Minato Namikaze was incredibly agile. He planted one hand on one of the rising stone spears, then twisted at the waist and used the momentum to flip backward into the air.
Only one spearhead managed to tear his pant leg as he leaped.
"Minato! Are you all right?"
As the smoke gradually cleared, a figure leaped out of the enormous pit in the ground.
"I'm fine. Please don't worry, Jiraiya-sensei!" Minato landed, staggered slightly, then smiled at Jiraiya as he approached.
The two sages on Jiraiya's shoulders had disappeared, and the toad-like features on his body had faded away as well.
Jiraiya saw the exhaustion on Minato's handsome, refined face and knew that he was at the end of his strength, too.
After all, moving such an enormous pyramid had taken a heavy toll, even on Minato.
Minato gently wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand and said with a sigh, "I never thought Sunagakure had managed to train such an outstanding ninja without anyone noticing..."
Jiraiya looked toward the hole through which Souya and the others had escaped. A pool of bright red blood stood out against the monotonous brown earth.
"If I'd been able to maintain Sage Mode a little longer, I might've been able to keep that Kazekage here!" Jiraiya rubbed his chin and said regretfully.
"That young ninja from Sunagakure has enormous potential. If you hadn't stepped in when you did, Jiraiya-sensei, his Gold Sand sealing technique might really have trapped me inside!" Minato's face showed a hint of admiration.
In his view, given Sunagakure's meager foundation in sealing techniques, Souya had taken them to an entirely new level.
The reason Minato had been able to break Souya's sealing technique so easily was that he stood on the shoulders of the