I Just Wanted to Slack Off, But I Was Forced to Become Hokage

Chapter 57: Nara Keisuke VS Namikaze Minato!

[A-rank Ninja Combat Mission Detected!]

[A-rank Mission: Namikaze Minato]

[Mission Content: Defeat/Kill Konoha Jonin Namikaze Minato]

[Mission Reward: A-rank Shinobi Secret Scroll]

A battle with Namikaze Minato allowed for no distractions.

Nara Keisuke had no spare time to browse the A-rank mission information on the panel. Seizing the precious opportunity Minato had served up on a silver platter, he decisively activated the [Shadow Neck Binding Technique].

When Minato heard Keisuke's words, he was initially puzzled by his opponent's reaction. However, when he felt the strong, almost physical binding force on his body, he finally realized he had walked right into a "Shadow Secret Technique" trap.

'Based on my movement speed, Nara-kun shouldn't have had time to form hand signs... and I didn't see him make any hand sign gestures just now.'

Thoughts raced through Minato's mind. He was completely unaware that the materialized, lacquer-black hand formed by the [Shadow Neck Binding Technique] was already snaking its way up his nimble leg.

'The Nara clan's Shadow Secret Techniques belong to the category of Yin Release, which has lower requirements for hand signs, but it's not as if they require no hand signs at all. Could it be... that Nara-kun has already mastered the ability to cast shadow techniques without them?'

The black hand was just about to seize Minato's neck. But with a mere thought, his figure vanished from the spot, escaping the powerful restraint of the [Shadow Neck Binding Technique].

Flying Thunder God Technique!

Nara Keisuke clearly felt the [Shadow Neck Binding Technique] lose its target. His gaze, which had been directed forward, suddenly blurred, and a figure appeared out of thin air.

"Was that a technique you prepared in advance, Nara-kun?" Minato stood next to the kunai that had just landed on the ground, his composed expression tinged with curiosity and inquiry. "A very swift activation speed."

"Jonin Namikaze can guess all he wants, but for now... try this!"

The shadow at Keisuke's feet flowed like a tide, tightly circling around him—a defensive strategy he had to adopt to counter Minato's close-quarters combat tactics.

"Shuriken All-Out Flying Technique!"

Using a ridiculously named technique, Keisuke took out a large stack of shuriken from his ninja tool pouch and scattered them all outwards without any pattern. The countless shuriken fell wantonly through the air like a rain of flowers.

And hidden behind this deceptive "Shuriken All-Out Flying Technique" was a special kunai with a paper bomb attached, which Keisuke had pulled from the pouch on his lower back using the [Shadow Gathering Jutsu].

"Nara-kun, that ninjutsu name has a lot of room for improvement!"

Minato's eyes first lit up, and then they blurred. "Mm, and it also lacks a bit of accuracy."

The scattered shuriken obscured the attack path of the kunai. By the time Minato noticed the special kunai with the paper bomb, it was already close upon him, the cold glint of its blade growing larger and larger in his azure pupils.

Although he could have used the Body Flicker Technique or the Flying Thunder God Technique to dodge this ninja tool attack, the instinct to conserve chakra was already carved into the little sun's ninja DNA. With just a nimble sidestep, Minato dodged the frontal attack of the paper bomb kunai with minimal effort.

However, this was no ordinary paper bomb kunai. The paper bomb attached to the end was a complete fake that wouldn't explode. Its strong presence was only to conceal the wire connected to its end, which was so thin it was almost transparent!

The moment Minato chose to sidestep the fake paper bomb kunai's attack, the square shadow of the fake bomb briefly overlapped with his own side shadow. Aided by that transparent wire, the connection stretched all the way back to Keisuke's feet.

[Shadow Paralysis Jutsu], success!

At that very moment, a slender shadow tentacle took out a smoke bomb from his tool pouch and smashed it forward.

Compared to the clearer sensation of the [Shadow Neck Binding Technique], the physical suppression from the [Shadow Paralysis Jutsu] was not as strong. But Minato, whose sensory abilities were already excellent, realized in the first instance that he had been caught by the jutsu again.

Boom!

The smoke bomb exploded with a bang, and billowing black smoke instantly filled the entire battlefield, completely obscuring the vision of both sides.

"Cough, cough! First, you use a thrown ninja tool to create shadow contact," Minato said, remaining calm in the face of danger. "Then you use a smoke bomb to create a visual obstruction... so your next round of attacks won't be a shadow secret technique, right?"

Rustle!!

