Chapter 414: Head-on Combat!

The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, squinted through his Third Eye, the golden orb floating high above the snowy forest. His sharp gaze locked onto the figure of a young man with striking blond hair standing among the Konoha troops.

"Namikaze Minato," he muttered, the name slipping from his lips like a whispered curse.

The Sunagakure ninja standing nearby exchanged uneasy glances. They had their own intelligence network and knew that Konoha had yet to deploy a large-scale force. But what Rasa's Third Eye revealed was undeniable: hundreds of Konoha ninja were already here, far ahead of schedule.

"How could they arrive so quickly?" one of the guards murmured, his voice trembling.

Rasa ignored the murmurs, focusing intently on the scene unfolding through his Third Eye. The blond man below suddenly stiffened, as if sensing the invisible gaze upon him. Minato's piercing blue eyes turned sharply, scanning his surroundings with an almost predatory precision.

In the snowy forest, Minato's senses flared as an unsettling sensation washed over him. Someone was watching. Extending his chakra perception, he reached out to identify the source.

A faint rustle caught his attention. Without hesitation, Minato vanished in a yellow flash, reappearing beneath a tree. His sharp eyes quickly scanned the ground, settling on an unusual golden shimmer against the pristine white snow.

"Gold dust?" he muttered, crouching down for a closer look.

The discovery sent alarm bells ringing in his mind. This wasn't ordinary dust. It was unmistakably the fine golden sand controlled by the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa.

"Minato-sama?" A jonin approached, following Minato's line of sight to the glittering substance on the snow.

Minato frowned, his mind racing. The snow here was fresh, likely displaced during the Konoha troops' earlier arrival. This meant the gold sand had been placed only moments ago.

Turning to the jonin, Minato issued a swift command. "Form teams of three and search the surrounding area within a three-kilometer radius. Look for any signs of gold dust or enemy presence. You have fifteen minutes to report back."

"Understood!" The jonin saluted crisply before relaying the orders to the rest of the troops.

Ten teams fanned out into the forest, moving with practiced efficiency. Minato remained behind, scanning the area with an intensity that bordered on suspicion.

Fifteen minutes later, the jonin returned to report.

"Everyone's accounted for, Minato-sama. No signs of additional gold dust or enemy activity were found," the jonin said.

Minato nodded thoughtfully, though his expression remained tense. In this snow-laden terrain, gold dust would have stood out clearly. Yet, the absence of further traces suggested something else entirely.

"Could it be remotely controlled?" Minato murmured, considering the implications. If Rasa could manipulate gold dust from a distance, the possibilities were troubling.

Back at the Sunagakure camp, the Fourth Kazekage clenched his fists as realization dawned. "He transported them," Rasa muttered, his voice low but filled with shock. "Namikaze Minato transferred an entire force using the Flying Thunder God Technique."

The implications of such a maneuver sent a shiver down his spine. If not for his Third Eye, Konoha's troops might have succeeded in launching a surprise attack during the Sunagakure's vulnerable moments.

A sharp grin spread across Rasa's face. "But now, Namikaze Minato… we'll see if your reputation holds up against me."

Night fell swiftly over the forest, bringing with it a biting cold. The Konoha troops advanced under cover of darkness, their movements silent but purposeful. Minato's shadow clones scouted ahead, confirming the Sunagakure forces' positions.

As expected, the enemy was unprepared, their defenses relaxed under the assumption that Konoha's troops were still a day away.

When the Sunagakure camp's flickering bonfires came into view, Minato's unease deepened. Something didn't feel right. His thoughts returned to the gold sand from earlier, and an unshakable suspicion gnawed at him.

At dawn, the cold intensified, biting into flesh and bone. The Konoha troops moved swiftly, hundreds of shadows darting through the forest.

Minato led the charge, appearing like a ghost beside the Sunagakure guards. Before they could sound an alarm, his kunai found its mark, silencing them with lethal precision.

The rest of the Konoha forces surged into the camp, knives flashing in the dim light. They struck at the sleeping enemy, their movements swift and ruthless.

But something was wrong.

A kunai plunged into what should have been a sleeping ninja, only to reveal a wooden log beneath the blanket.

"Transformation Jutsu!" the attacker gasped, realization dawning too late.

The air hummed with energy as an explosive tag ignited.

"BOOM!"

The stillness of the dawn shattered as flames erupted, consuming the camp in a chain reaction of detonations. One tent after another burst into fiery chaos, trapping the Konoha troops in a sea of fire.

From his hidden position a kilometer away, Rasa watched the inferno with a triumphant smile. "This should cripple Konoha's forces," he said, his voice dripping with satisfaction.

He led the Sunagakure troops forward, advancing on the burning camp to finish off any survivors.

But as the flames cleared, Rasa's grin faltered.

The Konoha troops emerged from the smoke, unscathed and very much intact.

"What? No casualties?" Rasa's voice trembled with disbelief. He had counted on the explosion decimating Konoha's forces, but the numbers before him were unchanged.

At the forefront stood Minato, his piercing blue eyes locked onto Rasa.

"If I hadn't been cautious…" Minato muttered to himself, his mind flashing back to the decision he'd made hours earlier. Sensing the trap, he had ordered every ninja capable of the Shadow Clone Technique to create decoys. The clones had entered the camp first, sparing the real troops from the devastating blast.

Now, standing amidst his uninjured forces, Minato faced the Fourth Kazekage directly.

Their eyes met, and the tension between them crackled like lightning.

"Namikaze Minato," Rasa said, his voice cold. "I underestimated you. To think the Flying Thunder God Technique could be used on this scale…"

==============================================

Support me at p@treon.com/goldengaruda and check out more chapter of this or more early access chapter of my other fanfic translation.

=============================================