Flying Thunder God, Second Stage!

The flames had only just faded when a specially made kunai silently pierced through the Iron Sand Wall.

On closer inspection, a layer of fine Chakra clung to the kunai's surface, shaped into a sharp point. It was clearly the result of highly refined Chakra.

The Iron Sand Wall's defenses were as useless against it as tofu.

Whoosh!

The air seemed to quiver slightly. In the blink of an eye, Minato Namikaze appeared on the inner side of the Iron Sand Wall.

"Flying Thunder God, Second Stage!"

He caught the flying kunai with his left hand. In his right palm, he held a sky-blue sphere of Chakra.

Fine, dense Chakra Threads spun rapidly inside the sphere. This was the unsealed jutsu Minato Namikaze had spent three years perfecting.

"Rasengan!"

Minato's reflexes were astonishingly quick. He thrust the Rasengan in his right hand straight toward Souya's face.

Souya seemed trapped in slow motion. His eyelids opened at an agonizingly slow pace as terror gradually emerged in his eyes.

But this was all because Minato Namikaze was simply too fast!

Souya's mind had only just reacted. He didn't have time to control his body!

If Souya's face were struck head-on by the rapidly spinning Rasengan, his brains would probably be churned as thoroughly as soy milk in a blender, then blasted out through a hole in the back of his head.

Fortunately, a towering shadow suddenly darted between Minato Namikaze and Souya.

Bluish-black liquid flowed over its surface. When the Rasengan touched the liquid, it melted away like snow beneath the blazing sun.

Then the towering figure brought its left hand crashing down!

Clang!

Minato blocked it with the kunai in his left hand.

Only then did he see that the towering figure before him was a Human Puppet!

The puppet stood nearly two and a half meters tall, its entire body gleaming with a bluish-black sheen. On closer inspection, the sheen seemed almost alive, writhing gently across its surface.

The puppet's abdomen, which had just swallowed a Rasengan, had already returned to normal. There was no sign of the ripples that had appeared moments earlier.

The puppet's left hand was shaped like a thick cudgel, its surface studded with small bumps.

Crack!

Suddenly, the bumps on the cudgel's head burst outward, transforming into sharp, protruding spikes that jabbed toward Minato Namikaze's face.

Yet Minato Namikaze remained calm. The instant the spikes were about to hit him, he vanished like a phantasmal mirage, leaving only an afterimage behind.

Still shaken, Souya was intensely focused, his nerves wound tight. In that moment, he had even started seeing his life flash before his eyes!

But just as he grabbed the Starfall Rod to defend himself, Minato Namikaze's figure vanished once more.

Souya's nerves finally relaxed, and he gasped for breath.

"Hah! Hah..."

"Sasori, thank goodness you were here!"

Souya thanked Sasori, who stood behind him to the left. At a crucial moment, Sasori really was the calmer one.

"I just happened to have the puppet beside you. If he'd attacked from the other side, there wouldn't have been anything I could do."

Sasori looked exceptionally grave. He, too, had just witnessed that terrifying speed, which was like "teleportation"!

Souya hurriedly controlled the Gold Cloud to rise higher and move farther from the ground. That would at least keep an enemy from suddenly appearing beside him with a specially made kunai.

Boom!

At some point, the Third Kazekage had begun fighting Jiraiya, controlling a massive Iron Sand Cuboid that hummed as it cut through the air.

Seeing this, Souya decided to hold nothing back. If he didn't fight with everything he had now, he might not get another chance...

Sasori also released the Human Puppet of Raiga Kurosuki. It held the Thunder Blades: Fang, its body wrapped in silver-white lightning as it shot toward Minato Namikaze.

Taking advantage of the opening, Souya controlled the Gold Cloud beneath his feet and flew backward, putting some distance between himself and the enemy.

At the same time, he formed Hand Seals, then braced the Starfall Rod with both thumbs, preparing to channel the Chakra inside it and unleash it.

About a hundred meters from Minato Namikaze, Souya gripped the Starfall Rod with both hands and drove it hard into the ground.

In an instant—

Boom!

The Chakra inside Souya and the Starfall Rod roared out like a great river, dammed for ages, suddenly unleashed in a flood. It poured into the earth in a furious torrent.

Vast quantities of Chakra refined the hard minerals underground, gathering them into solid Gold Sand.

At the same time, the ground in front of Souya erupted with a wave of Gold Sand more than three meters high.

The golden wave surged toward Minato Namikaze, ready to swallow him whole.

Seeing this, Sasori pulled his right hand back, then flicked it rapidly several times. The Human Puppet of Raiga Kurosuki suddenly halted, then rose backward and upward as if a hook had caught it by the back and lifted it into the air.

At the same time, the puppet crossed the blades in its hands, sending out waves of lightning that shot toward Minato Namikaze.

In the air beside the barrier, Rasa stood atop a golden platform and watched Souya use Magnet Release: Gold Sand. His eyes widened in astonishment, and several question marks seemed to appear above his head.

As a shinobi who controlled Gold Sand, he was baffled. How could Souya control such an enormous amount of Chakra? And did that immense Chakra really belong to him?

What material was that rod in his hands made of? How could a ninja tool be so powerful?

He turned to look at the Human Puppet firing lightning, and his confusion only deepened.

Since when did Sunagakure have puppets that could cast jutsu without Hand Seals?

Was this a new model Chiyo had developed?

Minato Namikaze saw the raging wave of Gold Sand ahead. His heart stirred, but thinking that this alone could hold him was clearly wishful thinking.

He formed Hand Seals and used the Body Flicker Technique, disappearing from where he stood.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball!"

On the other side, Gamabunta staggered as if the Kazekage's Iron Sand magnetism had affected him. Seeing this, Jiraiya formed Hand Seals and spat a massive burst of flame from his mouth.

The flames were mixed with oil, making them far more powerful and violent than an ordinary Fire Release jutsu.

The Kazekage's Iron Sand Cuboid was stopped dead by the blazing mass and couldn't come crashing down.

After steadying himself, Gamabunta stamped down with his hind legs and leaped to an area more than twenty meters away.

He returned the short blade in his hand to the sheath on his back. During the fight just moments earlier, the enemy had nearly seized control of the blade and made him wound himself with it.

Boom!

But in the very next instant, the ground beneath Gamabunta exploded. Two thick arms of Gold Sand burst out and tightly bound his hind legs.