Electric

Minato walked down an almost empty street, it was nightfall and he was just seemingly having a long walk. 

But the reality was that he was subtly placing seals around the city, whether that be on a random loose brick or a passing car.

Either way he knew he needed a large amount of seals back in the city. He didn't know exactly what Magneto had done to tamper with his seals before, but Minato wouldn't be caught off guard again.

Minato's mind had come up with theories, none of them truly standing out to the blonde man.

The only one that sounded half plausible, was magic as ironic as that sounded. He'd looked further into this world and found hints, mentions of people with similar but unique abilities.

Not like mutants, Mutants all had different random abilities whereas the mentions, rumours of these people were all similar. Large golden portals, odd energy based weapons were the foundation. 

His eyes quickly assessed the street, his eyes cold. His walk also had another purpose. He was hoping he would catch a glimpse of the crimson man, hoping to catch even a glint in the corner of his eyes.  

One thing Minato had thought about had been the man's presence, it was…it wasn't there. Every being on the planet had Chakra, all of them had exceedingly small amounts but they all had it.

It was lifeforce, so of course they had it.

But…but that man...Minato's head turned, a light prickling rising up the base of his neck. 

That man had none, no lifeforce, no body language. He was half wondering if he had imagined the encounter due to his rampant fatigue.

The street lights lit his form in a blue flickering light, it seemed almost every light on this street was forgotten, so were the buildings.

This part of the city was rampant with large abandoned factories, smashed windows, graffiti covering the forgotten cold brick.

He sighed, this place was nothing like his home. The warm memories shooting through his head like needles.

His village, his family, warmth and life seemed so distant in this cold city. The endless steel and concrete were nothing like the peaceful, sunlit roads of Konoha

Minato suddenly paused, feeling a sharp crackle in the air, a disturbance, like static clinging to his skin. The sudden sound of lightning filled his ears, the distinct crackling chirping sound echoing through the city.

A yellow glow suddenly lit the horizon, a miniature sun, Minato's eyes narrowed on the light and then casually twirled a kunai around his finger and let it loose with a precise, practised flick. 

Then he blinked from reality, appearing above a battlefield, the glow of lightning alighting his graceful form over a dozen metres above the ground.

A man wearing a green outfit, yellow lightning bolts running down it with a crackling roaring mask of lightning covering his face.

The same man was just punched, hard by a man in a red and blue bodysuit, a spider on his back as he dodged underneath the lightning and released another punch. 

Minato recognised the red and blue man, he was always in the papers. Some sort of vigilante he gathered, a very controversial figure.

"Is that all you've got?" Spider-Man's voice rang out, laced with sarcasm. "Next time bring someone with you-" the man dodging over a sudden bolt of lightning with a graceful flip. "-because this is pathetic!" 

"Argh!" The electric man screamed, lightning crackling from his body, forcing Spider-Man to jump back.

Minato was still in the air above the duo, he released a Kunai, sailing through the air landing straight into the concrete side of a building with a crack.

Then Minato disappeared again landing just onto the edge of a building, he watched curiously.

Spider-Man quite easily evaded each and every hit with more grace than most Jonin. He didn't look like he was even trying as he laughed and joked to himself, making fun of the odd electric man.

He was fascinating. 

"Hold still, web-head!" The electric man shouted his voice drowning in frustration.

"I'm gonna pass on that one Max" Spider-man said with a regretful mocking tone. The man gracefully threw his body above a sudden building sized wave of electricity that crashed towards the hero like a tidal wave. 

His movements reminded him of a sharingan user, almost as if he knew the move was going to happen before it was even thrown. 

"Wow" Spider-Man stopped and looked back at the wave, his body language screaming that he was surprised. "What are they feeding you guys in Rykers?" 

"Slop!" Electro shouted as another barrage of electricity barrelled towards the spider themed hero. 

"Ah no wonder you always break out" Spider-Man quipped, and then to Minato's surprise a web like grappling hook came out of his wrist, the man propelling himself through the air in a blur.

Before Electro even realised Spider-Man was behind him, the hero kicked the back of the man's leg and then when Electro fell to his knee, he used the web substance to stick the limb to the ground.

Then Spider-Man quite easily overpowered the villain, forcing him down to the ground and web pouring out his wrist completely cocooning the man.

"Sorry, I've had my fun now Electro" Spider-Man said, speaking to the visible head of the man, everything else covered in almost a foot's worth of web. 

Electro screamed in frustration, his lightning sparkling but not doing any damage to the material.

 "Uh, let's do this again when you break out…next week?" Spider-Man asked sarcastically as he pulled out a small phone from…somewhere. 

Dialling someone up he pulled the phone to his ear with a flourish "Yep, got him on Linden Avenue, yep" the hero nodded "Yep, thanks for help, I'll see you" he said into the phone, then hung up.

