"Young Kushina Uzumaki!"
"Do you know that you are doing something very dangerous?"
Yagyu drooped his eyelids, staring lazily at Kushina Uzumaki.
With a flash of light, Yagyu's body turned into light particles. In an instant, he appeared beside Kushina Uzumaki and kicked her without a word.
Light Speed Kick!
Although Yagyu held back his strength, Kushina Uzumaki was still sent flying by his kick.
"Really now!"
"Every single one of you likes to court death. No wonder the Senju and Uzumaki clans are almost extinct!"
"Acting recklessly like this... you'll have to apologize to the Sage of Six Paths in the future, you know?"
Yagyu spoke lazily, raising his hand and firing a laser beam at Kushina Uzumaki.
Come to think of it, the Sage of Six Paths was truly pitiful.
The grand founder of Ninshu, who continued to protect the ninja world with his chakra for a thousand years after his death, almost had his lineage cut off. Can you believe it?
Just look at the original story.
The Senju clan was down to just Tsunade, and she happened to be an old maid. Once she kicked the bucket, the Senju clan would be finished.
The Uchiha clan wasn't much better off, leaving only Sasuke Uchiha and Sarada Uchiha as a single line of descent.
The Uzumaki clan was in the same boat. Karin Uzumaki didn't marry, and Naruto Uzumaki only had two kids. Reviving the clan was a long and arduous task.
The majestic Sage of Six Paths, after worrying for over a thousand years about his descendants, ended up with just these two or three kittens left.
His sons were even worse off than him, especially his second son, Asura. When his chakra reincarnated, he couldn't even find a direct descendant and had to make do with someone from the Uzumaki clan.
Honestly!
For something like chakra reincarnation, it's best to stick to one's own direct descendants.
The two brothers fought for over a thousand years, always as a struggle between the Senju and Uchiha clans.
In the end, the Senju clan unexpectedly bit the dust, so Asura had to settle for someone from the Uzumaki clan.
Boom!
The laser beam hit the ground, causing a violent explosion.
Kushina Uzumaki leaped out from the flames, red Nine-Tails chakra surging around her body for protection.
Kushina Uzumaki wasn't a perfect Jinchuriki, and her relationship with the Nine-Tails was quite poor.
However, she possessed the Uzumaki clan's powerful chakra and sealing jutsu, allowing her to forcibly suppress the Nine-Tails and extract its chakra for her own use.
"Even though I can't hurt you, don't think you can defeat me easily."
Kushina Uzumaki landed in front of Yagyu, speaking arrogantly.
"Nine-Tails chakra cloak? So scary!"
Yagyu exclaimed with exaggeration. He lifted his eyelids, and a sadistic smile suddenly appeared on his face.
"Young Kushina Uzumaki!"
"Have you ever heard of a dish called—Shrimp Heart, Pig Heart (Kill the Heart/Psychological Torture)?"
(Note: "Shrimp Heart, Pig Heart" is a Chinese internet slang homophone for "Kill the person, punish the heart," meaning to add insult to injury or destroy someone psychologically).
Yagyu looked at Kushina Uzumaki with a smile. He had already decided how to deal with these Konoha people.
Killing all of them might not necessarily be a good thing for him.
But letting them off so easily... Yagyu wasn't willing to do that either.
"A half-dead Konoha is a good Konoha!"
"A Konoha constantly plagued by internal strife is the Konoha everyone loves."
Yagyu muttered to himself. His body moved, transforming into golden light, and appeared directly in front of Kushina Uzumaki.
Light Speed Kick!
Nine-Tails Chakra!
Yagyu's leg was wrapped in golden light particles as he delivered a menacing kick toward Kushina Uzumaki.
Not to be outdone, Kushina Uzumaki countered, the red Tailed Beast chakra boiling around her.
Boom!
With one kick, Kushina Uzumaki was sent flying again.
"Too little!"
"Kushina Uzumaki, the Nine-Tails chakra you can mobilize is simply too little."
A slick voice rang out as Yagyu raised his hand and fired another laser beam.
"You bastard..."
Tsunade charged menacingly, while the Third Hokage and the others surrounded him from different directions.
All of them carried Flying Thunder God markings, intending to provide cover for Minato Namikaze.
"Boring tactics!"
"Yata Mirror!"
Yagyu clapped his hands together, and his body dissolved into light. In an instant, he appeared atop a building and delivered a beautiful flying kick, his long leg wrapped in light particles sending a Yamanaka clan Anbu flying.
"Secretly aiming at me... that's not nice!"
Yagyu muttered to himself. He raised his hand, golden light flickering as light particles condensed into an arrow, which pierced toward a distant Yamanaka clan ninja.
"Damn it!"
Minato Namikaze gritted his teeth. Seeing endless golden light enveloping Konoha, he hurriedly took out his sunglasses and put them on.
Boom!
Just as Minato put on his sunglasses, Yagyu appeared in front of him and blasted him away with a Light Speed Kick.
Pfft!
Minato spat out a mouthful of blood, heavily injured by Yagyu's attack.
Yagyu hadn't held back much with this kick, and Minato wasn't exactly a tank-type ninja.
Minato's role was that of an assassin, relying on agility and speed to backstab opponents.
In other words, he was squishy.
"Stop it, all of you!"
Seeing the others still trying to charge forward, Yagyu calmly raised a finger, aiming a spinning cross of golden light at Minato Namikaze.
"Yagyu, don't be reckless!"
The Third Hokage waved his hand, shouting at Yagyu.
"Is the Third Hokage warning me? So scary!"
Yagyu tilted his head back, acting terrified in a way that made the Third Hokage want to punch him.
However, before the Third Hokage could say anything else, Yagyu's expression turned cold, and he said with disdain, "Reckless? If I recall correctly, you were the ones who started this war, right?"
"When you try to assassinate me, it's called 'removing a threat'; when I fight back, it becomes 'being reckless'? Don't flatter yourselves! Who gave you the authority to define the nature of our actions?"
The Third Hokage said in a deep voice, "What do you want?"
Yagyu smiled and said nonchalantly, "Nothing much, I just want to make a trade with you."
Kushina Uzumaki asked impatiently, "What trade?"
Squinting his eyes, Yagyu said, "I want you to release the Nine-Tails and give it one minute of freedom. Do that, and I'll release Minato Namikaze. Otherwise..."
Yagyu raised his hand and pointed at the Hokage Rock nearby. A golden cross of light blasted a huge hole in the monument.
"This is what will happen!"
Yagyu said with a smile, his peripheral vision already noting the changes at the Hokage Rock.
Inside the shattered Hokage Rock was the shelter for the Konoha villagers.
At this moment, panic-stricken faces appeared in the caves within the rock face.
The audience is in place!