Immortality begins with the ninjas of Konoha.

Furukawa Osamu's thrust was silent. When he appeared behind Killer Bee, wind-style chakra extended along the short sword, and the light blade pierced through the enemy's left shoulder.

"what!"

Killer Bee cried out in pain as he dodged a fatal blow to the heart. Immediately, a tailed beast chakra cloak appeared on his body, and his agile tail lunged straight at Osamu Furukawa and Kakashi.

"What is this?"

Kakashi hurriedly dodged, his feet clinging to the tree trunk as he whispered something. Hyuga Shuichi beside him looked horrified, his Byakugan clearly seeing the chakra surging from the enemy's body.

Furukawa Osamu aimed for the heart, and although Killer Bee barely managed to dodge, the wind-style chakra still caused serious damage to his body.

"The healing speed is amazing!"

Upon joining the two, Furukawa Osamu murmured in admiration, "Tailed Beast Chakra is indeed a wondrous energy."

Minato Namikaze instantly returned to the three's side, his expression becoming extremely grave upon seeing the added tail behind the enemy.

"By... calm down..."

Ai clutched his right ribs and shouted a warning. The enraged Killer Bee turned to look at his older brother, whose mouth was stained with blood, and immediately stopped roaring.

The battle broke out too quickly. Only after the two sides had created distance did they begin to carefully examine the enemy. Gasping for breath, Ai realized he had been careless and said angrily:

"Are Konoha ninjas only capable of sneak attacks?"

"A ninja from the Hidden Cloud Village has no right to say that."

Minato Namikaze responded expressionlessly, his eyes fixed on Killer Bee, who was cloaked in a Tailed Beast cloak. He needed to protect his subordinates in time should the opponent unleash a Tailed Beast Ball attack.

"cough..."

Killer Bee, who had just been so aggressive, suddenly coughed up blood, clutching his heart in pain, while the Eight-Tails inside him hurriedly warned him:

"That special wind-attribute chakra has remained in your body. Rushing to expel it will damage your heart."

When Furukawa Osamu saw this, a slight smile appeared on his lips. His attack had worked after all; he had almost been tricked by the enemy.

"Compare!"

Ai, no longer bothered with his verbal sparring with the blond guy opposite him, hurriedly helped up his little brother, a look of anxiety appearing on his dark face. Killer Bee, not wanting to show weakness, continued to respond in his strange tone:

"You despicable Konoha brat! Your sneak attack won't hurt me!"

"I will tear you apart in the rhythm of battle!"

The sudden rap disrupted the tense atmosphere. Kakashi squinted at the enemy with dead fish eyes, and Hyuga Shuichi's lips twitched, almost making a sarcastic remark on the spot.

Minato Namikaze stared at the two with a kunai in his hand, while Osamu Furukawa's right hand held a short sword that began to emit white wind-style chakra.

"Consider yourselves lucky! I'll remember you!"

Ai threw out a smoke bomb and grabbed Killer Bee, then ran away. This time, they were careless and hadn't done their intelligence work properly.

Kakashi twitched his nose, then looked up at Minato Namikaze, who shook his head slightly and explained simply:

"Human Jinchūriki are extremely dangerous. I can only guarantee your safe evacuation. The mission is complete."

"These two are incredibly fast. Is this the AB duo mentioned in the previous intelligence?"

After confirming that the enemy had left, Hyuga Shuichi asked a question. The brief exchange had left a deep impression on him; the speed of that attack was astonishing.

"It must be them. It's understandable that the Land of Frost has sided with the Hidden Cloud Village; they are no match for an enemy of this caliber."

Minato Namikaze responded with a serious expression, noting that the Cloud Village ninjas were more troublesome than he had anticipated, given their enormous chakra reserves, superhuman physique, and reaction speed.

"Time to head to the outposts, Captain! There are still a few along the border of the Land of Hot Springs; we need to warn everyone as soon as possible."

When Furukawa Osamu reminded him, Minato's smile returned, and he quickly urged the others to continue on their way.

"I'll suggest to the Hokage when we get back to the village that we get a bigger reward for this mission!"

-

A few days later, Killer Bee, who had returned to the border outpost of the Land of Frost, was still sulking. He felt it was his dereliction of duty that the Konoha ninja had hurt his beloved older brother.

