P.S.: I've revised the previous chapters. Still, I hope you all can share your thoughts. Thanks!
Chapter Two Hundred and Eighty-Four: Crushing
"Lord Third, this request of mine isn't excessive, is it?"
Takumi Fujihara looked toward the Third Hokage, the true power behind the Konoha Ninja Village—so much so that even the Fire Daimyo feared him slightly.
By doing this, he was undoubtedly questioning the Hokage's decision-making, though his tone remained respectful.
The Third Hokage couldn't really say anything against it.
"That goes without saying. Lord Takumi Fujihara, as our client, wanting to test the strength of our assigned ninja is perfectly normal," the Third said with a faint smile. He knew Minato well enough and had absolutely no concerns.
By saying this, he was also reminding Minato not to let others underestimate the strength of Konoha ninjas.
"Then, Lord Takumi Fujihara, what exactly should I do?" Minato asked, turning toward the middle-aged man.
Takumi Fujihara smiled lightly. "Very simple. Just defeat both of my bodyguards together. They're not especially strong ninjas; for someone like you with captain-level skills, it should be easy."
As his voice fell, the two men in black on either side of him immediately locked their eyes onto Minato.
Their gazes were full of killing intent—clearly men who had killed before.
However, such murderous intent naturally had no effect whatsoever on Minato.
"Is there no other way? I have no interest in senseless fighting."
Minato frowned slightly. By nature, he disliked conflict—especially battles lacking any real purpose.
"How can you call it senseless? Don't I at least deserve to see whether the person praised highly by the Hokage truly possesses the strength to match that reputation?"
Takumi Fujihara seemed to read Minato's mind and mentioned the Hokage in response.
Clearly, he understood just how important reputation was—to a ninja village, especially Konoha.
After he finished speaking, Minato turned back to look at the Third, who gave him an encouraging nod.
"If Lord Takumi Fujihara wishes to test the strength of Konoha ninja, then I will have no choice but to accept the challenge," Minato calmly replied.
"In that case, Lord Third, we'll borrow your training grounds temporarily," Takumi Fujihara said, since obviously, they couldn't fight right here.
"Please go ahead," the Third replied.
"Hokage-sama, I'll take my leave for now," Minato respectfully told the Third.
The Third nodded, and Minato led the three of them out of the Hokage Office, heading toward Training Ground Seven.
...
On the streets of Konoha, Takumi Fujihara continued riding inside his elaborately decorated carriage, surrounded by guards. The two men about to fight Minato walked ahead of the carriage itself.
Minato walked ahead, calm and unhurried.
Upon arriving outside Training Ground Seven, even Takumi Fujihara had no choice but to step down from his carriage. After Minato briefly explained the situation to the guard, they were promptly allowed through.
At that moment, Minato heard a sound coming from within the training field. Whoosh!
Then he quickly dashed forward with a body flicker technique, entering the training field first.
Takumi Fujihara's two guards looked toward him. With a slight nod from Takumi himself, the two immediately followed Minato into the training field.
Inside the training field, Nawaki was in the middle of practice when a sudden burst of light flashed before him. In an instant, Minato's figure materialized.
"Minato, what's going on?" Startled, he asked while noticing some commotion outside the training field, then questioned further.
Minato briefly explained everything to him. Before he had even finished speaking, Takumi Fujihara's two guards finally arrived.
"I see," Nawaki said thoughtfully, a meaningful smile appearing on his face. Then he looked over at the two men about to fight Minato, and to everyone's surprise, his expression showed a flicker of pity.
With a few quick steps, he dashed through the trees and landed on a thick branch behind the training field. Sitting there, he looked like someone settling in for a good show.
Back in the training field, tension rose as Minato stood face-to-face with the other three, though no one made a move yet—since Takumi Fujihara himself, who wanted to test Minato's strength, had not arrived.
A little over a minute later, Takumi Fujihara entered the edge of the training field accompanied by several guards.
"Let's begin," he said calmly, his eyes locked firmly on the situation unfolding in the training field.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
As soon as Takumi Fujihara spoke, his two guards rushed forward. They positioned themselves in front of and behind Minato, attacking both his front and back vital points simultaneously, creating a pincer attack.
Yet Minato simply stood still, not even flinching.
When their attacks were merely inches away from hitting him, he abruptly vanished from sight.
By the time the two guards reacted, their strikes had already collided with each other. Fortunately, they managed to slightly adjust their attack positions at the last moment.
