The giant spiral sword tore through the air, wrapped in a hurricane and chakra torrent that crushed everything, crashing down with a boom!
The shadow instantly swallowed the small figures below, and the cold wind of death throttled everyone's throats.
They looked up at that ruin-bringing disaster, the final radiance within their pupils thoroughly extinguishing; even their survival instinct was thoroughly crushed by this absolute pressure, leaving behind only a resignation-like dead silence.
Precisely at this hairsbreadth, life-and-death-deciding instant!
"Shoo!"
A kunai engraved with a special rune appeared above the heads of the rioters without any warning, and space subsequently generated a minute ripple.
Following closely behind, a figure abruptly appeared out of thin air at the position of the kunai!
The coming person had flying golden hair and a straight and erect posture; the very instant he appeared, a massive chakra energy ball had already condensed within his right palm, its piercing blue light violently rotating!
Without the slightest hesitation, he used the energy ball within his hand to boldly meet that whirlwind spiral giant sword!
"Big Ball Rasengan!"
An ear-deafening booming roar tore through the horizon!
At the precise instant when Shisui's spiral sword and Minato's Big Ball Rasengan crashed into each other with a boom, it was as if stars exploded.
Wild energy instantly burst forth, turning into a substantive hurricane wrapped with broken stones and dust, sweeping transversely toward all directions with a destroying-dry-weeds-and-smashing-rotten-wood momentum!
The Uchiha ninjas watching the battle below were small like mole-crickets and ants before this world-destroying aftermath.
They did not even have time to think; their survival instinct had already driven their entire body's chakra to pour crazily toward the soles of their feet, dead-absorbing the ground, only then barely avoiding the destiny of being swept away like falling leaves by this destructive storm.
The shockwave produced by the explosion continued to rage, the piercing strong light and tumbling smoke and dust obscuring the field of vision.
Not knowing how much time passed, that world-destroying energy storm then gradually quieted down, leaving behind a battlefield covered with deep wounds.
The smoke and dust had not yet completely dispersed; a golden flowing light landed at the absolute forefront of the battlefield.
The dust settled, revealing that signature golden short hair that appeared slightly disheveled within the wind, as well as that white Haori symbolizing identity and responsibility floating along with the wind behind his back.
Upon the robe, the five vigorous black characters "Fourth Hokage" were exceptionally eye-catching, announcing the identity of the comer.
Konoha's Fourth Hokage, Minato.
His straight and erect figure was like a barrier, guarding the surviving Uchiha clan members behind his back.
At this moment, what surged within the hearts of those being guarded was not gratitude, but rather an difficult-to-describe, near-absurd sense of comicality.
Just moments ago, they were actually hanging by a thread beneath the sword of that Shisui, who was praised as a genius not met with in a hundred years within the clan.
And at this moment, the one pulling them back from the edge of death was precisely that Fourth Hokage Minato whom they had for a long time, either explicitly or implicitly, viewed as a bandit enemy and even plotted to overthrow!
This massive contrast caused them all to be a bit at a loss for what to do.
Even those clan members who were secretly planted with hints by Obito also stopped at this moment.
The pride of the Uchiha clan that penetrated deep into their bones made them unable to do such a matter as launching a sneak attack from behind upon this Hokage who stepped forward to protect them.
Their self-esteem absolutely would not allow them to perform such a despicable conduct!
Thus, everyone stood frozen at the original place, complex gazes interweaving between Minato's back figure and that giant green Susanoo far away.
"Enough, Shisui," Minato's voice was steady and clear, his gaze looking straight at that young genius wrapped within the giant green Susanoo energy entity.
"They are ultimately a member of Konoha. Having committed a mistake, they naturally ought to receive punishment, but the guilt... has not yet reached death."
At the same time, deep within that pair of azure eyes of his, a strand of difficult-to-conceal marvel also flitted across.
This Susanoo before his eyes fostered by the Mangekyō Sharingan, the absolute defense and destructive power it displayed indeed surpassed his previous estimation.
"Hokage-sama!" From the interior of Susanoo traveled Shisui's voice.
That voice still maintained the respect due toward the Hokage, but it also bled a determination that allowed no room for doubt.
"This is an internal matter of our Uchiha clan! Raising a slaughter blade toward their own bloodline compatriots has already predestined their outcome; they can only repay it with their lives! This is the awareness they should have had when they acted!"
The will of the two collided intensely in the air, words transforming into the clash of invisible swords and blades.
Minato explained with emotion and moved with reason, attempting to quiet down this tragedy of brothers operating weapons against each other;
Shisui conversely did not yield a single step, firmly guarding the iron law of maintaining clan regulations.
Time passed within the standoff; persuasion and refutation were both unable to shake the other party by a single fraction.
Ultimately, Minato let out a long and heavy sigh.
