Chapter 136: Minato's Poisoned Tongue
Where's Orochimaru?
This thought immediately surfaced in Yagura Karatachi's mind after hearing the sensory ninja's report. In his anticipated scenarios, if Konoha truly planned to invade Hidden Mist Village, they definitely couldn't launch a massive invasion. The Cloud ninja were still tying down Konoha's forces, preventing them from focusing single-mindedly on one enemy.
Additionally, the distance was vast. Most Konoha ninja weren't skilled in water combat. Crossing the boundless sea to invade Hidden Mist Village absolutely wasn't a wise move.
Combined with considering that Konoha's Yellow Flash Namikaze Minato possessed the Second Hokage's Flying Thunder God technique, he'd deduced that if Konoha truly prepared to act against Hidden Mist Village, they'd most likely center around Namikaze Minato, recruit Konoha's elite, and organize a precision strike team.
After all, though the major shinobi villages all emphasized teamwork and preached bonds, ninja essence ultimately remained power vested in oneself. What determined war direction and shinobi world circumstances was never the choice of the vast majority, but victory or defeat fought out between a minority of elites.
Setting aside distant stories of the First Hokage and others, recent examples weren't few either. The Cloud ninja's Third Raikage single-handedly confronted ten thousand Rock ninja. Konoha's Yellow Flash killed dozens of Rock ninja jonin at the Kannabi Bridge battle.
Their Mist ninja had also dispatched the Seven Ninja Swordsmen to raid Konoha Village. The Seven encountered an obscure Konoha genin and suffered crushing defeat. Four were killed on the spot. Only three fled back in disgrace.
In short, based on numerous intelligence reports in hand, Yagura calculated that Konoha's forces defending against the Cloud ninja shouldn't be easily mobilized. After all, they'd already pulled away one Namikaze Minato. If more ninja were withdrawn, it might give the Cloud ninja an opportunity to push south.
More likely, they'd draw from those who'd originally been entangled in combat with the Mist ninja along the Fire Country's eastern coastline—people like Orochimaru, Hyuga Ritsu, and Uchiha Shisui.
Beyond this, to counter their Six-Tails jinchuriki, they'd very likely deploy the Nine-Tails jinchuriki.
Facts proved his deductions based on actual circumstances were quite accurate. The sensory ninja successively reported the names of Namikaze Minato, Hyuga Ritsu, Uchiha Shisui, and the Nine-Tails jinchuriki. There was also an Uchiha of unknown background. To be selected for such an operation, this person must also be a Uchiha clan elite.
However, what surprised him was not hearing Orochimaru's name. This was quite unexpected. Originally, he'd planned to personally deal with Orochimaru. But now Orochimaru hadn't appeared. Instead, there was an Uchiha of unknown background.
Yagura asked, "I'll ask you one more time. Are you certain you haven't detected Orochimaru's tracks?"
The sensory ninja didn't dare be careless. They exchanged glances, then exerted their utmost effort sensing the surroundings again before shaking their heads in unison. "Mizukage-sama, we truly haven't discovered Orochimaru's traces."
Yagura immediately nodded. Whether Orochimaru genuinely hadn't participated in this operation or was hiding to launch a surprise attack, the enemies before them were confirmed. Orochimaru wasn't among them.
He called out loudly, "Proceed according to the original plan. Each find your own opponent. I'll handle the Nine-Tails jinchuriki. That unknown Uchiha will be dealt with by Terumi Clan Head leading a team."
Because Six-Tails Jinchuriki Hayama's restlessness had caused the original plan to deviate, but since Orochimaru hadn't appeared, Yagura himself had no opponent. He could perfectly counter the Nine-Tails jinchuriki. This way, the plan was corrected back to the proper track—
Boom!
A crimson figure shot over like a cannonball, heavily crashing into the water surface. With a thunderous sound, a water column surged skyward. Hidden Mist Village had waterways throughout and numerous ponds—the geographical advantage possessed by Mist ninja skilled in Water Release techniques.
However, at this moment, all the Mist ninja stared in shock at the crimson figure crawling from the water and releasing an angry roar. This person was entirely wrapped in scarlet chakra. Four scarlet tails swayed chaotically behind them. The entire figure released extremely strong oppressive force. The violent, frenzied aura made everyone exceptionally uncomfortable.
This figure that flew back like a cannonball was unmistakably Six-Tails Jinchuriki Hayama, who'd rushed out ahead moments ago.