Just as Minato's voice fell, a series of dense, tight sounds suddenly came from the small forest surrounding the Third Training Ground. With a series of "whooshing" sounds tearing through the air, sharp wooden spears flew out from the forest, raining down in a covering fire towards the area shrouded in black smoke. It was one of the traps Keisuke had laid out in advance.

Inside the smoke, Minato listened intently, and his figure once again vanished, dodging the attack.

Thud! Thud!—

The sharp wooden spears pierced the ground, causing a continuous series of dull thuds.

By this time, Minato had used the Flying Thunder God Technique to leave the area covered by the smoke bomb and had entered the surrounding forest, concealing his tracks. The Flying Thunder God formula would never disappear. Leaving marks wherever he went was a good habit of Minato's. Many places in Konoha had been "pre-marked" by him, and that naturally included the Third Training Ground.

'I didn't take this challenge too seriously at first. I was planning to end the battle quickly and then go on a date with Kushina...' Minato hid in the shade of a large tree's branches, secretly observing the situation on the training ground. 'But now it seems I've greatly underestimated the strength of this Nara family child, who doesn't look that old...'

Minato looked up at the sky. Ten o'clock in the morning, the sun hung in the southeast.

The next moment, a hand reached out from the shade, landing in the sunlight. A black hand-shadow fell upon the verdant leaves.

'To avoid direct contact with the shadow, the correct line of attack is...' Minato's mind continuously refined his plan for the next round of attack. 'From Nara-kun's flank!'

On the training ground.

'Yondaime, you've already used the Flying Thunder God twice!'

Nara Keisuke stood silently, waiting for Minato's next attack. 'Next time, what kind of method will you use to fight? Plan A? Plan B? Or... an unexpected plan?'

Before the battle, Keisuke had comprehensively considered Minato's abilities and had specifically run multiple battle simulations, formulating a dedicated response plan for each scenario. Now, it all depended on what choice the Yondaime would make...

At this moment, Minato's figure shot out directly from the forest. He used the Body Flicker Technique to advance at high speed, approaching Keisuke from the right flank.

'It seems...' Keisuke's reaction speed, which had just been raised to D- rank, only allowed him to turn his eyeballs in time to catch Minato's figure with his peripheral vision. 'He's going with the first small plan of Plan B!'

Almost as soon as Minato landed, a flash bomb, which had been placed underground behind him beforehand, was pulled up from the ground by Keisuke's [Shadow Gathering Jutsu] and detonated directly.

Bzzzz—

An intense light instantly burst forth. Even under the bright sun, the strong light from the flash bomb briefly changed the direction of Minato's shadow. The two shadows, which had been parallel to each other, overlapped once again.

Keisuke decisively seized this fleeting battle opportunity and immediately activated the [Shadow Paralysis Jutsu], once again restricting Minato's mobility.

The next moment, the paper bomb that had been buried underground along with the flash bomb was detonated by Keisuke.

BOOM!!

A violent explosion, carrying scattered dust, spread out in all directions.

Minato used the Flying Thunder God Technique for the third time to dodge, returning to the spot where he had just been hiding. But his clothes were still inevitably stained with some dust.

'A flash bomb and a paper bomb prepared in advance... was even this attack within your calculations?' A serious expression appeared on Minato's sunny, handsome face. He was now completely serious. 'From the very beginning of the battle, every step I took fell into your trap... Is this the mind of the Nara clan?'

In the rounds of exchange just now, from a tactical perspective, Minato had been almost completely crushed by Keisuke. He put away the last trace of underestimation in his heart and began to treat Keisuke as an opponent of the same level.

'What kind of offensive strategy should I adopt now?' Minato narrowed his eyes slightly. 'Should I use the conventional method of dealing with the Nara clan? Or... do the exact opposite!'

Chakra gathered at the soles of his feet. Minato used the Body Flicker Technique with incomparable skill, once again approaching Keisuke from the side, and his landing spot was still the same as before. 'The flash bomb and paper bomb buried here have already been used up! So—'

Bzzzz—

The flash bomb that exploded from Keisuke's side told Minato that the former indeed hadn't placed two flash bombs in the same location. But he had placed one on each side, symmetrical to his own body as the center point!

In this situation, Minato had no choice but to use his Flying Thunder God Technique for the fourth time, once again returning to that familiar shady spot in the trees.

However, this time, within the shade of that very tree, a figure as thin as paper gradually emerged and solidified. It used the [Shadow Secret Techniques] to firmly control Minato, who had just landed and was right beside it.

[Flat Shadow Technique]!

Nara Keisuke's [Shadow Doppelganger] appeared behind Namikaze Minato.

"Caught you again, Jonin Namikaze."

(End of Chapter)

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