He no longer attempted to convince Shisui; instead, he slowly turned his body around, his gaze sweeping across those Uchiha faces behind him whose countenances were complex and whose spirits were not yet settled from shock, ordering in a deep voice: "You all, step back."
This command cast another giant boulder into the already complex mind-lake of the crowd.
"We... are actually being protected by the Hokage?"
The sense of absurdity brought by this thought was even more intense than before.
Someone subconsciously wished to refute, wishing to roar out "We do not need your hypocritical protection!"
However, their gaze touching that emerald-green titan far away radiating a terrifying pressure, feeling that naked killing intent, all words got stuck within their throats.
The fear of reality and the survival instinct ultimately let them retreat backward.
The center of the battlefield was instantly cleared out.
Leaving behind only the golden figure of the Fourth Hokage Minato, standing facing from afar that mountain-lofty Susanoo which symbolized the supreme military force of the Uchiha clan.
This messy stretch of ruins at this moment became the final stage for the collision of two top-tier powerhouses.
A duel deciding everyone's destiny was a-touch-and-it-will-erupt.
Shisui was the first to launch an attack; that green Susanoo arm held high, the spiral sword wrapped with wild chakra sliced through the long sky, wrapped in a majesty that tore apart everything, chopping down right toward Minato's head!
The sword edge had not yet arrived, yet countless matchlessly sharp wind blades had already shot out in advance; the air was cut into sharp hisses, surging like covering the sky and blanketing the earth toward the position where Minato was located, bound to grind him into fine dust!
Facing this unavoidable, sharp offensive, not the slightest panic was seen within Minato's pupils.
His wrist shook, a kunai engraved with a special rune transformed into a dot of cold star and left his hand, while both hands instantly completed hand seals before his chest!
"Ninjutsu: Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"
That specially made kunai abruptly multiplied in the air! In a flash, thousands of kunai flashing with faint blue chakra flowing light manifested out of thin air, like green meteors flowing upward against the current, meeting the sky-covering wind blades with incomparable precision!
Boom! Clang! Clang! Clang!
The wind blades and the kunai group crashed with a boom in midair! The ear-piercing sound of metal clashing and the violent energy explosion sound interwove into one patch, air waves tumbling and smoke and dust filling everywhere.
However, this was merely the prelude to the storm.
Shisui's eyes turned sharp, chakra once more spraying out wildly!
One could see that giant spiral sword violently begin to rotate at high speed, and upon the sword body, a raging flame actually ignited with a "thud"!
The fire was no ordinary fire, displaying a dazzling orange-gold color and radiating a terrifying high temperature that burned down all things!
"Slash!"
Accompanied by Shisui's mental thought, the spiral giant sword burning with raging flames, with a mountain-opening and sea-splitting momentum and carrying a sharp, ear-piercing rotating air-breaking sound, stabbed straight toward Minato!
At the same time, the sky-covering fire rain flung down from the sword body poured down, instantly transforming the space of dozens of meters around Minato into a patch of purgatory fire-sea!
Raging flames licked the earth, rocks melted, the air distorted, and the blazing air wave steamed up, thoroughly blockading all routes of evasion; this strike was a absolute kill of power and range!
Rumble-rumble-rumble!
The spiral sword boldly stabbed into the earth, and the raging flames subsequently swallowed everything wildly.
The scorching air current, mixed with splashing molten rock fragments, impacted toward all four directions.
"Did it hit?!"
The Uchiha clan members watching the battle from afar could not help but hold their breath, their eyes staring perfectly round.
Their mood was complex to the absolute limit.
They both hoped to see the Mangekyō Sharingan that the Uchiha took pride in display an ultra-strong majesty, yet feared that Shisui at this moment wanted to take their lives.
Worrying for Minato? At the bottom of their hearts, there was conversely a strand of resistance that could not be explained clearly or spoken of explicitly.
But no matter what, when witnessing with their own eyes this world-destroying-like Susanoo power, the desire and fanaticism toward the Mangekyō power deep within their eyes, as if poured with hot oil, burned up ragingly!
However, Shisui not only did not have half a fraction of slackness upon his face, but was conversely solemn to the limit.
His crimson Mangekyō Sharingan dead-locked onto the tumbling fire-sea and smoke and dust at the place where the sword fell, his entire body's perception power crazily scanning every single inch of space and every single thread of chakra fluctuation around!
Hum!
A thread of difficult-to-notice yet deadly spatial ripple quietly swung open behind his back!
"What?! When...?!" Alarm bells rang masterfully within Shisui's heart, his pupils abruptly shrinking! Flying Thunder God Technique!
He naturally knew Minato possessed this time-space ninjutsu that crowned the entire ninja world, but when exactly and at what place did the opponent lay down the specially made kunai serving as a coordinate?
"Could it be...!"