The next instant, the crimson figure shot out again. One could see humanity barely remained. Now moving completely like a beast on all fours, after closing the distance with that exceptionally massive Wood Human, he suddenly lowered his form, then pushed off forcefully with all four limbs. Like springs loaded in his feet, he leaped viciously upward and heavily collided with the Wood Human's raised palm. The tremendous impact made the Wood Human's form sway. To maintain balance, it even had to retreat one step.
Moreover, this time he wasn't swatted away by the Wood Human. His arms rapidly coiled around the Wood Human's arm like two serpents, releasing highly corrosive liquid from within. The Wood Human's right arm was instantly corroded full of holes. Three fingers broke off and fell toward the ground below.
Standing atop the Wood Human's head, Ritsu raised an eyebrow and murmured, "The Six-Tails jinchuriki? Not bad ability!"
A qualified jinchuriki's combat power like this was truly formidable. Even if they couldn't perfectly control the tailed beast's power, merely controlling partial power was already sufficient to display extremely powerful combat capability. Tailed beast chakra granted them defense that could withstand high-level jutsu strikes, lightning-fast movement speed, and distinctively powerful offensive abilities.
The Six-Tails jinchuriki was a vivid example.
Being swatted away by the Wood Human's palm hadn't resulted in broken bones and torn tendons, becoming a mass of breathless pulp. With just a roll, he stood up and launched an attack as though nothing happened, using the "corrosion" power the Six-Tails possessed to make the Wood Human's arm decay and rot.
Moreover, after corroding damage to the Wood Human's right arm, he displayed monkey-like agility, rapidly climbing up along the Wood Human's body. Standing on the Wood Human's shoulder, he extended both arms again to an incredible length and grabbed toward Ritsu.
Hayama's consciousness was still struggling to maintain clarity, not overwhelmed by the tailed beast chakra's massive, violent aura. So his target remained consistently Ritsu standing atop the Wood Human's head.
Watching the crimson claws reaching toward him, Ritsu remained calm and unhurried. From both palms, brilliant blue high-density chakra suddenly emerged, blazing intensely like roaring flames, instantly forming into lion head shapes.
The Hyuga clan Gentle Fist style's secret advanced technique—Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists.
His palms struck out fiercely, moving like thunder, directly batting away those crimson claws. But in just this instant of contact, he detected fierce consumption of his own chakra. The lion heads on both palms dimmed during collision to the point of nearly shattering. But with timely chakra replenishment, they ultimately avoided the Six-Tails' chakra directly touching his skin.
Ritsu's gaze sharpened slightly. This was his first time directly facing a tailed beast's power, and it gave him a small unexpected shock.
The domineering nature of tailed beast chakra truly exceeded his calculations somewhat. It possessed extremely intense erosive properties. Even though he'd twice used the Chimera Technique to seize the Kaguya clan and Senju clan bloodlines, greatly increasing his own chakra quality far beyond ordinary ninja—when facing the Six-Tails' chakra, it still suffered fierce erosion and nearly collapsed directly.
He increased his chakra output. The brilliant blue chakra radiance on both palms grew increasingly bright, repeatedly colliding with those relentlessly pursuing crimson claws, batting them away again and again.
He also took the opportunity to observe and gained some understanding. He silently contemplated: "Tailed beasts are fragments of the Divine Tree's chakra. Their essence is extremely high. Compared to ordinary ninja chakra, it's like magma versus flowing water. When the two meet, the stronger naturally erodes the weaker."
However, erosion wasn't one side absolutely overwhelming the other. The weaker side could also use quantity to compensate for quality disparity. Equal amounts of water would be completely evaporated by magma, but massive amounts of water could also cool and solidify magma.
This comparison wasn't very precise, but the general principle held.
Precisely because of this, when Ritsu increased chakra output to nearly maximum output, he could steadily use Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists to clash head-on with the half-transformed Six-Tails jinchuriki's claws constructed entirely from tailed beast chakra without falling into disadvantage.
But merely this only allowed contending with the Six-Tails jinchuriki.
Ritsu's thoughts turned. Compared to the First Hokage who could easily subdue tailed beasts with the Wood Human Technique, his own Wood Human Technique still seemed somewhat insufficient. Something seemed lacking.
Of course, this problem might temporarily be difficult to find a clear answer to. Because he didn't understand what mysteries the First Hokage's Wood Release possessed. So he could only temporarily set it aside for later research.
What needed doing right now was finding a way to quickly subdue the Six-Tails jinchuriki.
At this time, because the Six-Tails jinchuriki's relentless entanglement, Ritsu had to concentrate on meeting the attack with no attention to spare controlling the Wood Human. The massive wooden figure stood motionless in place.
