Close Victory

Five minutes passed quickly.

Steel Bone rose directly from the ground and looked toward Soji and the other two.

"All right, brats, what's your answer after discussing it?" Steel Bone looked at them with ease, not worried in the slightest that they might launch a surprise attack.

"Our answer? This. Attack!" Minato pretended to think for a moment before immediately signaling Soji and Uchiha Homura to attack.

All warfare was based on deception, especially when their opponent was far stronger than the three of them.

"Hehe, what a pity. In that case, I can only send you to meet your previous Hokage." Watching the three charge at him, Steel Bone chuckled and clenched his fists again.

It was a shame, but since they had no intention of surrendering and joining him, he could only choose to kill them!

However, he did not charge forward himself. These little brats were somewhat troublesome, and he feared they had prepared some kind of trap for him.

He did not believe Soji and the others had spent those five minutes without discussing a way to deal with him before launching this surprise attack.

Therefore, the best choice was to respond to every change by remaining unchanged.

Uchiha Homura attacked first. He pulled two enormous shuriken from his backpack, each with four unfolded blades and a diameter of roughly sixty centimeters.

"Shuriken Great Pinwheel!"

He flung the two enormous shuriken directly at Steel Bone.

Seeing the two Shuriken Great Pinwheels spinning one after the other toward his chest, Steel Bone was not foolish enough to immediately use Steel Release to harden his skin and take them head-on.

Steel Release was a Kekkei Genkai, after all. Hardening his skin and muscles consumed a considerable amount of Chakra.

And if those two massive Shuriken Great Pinwheels struck him, it would not merely be a matter of Chakra consumption. He might even be injured.

Thus, Steel Bone leaped and leaned back, dodging the attacks of both Shuriken Great Pinwheels in succession.

Just as Steel Bone leaned back to evade the second Shuriken Great Pinwheel, the first one he had dodged with a jump earlier went off with a "Bang!"

"Hm?"

The first Shuriken Great Pinwheel had turned into a person—Minato Namikaze.

Before the three had launched their attack, Minato Namikaze had taken the opportunity to use the Shadow Clone Jutsu and the Transformation Jutsu.

He had his Shadow Clone draw Steel Bone's attention from the front, while his real body secretly transformed into a Shuriken Great Pinwheel and hid inside Uchiha Homura's backpack.

And that was how the scene above had unfolded!

"Fuma Shuriken: Shadow Pinwheel," Uchiha Homura said calmly.

Taking advantage of Steel Bone's restricted movement while leaning backward, Minato grabbed the other Shuriken Great Pinwheel and viciously slashed it down at Steel Bone's throat.

Clang—

The Shuriken Great Pinwheel made intimate contact with Steel Bone's throat.

The sound of steel striking steel echoed through the valley for a long while.

"Urgh!"

Steel Bone's entire body was smashed into the ground by Minato's heavy blow, instantly forming a human-shaped crater.

Just as Minato prepared to press the advantage, he discovered that Steel Bone had vanished beneath his feet, leaving behind a bottomless hole in the crater.

Boom!

Crash!

In the distance, Steel Bone burst out of the earth, showering broken stones down from the air.

The moment Minato's Shuriken Great Pinwheel struck his throat, Steel Bone had immediately used Earth Release to move away from his original position.

"Cough, cough... Brats, I have to admit, I greatly underestimated your strength. You actually managed to injure me. You deserve a reward—my reward is sending you to your deaths!" Steel Bone coughed up blood as he glared viciously at Soji and the other two.

He truly had not expected to be reduced to such a sorry state against three brats barely ten years old. He even possessed the Kekkei Genkai known as Steel Release!

"Since they aren't ninja from our village, these brats absolutely cannot be allowed to live!" Steel Bone silently issued a death sentence to Soji and the others.

Even if he died, he would remove these three brats for the village—brats who could bring enormous disaster to Iwagakure in the future.

In Steel Bone's eyes, if Soji and the others grew up, they would undoubtedly become a tremendous threat to Iwagakure.

Then Konoha would continue to stand above the other four great shinobi villages.

That was something Steel Bone, along with the ninja of the other four great shinobi villages, did not wish to see.

It was fine if everyone's strength was roughly equal. Why should Konoha's strength always tower above every other shinobi village?

This had been the lingering shadow hanging over the other four great shinobi villages ever since the village system was established, and that shadow was Konoha!

The four great shinobi villages were actually fortunate that the one who had taken the seat of First Hokage had been the God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju.

If the Shura of the Ninja World, Madara Uchiha, had become the First Hokage, no one knew whether the current structure of the Five Great Shinobi Villages would even still exist.

In those early days when the shinobi village system had just been established, either Hashirama Senju or Madara Uchiha alone could crush the entire ninja world!

What was even more absurd was that the two of them had actually joined forces to establish a village together!

Fortunately, the First Hokage believed in mutual understanding and tolerance between people, rejecting war.

He had even distributed tailed beasts to the other shinobi villages!

During the era when Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha were alive, the entire ninja world had indeed been calm and peaceful.

No fool had dared step forward to challenge the order established by the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha.

Even if such a thickheaded fool had existed, the grass over his grave would probably already be more than three meters tall.

Do not be fooled by the fact that the First Kage of every village accepted the peace agreement proposed by Hashirama Senju. That peace had absolutely been founded on military might!

But after Hashirama Senju died and Madara Uchiha faked his death, that false peace was immediately shattered.

The other four great shinobi villages started wars one after another under all kinds of pretexts. They all wanted a taste of what Konoha had experienced when Hashirama Senju was still alive.

Therefore, when Steel Bone saw that Konoha's younger generation was still so outstanding, a sense of imbalance arose in his heart.

