Until they left the Land of Fire, Obito and the others hadn't engaged in a single battle, but Obito didn't relax, as past experiences taught him that they only encountered enemies outside their own country.
Although Kakashi believed they were unlikely to encounter enemies, he remained cautious, as after encountering unexpected situations four times in a row, he wasn't very confident inside.
Unlike the ninjas, as the journey was entirely peaceful, Izumi Soju gradually relaxed his vigilance and began to talk more.
"If you plan to visit the Land of Hot Water, I highly recommend trying our country's natural hot springs. They're very comfortable. As for tourist attractions, I recommend Rose Street. The entire street is lined with roses, and when they bloom, a gentle breeze sends beautiful petals fluttering everywhere, very romantic."
"A street full of roses, that indeed sounds very romantic." Nohara Rin imagined the scene of numerous red rose petals swirling in the wind, her eyes twinkling as she spoke.
Concerned about Nohara Rin getting hurt, Obito, who had been paying attention to her, noticed her expression and secretly noted down the name of the attraction, hoping to take Rin there someday.
"Everyone, stop, something's up." Minato activated his sensory abilities and detected numerous Chakra signatures nearby. One in particular was extremely powerful, so he quickly alerted Kakashi and the others.
"There are quite a few ninjas nearby, but it seems to be just a chance encounter. Let's hide for now," Minato suggested after some thought.
During a mission, completing the task was the priority. They only needed to escort the client — there was no need to get into additional battles.
If it were just Minato alone, he might have checked to see which Ninja Village the ninjas belonged to, and whether they posed a threat to Konoha. But with three fairly inexperienced students with him, Minato didn't want to attract unnecessary complications.
Although Obito didn't understand why they needed to hide, he didn't disobey the order and hid in the trees with Nohara Rin.
Minato continued to monitor those ninja's signatures, but soon noticed something odd. The ninjas, who weren't on the same route as them earlier, suddenly sped up in their direction.
"Crap, they also have a perception ninja," Minato instantly realized the reason.
He could sense the enemy, but without a way to conceal his own aura, the enemy's perception ninja could also detect them.
"Kakashi, take this." Minato handed a Flying Thunder God Kunai to Kakashi, believing in Kakashi's abilities the most after his excellent performance in the last bell-stealing exercise.
"The three of you protect the client and don't act recklessly. Leave the enemies to me," Minato advised seriously.
He could sense that the chakra was immensely powerful, certainly not a simple adversary.
"Ah, Konoha ninja, that's just perfect." The Fourth Raikage, A, nodded upon seeing Minato's headband.
The Hidden Rock was too incompetent; even with two Jinchuriki, they were still suppressed by Konoha. The Hidden Cloud's high-level discussions led to a decision to exert more pressure on Konoha.
"Sir, be careful. This guy's chakra isn't weak, and it looks like he could be the one referred to as the Yellow Flash by the Hidden Rock, Namikaze Minato. His speed is rumored to be incredibly fast," Motomu relayed the information on Minato.
Besides perception, Motomu also gathered information on many ninjas. Namikaze Minato's name was one he had collected recently, having made a significant impact in the war between Konoha and the Hidden Rock.
"Incredibly fast, is he? Well, I must see how fast," the Fourth Raikage said with a calm expression, not believing that this so-called Yellow Flash could be faster than him. His speed had already surpassed his father, the Third Raikage.
The Fourth Raikage considered himself the second-fastest in the Ninja World, the first being the one masquerading as a Hidden Sand shinobi from the Hidden Mist.
"Isn't that..." Obito exclaimed with a look of shock upon seeing the Fourth Raikage and Killer Bee. He immediately recognized them as the formidable enemies Mokgetsu had to cover for them against, including the candidate for Raikage from the Hidden Cloud Village.
"Obito." Kakashi called Obito's name, exchanging a look with him.
Obito instantly fell silent. Mokgetsu had instructed them several times not to reveal the encounter with the candidate for Raikage during that mission, only to say they ran into the cloud jonin who had been killed.
"It's actually the new Hidden Cloud's AB Duo." Minato frowned slightly; this would not be an easy enemy to handle.
Compared to Minato, the Fourth Raikage and Killer Bee had gained fame earlier as the Hidden Cloud and Hidden Sand had engaged in battle sooner, establishing their reputation by stepping over the corpses of notable elders from the Hidden Sand in the Ninja World.
Although Nohara Rin was the only one there who didn't know about the Fourth Raikage's strength, the atmosphere was enough for her to understand they had encountered a formidable opponent. She watched the enemies cautiously.
"I've heard you're fast, but I don't think you're faster than me, what do you think?" The Fourth Raikage said, then immediately entered the Lightning Release Chakra Mode. His entire body was surrounded by brilliant blue lightning, as if wearing armor made of electricity.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!!!
