85. After Many Years Of Fighting

After Sora proposed to Orochimaru that he be transferred to the Land of Grass, the handover process began.

Once the handover was completed and his belongings were packed, Sora waited patiently for his transfer orders.

For the next few days, Orochimaru would not assign him any tasks, allowing Sora to rest.

Sora remained in the camp for three days. By then, everyone knew that he was leaving the Land of Hot Water.

Uchiha Kyousuke and the others had considered Sora's suggestion but had not followed it entirely.

Kyousuke did not join Uchiha Kazuo, nor did he follow Namikaze Minato. Instead, he accepted Nara Shoji's assignment, with the four of them splitting into different teams.

In their eyes, joining Minato's team together would be akin to submitting to him.

Although the four had been suppressed by Sora over the years, they still held onto their pride and refused to bow to anyone.

Thus, they opted to follow Nara Shoji's arrangements and joined their designated teams.

Night fell.

Lying on a small slope, Sora gazed up at the moon.

With the war escalating, things would only get busier for him.

Once Elite Jōnin from various villages started appearing, opportunities to earn witness points would surge.

Suddenly, a kunai landed beside him.

It wasn't an ordinary kunai but a three-pronged one, with the words "Sword of Ninja Love" engraved on the handle.

The next moment, Namikaze Minato appeared where the kunai had landed.

Sora clicked his tongue and said, "Isn't it a bit late to be showing off your Flying Thunder God Technique?"

Minato retrieved his kunai, slipped it back into his ninja pouch, and asked in a gentle tone, "I heard you're heading to the Land of Grass. Why so suddenly? The situation there is stable; they shouldn't need your support."

Sora replied nonchalantly, "I don't need to explain where I'm going to you."

Minato sighed. "You really haven't changed at all—still as indifferent as ever."

Sora retorted without hesitation, "You're right. I've never changed. I still hate you just as much."

Minato smiled, unfazed by the hostility, and continued, "Before heading to the Land of Grass, you'll be returning to Konoha first, right?

I'm going back as well. Konoha is preparing for an all-out war. Once it begins, even Genin will be sent to the battlefield. To strengthen their combat ability, I'm taking on a three-man team.

As a Jōnin like me, you should have received the same orders, right?"

Sora smirked. "I do plan to return to Konoha, but I'm not interested in babysitting."

Sora had indeed received the order.

But how much combat power could fresh academy graduates possibly have? Not everyone was a genius like Hatake Kakashi.

Genin, with no battlefield experience, was nothing more than cannon fodder.

No, perhaps not even that.

Sora himself was already extremely busy—he had no time to lead kids into battle.

So he had no intention of accepting the assignment and planned to come up with an excuse to refuse when the time came.

Hearing that Sora didn't plan to take on a Genin team, Namikaze Minato wasn't surprised.

"I figured as much. I'd be more shocked if you actually accepted the job. You should just head back to Konoha and visit Kushina," Minato said casually.

Sora frowned. "What do you really want to talk about? I don't feel like chatting with you. If you want to fight, just say it."

Minato admitted, "Yeah, I came here to fight you.

Once you leave for the Land of Grass, we'll be stationed on different battlefields. We probably won't have a chance to see each other again for a long time. So, before that happens, I wanted to challenge you one more time.

I originally thought we could reminisce a little first. After all, we fought side by side in the Land of Hot Water for years—"

"Stop, stop!"

Sora couldn't listen anymore and cut him off. "Come on, don't give me that crap. Fought side by side? We haven't fought side by side at all these past few years.

We don't have that kind of relationship, so don't spout such hypocritical nonsense. It's annoying."

He stood up from the ground, resting his arm on his ninja sword, and said, "That said, I am curious to see how fast your Flying Thunder God Technique has gotten.

So enough talk—just come at me already."

Minato pulled two Flying Thunder God kunai from his pouch.

"I'm ready, Sora."

"Then let's begin!"

The moment Sora's words fell, Minato threw the two kunai, attacking from two directions at once.

Sora activated his Sharingan, locking onto the trajectory of the Flying Thunder God kunai.

The Flying Thunder God Technique used a marked formula to achieve instantaneous teleportation.

Once the formula was placed on a target, the caster—or anything in direct contact with their chakra—could be teleported there in an instant.

This technique had multiple uses: it could shorten the distance for long-range ninjutsu, confuse and ambush opponents, transfer targets, and even be used as an escape mechanism. It was an incredibly versatile space-time jutsu.

Now, with two kunai thrown, Minato had two options.

His first option was to teleport to one of the two kunai.

His second option was to use them as feints without actually using Flying Thunder God.

But Sora wasn't the type to sit and wait for an attack.

He immediately charged toward the nearest Flying Thunder God, Kunai.

From Minato's perspective, Sora had likely predicted that he would teleport to one of the kunai and was moving to intercept.

However, this left Sora's right rear side completely exposed.

If Minato had teleported to the other kunai, he would have had a prime opportunity to attack.

Just as Minato was about to activate Flying Thunder God, he hesitated.

Because he knew Sora.

Sora wouldn't leave such an obvious opening—not when he understood exactly how Flying Thunder God worked.

Suppressing his initial instinct, Minato did not teleport and remained where he was.

The next second—

The moment Sora swung his sword at the kunai in front of him, he suddenly hurled a barrage of shuriken toward his right rear side.

If Minato had chosen to teleport, he would have been caught in the shuriken ambush.

Sora glanced at Minato, who was still standing in place and smirked.

"Oh? Did you see through my plan, or were you testing me?"

Minato regarded him thoughtfully, his expression unreadable.

Seeing his reaction, Sora chuckled.

"Ah… So you did see through me. I guess that was a little too obvious, huh?"

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