"Well, well, what's this? Raijin, why do you look like you're under attack from all sides?"
Uchiha Madara and that masked man from before appeared behind Raijin almost at the same time.
Madara's mocking tone followed soon after.
Raijin didn't even bother acknowledging Madara and simply waved his hand. The masked man stepped forward, positioning himself between Raijin and Naruto.
"Fight."
With that one word, Raijin formed a hand seal, summoning two shadow clones. In a flash of lightning, they disappeared.
"A high-level meeting. You coming?"
Raijin turned his head to look at Madara.
"Let's go."
Madara nodded without hesitation.
He was still quite interested in the origins of that masked man.
"Good luck."
Raijin nodded at Naruto, then said this before disappearing on the spot, not giving Naruto a chance to respond.
"Damn it!"
Watching Raijin vanish, Naruto turned his gaze toward the masked man.
"Rasengan!"
A crystal-clear Rasengan formed in Naruto's hand as he leaped high into the air, charging straight at the masked man without hesitation!
Sasuke stood below, watching the scene unfold on the Hokage Rock.
He sighed helplessly, shook his head, and walked away toward the Uchiha district.
There's probably… no chance anymore…
By the time Raijin and Madara arrived at the Hokage's office, most of the others were already there.
"There's a new mission."
Raijin collapsed lazily onto Tsunade, slumping against her.
"Sigh…"
As soon as the words were spoken, a long sigh followed.
This is really frustrating...
For the past decade or so, Raijin had been practicing peacefully.
He had grown to love this kind of life.
Every day, Tsunade would prepare medicinal meals suited to his body.
Every night, she would also give him massages infused with natural energy.
Even though he had to submit assignments multiple times a day, Raijin was still very satisfied with this lifestyle.
But Jigen, that bastard...
I swear, if I ever find you...
"Is the situation really that serious?"
Raijin's long sigh made everyone in the room tense up.
Even Uchiha Madara.
After all, if Raijin couldn't handle something, then it would probably be troublesome for Madara too.
But not impossible.
As the former leader of the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Madara had absolute confidence in himself.
"It's very serious."
Raijin nodded.
"There's a squad of about eleven people, all capable of using part of Jigen's abilities. Right now, they're attacking Konoha's outposts outside the village."
Honestly, Raijin didn't have a great way to deal with this.
A group of ninja skilled in space-time jutsu launching surprise attacks on Konoha's trade guilds, which were only guarded by a few chunin and genin.
To be honest, this was really frustrating.
If they ignored it, the guilds would suffer, and beyond just the losses, the impact would be terrible.
How many years had it been since Konoha was targeted like this?
Now that Jigen had made his move against Konoha, nearly every smaller village was watching.
If Konoha didn't respond, all the prestige it had built over the years could collapse overnight.
Of course, Raijin believed the smaller villages wouldn't dare act rashly.
They should have some understanding of their own strength.
But the bigger issue was, if the trade guilds were destroyed, should they be rebuilt? If the ninja protecting them were killed, how should their families be compensated?
Would Konoha really just stay locked inside the village, unable to do anything? But even if they wanted to fight back, how could they? These attackers were different from the surviving remnants of Kirigakure and Kumogakure.
Those survivors had been hunted down by Konoha until they had no place left to run.
But this group was different. They all had space-time jutsu.
Konoha did have some countermeasures against space-time jutsu,
but not every Konoha ninja had the ability to deal with it.
That's what made Jigen's group such a pain to deal with.
If they wanted to, they could inflict serious damage on Konoha without ever facing Raijin directly.
"So... this really is a tough problem..."
Madara pursed his lips and nodded.
No wonder Raijin sighed. Anyone in his position would feel helpless too.
"Hmm..."
Even Senju Tobirama and Nara Shikaku, both known for their intelligence, fell silent.
"If no one has a better plan..."
Tsunade spoke up, breaking the silence.
As she spoke, she patted Raijin on the back.
