The Land of Wind was merciless with sand storms even on a calm day, and tonight it was a raging beast. The sky was swallowed by a spiraling wall of sand, grinding grains against rock with a shrill, and a ceaseless howling scream followed. Breathing itself became a heavy labor, each inhale scraped the throat with sand dust and visibility collapsed to a few paces at best.
Two cloaked figures covering their heads moved through the chaos their cloaks swayed violently in the wind. When the leading edge of the sandstorm thickened into an opaque curtain, one of them raised a hand and pointed toward a jagged ridge barely visible through the storm. There was a hollow structure beneath it.
They flicked and vanished at incredible speeds, reappearing inside the shallow cave within half a dozen breaths. Moments later the storm consumed the ground they had occupied. Sand flooded past like an ocean wave, swallowing footprints instantly. Even within the cave, fine grains slipped inside and settling against their boots, as they heard howling winds.
The taller figure reached up and removed his hood.
Yellow hair fell loose, and blue eyes that once held warmth now reflected nothing but fierce gaze. His face bore no outward grief though. He was known across the nations as the Yellow Flash of Konoha, the one and only Minato Namikaze.
He spoke evenly, voice steady despite the chaos outside. "Uchiha-sama, at this rate it will take about three more days just to reach Suna. The sandstorm is too harsh, and visibility is nearly zero."
The other figure removed his hood more slowly. Three tomoe spun in crimson irises as he studied the storm beyond the cave's mouth. His face read a calm benevolus expression.
"True," he replied calmly. "This storm does not seem to subside. Do you think Suna's jinchūriki has died?"
He counted lightly on his fingers, reconstructing the events with quiet nostalgia. "I encountered him during the First Shinobi War. He was already an elder of suna then, perhaps thirty years of age. It has been nearly thirty-five years since the First Shinobi War. I do not know how long his life extended after that or if this is a new Jinchuriki."
Minato nodded faintly. "It is a reasonable assumption, Uchiha-sama. There has been no sighting of their jinchūriki in recent engagements. If he has indeed passed, the One-Tail may be uncontained. And there was no new Jinchuriki from our records."
The Uchiha allowed a faint smile to form. "You may call me Kagami. I died at twenty-five. Being addressed so formally makes me feel older than I was. You, however, should try smiling more often."
Minato's expression did not change, his right hand rested unconsciously against his side. The limb attached there was no longer flesh. It was a finely crafted puppet arm, engineered under Tsunade's supervision. The joint mechanisms responded as it should, but he still felt the absence of flesh.
"Suna has grown strong," Kagami continued thoughtfully. "Our shinobi suffered significant losses in the recent few clashes. They seem to have concocted some weird poison which seem to mutate and is difficult to make an antidote from the information delivered by Little Tsunade. She has become exceptional shinobi and to think she had a son, Hashirama-sama and Tobirama-sama would have been proud."
Silence followed for a moment, broken only by the storm's relentless howl.
"At this pace," Minato added, "our objective will become increasingly difficult. We are tasked with killing the previous third Kazekage, and whether Sasori of the Red Sand has rejoined Suna. Either development would alter the balance of power significantly. We also have to conform who now possess the Byakugan. With Byakugan on their side, it will be even more difficult to find any of them."
The cave trembled slightly as a stronger gust struck outside.
Then something shifted. Minato froze.
His sensory field of his FTG kunai detected it instantly. A familiar signature pulsed faintly across vast distance near Land of Hot water. The Flying Thunder God kunai he had gifted to Kakashi years ago had just flared with intent.
His heart tightened at thought of his last alive student, Kakashi being in danger.
He had not spoken with him properly in months. After Obito's and Rin's death and the internal shifts within Konoha, Kakashi had been absorbed into Root under Danzo's authority. Information regarding his missions were deliberately restricted. Even Minato, once his sensei, had been denied direct updates.
He was always pushed into missions outside the village, he could not do anything as he was also pushed to mission outside the village... after the temporary halt of the war Konoha has been getting less and less mission. Even the Land of fire's Daimyo seems to have contacted Land of lightning's Daimyo for missions after the won the war.
Now that marker screamed danger.
"Kagami-san," Minato said, his voice steady but with urgency, "can you hold the position for a short while? My student is in danger. I will return as quickly as possible."
Kagami turned toward him fully, studying his expression carefully. "Go," he said simply.
Minato formed a single seal. He vanished in a flash of distorted air.
The cave fell silent except for sand scraping stone. Kagami remained motionless for several seconds. Then something changed.
The sclera of his eyes darkened gradually, swallowing the white until only the crimson Sharingan glowed within a void of black. The atmosphere inside the cave shifted subtly, as though a different presence had taken the helm.
A voice emerged was creepier and colder. "So," it murmured, "Yellow flash abandons his mission to save his student."
The tone carried disdain wrapped in curiosity. "So, kakashi failed to intercept a clan attempting to join Kumo that I tasked him to prevent," the voice continued thoughtfully. "And now Minato rushes to help Kakashi."
A pause followed, heavy with suspicion. "What is Orochimaru even doing?" the voice whispered. "He insisted on retrieving Might Duy's body personally. If that specimen is sealed… A lot of research on Hashirama cells will be lost."
The thought lingered as his blackened gaze turned outward toward the raging storm, as though seeing beyond it.
"Suna seems to grow more complicated by year," the presence said softly. "The Reanimation will finally tilt the battle in our favour. "
The Sharingan rotated once, slowly.
"Good thing I took custody of Kagami," he thought quietly. "I can't allow Orochimaru to control every reanimation. If he claims them all as his own, that power won't protect me-- Ahem.. Konoha."
~~
A/N: Upto 20 Advance chapters available @ patreon.com/aizenDuchiha0