Time all but stopped.
The Raikage's office fell dead silent; no one dared be the first to break it.
The Fourth Raikage, A, held that rigid posture, not moving a millimeter.
He could feel, with ice-needle clarity, the chill of the special kunai at his throat—
And the murderous intent pouring off the man behind him.
He had no doubt:
If he twitched, if he spoke a single wrong word,
That kunai would slit his throat before his Raiton no Yoroi (Lightning Release Armor) could ever spark.
Life and death stood on a thread,
And the hand on the shears was the man at his back.
Humiliation.
Humiliation like none he'd ever tasted.
A, Fourth Raikage of Kumogakure, a peak titan famed for absolute speed and strength—when had he ever been threatened, shamed, like this?
Rage flared in his chest, hot enough to eat his sanity.
But he did not move.
Because he knew this man wasn't bluffing.
Any wrong move, and he would die.
This wasn't luck; it was power. By speed alone, A was one of the fastest in the world—yet the heavens had birthed his contemporary, the Fourth Hokage, and for years A had felt a weight above his head.
In the suffocating quiet,
A voice like a god's finally stirred at his ear.
"Fourth Raikage."
"Your man is hanging from Konoha's gate right now."
A's eyes flew wide. Troy—compromised?
And from that tone… humiliated in the doing.
Minato didn't give him time to think; his voice stayed flat to the point of sacrilege.
"I have three things to say."
"First,"
"Years ago, my wife Uzumaki Kushina was abducted by your Cloud shinobi at Konoha's border. I haven't settled that account."
Old accounts.
Namikaze Minato was reopening them.
A's heart sank. This guest had not come in peace.
"Second,"
Colder still.
"Just now, Hyuga Hinata, the Hyuga main-house heiress of Konoha, was frightened. The Cloud will answer for this."
In an instant A understood.
Namikaze Minato was announcing to the world, in the sharpest, most undeniable way:
The Hyuga stood under the Namikaze's shadow.
To touch Hyuga was to touch Namikaze.
Damn Troy. If you do it, do it clean—
A's anger wasn't at the kidnapping itself—this was survival; morals were luxuries.
His fury was that with all their strength, that idiot still got caught—couldn't even run?
What monster had he provoked?
For the first time, A's killing intent turned on his own subordinate.
"Third,"
And now the voice lost all warmth, leaving only the chill of the grave.
"The most important thing."
He leaned the slightest fraction closer, so only the two of them could hear.
"Keep. Your. Dogs. Leashed."
"Or else,"
"I don't mind replacing Kumogakure's Kage tonight. The ones here can see you off—it'd give your life a proper close, don't you think?"
The naked death threat shattered the last defenses in A's mind.
His body trembled; blood-shot eyes drowned in terror.
Replace the Kage? See him off?
Arrogance so absolute it erased titles.
And A did not doubt it—for the man behind him could kill him as easily as he'd arrived.
Against absolute speed and an unfathomable Jikuukan Ninjutsu (Space-Time Technique), his proud strength and armor were jokes.
Around them, the other Cloud jonin couldn't hear the last line,
But they saw their war-god Raikage crumble after it—
The idol in their hearts cracked to dust.
Humiliation, wrath, refusal—
A thousand emotions tangled inside A until madness sniffed at the door.
He wanted to resist, to imagine his iron fists turning the man behind him into red paste.
Reason—and raw animal fear of death—chained him.
He could not gamble.
He was not only himself; he was the Cloud.
If he died, the village would lose its head and plunge into chaos.
Before absolute power, pride was paper.
"…I… understand."
"Everything…"
"…will be done… as you say."
When the words were out, he felt hollowed out.
Minato's reply was a contemptuous, nearly inaudible snort.
The abyssal pressure strangling the room evaporated.
The cold edge at A's throat vanished.
Relief hit so hard his knees almost failed him.
He jerked around—
No one there.
The blond man had never "been" there at all, like a dream already fading—only the faintest ripple of Jikuukan Ninjutsu swam in the air.
He was gone.
Come like a ghost, leave like a mirage. So this was the Konoha no Kiiroi Senkō (Yellow Flash of Konoha). Without perfect preparation, there was no "fight."
He had come to speak three lines, then departed—
Leaving terror etched into the souls of Kumogakure's highest.
"Hah… hah… hah…"
A gulped air like a man dredged from drowning.
Cloud jonin slumped to the floor, cold sweat soaking through uniforms.
Silence. A tomb's silence. Who knew how long it held.
"AAAAAAAH!"
A's roar ripped the stillness—feral, choked with humiliation and rage.
His fist came down on the special-metal desk.
The whole slab and every document on it crumpled to scrap with one blow.
"Namikaze Minato!!! I'll never share the sky with you!"
His bellow shook the Raikage Tower—
But it was only the fury of powerlessness.
Every soul present felt the same truth:
The Raikage was a pinnacle of his age.
But his age also birthed a greater monster—Namikaze Minato.
The strongest don't talk; they act. Like the Fourth Hokage—coming and going without a trace,
Whoever dares to provoke me, I erase.
(End of Chapter)
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