Naruto rebirth! Born again with a system.

Chapter 54: When Lightning Strikes!

The enemy jōnin's eyes darted frantically between the scattered kunai embedded throughout the battlefield, each one a potential death sentence waiting to be activated. His chakra flared desperately as he prepared for wzhat he knew would be his final assault, but even that considerable power felt woefully inadequate against the legend standing before him.

"You think I'll go down that easily?" the jōnin snarled, his hands weaving through a complex sequence of hand seals before he slapped his hands onto the ground. "Earth Style, Stone Prison Jutsu!"

Massive pillars of stone erupted from the forest floor, creating a protective barrier around his position while simultaneously attempting to trap Minato within walls of solid rock. It was a defensive technique designed to limit the Yellow Flash's mobility and force him into close-quarters combat.

"Clever," Minato admitted, his voice carrying a note of respect even as his eyes tracked the positions of his marked kunai. "But ultimately pointless."

FLASH-

The golden light erupted from behind the stone barrier, and the jōnin spun toward the burst of radiance with desperate speed. His blade met empty air as Minato appeared beside a different kunai entirely, the feint having drawn his attention away from the real attack.

"Impossible—" The jōnin's words were cut short as Minato's kunai suddenly rammed into his chest, piercing between his 3rd and 4th rib, the blade sliding through muscle and bone as it pierced his heart. The man's eyes widened in shock before the light faded from them entirely, his body crumpling to the forest floor like a discarded puppet.

The forest fell silent except for the gentle rustling of leaves and the shocked breathing of Team 15. Minato stood over the fallen enemy, his youthful features set in an expression of cold satisfaction as he surveyed the battlefield littered with the bodies of the stone ninja he had killed.

"Sensei..." Kōzaru's voice was barely a whisper, his senses still trying to process the afterimages burned into his vision. "That was... incredible. I've never seen anything like it."

"The speed, the precision," Tatsuma added, his mind reeling from what he had witnessed.

Minato turned to face his students, his expression softening as he took in their injuries. Kōzaru's ribs were clearly damaged, Tatsuma was bleeding from multiple shuriken wounds, and Aotaka's had taken a few cuts to his body from an enemy sword.

"The Flying Thunder God technique allows me to teleport instantly to any of my marked kunai," Minato explained, his voice carrying the patient tone of a teacher. "But the real power comes from the tactical applications—being able to appear anywhere on the battlefield in an instant makes traditional combat formations meaningless." He explained, wiping the blood from his kunai on the jōnin's Iwa robe.

"Maybe I'll show it to you sometime." 

"It's like you were everywhere at once," Aotaka said, his eyes filled with a mixture of admiration and determination.

"You're all injured," Minato observed, his sensei instincts taking over as he assessed their condition. "But you fought well. Each of you managed to defeat opponents significantly stronger than yourselves. You should be proud, you have your own training and hard work to thank for being alive right now."

"Thanks to your training," Kōzaru said, wincing as he tested his damaged ribs. "Without it, we would have been killed."

Minato nodded, but his expression grew serious as his sensory abilities picked up something that Kōzaru hadn't detected yet. "The mission isn't over yet. I can still sense two other ninja that must have stayed behind with the medical convoy. We need to find that cart and rescue any survivors."

"Should we all go together?" Tatsuma asked, though his exhaustion was evident in his voice.

"No," Minato said firmly. "You've all pushed yourselves to the limit, and I need you to recover for what comes next. Stay here and rest while I handle the remaining threats."

"But sensei—" Aotaka began to protest. Not being in as bad shape as the others.

"That's an order," Minato interrupted, his voice carrying the absolute authority of a squad leader. "Rest, tend to your wounds, and be ready to move when I return. I'll be back soon."

Without another word, Minato vanished as he moved like the wind, leaving Team 15 alone in the blood-soaked forest clearing.

For a moment, the three young shinobi stood in stunned silence, their minds still processing what they had witnessed. Then, almost simultaneously, they began to speak.

"Did you see the way he moved?" Kōzaru asked, his voice filled with awe. "I never knew just how fast teleportation jutsu really was."

"The Flying Thunder God technique..." Tatsuma said, his knowledge of the technique evident in his voice. "Seeing it in person... It's beyond anything I could have imagined."

