Minato's eyes cleared as he processed the situation. "Lady Tsunade, what are our next moves?"
"The fact that Iwagakure deployed their jinchuriki means they've abandoned their defensive strategy," Tsunade said, her voice carrying the weight of command. "They're committing to a decisive battle. We return to camp and prepare for a full assault."
Minato hesitated. "But Hanekawa wounded the Four-Tails jinchuriki severely. Won't he need time to recover?"
"Tailed beasts heal faster than ordinary shinobi," Tsunade replied, cracking her knuckles. "But that's exactly why we strike now—while they're regrouping. We drive them back to the Land of Earth before they can reorganize."
"Understood."
Minato activated the Flying Thunder God Technique. The three vanished in a flash of yellow light.
---
The camp erupted into controlled chaos the moment they returned. Kurenai and Rin rushed forward, their faces etched with worry.
"You're safe!" Kurenai grabbed his arm, while Rin hovered nearby, her eyes scanning for injuries.
Around them, jonin and chunin gathered—Kakashi, Obito, Guy, and dozens of others who'd felt the tailed beast's chakra detonate across the battlefield.
"I'm fine," Hanekawa assured them with a smile. "Just exhausted. The chakra consumption was... significant."
He'd burned through more than a quarter of his Yin Seal reserves in a single technique. Three or four more encounters like that, and he'd be running on empty.
"What exactly happened out there?" Aburame Shikuro stepped forward, his expression troubled. "My insects detected something absolutely terrifying."
"The Four-Tails jinchuriki," Minato announced, his smile somehow making the statement more ominous. "Roshi. Iwagakure sent him."
The camp fell silent.
Everyone understood what that meant. Jinchuriki weren't deployed lightly. This was a declaration of total war.
"Why are you smiling?" Shikuro's eyebrow arched. "This is serious."
"Because Hanekawa severely wounded Roshi."
The words hung in the air like a kunai suspended mid-flight.
"Impossible," Obito blurted out before he could stop himself. It wasn't just jealousy talking—the statement was objectively absurd. A chunin who'd graduated three years ago, barely into his teens, wounding a jinchuriki? It defied logic.
Kakashi, Rin, and Guy exchanged glances of pure disbelief.
Even the veteran jonin looked skeptical. Hiruzen could manage such a feat. Minato himself, perhaps. But Hanekawa?
"I don't joke about military matters," Minato said firmly. "All units prepare immediately. We launch a full counteroffensive against Iwagakure."
"Yes, sir!" The response was automatic, though confusion still clouded their faces.
As orders rippled through the camp, Obito stood frozen. He'd lost to Hanekawa before—he knew the gap between them. But he'd also glimpsed Madara's power, seen what a true prodigy looked like. Surely the three-tomoe Sharingan could still bridge that distance?
Now he wasn't so sure.
Rin, meanwhile, stared at Hanekawa with undisguised admiration. "That's incredible. To wound a jinchuriki..."
"I got lucky," Hanekawa said modestly. "Water style happened to counter his fire. That's all."
The jonin exchanged knowing looks. They understood jutsu well enough to know that attribute advantage meant nothing against a tailed beast's raw chakra. But they didn't press the issue. If Minato said it happened, it happened.
Within minutes, the news spread like wildfire through The Hidden Leaf camp. Morale, which had been fragile under the weight of facing a jinchuriki, suddenly crystallized into something harder. Something that looked like hope.
Thirty minutes later, the camp had transformed into a war machine. Minato departed with Kakashi, Obito, and Guy, heading for Iwagakure's rear lines. Their mission mirrored the original timeline—infiltration, disruption, chaos. No one was better suited for it than Minato and his Flying Thunder God.
Hanekawa watched them disappear into the distance and wondered: would Obito still fall into Madara's hands? Would history repeat itself, or had the Four-Tails' appearance changed everything?
He'd find out soon enough.
"Rest?" Tsunade appeared beside him, studying his face.
"Not necessary," Hanekawa replied. "The Yin Seal handles the physical strain. I'm fine."
"Perverted," Shikuro muttered from nearby.
Hanekawa ignored the comment. "Senior Shikuro, you're joining us?"
"Tracking the Four-Tails and holding him in place," Shikuro confirmed. "I can't defeat a jinchuriki, but my insects can follow him. The real work falls to you."
"Understood."
"No time to waste," Tsunade said sharply. "We have one day, maybe less. Once Roshi's medical team finishes treatment, he'll be combat-ready again."
"Yes!"
The group moved out—Hanekawa, Tsunade, Shikuro and three other Aburame clan jonin, Kurenai, Rin, and two additional chunin. Eight fighters against whatever Iwagakure could throw at them.
They reached the devastated base in ten minutes. The Tailed Beast Ball had left nothing intact—rubble, scorched earth, the stench of ozone and blood.
"Horrifying," Shikuro observed, releasing his parasitic insects. They scattered like a living cloud, probing, searching, mapping.