Even so, both staggered backward from the impact.
Compared to the pain, their gazes now frantically searched for Minato, who had suddenly disappeared.
At that moment, watching from a distance, Takumi Fujihara's expression turned increasingly incredulous.
To his own eyes, his two guards moved fast enough to be nearly imperceptible. But seeing them accidentally strike each other like fools made things perfectly clear.
Minato's speed exceeded theirs...
"President Fujihara, isn't this enough?"
Suddenly, a voice whispered beside Takumi Fujihara's ear. He abruptly turned his head and saw Minato—who had vanished from the field—now standing quietly by his side.
Not only him but also his nearby guards wore expressions of deep shock.
To them, Minato moved like a ghost or a phantom.
Sitting on the branch, Nawaki couldn't help but burst out laughing at the sight.
Judging by their movements and reactions alone, the two ninja guards serving Takumi Fujihara appeared to be Chunin-class shinobi—skilled, but far from elite.
Together, if their opponent had been Takumi Fujihara himself, it would have taken him at least some effort to handle them.
But their opponent was someone who had already killed several Jonin. There was absolutely no match between them.
"Your speed is indeed impressive, but the abilities I wish to see aren't limited to that alone," Takumi Fujihara said with a choked voice, clearly not fully understanding how ninja ranks actually worked.
Although Minato's speed indeed appeared unfathomably fast, the one he had entrusted to lead this important mission on behalf of Konoha naturally wasn't someone who could merely run.
Minato naturally understood his meaning. He flickered again using Body Flicker Technique and returned inside the field.
Seeing Minato suddenly reappear once more, the two ninja guards narrowed their eyes. They already understood—the gap between their strength levels was simply not comparable.
But since their hiring client had spoken so firmly, even though they knew they were no match, they could only grit their teeth and continue fighting.
Of course, both of them knew one thing for certain—Minato would never actually harm them.
The two sharply shot backward. At the same time, they launched a dozen or more shuriken toward Minato.
Minato stood his ground, glanced briefly, then pulled out several kunai and hurled them to intercept.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The few kunai Minato threw accurately collided with the frontmost shuriken, continuing forward without losing momentum. Like a chain reaction, they knocked down all the following shuriken as well.
Though his Shuriken Jutsu couldn't compare to that of the Uchiha clan, since he often marked Flying-Thunder-God markings onto kunai during combat, his mastery of ninja tools was by no means weak.
Seeing Minato no longer rely solely on his speed to dodge the thrown weapons, the two realized he probably had been influenced by Takumi Fujihara's words.
Immediately afterward, both men formed seals simultaneously with their hands.
Minato swept his gaze left and right, instantly seeing through their ninjutsu strategy—one forming Wind Release hand seals, the other forming Fire Release seals.
This slightly surprised him; these two were attempting to combine different chakra natures—enhancing their jutsu through elemental fusion.
However, such coordination required long-term practice—it was quite impressive.
Even with ninjutsu, Minato would have little trouble handling it, but the training ground, although spacious enough, was dangerously close to where Takumi Fujihara stood. This meant the jutsu could easily injure him accidentally.
"Gentlemen, sorry about this," Minato said from his spot, his voice carrying clearly.
Puff!
In the next instant, Minato drove a powerful punch straight into one man's abdomen. The hand seals he had been forming were forcibly interrupted.
The other man turned his head sharply, yet before fully turning around, Minato extended his arm upward with a sudden lift.
His arm slammed into the man's hands mid-seal, halting the technique cold.
Additionally, the force transmitted through his arm made both hands numb.
Yet before he could react at all, Minato had already appeared behind him, leaping up. His right arm changed into a knife-hand strike, gently chopping against his neck.
Struck with such precision, the man's entire body trembled like receiving an electric shock, then collapsed heavily to the ground.
In a flash, both had been cleanly and decisively taken down by Minato.
Takumi Fujihara and his guards stared with wide eyes. In their view, they hadn't even caught a single glimpse of Minato's movements.
He gulped involuntarily—what had just happened before him was anything but a fight.
It was an absolute one-sided domination by that young Konoha ninja over his two ninja guards.
At this moment, Takumi Fujihara was utterly stunned by the overwhelming power Minato had just unleashed!
...
...
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!
<><><><><><><><>
~ 100+ Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
~ More *Free* Chapters and Books Available on Patreon!
patreon.com/Tansnovel
<><><><><><><><>