Malphegor
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YTS: Ch. 67
🕑 Added 2025-03-29 12:19:21 +0000 UTCFor three consecutive days, Kei would arrive early every morning at the training cave to spar with Jiraiya. Whenever he ran out of chakra, he would replenish it quickly with military rations pills. If he got injured, he would use medical ninjutsu to treat himself.
He would only return home exhausted after sunset, spending the rest of the night studying the Senju clan's Water Release techniques.
Thanks to his exceptional comprehension and learning abilities, as well as the boost from Jiraiya's [Prophet of Destiny], the intense training paid off.
After three days, the battle experience and intricate Water Release techniques that he had analyzed and recorded from a skilled ninja's memories began to blend seamlessly into his own fighting style. His choice of jutsu, timing, adaptability, and battle rhythm had transformed significantly compared to before.
At first, Jiraiya thought he had gradually figured out Kei's techniques and trump cards, believing that he could dominate their fights. But reality was much harsher than his optimistic assumptions.
With the slightest lapse in concentration, Jiraiya found himself performing embarrassing dances in front of the Training Cave.
If it were just Kei watching, that would be one thing. But on the very first afternoon, Minato brought along Kakashi, Obito, and Rin to watch. And Kei's disciples also happened to start training nearby that very afternoon.
Kushina and Honoka would arrive punctually at noon every day, bringing lunchboxes. And they didn't just drop off the food—they stayed until sunset, leaving only when they went home with their respective boyfriends.
Damn it!
Jiraiya didn't mind gathering "inspiration" for his writing, but he sure as hell didn't want to be the inspiration! To avoid publicly humiliating himself with those ridiculous dance performances, he went all out for the next two days, not holding back in the slightest.
Yet, the outcome remained unchanged.
The fact that he didn't pass out from sheer frustration was proof of his inner strength.
After three grueling days, he didn't say a word—he simply packed up his things and fled to Mount Myōboku for training. Sage Mode was hard to learn? No matter! He would master it anyway!
He was one of the Sannin… A respected warrior… A—a—a—damn it…
He couldn't let his titles go to waste like this!
"I don't think Jiraiya-sensei will be coming back anytime soon," Minato remarked, staring at the completely emptied house where his teacher used to stay. He could feel Jiraiya's firm determination.
"Did we laugh too loudly before?" Rin asked nervously, glancing at Kurenai, who was holding her hand.
Kurenai shook her head, also looking slightly uneasy. She turned her gaze toward their teacher.
"Don't go blaming yourselves for this. I was the one instructing him to dance, and I haven't said anything about it yet." Kei ruffled both girls' heads with a smile.
"His dancing was actually quite entertaining. What a shame we won't get to see it today." Obito wiped his goggles, feeling that his teacher's words made a lot of sense.
Still, he couldn't help but feel a little regretful. He hadn't memorized all the dance moves yet!
If—and this was just a hypothetical—if he and Rin ended up together in the future… Would she dance for him?
"You're bleeding from your nose." Kakashi, wearing his signature deadpan expression, glanced at Obito's increasingly perverted look.
His voice was cold as he pointed out his teammate's condition. He just couldn't understand— Why would someone get a nosebleed from thinking about Jiraiya's dancing?
Wasn't that just…plain weird?
"Huh? Ah! I—I—I was just… just recently—" Obito wiped his nose, his face turning bright red as he struggled to find an excuse.
"I saw how yellow your urine was yesterday. I knew you were overheating. This is just the fiery passion of youth at full blast!" Guy slapped Obito on the back, grinning widely as he gave him a big thumbs-up.
Obito looked at him in utter disbelief. Dude… was that seriously the best excuse you could come up with?!
"Overheating, huh? Tsk, totally normal." Genma, chewing on a senbon, clicked his tongue and shot a knowing glance at both Rin and Obito. As someone who was extremely perceptive, he had already figured everything out.
Minato and Kei exchanged smiles.
Ah, youth—so restless, so full of passion. They had been through this stage themselves, so of course, they knew exactly what these kids were thinking.
"Alright, that's enough joking around. Time to start today's training." Kei clapped his hands, bringing Guy and the others back to focus.
"Yes!"
His students responded in unison.
