Whoosh…
Minato flips a kunai in mid-air and disappears from everyone's vision.
"Rasen-Flash Super-Circle Dance Howl Stage Two: Chain Lightning Strike,"
While flickering past Madara, Minato makes a series of one-hand signs.
His fingers pause at a ram hand seal and an orb bolt of yellow lightning appears on his fingertips. The lightning bolt jumps towards the nearby tri-fork kunai.
Whoosh…
Minato continues to teleport around Madara while marking each kunai with his yellow lightning.
Meanwhile, Madara also didn't stand still. He quietly observes Minato's movements to predict his next move.
"Got you!"
Madara throws a shuriken toward one of Minato's shadows.
Fwoosh…
The kunai passes through the Minato's figure, revealing it to be an afterimage.
'He is faster than I thought. That Tobirama isn't even half fast as this guy. In that case…'
Swish… swish…
Madara makes a series of hand signs.
Minato also uses this opportunity and curls his fingers infused with the lightning chakra.
"Release,"
All kunais marked with lightning suddenly float in the air. Multiple bolts of yellow lightning connect them to form a lightning chakram.
Whoosh…
The lightning chakra, made of several kunai, flies towards Madara at a breakneck speed.
'His Rinnegan can only absorb chakra, but not the physical force. Even if he absorbs the lightning, the kunais will still maintain their kinetic force and that should deal sufficient damage.
HAAH…
At the same time, Madara slams his palm on the ground.
"Wood Release: Wood locking wall,"
Multiple wooden stakes erupt from the ground and crisscrosses to form a protective wooden wall.
Ding… ding… ding…
The kunais strike the protective wooden wall and break a small portion of it, while the lightning disperses on contact with the wood.
Whoosh…
Suddenly, Minato appears behind Madara inside the wood-locking wall. His kunai is almost an inch away from Madara's eyes.
Shoom…
Suddenly, a powerful repulsive force acts upon Minato's body and sends him flying. Minato quickly shrinks his body as he is sent flying through the wooden walls.
Whoosh…
While in mid-air, he teleports away and reappears at some distance, near one of his kunais.
A giant crater forms around Madara due to the powerful aftershock of the jutsu.
'I almost got him.' Minato clicks his tongue. He pulls out a wooden splinter from his shoulder and tosses it away. The wound on his shoulder regenerates slowly.
'I have a regeneration factor as a result of Kurama's chakra. However, it is much worse than the Edo regeneration or First Hokage's healing factor. Still, it's better than nothing.'
Minato calmly eyes Madara's every move.
"So, that's how it is!"
Madara senses a small Raijin seal on his back.
'Not only did he combine three A-rank techniques to attack him, he even planted a Raijin seal on my body without my notice. He even concealed the seal from my perception by suppressing his chakra within the seal. The seal erupted with chakra at the exact moment when I was distracted by his other jutsu in the battle. How smart!' Madara silently praises Minato in his heart.
'I observed his movements during his battle with the shinobi army. Looks like the perception of his Rinnegan is not as good as his Mangekyo Sharingan. Nonetheless, his sharp senses and acute battle senses make up for the difference. He was able to sense my position and act up with a counterattack within a fraction of a second. Though as a result, the strength of his Rinnegan technique wasn't as powerful as usual. Still, he was able to neutralize my attack.' Minato sighs silently.
'I don't have a powerful single target jutsu to land a decisive blow. Rasengan is strong, but it's not enough to neutralize him, and the other variants of the Rasengan take time to complete, and I don't have that luxury.'
Minato leans forwards and prepares for another round of combat.
Madara also wipes Minato's Raijin mark with his chakra and focuses his eyes on Minato.
'His speed is much faster than the perception of the Rinnegan. Only my Mangekyo Sharingan can keep up with his movements. But I will lose the various benefits that come with Rinnegan. Nonetheless…'
The pattern in Madara's eyes changes slowly.
Whoosh…
Minato tosses several tri-fork kunais toward Madara and disappears from the battlefield with a flash of yellow lightning.
"Rasen-Flash Super-Circle Dance Howl Stage Four: Multidirectional Shadow Stream,"
Shua… Shua…
The kunais quickly replicate into several hundred and thousands of kunais. A bolt of lightning flickers across all of them and they fly towards Madara erratically.
