Chapter 474: Muyue vs Minato: The Strongest Battle of Konoha's New Era

Konoha Village, Training Ground 22.

Two golden figures stood facing each other, smiling at one another.

Not far from them, several figures watched with eager expressions.

"Who do you think will win?" Obito couldn't help turning to look at Kakashi and the others as he asked.

Mu Yue and Minato Namikaze were both his, Kakashi's, and Rin's teachers. In the eyes of many Konoha ninja, Minato Namikaze and Mu Yue were among the strongest ninja of the new generation. Obito was curious about how the other students predicted the battle's outcome.

As a firm believer in Mu Yue's teachings, Obito was naturally on Mu Yue's side.

He believed that the almighty Mu Yue-senpai would never lose to anyone in a one-on-one battle, even though Obito had once witnessed Minato Namikaze killing jonin like cutting grass.

"In a practice battle, it should be Mu Yue-sensei who wins," Kakashi replied after thinking.

As a shared student of both, Kakashi knew their abilities well. Although Minato Namikaze was very strong, his strength was mainly in his superhuman speed. Setting aside the Flying Thunder God Technique, Minato Namikaze was not weak, but he was no longer that Yellow Flash.

Mu Yue's strength, on the other hand, was comprehensive. Even if he lost one Breathing Technique or one nature transformation or one secret technique, it wouldn't have a significant impact on Mu Yue. He had too many methods.

Mu Yue had mastered seven types of chakra nature transformations, was proficient in many Five Element Ninjutsu, and had developed a series of powerful secret techniques such as Breathing Techniques and Armament Haki.

When Kakashi treated Mu Yue as an imaginary enemy, he found that he could not find any weakness in Mu Yue. Even if he knew all the secret information, he could not gain an advantage in battle.

"Only absolute raw power can surpass Mu Yue-sensei," Kakashi thought to himself.

He believed that only ninja with overwhelming raw power, like the Third Hokage, the Third Tsuchikage, and the Third Raikage, could possibly defeat Mu Yue.

"What if it's not a practice battle?" Obito didn't think real combat would differ much from a practice match.

"If it's not a practice battle, there might be no conclusion. If Minato-sensei wants to leave, even Mu Yue-sensei can't stop him," Kakashi replied.

Unless Minato Namikaze and Mu Yue fought to the death, even Mu Yue would find it difficult to kill a ninja proficient in the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Obito thought about it carefully and realized that was true.

"I think it's Mu Yue-sensei," Shisui replied after recalling something about Minato Namikaze.

Although their fame and achievements were comparable, Mu Yue had a low-key personality. Shisui believed that Mu Yue's strength could not be measured by reputation and accomplishments.

"Although it looks similar, if I have to choose, it's definitely Mu Yue-sensei," Might Guy said with a big laugh, showing his white teeth and giving Mu Yue a thumbs-up.

"I feel it should be Mu Yue-sensei who wins," Rin said after thinking.

Rin's reasoning was simple: she thought Mu Yue had Armament Haki, so Minato Namikaze would find it difficult to hurt Mu Yue.

Moreover, Mu Yue not only had mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique but also possessed the explosive Lightning Breathing Chakra Mode, so his speed might not be inferior to Minato Namikaze's.

With that comparison, Rin felt that Mu Yue was a more well-rounded version of Minato Namikaze, and she was certain that Mu Yue had a higher chance of winning.

"Everyone's thoughts are pretty much the same. But Minato-sensei is also good. Let's not cheer for Mu Yue-sensei later—let's just watch," Obito reminded, to prevent any awkwardness for Minato Namikaze.

Kakashi looked at Obito speechlessly. "Normal people probably wouldn't cheer during a practice battle."

Mu Yue and Minato Namikaze were still good friends. If someone actually did that, it would be too awkward.

"What if someone does?" Obito was a bit stubborn.

Kakashi ignored Obito and focused his attention on the upcoming battle.

"Although it's a practice battle, I hope you'll go all out, Minato. Don't hold back because you're worried I'll get hurt," Mu Yue spoke.

Minato was still growing, but his Flying Thunder God Technique was already very polished. He was a speed-specialized ninja. If Mu Yue could handle Minato calmly, then at the current stage of the ninja world, no speed-type ninja would be able to trouble him.

