"Are you really going to let him leave just like that?"
Sasori stared coldly in the direction Orochimaru had gone.
Hearing that, Souya glanced at Sasori. He hadn't expected this guy to have no respect for agreements either...
How times had changed...
But Souya had indeed let Orochimaru go because he wanted to keep working with him. After all, Orochimaru could be called the "father (or mother) of science" in the Ninja World.
Orochimaru's involvement was needed for the research and development of many projects.
Besides, Sunagakure's people had never been particularly honorable to begin with, so Souya had no qualms about breaking faith with an enemy.
"Yeah, let him go. There'll be plenty of things we need to work with him on in the future." Souya rubbed his face vigorously to clear his head.
After skimming through the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu, Souya realized it was basically the original version. If someone used the jutsu formula as written to summon the dead, they would have only a fraction of their former strength and would be difficult to control.
Orochimaru was probably still busy researching Living Corpse Reincarnation. After all, immortality was what he wanted most at this point.
Of course, it was also possible that Orochimaru had already started improving the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu, but had only given Souya the original version.
Getting the Summoning Contract for Ryūchi Cave so easily was an unexpected bonus.
Souya reckoned that Orochimaru probably hadn't discovered Ryūchi Cave's true secrets yet.
That meant he'd underestimated the value of the Summoning Contract.
Souya remembered that when Orochimaru later discovered Ryūchi Cave, the side effects of Living Corpse Reincarnation had left him unable to train in Sage Mode.
As for that snake summoning scroll, it might have been passed down through his family.
After all, no normal family would name their child Orochimaru...
"Let's head over to Kikyo Mountain and take a look. I have a bad feeling about this!" Souya put his excitement aside.
The war wasn't over yet!
"Th-this is the Yellow Flash, all right..."
The Sunagakure Ninja stared in horror at the blond young man across from them.
They saw only blurred streaks of yellow flashing past, and then their comrades fell one by one. Even the blood spraying from their wounds seemed unable to react in time.
His razor-sharp attacks could pierce any defense in the Ninja World. The famed Yellow Flash could even soar through space and time!
"Looks like the Iwa and Kumo ninja were right about him... Human-wave tactics are useless against him!" The Third Kazekage could only vent his frustration by skewering three Konoha Ninja who hadn't managed to retreat in time.
"Retreat! From now on, if you encounter the Yellow Flash, abandon your mission and flee immediately, no matter what it is! No one will be held responsible!" The Kazekage issued the same order as the other villages.
"Run!"
"Get out of here!"
The Sunagakure Ninja fled in a panicked swarm.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The Kazekage beat his Iron Sand Wings and flew in front of Minato Namikaze.
In the brief moment just before, another flash of yellow had claimed the life of yet another Sunagakure Ninja.
The Kazekage looked at the dozens of bodies of young Sunagakure Ninja on the ground and ground his teeth in anger.
They were the backbone of Sunagakure!
"Lord Kazekage, how about we call it a day?" Minato Namikaze glanced at the Sunagakure Ninja fleeing like startled birds and beasts.
"Hah! You killed all these people right under my nose, and now you want to call it a day?!" The Kazekage's expression darkened as he abruptly formed Hand Seals.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Shower!"
A dense ring of Iron Sand appeared out of thin air beside the Kazekage, rippling like waves. The Iron Sand condensed into fine needles that shot toward Minato Namikaze.
Clang! Clang...
Minato Namikaze's figure flashed and vanished from where he stood. The needles sank deep into the tree trunks behind him.
The Third Kazekage turned with him, firing rows of Iron Sand needles in every direction.
The Third Kazekage hadn't been idle earlier. He had already memorized the positions of the Kunai inscribed with special formulas.
After a brief exchange, the Kazekage had figured out that Minato Namikaze's "teleportation" could only take him to the Kunai.
If so, then all he had to do was attack every Kunai at once.
Clink! Clink! Clink...
Sure enough, Minato Namikaze appeared behind the Kazekage's right side. Caught off guard, he could only swing his Kunai to deflect the needles, producing a series of sharp clinks.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Triangular Prism!"
The moment the Kazekage spotted Minato Namikaze, he rapidly formed Hand Seals. The Iron Sand needles beside Minato Namikaze rose into the air at once.
They rapidly grew in size, trembling slightly as they did.
"Hmm? So this is magnetism?" Minato Namikaze furrowed his brow. He immediately sensed the Kazekage's hidden technique.
An increasingly powerful magnetic force enveloped him, attempting to restrain his movements.
Several half-meter-long triangular prisms had appeared around Minato Namikaze without him noticing. Under the Third Kazekage's control, they all plunged diagonally toward him at the center.
The triangular prisms gleamed with a chilling light and moved at tremendous speed, accompanied by a faint whistling sound. It was easy to imagine that anyone struck by them would die on the spot.
Bang!
Looking closely, just as the pointed tips of the prisms were about to pierce Minato Namikaze, his body vanished again, leaving only the poor patch of yellow earth behind.
The Kazekage furrowed his brow. He hadn't expected magnetism to be unable to restrain this man's Space-Time Ninjutsu...
His techniques were powerful and covered a wide area, but he had run into someone as agile as Minato Namikaze. For the moment, the Kazekage couldn't think of a good way to deal with him.
"Magnet Release: Gold Dust Waves!"
Boom!
Suddenly, a massive wave of Gold Dust surged from the forest to the left. The onrushing Gold Sand rose in waves more than a meter high, completely transforming the terrain.
Minato Namikaze vanished once again. The next moment, he was standing sideways in the middle of a tree trunk, beyond the reach of the Gold Dust.
Thud!
The next instant, a long, thick black iron spear shot toward him.
The massive trunk was pierced through, leaving a gaping hole, but Minato Namikaze, who had been standing on it, had vanished again.
The Kazekage beat his black Iron Wings and took the opportunity to fly into the air.
Then he abruptly pressed his palms together, sending out a hidden ripple of air that spread in every direction.
The Kazekage continued to weave Hand Seals, forming a massive Iron Sand Cuboid in midair.
In an instant, the Kazekage pointed downward. The special Kunai within a radius of dozens of meters were all pulled together by the magnetic force and clumped into a ball.
The Kazekage steeled himself. This time, he had used magnetism to cut off every escape route Minato Namikaze had.
With a view from above, the Kazekage quickly spotted Minato Namikaze again and swept out his hand.
The enormous Iron Sand Cuboid hurtled toward Minato Namikaze with a powerful magnetic force, whistling through the air!
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