Ding…
A red gleam flickers across Madara's eyes as he deflects a kunai with another kunai.
Shoom…
His Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan spins rapidly. The world around him slows down considerably.
Ding… Ding… ding…
His hands move rapidly, leaving countless afterimages as he deflects one kunai after another. While deflecting the kunais, Madara notices a yellow shadow flickering across the battlefield.
Swoosh…
Suddenly, Madara turns around and slashes his left back.
Ding…
Sparks fly around as he clashes against a kunai.
Whoosh…
A figure disappears with a yellow gleam.
Ding… ding… ding…
In the next few seconds, Madara clashes several times with Kunai.
Hmm…
Minato notices the pattern in Madara's eyes.
'He has switched back to his Mangekyo Sharingan. Looks like he isn't confident of confronting my speed with his Rinnegan.'
Stab… stab…
Numerous kunais stab Madara's body as he engages in a battle with Minato.
The rest of the shinobi watches the battle with wide eyes. The allied shinobi army has retreated to their camps since it's already evening and most of them are exhausted or injured during the day battle.
Only a remaining few elites, various captains, vice-captains, and other people of important positions are present on the battlefield to witness the battle between Madara and Minato.
"I am barely able to see their blurry figure." Gaara shakes his head.
"I can barely see their every six or seven exchange." Onoki also shakes his head.
"I can see their every fourth move." A clenches his fist at the unbelievable speed of Minato.
'After all these years, he hasn't lost his edge.' A recall his first battle with Minato during the Third Shinobi War.
'His speed has even improved further than before.'
"I can only see their every second or third exchange." Kakashi also scrutinizes their battle with his Mangekyo Sharingan.
"Their speed and perception have far exceeded the limits of shinobis." Sakumo praises their movements.
"Dad, how many moves can you see?" Kakashi asks in surprise.
"Every fourth or fifth move!" Sakumo adds.
"What?!" A and others are shocked to hear it.
"Haha… back then my blade was able to match Third Raikage's speed. I was only lacking in raw power and it was the reason I lost against him." Sakumo sighs as he recalls some old memories.
The group turns silent and glances at the battlefield.
Bang…
Suddenly, Madara stomps his foot on the ground.
"Storm Release: Fang of Light,"
He spews out a sharp, thin stream of purple light from his mouth around him. The narrow beam of light cleaves everything in its surrounding at light speed.
Fwoosh…
Minato firmly presses his feet on the ground and assumes a horizontal stance to narrowly dodge the beam of light. The purple laser beam chops off a few of his hair and passes above his head.
Swoosh…
He teleports away from the previous spot and arrives some distance away from Madara.
In the next second, Madara flickers beside Minato and grabs his neck.
"I was waiting for you!"
Madara's eyes slowly turn to Rinnegan.
"What?!"
The other shinobis are shocked to see Minato in Madara's grasp.
"Did he just predict Lord Minato's Flying Thunder God jutsu?" Someone questions.
"No, he set up everything for this movement." Kakashi shakes his head and points out.
"Looks around them!"
Everyone quickly glances in the vicinity of Minato and Madara and notices several of Minato's tri-fork kunais cleaved in half with the Raijin Seal on them destroyed. Only the kunais in the area around their current position are intact.
"So, that's how it is!" All of them come to an understanding.
During their previous exchange, Madara deliberately altered the trajectory of several kunai at that place to make a trap. He even used a powerful jutsu to destroy all other kunais to narrow down Minato's escape route.
Slowly, Madara's eyes turn into Rinnegan. He slowly absorbs Minato's chakra. Minato's chakra cloak dissipates as he reverts to his normal form.
"We have to help Lord Minato!"
The exhausted group grits their teeth and launches several attacks toward Madara.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Madara deflects everything they throw at him and turns towards Minato.
Minato attempts to teleport away from Madara's grasp but is unable to.
"It's futile! After my little brother Izuna's death under that bastard Tobirama's blade, I spent several years studying his 'Flying Thunder God Seal' and made a counter seal. Your technique and seal are advanced, but the basic seal is the same, so my counter seal is still effective on you."
"Kamui!"
Suddenly, a loud shout disrupts their conversation.