"And he's only around what, eighteen?" Aotaka added, his grip tightening on his blade. "To have mastered such a technique at his age... no wonder they're already calling him one of the village's strongest shinobi."

"The way he eliminated all those enemies in seconds," Kōzaru continued, his senses still trying to process the afterimages. "Each movement was perfect, calculated. There was no wasted motion, no hesitation."

"It's like watching a master artist at work," Tatsuma said, settling against a tree trunk to rest. "Every technique, every strategy, perfectly executed. This is what we're training toward. I can only imagine being that strong one day."

"I can see why entire villages have issued a run-on-sight order for him," Aotaka said, his voice carrying a note of reverence. "That wasn't just a jutsu—it was a demonstration of absolute dominance. A flash and you're dead..."

The three friends continued their animated discussion, their voices filled with the excitement of having witnessed something truly legendary. But their conversation was interrupted by a sharp bark from Yuki, followed immediately by an alarmed whine from Riku.

"What is it?" Kōzaru asked, his senses immediately sharpening as he turned toward his ninken companions.

Both dogs were tense, their hackles raised and their noses pointed toward the tree line. Their body language spoke of immediate danger, and Kōzaru's enhanced senses began to pick up scents that made his blood run cold.

"Someone's coming," he whispered, his hand moving instinctively to his weapon pouch.

Three figures emerged from the shadows, landing on the ground as they had jumped from one of the larger trees above, the headbands they wore marked them as shinobi from the Hidden Cloud Village.

"Well, well," the lead ninja said, his voice carrying a note of mild surprise. "What do we have here? Leaf shinobi?"

Kōzaru's senses immediately locked onto their power levels being able to sniff out their chakra and see their levels. The leader was level 9, while his two companions were both level 8. After their exhausting battle with the Stone ninja, facing opponents at their own level would be a significant challenge now.

"Cloud ninja," Tatsuma said, his voice tight with apprehension. "What are you doing in the land of fire?"

"Just a routine scouting mission," the lead ninja replied, his tone deceptively casual. "Nothing that concerns leaf ninja like you, really."

"Routine scouting?" Aotaka's grip tightened on his blade. "In the middle of the night in our nation during a war..."

The Cloud ninja's expression hardened, and his companions spread out slightly, their movements subtle but clearly tactical. "You know, this is really unfortunate. We were hoping to avoid any complications, but now..."

"Now you've seen us," one of the other ninja finished, his hand moving to his weapon pouch. "Well, that's something we simply cannot allow."

"No one can know we were here," the leader said, his voice carrying a note of genuine regret, looking only a few years older than Kōzaru and the others. "You've left us no choice. We'll have to kill you." The other said, taking out a kunai with the small blade catching the moonlight.

Kōzaru felt his blood run cold as he processed the implications. These weren't enemy combatants looking for a fight, they were a low level reconnaissance team that had stumbled upon them by accident, most likely genin like them. And now, to protect their mission, they would have to eliminate all witnesses.

"We're already injured from our last battle," Tatsuma said, his voice tight with exhaustion. "Our chakra is running low, and we've been fighting for our lives." He said to the others, getting a grim look from them.

"That's unfortunate," the lead cloud ninja replied, drawing his weapon with fluid precision as he overheard Tatsuma, a small smile forming on his face at his advantage.

"Then we'll have to make it count," Aotaka said, tightening his grip around his sword. "We've come too far to die here."

Kōzaru felt the familiar surge of determination that had carried him through countless battles. His ribs still ached from the previous fight, and his chakra reserves were low, having not yet recovered from his last fight, but he had no choice. They would have to fight to the death if they wanted to survive this encounter.

"This is it," Kōzaru said, his voice carrying grim determination. "We fight with everything we have."

"For the Leaf," Tatsuma added, grabbing a handful of shuriken while he said it.

"For our team," Aotaka finished, his blade coming to life with chakra as he took a defensive stance, glaring at one of the other shinobi.

"Now!" The cloud ninja said, each of them charging forward to attack, wanting to rush Kōzaru and the others in an attempt to finish it quickly.

The forest exploded into motion as the two groups collided, their battle cries echoing through the trees. Team 15 might have been exhausted and injured, but they were not defeated. They had faced death before and survived, and they would do so again.