Hyuga Shin Escapes?! Namikaze Minato Long Drives Straight In!

Su Nuo disposed of the Cloud Village Special Jonin, and the surrounding area fell into dead silence, broken only by a gentle breeze stirring the blood on the ground.

He stretched his body, raised a hand, and blue light bloomed.

A vast number of dead souls were absorbed by Su Nuo.

The Cloud Village's Lightning Release techniques... many of them were already under Su Nuo's control.

"Hyuga Shin's chakra affinities are Water, Yin, and Lightning."

"But I can use Fire..."

"Using cursed energy to strengthen the body—in this world, that's a chakra mode, boosting speed and power."

"Right now, I'm probably at about three fingers' worth of strength."

"Combat power keeps rising... not bad."

Su Nuo felt the power now contained in this body, and his heart was filled with exhilaration.

Those Fuinjutsu, under the assault of his mighty cursed energy, were torn apart like paper, while his injuries healed instantly under the effect of Reverse Cursed Technique.

A complete victory in the information war...

If the enemy knew his intel, they would be an absolute pain to deal with.

These Cloud Village ninjas were battle-hardened, not only skilled but also strong-willed.

But...

They didn't know Su Nuo could break Fuinjutsu; they didn't know Su Nuo had Reverse Cursed Technique to recover from injuries; and they didn't know Su Nuo could unleash sharp slashes without hand seals.

To cause such massive casualties was a remarkable feat...

"Hmph, overestimating themselves... but the Third Raikage would be a bit troublesome."

"If I use Fukuma Mizushi, I can take him down. Without expanding the domain... just using the current 'Lightning Release,' 'Fire Release,' 'Genjutsu,' and 'Fuinjutsu'... it'd be a little tricky."

Su Nuo let out a cold laugh, his gaze shifting toward Konoha.

"Next..."

"I'll create the scenario where 'Hyuga Shin, after being captured, killed the Cloud ninjas and escaped on his own.'"

"After that, I'll let those Konoha people know... Hyuga Shin isn't so easy to sacrifice..."

"First the Hyuga Main House, then the Konoha High Command."

"But since I'm out anyway, I might as well have some fun. No need to be too tense about missions and such..."

Su Nuo stroked his chin, then began strolling leisurely...

And honestly, the species in this ninja world were quite diverse. Su Nuo had a great barbecue plan in mind for the wildlife out here.

Meanwhile.

Namikaze Minato led the Konoha ninja force, racing toward the direction of the Cloud Village ninjas.

Along the way, the ninjas wore grim expressions.

This operation wasn't just about rescuing Hyuga Shin—it was about upholding Konoha's dignity and honor.

They would never allow... a War Hero to die like this!

Minato's figure was at the front of the formation, like a golden flash, constantly using Flying Thunder God Technique to move quickly while keenly sensing and scouting ahead.

"Everyone, speed up! We must find them before the Cloud ninjas transfer Hyuga Shin!"

Whoosh—

A skirmish erupted instantly.

The Cloud Village ninjas weren't fools; they had prepared for an ambush, leaving behind a massive number of traps!

The battle broke out in an instant!

Yet the Cloud ninjas fought while retreating.

Simple reason: there was one man here—Namikaze Minato!

The Cloud ninjas had received orders.

If Minato didn't appear, they could trade blows with the Konoha ninjas.

But once the Golden Reaper showed up on the battlefield, they were to withdraw immediately!

However.

Even so.

Minato, relying on Flying Thunder God Technique, weaved through the enemy ranks with ease, his Kunai leaving afterimages as each strike claimed the life of a Cloud ninja.

"Damn it! He's too strong! We can't win no matter what we do!"

"At least buy time! Hold off these damned Konoha ninjas!"

"Hit them hard! Blast them with Lightning Release! Set the forest on fire! Detonate the Explosive Tags, now!"

The Cloud Village ninjas roared, unleashing various techniques to resist.

For a time, the battle of attrition raged fiercely.

Flames shot into the sky, explosions rang out endlessly.

And this was just one skirmish.

Namikaze Minato had launched a full-scale blitzkrieg.

In the heat of battle, his combat skills grew ever sharper, his chakra control reaching peak efficiency, with vastly improved output.

Until his chakra was nearly spent.

Minato had already cut through several waves of Cloud ninja sent to delay him.

By now, they had pushed deep into the Cloud Village position.

Everyone was catching their breath, recovering chakra.

Yet.

Minato learned something while interrogating a prisoner...

"What!"

"Hyuga Shin is missing?"

The captured Cloud ninja had been beaten past his limit, his morale utterly shattered.

After all, the Golden Reaper had stained his hands with too many lives, instilling deep terror in them.

"That's right..." the Cloud ninja said. "The ninja who was supposed to receive him never showed up... When they went looking, all they found were corpses. The cage holding Hyuga Shin had been cut open by a Wind Release user."

"Now... a lot of Cloud ninja are out searching for Hyuga Shin too. They probably have leads by now. It seems Hyuga Shin killed some people and drew a lot of attention."

Where was he? Where had Hyuga Shin gone?

Minato frowned deeply.

But inwardly, he felt a grudging respect.

Hyuga Shin... you're remarkable! To think that even as a prisoner, you managed to turn the tables and kill your captors. That must have been fraught with danger...

Now Minato grew even more anxious.

"Lord Minato!" A follower handed him a bowl of soup.

"Thank you." Minato drank the hot soup, recovering some strength.

Then he set off again at full speed.

Not far ahead, he spotted Konoha ninja locked in battle with the enemy.

Minato landed, his face filled with shock.

At that moment.

Uchiha Miya spat a mouthful of flesh and blood from a Cloud ninja's neck onto the ground. The thick, sticky mess of blood and meat came out together, and combined with his eerie, sinister Three Tomoe Sharingan, it made for an unsettling sight.

"Namikaze Minato..."

Having just awakened, Miya had formed a squad with other Uchiha ninja and charged to the front lines. In battle, he had broken through his limits, cutting down multiple Cloud squads. But he never expected to run into Minato here.

"Thank you..."

Uchiha Miya offered his thanks.

"Thank you... for coming to rescue Hyuga Shin."

"Your chakra is almost gone. Be careful—leave this to me!"

Minato hurried over to support Uchiha Miya.

Uchiha Miya looked at Minato and nodded.

After several battles, Uchiha Miya, already in poor condition, fell unconscious for the second time.

"Take care of him. We're all comrades of the village!" Minato said.

Then.

Minato charged forward once more, throwing himself into the fight.

The Cloud Village ninja were now spread thin.

And internal divisions had emerged.

One side argued for uniting to face Minato head-on.

The other insisted on diverting manpower to hunt down Hyuga Shin.