But the ninja no longer had the chance to think, he could only form hand seals in that instant, then unleashed countless flame projectiles like fire cannons toward Minato.
It was as if Minato had anticipated this all along; he formed hand seals almost simultaneously with the ninja, then spewed a waterfall-like stream of water from his mouth that turned into a wall, blocking all the incoming flame projectiles.
At that moment, another ninja, who had circled around to the rear, launched an attack. The earth beneath instantly transformed into an earth dragon. Its massive head opened wide and sprayed countless mud bullets, surging toward the six people behind Minato.
In the next instant, Minato moved in front of the oncoming mud bullets. With a rapid series of hand signs and a bang sound, a giant slug over ten meters tall suddenly appeared.
The dense barrage of mud bullets all hit the slug's body.
But the slug wasn't harmed. Instead, upon being struck, it split into many smaller slugs that still managed to intercept and block every mud bullet.
Seeing himself directly facing Minato, the Earth Release user immediately tried to retreat. But the very next moment, Minato's figure vanished again. By the time the ninja sensed Minato's presence, Minato had already appeared behind him.
At that moment, a slug was clinging to the ninja's back, with the Flying Thunder God mark clearly drawn on it.
The ninja, shocked and terrified, tried to turn and counterattack, but Minato's reaction speed was astonishing. Before the enemy could do anything, a kunai pierced straight through his back. However, in the next instant, the ninja's body dissolved into a pile of mud that collapsed onto the ground.
Aside from the first man who had been instantly defeated, the remaining enemies were giving Minato quite the headache. Because these people had no intention of fighting him directly, instead, they continuously launched attacks toward the group behind him.
His brother was right: the biggest weakness of the Flying Thunder God Technique was dead weight.
If it weren't for those six burdens he had to protect, he would have had plenty of time to toy with these opponents, and had absolute confidence in defeating them all. But with these living targets around, he was forced into a passive and constrained position.
As he made up his mind, a special energy surged through his body. At the same time, strange black markings appeared around his eyes, and a black circular pattern emerged on his forehead, with a black dot in the center of the circle.
Sage Mode of the Shikkotsu Forest.
And he entered it instantly!
He was not someone who cared about showing off or competing for superiority. Victory or defeat didn't matter much to him. But if losing meant those burdens would die, that was an outcome he absolutely couldn't accept. So he could no longer afford to keep hiding his strength.
The only blame lay in the fact that his Flying Thunder God Technique had only just stabilized. He still couldn't use it to teleport others with him. Otherwise, with a single teleport, he could've relocated the six burdens to safety and wiped out these annoying pests in no time.
In the next moment, Minato pulled out a storage scroll from his clothes. Then from it, he took out an unusually shaped and disproportionately large weapon, which he strapped to his back.
Samehada had a deep blue color overall, its blade enormous and covered in backward-pointing barbs.
The moment Minato gripped Samehada's handle, a huge surge of chakra poured from the blade into his body.
Back when Shin acquired Samehada, he and Orochimaru studied it for some time. But after realizing that although it was powerful, it wasn't suitable for him, Shin handed it over to Minato.
Feeling the massive chakra surging through his body, Minato rapidly formed hand seals.
In the next instant, the ground beneath the six people behind him surged and transformed into a stone pillar that shot up, lifting them dozens of meters into the air. But it didn't stop there. Even high in the air, the ground beneath their feet continued to shift, forming a cage that enclosed them completely.
Earth Release Barrier: Earth Prison Dome of Magnificent Nothingness.
Such a long name... This jutsu was originally used to trap enemies, but by adjusting the chakra flow direction, it could also serve to protect people.
Although Minato's best affinities were Wind, Fire, and Lightning Release, under Shin's guidance, he had also mastered quite a bit of Earth and Water Release techniques due to his talent in all chakra natures. Now freed from the burden of protecting the six "deadweights," he was finally unleashed.
With no more restrictions, he vanished in an instant, reappearing ten meters behind the Earth Release user. The ninja tried to activate a defensive jutsu, but in Sage Mode, Minato's speed was far beyond anything he could have imagined. Minato's body turned into a stream of light, appearing in front of the ninja before he could even react.
Then he delivered a devastating kick to the man's chest, shattering his heart and lungs, killing him instantly.
With one strike, he disappeared again, reappearing dozens of meters away near the Fire Release user. The ninja, overwhelmed with terror, immediately tried to flee, but Minato once again vanished, reappearing right beside him. At that moment, a seemingly insignificant stone beneath the fire ninja's feet was engraved with a Flying Thunder God mark, secretly planted there earlier by Minato using Earth Release.
Before the ninja could react, Minato slammed a two-foot diameter Rasengan into his body. The force sent him flying like a cannonball, and he was dead before he hit the ground. His last thought before dying was, But I was nowhere near that kunai… how could this be?
The last ninja, who had been farther away, was struck with sheer terror and turned to flee without a second thought. Minato's strength was too terrifying, he didn't even have the courage to fight. But he could not die, he had to return with intel on Minato. However, he had only just turned to run when a shadow clone of Minato suddenly appeared at his side, reaching toward him.
The fleeing ninja had kept his eyes on Minato's real body, never expecting a clone, and in that slight delay, a massive water prison surrounded him, locking his body in place. He couldn't move a muscle. Just as he panicked, the giant water sphere suddenly collapsed and dispersed into streams of water flowing away. But before he could feel relieved, Minato's real body appeared right next to him, Samehada already falling onto him.
The sword drained every last bit of chakra from his body, pinning him to the ground. Sensing no more chakra signatures in the area, Minato finally let out a breath of relief.
It had to be said, Samehada and the Flying Thunder God Technique were a match made in heaven.
One touch, instant silence.
"You… how can you be this strong?" the ninja slumped to the ground, looking at the nine-year-old Minato in utter disbelief.
He was an elite ninja, and the other three who came with him, one was also an elite ninja, and the other two were special jonin. They had been sent to kidnap Minato. At first, they thought the operation was overkill.
A nine-year-old kid? Did it really need such a powerful squad?
But now, in the blink of an eye, three were dead, and the last one, him, had completely lost the ability to fight.
In no time at all, their entire team had been wiped out.