Coincidentally, just as the Chakra Clone and Kakuzu were impersonating Nagato and Yahiko to abduct the Three-Tails, the real Nagato and Yahiko appeared at the entrance of the Village Hidden in the Sand.
However, before they had a chance to make a move, they encountered a familiar figure.
"Master Kaito?! What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in..." Yahiko said in astonishment.
"You're right. The real me is still in Konoha participating in the tournament," Kaito said with a smile. "The me standing before you now is just a clone."
"A clone?" Nagato's Rinnegan eyes widened slightly. He looked Kaito up and down and said in a low voice, "From what I can see, you don't seem much like a clone."
"Well, this clone of mine is a little bit special," Kaito said, holding up his right hand and leaving a tiny gap between his thumb and index finger.
"Alright, we can talk about these secrets later when we have time. Let's get down to business now."
Kaito's expression turned serious. "Nagato, three years, and another three years. Have you become the boss yet?"
"???"
Konoha, Main Arena.
Everyone's attention was focused on the two equally handsome men in the arena.
Kaito had taken off his black Amekage robes, revealing the sleeveless, form-fitting suit underneath, which showed off his well-proportioned physique.
Minato, on the other hand, wore the standard Konoha jōnin uniform—the green flak jacket—which made him look rather serious.
"Minato, you know, out of everyone here, you're the one I've wanted to fight the most," Kaito said with a somewhat excited smile. "So, please, give me a good fight, will you?"
"Huh?" Minato was taken aback, clearly not expecting that, and was a little flattered. "Thank you for holding me in such high regard, my lord. I will do my best!"
"That's good. The consequences will be severe if I don't get to enjoy myself," Kaito's smile grew even brighter.
For some reason, hearing Kaito's words sent a shiver down Minato's spine. He quickly took a few deep breaths to calm himself.
Faced with this epic-level battle, the Third Hokage was extremely cautious, personally stepping in to act as the referee.
He also added a team from the Sealing Corps to set up a strong barrier around the competition area to prevent the shockwaves from their battle from injuring the audience.
The Third Hokage looked at Kaito and Minato in turn and announced, "Let the match begin!"
As soon as his voice fell, Minato threw several kunai marked with his jutsu formula in all directions.
But to his surprise, Kaito simply caught one of them, holding it up to examine it closely. "Heh, so this is the formula for the [Flying Thunder God Technique]? How interesting."
This move stunned Minato. It was the first time he had ever seen someone willingly pick up one of his marked kunai. 'He knows about the Flying Thunder God Technique? Is he trying to lure me over? I should test him first.'
Minato quietly reached into the ninja tool pouch behind him, his fingers closing around a kunai with an explosive tag attached.
He threw several more marked kunai at Kaito, who was still examining the one in his hand. At the same time, he used the Flying Thunder God to switch the kunai with the explosive tag in his hand with the marked kunai in Kaito's.
He timed it perfectly. The moment the explosive tag was transferred to Kaito's hand, it would detonate almost instantly.
A ball of fire lit up the arena.
"Wow, amazing!" the audience applauded.
However, there was not a trace of excitement on the faces of Tsunade, Jiraiya, and the others. Even Minato didn't believe he had succeeded. The moment the explosion went off, he was already paying attention to the movements at his side.
Sure enough, Kaito immediately appeared behind him, a fist hurtling towards his head.
Zip!
At the critical moment, the Flying Thunder God was his escape.
"Tch, you're pretty fast," Kaito snorted. "In that case, let's see who's faster."
To the astonishment of the crowd, he raised his hands, and fist-sized spheres of energy began to form and float around him.
"What is that jutsu?" Minato had never seen anything like it. To be cautious, he stayed put and didn't move recklessly.
By the time hundreds of small spheres had gathered around Kaito, Minato's expression had become extremely grave.
That's a terrifying amount of energy. Is he planning to detonate all of those spheres?
The best way to deal with him was indeed to use a large-scale attack. Confined to the arena, he would have nowhere to dodge.
But if he does that, he'll be caught in it himself.
Soon, Kaito stopped. "This many Aura Spheres should be enough. Come on, let's see how many times you can use your Flying Thunder God."
With a wave of his finger, the energy spheres scattered across the arena, nearly blanketing the entire field.
The areas around the marked kunai were especially densely packed with the spheres.
Minato had no doubt that if he were to teleport to any of the marked kunai on the ground, he would be greeted by the explosion of those small spheres.
Seeing dozens of them flying towards him, he grit his teeth and made a decision. "I'll risk it!"
He focused his mind, his eyes locked on Kaito.
Just as the energy spheres were about to hit him, his figure instantly vanished and reappeared behind Kaito, the Rasengan he had already prepared in his hand slamming towards Kaito's back.
Pow!
Just as the Rasengan was about to make contact, Kaito reacted with incredible speed. He moved after Minato but struck first, hooking Minato's waist with his leg and slamming him into the ground, burying him in a deep crater.
Before Kaito's next attack could land, Minato flashed away again.
This series of rapid-fire attacks and defenses left the audience stunned.
Tsunade was puzzled. "Hey, when did Minato mark Kaito?"
"No, Minato didn't mark him. He just used the Flying Thunder God's spatial transfer ability directly, gambling on his luck to appear beside Kaito. His luck was good, and he succeeded, but he misjudged Kaito's reaction time and failed to land a blow."
Jiraiya sighed. "Unfortunately, Minato didn't seize that one and only chance. This match... Minato has probably lost."
"Sigh, I didn't expect Kaito to be this strong," Tsunade said with a grave expression. "Those energy spheres he just released... do you have a way to deal with them?"
"It would be difficult. Those energy spheres can be controlled by Kaito, and their power seems to be considerable. If I saw them, I'd have to flee first, or counter with an even stronger jutsu."
"Hmph. If it were me, I could probably ignore them and just go head-to-head with him."
"..."
Coincidentally, Nawaki and Fugaku were also analyzing Kaito's moves.
"A pity for Minato. If he were fighting Kaito in a wide-open space, he might have had room to maneuver. But..."
"It can't be helped. If there were no restrictions on the Flying Thunder God, Minato could just hide, and who would be able to find him?"
Nawaki sighed. "They should have at least held the match in the Forest of Death."
"If I were facing that move of Kaito's, I could only activate Sage Mode and fight him head-on."
"I have no way to deal with it. I could only consider a preemptive strike."
While they were discussing, Minato, faced with the increasingly dense barrage of energy spheres, could only give a wry smile and voluntarily forfeit the match.