The Yellow Flash and The Village of Mokugakure

[Minato Namikaze]

It would suffice to say that Minato was slightly better at hiding his exhaustion than his silver haired companion. Though he couldn't discredit Kakashi, the Mangekyou was a devastating jutsu for the Uchiha clan, there was no telling what sort of effect it could have on someone that does not, naturally, possess Uchiha blood. But this did give Minato a good chance to gauge just how far his new student had progressed. Kito was a genius when it came to most aspects of the ninja life style. Save genjutsu, the rest of the boy's skills were far above his formal rank. Minato couldn't afford to let his guard down against this boy. 

The two stared each other down, both waiting for the other to make their first move. Silence filled their training grounds, as if the world was watching, and waiting, in anticipation for the two shinobi to clash. He did have to admit that there was a part of him that worried about Kakashi but, he knew that the sharingan wielder would be okay, he just needed some rest. Minato took a breath, clearing his thoughts before deciding to speak. 

'You're not going to make a move?' The blonde asked, questioning his, relatively, new student's decisions.

'No,' Kito shook his head. 'I'm not stupid enough to make the first move against you.' Kito spoke as he pulled his blade from the sheath that rested on his back. It was a smart move when facing any normal opponent. Getting your opponent to reveal his hand first was always a good thing to do. But Minato was anything but a normal opponent. 

'Not a great choice.' the yellow flash spoke as two orbs of swirling chakra formed in his hands. As soon as the two rasengan had finished forming the jounin disappeared, a flash of yellow filling the area that he had once occupied. 

'Sustained Rasengan Striking!' The golden haired shinobi exclaimed as he reappeared behind Kito. The black haired boy spun around, pushing backwards with his heal in an attempt to put some distance between himself and his jounin master. This effort was all but useful as Minato sprang forward, repeatedly striking at the young ninja. Although he had managed to block a few of the man's strikes with his blade, Kito was ultimately sent, flying, backwards into a tree. He'd not noticed Minato place his seal during their earlier encounter, and this had given the former kage an edge. 

'Sorry Kito...' the golden haired shinobi panted. 'But you really should have made the first move.' the blonde spoke as he dropped his arms, allowing the rasengan to disperse. Minato sat down, he'd not gotten much actual rest last night either. That damn fox, tiring him out like that. He looked over to Kakashi, who was beginning to look a little better, and then to Kito. He'd wasted a lot of his chakra, not that he'd had a lot of time to replenish it overnight. 

Kito sat in place, his back against the tree that Minato had thrown him into, the bark behind him was cracked and broken from the force of the impact. His face carried a look of frustration and disappointment as he, slowly, lifted his blade and sheathed it.

'Fuck.' Kito breathed as a large quantity of pent up air forced its way out of his lungs. 'I'm still not strong enough!' the, clearly, frustrated boy exclaimed as he slammed his fists into the ground, the only action he could manage that would accurately display his mood. Kito attempted to stand, an effort that would only be met with failure, before he felt Kakashi's hand fall on his shoulder. The boy turned his head only to find the man shaking his head.

'No Kito, look at Minato.' the scare-crow gestured, the ninja in training following his sensei's orders. Their mentor had gone from sitting upright to laying on his back. His chest rose and fell quickly, making it apparent that he'd used up most of his chakra during his last attack. Kito and Kakashi stared at the exhausted shinobi as he, slowly, lifted his arm. Making a thumbs up sign at the two as he coughed a faint laugh.

'Good work guys.' the man panted, his breathing slowing down as he gradually caught his breath. 'But I think I'll just rest here for the time being. I don't think I can move at the moment.' the blonde laughed as he gazed up into the sky.

'But how?' Kito questioned the silver haired shinobi. The man shrugged, as if he didn't know what the child was talking about. 'How did he beat me so easily? We've trained before and he was never that fast.' the youth finished. He seemed overly harsh on himself, something that Kakashi knew all too well.

'Did he use sage mode?'

'Sage mode?' the dark haired boy enquired, clearly Minato had not let Kito in on all of his abilities.

'When he was attacking you, did you see an orange pigment around his eyes?' The man spoke as he looked down at the boy. 'Maybe even notice that the pupils and irises of his eyes had changed?'

Kakashi's questions puzzled the kid. Everything had happened so quickly that he hadn't had much time to focus on anything else other than the rasengan that he was trying to parry. He couldn't be sure but the image of the former kage's face popped into his head, looking exactly as the masked man had described. Kito nodded, assuming that had been what his companion was talking about.

'That's what I thought. He used the small amount of time when the two of you were talking to gather nature energy, then slipped into the form when he teleported.' The silver haired shinobi deduced. It was a risky move, a manoeuvre could have easily killed him in the process.

'Well, I guess that means no more training today.' Kakashi laughed. 'We'll need the time to rest up.'

'Yeah...' Kito sighed as stared at an exhausted Minato.