"Then we'll just go with the simplest approach."
With that, Tsunade stood up and addressed everyone in the room.
"Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Hatake Sakumo, Kurama Yun, Might Duy, Might Guy, Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Shisui..."
She paused for a moment, then continued.
"Uchiha Kagami, Uchiha Motohide, Uchiha Matsuri, Uchiha Setsuna, Uchiha Suixing, Senju Osamu, Senju Nawaki, Uchiha Obito, Uchiha Liuli, Uchiha Tatsu, Otsutsuki Toneri, Hyuga Yo, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzo, Utatane Koharu, Mitokado Homura, Akimichi Tofu, Senju Tobirama, Uzumaki Mito."
As Tsunade finished, Namikaze Minato, who had been writing furiously, finally had a moment to catch his breath.
"Each of you will lead three jonin squads, along with Namikaze Minato and Uchiha Raijin's Flying Thunder God kunai, and head to the trade guilds and production sites to guard them. If the location has already been destroyed by the time you arrive, then defend the nearest remaining outpost instead."
"Understood!"
Senju Tobirama was the first to stand up, answering his granddaughter's command.
His eyes were filled with excitement.
Not because of the battle that was about to happen, but because he was pleased with his granddaughter's decisiveness.
This was the best way to handle the situation.
Jigen's plan was disgusting, and most people wouldn't have a way to deal with it.
But Konohagakure did—just like Tsunade said, using the simplest method.
Right now, Konohagakure didn't have many ninja as powerful as Raijin or Madara.
But there were plenty who could keep Jigen busy and use techniques to restrict space-time Ninjutsu.
Enough to completely cover every branch of Konohagakure if needed.
"Understood!"
Following Senju Tobirama's decision, the ninja whose names were called stood up and responded.
As for those whose names weren't called, Namikaze Minato would inform them later.
"The first step is to confirm the current status of all branches and report everything to Namikaze Minato. Be ready for orders from Konohagakure at any time."
Tsunade looked at the gathered ninja and spoke firmly.
"Understood!"
Everyone nodded without hesitation.
"Uchiha Raijin and Uchiha Madara, be on standby for support. Whenever you act, make sure to eliminate any enemy ninja immediately."
Tsunade's gaze fell on Raijin and Madara.
"Got it~"
Raijin nodded at Tsunade.
This task wasn't difficult, right?
As for Madara's opinion?
That didn't matter.
After living in Konohagakure for so long, it was time to pay rent.
"Alright, let's get started!"
Tsunade nodded and gave the order.
"Yes!"
The moment she finished speaking, all the ninja in the room disappeared from the Hokage's office.
Ninja were all about quick execution.
"Minato."
Suddenly, Raijin called out to Namikaze Minato, who was about to notify the ninja who hadn't attended the meeting.
"Raijin, do you need something else?"
Minato paused and looked at Raijin.
Tsunade also turned toward him, curious.
"Your son is pretty strong."
Raijin said this casually to Namikaze Minato.
Tsunade was caught off guard. Why bring this up now?
Madara, on the other hand, couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.
Minato was also taken aback for a moment, then smiled warmly.
"Yeah, he's already mastered Rasengan and Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu at just twelve years old."
"Yeah, he's a real genius…"
Raijin nodded in agreement, smiling as he looked at Minato.
Raijin had no intention of clashing head-on with Asura's reincarnation.
The only person who could keep Asura's reincarnation in check… was his own father.
This was what you called using the right person for the job.
"Compared to you, he's still far behind. But actually, Naruto really admires you. He's always wanted to be your student…"
Minato instinctively tried to open a path for his son.
It wasn't even about what Naruto could learn from Raijin.
Even if all he did was peek into the women's bathhouse, Minato would accept it.
The most important thing was the status of being Raijin's disciple.
As long as Naruto became Raijin's student, his future in Konohagakure wouldn't just be smooth—it would be secure.
But as Minato spoke, he suddenly realized something was off.