Electro growled like an animal in the background, his teeth trying to tear the web apart to no avail. Spider-Man eyed the man and sighed.

Spider-Man turned only to widen his eyes and tense at the sight, a man tall and blonde, assessing blue eyes now stood not even two metres away.

One second, he was sure he was alone with Electro, and the next, this guy, whoever he was, was now just there. No sound, no warning, just…there. And that? That was freaky, even by New York's standards..

"Oh, didn't see you there buddy" he said casually though his own eyes were quickly assessing the odd man, a large cloak over his shoulders and an armoured green vest, a pouch on his right leg.

Very freaky.

"You another cosplayer? I like the cloak" he said, his tone perky and upbeat, his mind cautious. 

"Cosplayer?" The man questioned was that some sort of vigilante slang? "No, I was watching you fight, impressive agility" 

Spider-Man blinked "Huh, thanks anyway how'd you get there so quick?" He said as he did some ineligible odd hand gestures. "You gotta teach me, my footsteps are so loud" he complained, though he was actually fishing for information, something was off about this blonde man.

"I'm quite light on my feet" Minato said "You are Spider-Man correct? The man in the papers?"

Spider-Man sighed, his shoulders dropping dramatically "Yeah, but enough about me" he said as he swiped his hand through the air dramatically, suddenly perking up "What about you, what's your name?" 

Minato felt a small smile rise to his face, this Spider-Man was good, distracting his foes with silly and light humour, his real questions masked underneath the circus act.

"Minato Namikaze" he said as he watched the hero, the man's body wasn't tense but loose, his posture fluid the man really did remind him of a few ninja from back home. 

"Cool name, I gotta say Spider-Man is a pretty odd one right?" Spider-Man said, "but lemme give you some advice, cosplayer to cosplayer" his tone dipping into something far more serious than Minato expected. "In this line of work? Never, ever share your full name. Trust me." 

Then, just as quickly, his tone lightened again. "These guys," he jabbed his thumb back at the webbed-up Electro, "are batshit insane and will totally Google you.

Minato nodded, he definitely knew that sort of risk better than most. Naruto wasn't allowed to even hold the Namikaze name, they couldn't let the other villages know the Fourth Hokage had a son.

They would not congratulate him, they would only see it as a glaring weakness. But he still appreciated the warning.

Spider-Man eyed the man, he was interesting sure but he did have to get back to patrol eventually. "Anyway" he clapped his hands together, the smack echoing in the empty dark streets.

"I've gotta get going, I'll see you around" he said casually, lifting his hand ready to disappear

"Wait" Minato said, his eyes focused on the hero who stopped and turned his head towards the ninja, the mask was rather unsettling he had to admit.

"I know I'm asking much, but I am wondering if you've seen a man wearing a cloak at all recently?"

It was a long shot.

Spider-man blinked "Man this is New York, I've seen about 50 guys wearing cloaks today" he tilted his head slightly, the blonde man did seem serious "You gotta be more specific, was it a fancy cloak?" He joked.

"It was a crimson cloak, he had a cowl covering his face, he was tall, broad as well" Minato said as his mind thought back to the encounter. 

Spider-Man blinked "I'm afraid not man, he sounds weird" he said his tone now not at light hearted as he noticed the man's serious face. "He's been bothering you?" He asked.

Minato hummed "Unsettling is more like it" his eyes shooting up to the large white eyes of Spider-Man. "Anyway, thank you for the conversation Spider-Man" he said with a nod.

Spider-Man went to speak only for him to choke on his words as the man simply disappeared, one second there and the other he was just gone.

Spider turned back to the wide eyed electro "You…you saw that too?" He said with wide eyes of his own.

Electro, realising Spider-Man was looking at him, snarled "No I didn't see anything" he lied  "you're going crazy Spider-Man! Now release me!" He screamed into the sky.

Spider-Man sighed.

—

Minato stood in his bathroom, the cold moonlight casting an eerie glow over the tiled floor. His reflection stared back at him. His breath fogged the glass as he leaned forward, his hands gripping the sink so tightly his knuckles had turned white.

He assessed himself with sharp, analytical eyes, replaying the encounter in his mind. He had been trained to notice everything, every small detail, every nuance. And yet… there had been nothing. No chakra. No life. No body language. It was as if the man hadn't existed at all.

Minato's brow furrowed, a ripple of unease settling into his gut. He pressed his fingers against his temples, willing his mind to cooperate. 

Had it really happened?

You imagined it, a voice whispered in the back of his mind. It was the exhaustion, the strain… you've been pushing yourself too hard. He clenched his jaw, forcing himself to break eye contact with the mirror.

For a moment, his own face unnerved him, hollowed, paler than he remembered.

Minato took a deep breath, his grip on the sink loosening as doubt coiled tighter around his thoughts. He couldn't afford to doubt himself now, not when he needed to be at his sharpest.