Why weren't such exceptional children from our village? Since they weren't outstanding ninja from our village, there was no need for them to exist.

That was Steel Bone's current state of mind!

"That big guy is injured!" Seeing Steel Bone cough up blood, and hearing that his voice was far hoarser than before, Uchiha Homura said excitedly.

"So it worked. Steel Release cannot make every part of his body equally hard. We can continue with Soji's plan!" Minato was equally delighted to see that his strike had succeeded.

"The throat is one of his weak points. Judging from his voice, Minato clearly injured his vocal cords. That means that even with Steel Release, naturally vulnerable parts of the human body cannot possibly be as hard as his chest!" Soji concluded.

Yes, the Fuma Shuriken: Shadow Pinwheel technique Minato and Uchiha Homura had just used together was merely a test.

They wanted to see whether Steel Bone's Steel Release made every part of his body equally hard.

The facts proved that this was impossible!

And having confirmed that conclusion, they could begin carrying out Soji's somewhat crazy plan.

After all, Soji and the others did not know much about the abilities of Steel Release, so such caution was understandable.

If Minato's strike just now had failed to injure him, they would immediately have abandoned Soji's plan and waited for Kushina Uzumaki to arrive.

If the four of them still could not defeat him together, then their only option would be to flee back and seek Jiraiya's help.

"Brats, die!" Steel Bone roared. No longer waiting for them to attack, he kicked off the ground and charged straight at the three of them.

Bang!

Steel Bone's fist blasted a large crater into the ground in front of Uchiha Homura, who narrowly evaded it.

Steel Bone kept swinging his fists, even attacking Uchiha Homura with both hands and feet, forcing the latter to retreat again and again.

At last, Uchiha Homura was driven to the edge of the cliff wall, with nowhere left to retreat.

Gritting his teeth, Uchiha Homura pulled something from his ninja tool pouch just as Steel Bone's fist hammered toward his chest.

Before the attack landed, Uchiha Homura used the item he had taken out to bind Steel Bone's left wrist.

"You think steel wire can stop my attack? How naive!" Steel Bone exerted force, and his fist pushed forward several more inches, touching Uchiha Homura's chest.

Uchiha Homura immediately spat out a mouthful of blood, splattering it across Steel Bone's arm and chest.

Combined with the dim surroundings, that bloody scene looked especially horrifying.

Steel Bone continued to smile sinisterly, as though he were enjoying the situation.

Just as Steel Bone raised his right hand to punch Uchiha Homura's head apart, Minato Namikaze arrived in time, crossing both arms before his chest to block the strike!

Crack!

The sound of bones breaking came from Minato Namikaze's arms, clearly reaching Steel Bone's ears as he bared his teeth in a savage grin.

That pleasant sound made Steel Bone lick his lips, as though savoring a delicious meal.

The intense pain of both arms breaking made Minato Namikaze frown, but he forcibly held back his scream.

At the same time, ignoring the agonizing pain in his arms, Minato put all his strength into locking down Steel Bone's right hand. Uchiha Homura was already injured and had fought for so long that he could only use the steel wire to restrain Steel Bone's left hand.

Steel Bone tugged at both arms, trying to break free from their restraints.

When he found that he could not manage it for the moment, he raised his right leg, intending to kick the two brats to death one by one.

Then Soji, the only one remaining, moved. He did not use the Gentle Fist. Instead, he rushed forward with a Kunai, reached directly above Steel Bone, and viciously stabbed at his right eye.

"Brat, you're thinking too simply. Even if my hands are restrained, I still have my feet." As he spoke, he flexed his right leg and delivered a full split kick at Soji, who was about to stab his eyeball with the Kunai!

"What?!"

Soji was startled, but it was already too late to defend. His abdomen directly took that powerful kick.

Crack!

"Urgh!"

Pfft!

Several of Soji's ribs were broken by the kick, and he spat a mouthful of blood downward, splattering Steel Bone's entire face!

If anyone had seen this scene, they would definitely have thought Steel Bone looked like a demon!

Soji was kicked straight into the air.

But whether it was Soji, Uchiha Homura, or Minato Namikaze, none of them cared in the slightest, as though the injured ones were not themselves.

Uchiha Homura and Minato still tightly restrained Steel Bone's hands, showing no intention of letting go.

"Hm? You still won't let go?" Steel Bone said mockingly.

"Hmph, you don't have a chance anymore." Enduring the intense pain, Minato Namikaze narrowed his eyes and smiled at Steel Bone.

Steel Bone's raised right foot had not yet touched the ground. Hearing Minato Namikaze's words, he could not help but panic, as though the toll of the Death God had sounded beside his ear.

Sure enough, he heard the final words of his life!

"Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Air Palm!"

A pair of palms struck Steel Bone's crown!

Rumble!

Crash!

The ground beneath Steel Bone collapsed in a three-meter radius around his left foot, and shattered rocks buried him up to his chest.

Minato Namikaze and Uchiha Homura had left the spot a step earlier, so they were not affected by Soji's attack.

After delivering that strike, Soji also used the recoil to move away from Steel Bone.

Landing beside Minato and Uchiha Homura, Soji panted heavily, blood still hanging from the corner of his mouth.

Steel Bone was bleeding from all seven orifices, glaring at Soji and the other two with bloodshot eyes.

Then Steel Bone pressed both hands against the nearby rubble, exerted force, and jumped out of the pit, landing opposite Soji and the others.

This made Soji and the others tense as if facing a great enemy!

"You three... are quite good. If only you were children of Iwagakure..." Steel Bone said, looking at Soji and the others with regret and complicated emotions in his eyes.

Those were also Steel Bone's final words in this world.

After speaking, Steel Bone's entire body fell heavily backward.