How did Uchiha Raijin know how strong his son was?
Naruto had never even met Raijin from the day he was born until now.
And there were only two ways to know someone's strength.
One was by watching them fight.
One was by watching them fight. One way is to fight that person directly.
Somewhere along the way, the bright, cheerful smile on Namikaze Minato's face slowly faded.
It must be the first one, right? It has to be the first one!
But looking at Raijin's smile, which hadn't changed from beginning to end, Minato had a feeling it was actually the second one.
"You go ahead and take care of your work. I'll handle this."
Tsunade rolled her eyes at Raijin before turning her head. In an instant, her expression shifted into a smile.
"It's not that…"
Minato smiled too, but it was no longer bright or cheerful.
He truly wanted Naruto to be Raijin's student.
"Go finish what you need to do. Once this is over, I'll arrange for Raijin to train Naruto."
Tsunade could see through Minato's thoughts right away.
"Then I'll leave it to you, Hokage-sama."
Without waiting for Tsunade to say anything else, Minato's figure flickered and vanished from the Hokage's office.
"Tsunade…"
Raijin looked up at her, a bit helpless.
"Oh, come on. Minato has worked so hard all these years. Think of it as a little reward, okay?"
Tsunade sat across from him, speaking in a soft, coaxing voice.
Madara silently turned his head away.
Disgusting.
"Teaching ninjutsu is exhausting."
Raijin frowned slightly.
More than the effort, the real problem was that taking Naruto as his student would seriously impact his competition with Madara.
Madara was a true genius.
He might not be great at creating new jutsu, but he was a master at pushing his own abilities to their absolute limit.
So if you wanted to keep up with Madara, you had to train like crazy.
Even a little bit of relaxation could mean falling hopelessly behind.
"I know, but what Minato really wants is the title. Just let Naruto train in our courtyard. If he can't learn your Lightning Release, he can at least learn super strength, right?"
Tsunade spoke calmly.
She wasn't going to cut into Raijin's training time just to do Minato a favor.
Raijin's progress was one of Konohagakure's greatest assets.
Every bit of improvement he made raised the village's overall strength.
So all Tsunade was giving Naruto was a title—nothing more.
As for Raijin's jutsu…
Honestly, even if someone managed to learn them, they would never be as strong as Raijin. And for the ones that couldn't be learned?
Forget Naruto—even Senju Tobirama and Uchiha Madara couldn't master them.
Take Raijin's Tenseigan, for example.
Could someone else learn it? In theory, yes.
All they'd have to do was sacrifice the entire Hyuga clan.
But obviously, that was impossible.
"If you take Naruto as a student, then I'll take Sasuke."
Suddenly, Madara spoke up.
"Uchiha Sasuke?"
Raijin blinked in surprise, turning to look at Madara.
Memories that had been buried for decades resurfaced with those words.
Raijin suddenly recalled that, in the original timeline, Madara once went easy on Sasuke because he looked like Izuna.
Just once, though.
The second time, he went straight for Sasuke's heart.
"He's the second son of Uchiha Fugaku, the current clan leader."
Tsunade thought Raijin didn't know who Sasuke was, so she explained.
"Why the sudden interest in taking a student? Hit a plateau in your training?"
Raijin crossed his arms, lifted his chin slightly, and gave Madara a mocking look.Madara frowned slightly upon hearing this and turned to Raijin with a question.
"Heh... Do you really think that so-called Eternal Sage Art you developed is difficult? Other than needing time, what else does it require?"
Hearing this, Madara scoffed and shot back at Raijin.
"Hah! Then don't learn it! Come on, I'll drain all the natural energy from your body right now."
As he spoke, Raijin stood up and walked toward Uchiha Madara.
"It's not that I'm looking down on you, but do you really think you can handle it?"
Madara also stood up and said to Raijin,
"Go ahead, try it."
Raijin didn't waste any more words. Without hesitation, he drew the Kusanagi Sword from his waist.
(End of chapter)
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