At the same time, battles in other locations successively erupted.
Minato looked at the robust man with reddish-brown short hair appearing before him and narrowed his eyes slightly. Corresponding intelligence surfaced in his mind. He asked aloud, "Might you be the Mist Tengu?"
Opposite him, Kirishima Rento grinned upon hearing this. "How rare! Even a young person like you has heard of this old man's outdated reputation?"
Minato's expression was solemn. He didn't look down on this person despite their considerable age. This old man was a powerhouse from approximately the same era as the Third—hailing from Hidden Mist Village's prestigious Kirishima clan, inheriting the Boil Release bloodline limit. Because he'd once instantly taken over ten enemy lives in the mist, he'd earned the nickname "Mist Tengu."
"Elder senior, I have heard of your great name. However, wouldn't it be better for elder senior to honestly stay home enjoying retirement? Why wade into these muddy waters?"
Minato kept saying "elder senior," appearing polite and courteous, but these words sounded exceptionally grating.
Sure enough, Kirishima Rento was angered into laughter. He said coldly, "Konoha brat, more words are useless. I've heard you learned the Second Hokage's Flying Thunder God technique and are called the Yellow Flash. Then let's try it! See if your flash can be faster than me—"
Before the old man finished speaking, Minato unceremoniously threw a three-pronged kunai at Kirishima Rento. The robust elder slightly tilted his head and dodged the kunai's trajectory. The next instant, Minato's figure appeared at his side, gripping a kunai and stabbing toward Kirishima Rento's neck.
But—
The kunai stabbed empty air.
White vapor erupted from all of Kirishima Rento's pores. His entire body instantly moved forward, evading Minato's attack. His body erupted vapor again, viciously charging toward Minato like a train at full speed.
He seemed to teleport, charging over ten meters in one breath.
He also struck empty air.
Minato's figure had returned to the original position, gripping the three-pronged kunai, looking thoughtfully at Kirishima Rento with white vapor swirling around him. "As expected—the internal application method of Boil Release bloodline limit. Elder senior has truly practiced this move to a terrifying degree!"
In conventional understanding, Boil Release bloodline limit was an offensive bloodline limit that could spit out highly corrosive vapor to destroy physical objects. But beyond this conventional knowledge, Boil Release bloodline limit had another extremely special internal application method.
This method abandoned the corrosive properties contained in the vapor, instead deeply mining the explosive force when vapor erupted. By circulating it inside the ninja's body, it could burst out with extremely fast speed and tremendous strength in an instant!
The reason Hiruko selected Boil Release bloodline limit as his target was precisely because he valued this internal application method's extreme speed capability to compensate for his own speed shortcomings.
Kirishima Rento turned around, looking at Minato. He also clicked his tongue in wonder. "The nickname Yellow Flash truly fits perfectly. Your speed is genuinely like lightning. I feel that if I'm even an instant slower, you'll take my life!"
Hearing this, Minato smiled faintly. "You flatter me. You're the one who surprised me. At such an advanced age, your hands and feet are still so nimble. It truly makes one feel regretful. Wouldn't peacefully spending your later years be good? Why squander your own life?"
One had to say, Minato's mouth was as though dipped in poison, making the old man nearly suffer a heart attack from listening.
However, Kirishima Rento had no leisure to refute. Because the instant those words fell, Minato threw over ten three-pronged kunai like scattering flowers.
The next instant, Minato's figure appeared behind Kirishima Rento. Kirishima Rento reacted with divine speed, erupting white vapor from his entire body, shifting his body to dodge aside. But in the direction he moved, there were also flying three-pronged kunai.
A yellow flash of light flickered. Minato followed like a shadow, appearing again at Kirishima Rento's side. Simultaneously, his right palm controlled a sphere constructed from high-density, high-speed rotating chakra that released pale blue radiance.
Its name was—Rasengan.
This was an advanced offensive jutsu Minato had independently developed that required no hand seals and could be instantly deployed.
On the night the Hyuga clan launched their uprising, Minato had used this move against Ritsu. But Ritsu had blocked it using the Shikotsumyaku's power, suffering only minor injuries.
However, Kirishima Rento didn't possess the offense-and-defense integrated Shikotsumyaku bloodline limit. When the Rasengan was pressed against his left forearm by Minato, his arm released the crisp sound of shattering bones. His entire body flew sideways like a baseball struck by a bat.
****
50+advance chapters at patreon.com/Eatinpieces