"Even if you didn't say it, Mu Yue, I would use my full strength. After all, you even killed a jinchuriki," Minato replied with a smile.

"And besides, Kushina is watching."

Although Kushina couldn't come to the scene, under her strong request—and because Hiruzen Sarutobi was also interested in the battle between Mu Yue and Minato Namikaze—she eventually got the right to watch the battle from the Hokage's office with Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The Hokage building was also within the barrier, so Kushina wouldn't be affected by the Nine-Tails' chakra.

At that moment, Kushina was complaining unhappily to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Why can we only see the picture but hear no sound?"

Watching the mouths of Mu Yue and Minato Namikaze moving in the image, Kushina badly wanted to know what they were talking about, and whether they had mentioned her.

"This jutsu can only achieve this level," Hiruzen Sarutobi explained.

It's already not easy to monitor from such a distance; Kushina is being too optimistic.

"Forget it, I'll just watch reluctantly." Seeing that the two had stopped talking and seemed about to officially start the battle, Kushina stopped dwelling on the details.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed softly and also focused his attention on Minato and Muyue in the crystal ball.

If not for Kushina's special status, Hiruzen Sarutobi would have wanted to kick her out of the office; she uses his jutsu but still talks so much.

"Battle start!"

As the guest referee Kakashi finished shouting, both Muyue and Minato Namikaze immediately began forming hand seals on the spot.

"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"

"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"

As if agreed upon beforehand, the two simultaneously used Fire Dragon Flame Bullet, spewing large swaths of flames from their mouths.

Whoosh!!

The distance between them was quickly filled with flames, burning all debris to ashes.

But the moment the flames collided, Muyue's sea of fire rapidly advanced toward Minato's side, and the flames spewed by Minato Namikaze were continuously swallowed by Muyue's flames.

Even without using Flame Breathing, Muyue possesses perfect-level Fire Nature Transformation chakra; even if he held back, Minato Namikaze's Fire Release could not contend with it.

"So Minato's Fire Release is this bad? How does it feel like he's no match for Muyue at all?" Kushina complained as she watched Minato being suppressed.

Even she knew that same-element confrontation best reveals one's ninjutsu level.

"It's not that Minato's Fire Release is poor, but that Muyue's Fire Release is too strong," Hiruzen Sarutobi corrected.

He paid close attention to this exceptionally talented disciple-grandson.

Minato's ninjutsu was never bad; he learned all kinds of high-level jutsu quickly. But compared to Minato's Flying Thunder God talent, his achievements in ninjutsu seemed ordinary.

The reason Minato performed so poorly was mainly because his opponent was Muyue.

In Hiruzen Sarutobi's mind, Muyue was a super ninjutsu genius who could inherit his legacy and even surpass him in the end.

"Minato is just probing for information. The real key to deciding victory or defeat is whether Muyue can handle Minato's Flying Thunder God Technique," Hiruzen Sarutobi analyzed.

In his mind, the two were about evenly matched. Although Muyue had many methods, Minato's high-proficiency Flying Thunder God could counter most ninja.

As Hiruzen Sarutobi expected, the next moment, the quick-reacting Minato Namikaze instantly dodged back and took out a Flying Thunder God Kunai from his ninja tool pouch.

And Muyue decisively pursued him directly.

The two, who had been clashing with ninjutsu, instantly vanished from their spots.

A crisp metallic clash rang out. When they reappeared, they were already holding kunai and had clashed once.

Feeling the vibration in his palm, Minato Namikaze narrowed his eyes and, following the pushing force, swiftly dodged backward.

From the previous exchange, he could tell that Muyue had great strength; he didn't know if it was due to some chakra technique or his natural physical strength.

"By the looks of it, Muyue's taijutsu is also not simple." Thinking this, Minato Namikaze prepared to use his best tactic.

Whoosh!!

While retreating, Minato Namikaze threw two kunai, one aimed at Muyue and one behind himself.

At this time, Muyue had already entered the Transparent World state. Even though Minato Namikaze had superhuman reactions and moved extremely fast, his movements were still seen through by Muyue.

Swish!!

Muyue quickly pulled out several shuriken from his ninja tool pouch and threw them.

The shuriken glinting with cold light deflected the incoming Flying Thunder God Kunai and continued toward Minato Namikaze at a strange angle.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"

After throwing the shuriken, Muyue formed a single hand seal and spat out a large number of fireballs. With shuriken in front and fireballs behind, they enveloped Minato from multiple layers and directions.