In the spark-and-flint instant, he instantly understood; it was precisely just now when the wind blades and the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique intensely collided, at the exact moment when the strong light and chakra turbulent flow generated by the explosion were at their peak!
Minato precisely utilized this natural "smoke bomb," without god knowing and without ghost perceiving scattering the Flying Thunder God kunai to various places across the battlefield!
Hoo!
The golden figure appeared out of thin air behind the giant spine of Susanoo like a ghost; it was precisely Minato!
His movement did not have the slightest delay; at the same time he revealed his form, both hands had long since completed the complicated seal formulas!
"Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere!"
In an instant, an invisible wind sphere harboring a terrifying compressed power instantly condensed and shaped!
The interior of the wind sphere was the ultimate vacuum, while the edge consisted of high-speed rotating wind blades sufficient to tear apart steel!
This strand of destructive energy fiercely bombarded upon that green energy armor of Susanoo that appeared unbreakable!
Boom!!!
An ear-deafening giant roar exploded!
Wild Wind Nature chakra crazily smashed down like countless invisible giant hammers!
The air wave formed a shockwave visible to the naked eye that expanded crazily, blowing the Uchiha clan members watching the battle far away so hard they nearly stood unstable.
However, when the raging storm gradually calmed down and the smoke and dust slowly dispersed...
Within that pair of blue eyes of Minato that were calm like water, a strand of difficult-to-conceal shock flitted across for the first time.
One could see that Susanoo, which suffered the frontal bombardment of a Wind Release of such power, its giant body was merely pushed by the impact force to sway minutely; upon that brilliant green armor surface, there were also merely a few minor cracks, nothing more!
"This defensive power... is truly astonishing!" Minato was also grim within his heart.
The battle was far from over!
Right at the time he was surprised, three ferociously roaring scarlet giant dragons tore through the air, wrapped in a terrifying heat wave that burned down all things, pouncing straight toward Minato's face!
"Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!"
Facing this destructive attack sufficient to melt gold and transform iron, Minato's golden figure did not have the slightest hesitation, instantly transforming into a thread of flowing light difficult to capture, vanishing from the original place.
Flying Thunder God Technique!
However, all of this appeared to be within Shisui's expectation.
That pair of crimson Mangekyō Sharingan of his calmly scanned the battlefield, capturing every single thread of anomaly in space.
Without the slightest pause, new Fire Release ninjutsu blossomed from his hands once more, like a continuous volcanic eruption, madly bombing toward the spatial coordinates where Minato might appear.
Appearing to wish to use absolute firepower suppression to compress the evasion space of the Flying Thunder God!
What caused Minato to feel even more troublesome was that giant Susanoo towering within the flames!
Its defense was unbreakable; Minato's swift-as-lightning attacks fell upon it, only stirring up bursts of ripple-like chakra fluctuations, yet being difficult to shake its foundation.
For a time, Minato, who was praised as the "Yellow Flash," was actually suppressed by this offense-and-defense-integrated tactic, faintly falling into a disadvantage.
The intensity of the battle had already climbed to the peak of turning white-hot!
When Minato once more relied upon the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport and evade, an intense-to-the-point-of-suffocating burning sensation instantly wrapped him.
His brows locked tightly, finally seeing clearly the changes of the battlefield; not knowing when, this area had thoroughly transformed into a tumbling fire-sea hell!
Raging flames licked the earth, the air distorted because of the high temperature, the ground was baked to the point of cracking inch by inch, and the frightening temperature could even melt common steel into iron water!
This was by no means an accident!
Minato instantly understood; this was precisely the killing setup Shisui meticulously arranged!
This everywhere-present fire of purgatory enormously restricted the effective role range of his Flying Thunder God kunai.
The originally vast space was blockaded by the scorching flames, and the coordinate points available for him to safely leap became countable by fingers.
What was even more deadly was that, toward Shisui who possessed Mangekyō dynamic vision, this extremely compressed movement range was already completely beneath his terrifying observation power's coverage!
The coming-and-going-like-a-ghost that the Flying Thunder God relied upon to become famous was within this environment enormously weakened.
"Utilizing the environment to restrict the Flying Thunder God? Truly a not-bad tactic." Minato could not help but nod his head.
If it were not for the fact that this was a frontal confrontation concerning the Hokage's dignity that could not be escaped, this kind of tactic would not have much use against him, because the role range of the Flying Thunder God was not something the other party was capable of restricting.
But at this moment, as Konoha's Fourth Hokage, bearing the faith of all people, he could only meet the difficulty and go up, frontally crushing the opponent!
The golden figure stood erect at the edge of the fire-sea, Minato's gaze penetrating the raging flames, looking at Shisui far away.
Especially upon that single crack of the Susanoo around his body; originally he wanted to continue grinding a bit more, but looking at it now, the final general offensive must be moved forward!
The next instant, he vanished once more without any warning, actively launching an attack toward Susanoo!