Twenty minutes of tracking brought them to a secondary stronghold. Not the main camp, but substantial enough to house a wounded jinchuriki and his medical team.
"Not their headquarters," Shikuro confirmed.
"They anticipated our strategy," Tsunade mused. "Moving the jinchuriki away from the main base protects him from our assault. Smart."
Hanekawa's mind was already working through possibilities. "If I could poison him during my water technique, he wouldn't be able to escape."
Shikuro took an involuntary step back.
Tsunade rolled her eyes. "Poisoning through water ninjutsu? Creative. Impractical. Water techniques have too wide a range, and poison dispersal takes time. In combat, that's a fatal delay."
"Eighty-seven shinobi in the base," Shikuro reported, his insects returning. "Mostly the survivors from the previous location."
"Then we move fast," Tsunade decided. "Hanekawa and I go in first. The rest provide support if needed."
With only eight fighters, splitting their force was suicide. Better to concentrate overwhelming power and finish this quickly.
"Wait," Hanekawa said, catching Tsunade's wrist. "We're at optimal range. Let me soften them up before we engage."
Tsunade nodded, understanding immediately.
Hanekawa's hands moved through the seals with practiced precision. His chakra surged, drawing moisture from the air, the earth, everywhere.
Water Style: Great Explosion Water Wave!
The technique Tobirama Senju had pioneered. The technique Kisame Hoshigaki would one day master. The technique that consumed chakra like a furnace consumed wood.
A tsunami erupted from Hanekawa's mouth, swallowing the entire stronghold in a roiling sphere of water. Screams echoed as genin and chunin were thrown like toys, consciousness fleeing before impact.
Shikuro swallowed hard. Is that still water ninjutsu?
The ground trembled. Magma erupted, burning away the water in a violent hiss of steam.
Roshi emerged, bandages soaked with fresh blood, his expression twisted with pain and fury.
"It's the water-style monster!" one of the Iwagakure shinobi shouted, panic rising.
"Silence!" Roshi's command was absolute, but moving aggravated his wound. His face went pale.
One of his officers—Siren—assessed the situation quickly. "Master Roshi, you and the medical team retreat. We'll hold them here."
Roshi hesitated only briefly before nodding. His condition was deteriorating with each technique. Better to focus on recovery.
"Earth Style: Thousand Mile Earth Wall!"
A dozen Iwagakure shinobi formed seals in unison. A barrier rose—thick, imposing, a wall that looked like it could withstand anything.
"Don't worry," Shikuro said calmly. "I've sent tracking insects after Roshi. We'll know exactly where he goes."
"Water-style monster?" Hanekawa's mouth twitched. "That's the code name they're using?"
He preferred something with more dignity. Something like Minato's "Yellow Flash."
Tsunade's expression was equally pained. Her student, called a water-style monster. As if she'd trained him to be nothing but a jutsu repository.
"Chase!" Tsunade didn't waste time on semantics. She charged the wall.
Two earth spheres flew at her from opposite sides. She shattered them both with consecutive punches, the impacts sending tremors through the ground.
Secret Technique: Insect Tornado!
Shikuro's hands moved in precise patterns. A vortex of parasitic insects erupted over the wall, descending on the Iwagakure shinobi like a plague. Screams followed immediately.
The other three Aburame clan members unleashed their own swarms.
Spirit Transformation Technique!
Rin's body went limp as her spirit separated, passing through the earth wall like smoke. She seized control of an enemy shinobi, forcing him into a suicide charge against his own comrades.
"Kurenai, Earth wall," Hanekawa called out, already forming seals.
Composite Technique: Thunder-Water Dragon Bullet!
A massive water dragon erupted from his mouth, crackling with electricity. It slammed into the wall, creating a passage. Kurenai's own water dragon followed, widening the breach.
Body Flicker!
Tsunade moved through the opening in a blur. When she emerged on the other side, Iwagakure shinobi were already flying backward, blood painting the air.
Chidori Flow!
Hanekawa appeared beside her, lightning dancing across his skin. He drew the Fire Sword—that impossible blade born from his Ability System—and moved through the enemy formation like a dancer. Three shinobi fell before they could even react.
Siren's hands flew through seals.
Earth Style: Earth Dragon Spear!
The ground erupted with countless stone spikes, all aimed at Hanekawa.
Tsunade snorted and punched. The spears shattered like glass before her fist.
Siren retreated, but hands erupted from the earth beneath him—Hanekawa, having used the Body Flicker to position himself underground.
When did he—how could he form seals so fast?
Before Siren could process the trap, Tsunade was there. One punch. The officer fell, his heart no longer beating.
"Good teamwork," Tsunade said, already moving toward the next threat.
The remaining Iwagakure shinobi broke and ran.
"Don't pursue them," Tsunade commanded. "Roshi is our target."
Led by Shikuro's tracking insects, they moved deeper into the forest, toward their true objective.
The war had truly begun.