"Minato Namikaze, very little information."

"The one who hurt you was Osamu Furukawa, a genius ninja who appeared in Konoha a few years ago. During the Chunin Exams, he clearly hid most of his strength."

As he spoke, Ai tossed the reel to Killer Bee, who glanced at it and then rhythmically quipped:

"Next time I see him, I'm going to chop him in half!"

The wind-style chakra within his body was extremely sharp, even damaging his meridians. Without the protection of the tailed beast chakra, Killer Bee felt he might have died.

"The Konoha ninja first locked onto us with their Byakugan, and then ambushed us along our path."

"This time it was my fault. I underestimated the enemy's strength. Konoha is indeed a formidable opponent."

"Next time we need to add more sensory ninjas; the Byakugan is really useful in battle..."

As Ai spoke, he began to envy Konoha's bloodline limit. Although Kumogakure had plundered some over the years, the use of ninjutsu bloodline limits was clearly inferior to that of the Byakugan.

...

Minato Namikaze, having completed his mission, was also reporting from the Hokage Building. Speaking of the Jinchuriki he had encountered, he said with a grave expression:

"The Jinchuriki of Kumogakure can already use the Tailed Beast Cloak, and from what I've observed, they should have mastered entering the semi-Tailed Beast Transformation as well."

"The Iron Armor Seal won't be very effective; in the past, the Jinchuriki of Kumogakure often went berserk."

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, gave a simple response: according to the intelligence gathered, the Hidden Cloud Village would even extract the Tailed Beasts from the Jinchuriki's body in advance, just to stop the Tailed Beasts from going berserk.

Upon hearing that the other party might further control the power of the Tailed Beasts, Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned. In recent years, the development of Tailed Beasts by various ninja villages has made rapid progress.

Not wanting to worry Minato, Hiruzen Sarutobi stopped talking about the Tailed Beasts and asked with a smile:

"How are the young people performing? You seem very satisfied with them."

"Impeccable. At their age, you can't ask them to do more. Their mastery of techniques has surpassed most Chunin."

Minato Namikaze seemed to have thought of something else, and with a bright smile, he continued:

"Shu has inflicted considerable damage on Killer Bee of Kumogakure. Considering his level of medical ninjutsu, he should have no problem being promoted to Special Jonin."

"Haha, the promotion nomination is Tsunade's business; she must be feeling troubled!"

"I felt the same way when I was teaching Orochimaru. Jiraiya would sometimes talk to me about you. Teaching a genius is very stressful."

Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke of these juniors with genuine joy; the village's future depended on these young geniuses, and he had not let his teacher down.

At this moment, Minato Namikaze forgot about the undercurrents in the village. It didn't matter who the next Hokage was, as long as the village could continue to prosper.

-

At the end of January, Osamu Furukawa returned to Konoha Hospital after completing his mission, continuing to train his medical ninjutsu every day and discussing the use of chakra with Tsunade.

"Activates the whole body? Accelerates nerve conduction?"

After finishing her bento, Tsunade started glancing sideways at the question, and when she saw Shizune looking expectant, she reluctantly responded to Furukawa Osamu:

"You're delusional again! Lightning Release Chakra Mode might not be difficult to master, provided you have a superhuman body."

"Even with the same secondary extraction and activation, ordinary ninjas simply cannot extract a massive amount of chakra."

"The same applies to accelerated nerve conduction; receiving signals quickly does not mean that the brain can make the right decision."

"Have you learned the [Chaos Body Rush] technique I taught you?"

Tsunade tapped the table seriously. Furukawa Osamu saw Shizune give him a wink and knew she was in a bad mood, probably because she hadn't eaten enough lunch.

"Teacher, I've completely mastered it."

Tsunade was somewhat speechless. Furukawa had only been back for less than three days, and he'd already mastered the new technique she was taught. Noticing Shizune's admiring expression, she didn't bother to check and directly demanded:

"You didn't make enough bento boxes, go buy me another eel rice bowl!"

"Teacher, Lord Fugaku will be bringing his wife for a medical check-up soon."

When Furukawa Osamu reminded her, Tsunade felt a little embarrassed, only then remembering Uchiha Mikoto's matter; she had almost forgotten their promise.

"Then let the clone go buy it! Don't even think about slacking off!"

"..."