at him.
Back when Konoha was divided internally, he had certainly done his share to fan the flames, and some of the things he'd done had been downright underhanded.
At the time, it had been an open scheme, leaving no room for excuses.
Now Konoha stood supreme, and if Tsunade wanted to reclaim her pride through such means, what could he say?
Fortunately, while the demands were many, they weren't enough to seriously harm Kumo.
In the end, the Third Raikage sighed and said, "Kumo loves peace. Go back and tell the Hokage and Shin that it was due to my poor management that our village produced missing-nin and that Orochimaru was injured."
"Although this was not my intention, Kumo takes responsibility. We are willing to make this compensation for the sake of peace in the ninja world, and I agree to the proposed terms."
This statement was essentially his way of defining the matter: I'll pay, but Konoha should drop it after this. Let's each take a step back.
Minato did not refuse the Raikage's face this time, and politely said he would convey Kumo's goodwill and their willingness to work together for the peace of the ninja world.