Just as the shuriken were about to get within half a meter of Minato.

The next instant, Minato Namikaze vanished from the spot. Before using the Flying Thunder God Technique, Minato had quietly released the Flying Thunder God Kunai he had just taken out.

Boom!!

Both the shuriken and fireball landed on the ground where Minato had just been standing. The flame explosion and thick smoke enveloped that small area.

At that moment, Muyue also moved, because his Transparent World had immediately seen Minato teleport to the Flying Thunder God kunai he had thrown behind him.

"Wind Style: Vacuum Sphere!"

Muyue quickly formed hand seals while running, and a series of transparent air bullets surged toward Minato's landing point. In an instant, Minato, who had just escaped danger, was forced to face Muyue's Wind Style again.

This time, Minato wasted no time. He threw a Flying Thunder God kunai at Muyue and immediately used the Flying Thunder God technique to transfer to the kunai that had been knocked away.

That Flying Thunder God kunai had originally been very close to Muyue, but because Muyue had run a distance away, there was now a safe gap.

But how could Muyue not have anticipated this?

The moment Minato threw the Flying Thunder God kunai, Muyue also threw a Flying Thunder God kunai.

Minato’s superhuman reaction and perception immediately detected Muyue’s move. Calmly, he tossed the Flying Thunder God kunai in his hand into the air, then used the Flying Thunder God technique again at the last possible moment.

Muyue observed everything, but he still used the Flying Thunder God technique to arrive at the spot where Minato had just stood.

Minato, holding a blue chakra ball, suddenly appeared above Muyue and slammed the blue chakra ball toward Muyue’s back.

As if he had eyes in the back of his head, Muyue spun around in an extremely short time and slammed the Rasengan in his hand forward.

Boom! Rumble!!

As the two chakra balls collided, a huge explosion rang out, and the dazzling light of the explosion enveloped them both. The rising dust and smoke obscured their figures.

“That’s so cool. When will I get to learn the Flying Thunder God technique?” Obito stared wide-eyed at Muyue and Minato flashing around.

Minato’s movements were so fast just now that Obito couldn’t even clearly see where Minato was before he had moved to another spot.

Obito didn’t even dare to imagine what expression Nohara Rin would wear if he were the one replaced in either of those positions.

“If it’s just the Flying Thunder God technique, then Mr. Minato is still better,” Kakashi said, also dazzled by Minato’s full-speed Flying Thunder God.

No wonder Minato could kill jonin so easily. Kakashi felt that if he didn’t activate his Transparent World, he would probably be one-shot by Namikaze Minato.

But when the light faded and the smoke cleared, only Muyue’s figure remained, along with the large crater beneath his feet.

Only then did the onlookers realize that Minato had already used the Flying Thunder God technique to return to the spot where he had been attacked by Vacuum Sphere earlier. At this moment, Minato looked very battered; his right hand, which had just used the Rasengan, trembled uncontrollably, and part of his clothing had been damaged by the explosion.

When people looked carefully at Muyue standing still, they saw that his clothing was only stained with some dust, and his body bore no signs of injury.

Clearly, Muyue had won that exchange.

“It seems Minato can only be second. Muyue even blocked that,” Kushina thought, already assuming Minato would lose.

Actually, Kushina didn’t care who won or lost. After all, Minato was her boyfriend, and Muyue was her good friend. She would be happy for either of them.

Kushina was mainly curious about the outcome of the fight—who had the stronger overall strength, who was the strongest of the new generation of Konoha.

“If so, Muyue is truly the strongest of the new generation. I should make a hearty dinner to celebrate.” Kushina imagined it and couldn’t help swallowing a mouthful of saliva.

Though it was a bit unfair to Minato, Kushina found that it would be quite nice if Minato lost when she thought about it that way.

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Kushina with a black line on his forehead. Minato hadn’t even lost yet, and she was already thinking about Muyue’s victory banquet.

“But just how hearty would that hearty dinner be?” Hiruzen Sarutobi recalled the deliciousness of that night.

Hiruzen Sarutobi thought that he had at least taught Muyue some ninjutsu, so he had contributed to Muyue becoming the strongest of the new generation. If there really was a victory banquet, he couldn’t miss it.

Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly suppressed that thought and continued watching the fight. He had actually been influenced by Kushina—Minato hadn’t lost yet, and the final outcome was still unknown.

A high probability of losing didn’t mean a certain loss.

“Good thing I didn’t go to exchange ninjutsu progress with Muyue. That would have been somewhat unfair to him,” Minato thought as he took a deep breath.

In the collision of the chakra balls just now, Muyue’s chakra ball was clearly more powerful than his. Muyue’s development progress was ahead of his.

“Shadow Shuriken Clone Technique!”

The injured Minato did not call a stop to the fight. Instead, he threw out several shurikens and continued performing ninjutsu. He felt he hadn’t lost yet and still had a chance to win.

Under the effect of chakra, the handful of shurikens Minato threw multiplied—three became six, six became twelve—instantly turning into a dark mass of shurikens that stabbed toward Muyue, like a rain of ten thousand arrows.

“Shadow Shuriken Clone Technique!”

Muyue also threw shurikens and performed the same ninjutsu. The arrow-like shurikens collided with each other, and the large sparks of metal clashing created an unusual beautiful scene in the sky.

Minato Namikaze did not expect this ninjutsu to cause trouble for Muyue; his hope for victory lay in the Flying Thunder God Kunai that was engulfed by the Phoenix Sage Fire.

With such a concentrated attack, Muyue should not have been able to see that he had left a Flying Thunder God Kunai behind.

Minato Namikaze, while throwing other Flying Thunder God Kunai to distract Muyue and confuse him, quickly dashed toward the Flying Thunder God Kunai that was engulfed by the Phoenix Sage Fire.

Meanwhile, Muyue, while chasing Minato Namikaze, rapidly moved his eyes, as if trying to memorize all the landing points of Minato's Flying Thunder God.

Perhaps due to his injuries, the distance between Minato Namikaze and Muyue kept shortening.

Minato Namikaze crossed the scorched ground bombarded by Phoenix Sage Fire, while Muyue chased after him at high speed, just passing by that scorched area.

"Spiral Flash Super Round Dance Roar Three Style!"

Minato Namikaze suddenly pulled out a flash bomb and a Flying Thunder God Kunai from his ninja tool pouch. He detonated the flash bomb, then threw the Flying Thunder God Kunai toward an irrelevant side, making Muyue mistakenly think that he would use Flying Thunder God to teleport to the side.

The flash bomb exploded, and a dazzling yellow electric light burst forth. The world in Muyue's eyes turned yellow.

After the sound of the kunai cutting through the air, Minato Namikaze silently used the Flying Thunder God Technique to appear behind Muyue, and once again raised the azure blue chakra ball.

"How did Minato-sensei get over there? Doesn't the Flying Thunder God Technique require an item with the Flying Thunder God seal to teleport?" Obito asked, looking puzzled. He remembered that there didn't seem to be a Flying Thunder God Kunai where Muyue had just stood.

Seeing this scene, Obito subconsciously wanted to shout "Muyue-sensei, watch out!" but held back only because it was a practice battle.

"When he used Flying Thunder God to leave at the end, Minato-sensei took the opportunity to leave behind a Flying Thunder God Kunai," Kakashi explained.

In order to learn from their battle, Kakashi had been keeping the Transparent World active while watching, noticing various details from both sides.

However, Kakashi didn't know whether Muyue had noticed it — the player is often blind while the spectator sees clearly. Moreover, he didn't know whether Muyue had activated the Transparent World at that time.

"As expected, the Flying Thunder God Kunai left behind here was a setup," Hiruzen Sarutobi said, showing an approving look.

Because he was watching the battle from a full perspective, Hiruzen Sarutobi had noticed from the beginning the Flying Thunder God Kunai that was buried by the attack. That was also why he had always thought the outcome of the battle was still uncertain.

A ninja's battle is not a simple comparison of stats. Even a ninja with powerful ninjutsu is not guaranteed to win against a weaker ninja. There are too many factors that can affect the outcome, and battle intelligence is one of the major factors.

But just as everyone was amazed by Minato Namikaze's Flying Thunder God Kunai that turned the tide, another reversal occurred.

The moment Minato appeared, Muyue thrust the hand holding a kunai backward. Before Minato Namikaze's chakra ball could touch Muyue, the blade of Muyue's kunai was already pressed against Minato Namikaze's chest, at his heart.

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