Guy immediately took off, running laps around the training cave. Kurenai and Genma moved in sync, forming the standard three-man squad formation as they followed behind him.
Thanks to Kushina's improved Four Limbs Weighting Seal, their physical strength had increased significantly. What used to take hours of training to achieve now only required a fraction of the time.
Aside from Guy, who focused on additional physical training to further enhance his taijutsu, Kurenai and Genma dedicated nearly all their remaining time to practicing new ninjutsu.
"Let's give it our all in today's training as well!"
Minato encouraged Kakashi and the others with a smile.
Having already adapted to this training routine over the past few days, the three of them also began their own respective training.
As for Kei and Minato...
"Shall we begin?" Kei raised an eyebrow, twirling a kunai deftly between his fingers.
"No more acting this time." Minato likewise gripped his Flying Thunder God kunai, his usually gentle features carrying an unusual seriousness.
Over the past three days, he had been watching his best friend spar with their teacher, Jiraiya, taking in every detail. And he simply couldn't understand—Just how much had Kei been hiding?
Clan secret techniques, genjutsu, Water Release, taijutsu, medical ninjutsu, sealing arts… How many more tricks did he have up his sleeve?!
"As long as you don't act, I won't act either." Kei's eyes narrowed slightly.
The next moment—
Clang!
Sparks flew as kunai clashed.
The two figures swiftly retreated upon impact, almost simultaneously launching their kunai mid-air.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Inside the not-so-spacious courtyard, the two silhouettes flickered in and out of sight like phantoms, their movements colliding in rapid exchanges. After a brief test of each other's reactions, both leapt out of the courtyard at the same time.
Kei flicked his wrist, sending two kunai flying—one soaring into the sky and the other piercing the ground.
Meanwhile, Minato held four Flying Thunder God kunai in each hand. Twisting his waist, he threw them all at Kei with incredible precision.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
The kunai collided mid-air, altering their original trajectories.
Two of them arced above Kei, sealing off his escape route upward.
Two more shot toward his feet, cutting off his retreat downward.
The remaining four curved sharply, converging toward his blind spots.
Uchiha-style shurikenjutsu?!
A flash of surprise crossed Kei's eyes.
This kind of elaborate throwing technique required exceptional perception and reaction speed, and its difficulty in training was just as high. In actual combat, it often wasn't that practical—most of the time, it could only serve as an unexpected surprise tactic.
Aside from the Uchiha, who had their Sharingan to make learning it significantly easier, very few people ever practiced or relied on this technique.
Over time, it had become associated with the Uchiha name.
Kei hadn't expected Minato to incorporate this kind of shurikenjutsu to complement the Flying Thunder God Technique. Ordinarily, a thrown shuriken or kunai would remain where it landed, with no further impact on the battle. But with Minato, wherever his Flying Thunder God kunai landed—he could instantly appear there.
Upon closer thought, this technique truly was a perfect match for the Flying Thunder God!
However… Too slow.
Collisions and friction between weapons inevitably affected their speed and force. For most people, such a slight difference wouldn't matter. But between two fighters whose reaction speeds were inhumanly fast—this tiny gap was more than enough for Kei to seize the initiative in the opening exchange.
Ignoring the kunai flying toward him, Kei swiftly ran his right hand over the corner of his mouth, smearing a trace of blood from his gums. His figure vanished instantly, reappearing next to the kunai he had thrown into the sky earlier.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
"Caw! Caw! Caw!"
Nine pitch-black crows erupted from the chakra smoke, shooting out in all directions like a flurry of dark arrows.
Minato's face darkened.
He could sense the Flying Thunder God marks embedded within these crows through sealing inscriptions.
Over the past three days, he had watched Kei spar with Jiraiya and had even asked why Kei never used the Flying Thunder God Technique during those matches.
The answer?
Kei had claimed he still wasn't proficient enough with the technique—he wasn't ready to apply it in actual combat.
And yet… So this was "not proficient enough", huh?
This wasn't hesitation to use it, this was a setup specifically designed to counter him! A betrayal of brotherhood!
Minato's frustration only grew.
Ever since he became friends with Kei, he had been tricked over and over again… And each time, it was in a completely different way.