Minato threw three Flying Thunder God Kunai, two landing on nearby trees and the last heading towards the Hidden Cloud ninjas.
Clang!
Killer Bee drew a short blade and easily knocked the kunai thrown by Minato to the ground.
"What's with this aim, three kunai and they all missed that badly?" A Hidden Cloud Ninja remarked upon witnessing this scene, doubting that the Yellow Flash was all that powerful since kunai throwing is a basic skill for a ninja.
"I don't want to compete with you on speed, but I have a great suggestion: leave quickly. I don't want to waste energy outside of the mission." Minato replied, his expression showing no fear.
Although the AB duo was well-known, Minato was confident in himself, primarily worried that Obito and the others might be affected.
"Even without a mission, there's no reason to leave when you see an enemy." With that, Fourth A burst forth with full force.
He unleashed a large amount of Chakra to invigorate his body, greatly enhancing his physical abilities—even his nervous system, which improved his reaction speed.
In the eyes of others, Fourth A's body had vanished, leaving only a blue light charging towards Minato.
"I'm not betting with Kakashi next time, this is way too dangerous." Feeling the terrifying aura rushing towards him, Obito regretted letting Kakashi say those words.
If Mokgetsu were present, Obito wouldn't panic at all, and would even have the mood to joke with Kakashi because Mokgetsu could gain the upper hand against Fourth A and lead them to a safe retreat.
But as for Minato, Obito wasn't so sure. His understanding of Minato's strength was limited; he knew Minato was strong, but not exactly how strong.
Kakashi felt speechless. This was the fifth unexpected incident in a row, and they encountered such a formidable opponent as the Candidate for the Raikage. He felt like he had run into more accidents in a few months than most people did in a lifetime.
Facing Fourth A charging at high speed, Minato didn't panic. He had extremely strong reaction and perception abilities.
Before Fourth A made an actual move, Minato wasn't sure if he could react to Fourth A's attack. But once Fourth A made his move, Minato knew he could manage.
At the moment Fourth A was about to strike, Minato once again threw a Flying Thunder God Kunai, this time gently tossing it upward.
"Not moving? Let's see how you withstand my Nin-Taijutsu charge." Fourth A seemed to already see Minato's body being split in two by his attack.
The next moment, something unexpected happened to Fourth A.
Swoosh!
Minato used the Flying Thunder God to reach a nearby tree.
Fourth A only saw Minato's figure flash before him, disappearing at a speed he couldn't comprehend, avoiding his charge.
Fourth A's face showed an expression of complete shock. He didn't understand how Minato had disappeared in that instant and avoided his impact. His heart was full of questions.
But even more puzzling was when the previously vanished Namikaze Minato suddenly appeared above him, holding the Flying Thunder God Kunai and directing a large burst of Chakra from his hand to pierce Fourth A's body.
Although Fourth A noticed Namikaze Minato's attack, it was too sudden and fast for him to evade or defend against it.
At this critical moment, Minato suddenly sensed a blade carrying powerful Lighting Release stabbing towards him, and he immediately gave up the attack and used Flying Thunder God to return to the tree.
"Brother, that guy can use kunai for spatial movement." Killer Bee quickly informed Fourth A of his discovery.
He had an idea when he saw Minato suddenly appear on the tree to dodge Fourth A's charge, so he directly fired a Lighting Blade above Fourth A.
Initially, it was just a guess, but since Minato's three movements were all near the kunai, Killer Bee was sure of this information.
"Bee, you're doing really well this time." Fourth A zoomed back to the Hidden Cloud team at lightning speed, praising Killer Bee, while quickly scanning the surroundings to memorize all the positions of the Flying Thunder God Kunai.
With his speed, he could cover that distance instantly. Next, they just needed to force Namikaze Minato to use the Flying Thunder God again.
As if seeing through Fourth A's thoughts, Minato once again threw out three Flying Thunder God Kunai, increasing his possible teleportation points.
Seeing that Namikaze Minato was not easy to deal with, Fourth A's subordinates decided not to add more trouble for Fourth A and went to fight other Konoha Ninjas.
Motomu, along with three Hidden Cloud Ninjas, charged towards Obito and the others.
Previously, Mokgetsu had Obito and the others use the Transformation Jutsu to disguise themselves, so Motomu did not recognize Kakashi and Obito. But this did not stop him from planning to eliminate Obito and the others to disrupt Minato's intentions.
"Looks like it's one Jonin and three Chunin, that's beyond what they can handle," Minato sensed the Chakra of the Hidden Cloud Ninjas rushing towards Obito and the others, preparing to find an opportunity to help.
Given the strength of Obito and the other three, handling one Jonin was their limit; if three more Chunin joined in, Obito and the others would surely be outmatched.