With around thirty Kirigakure shinobi performing the Great Waterfall Technique at the same time, a tremendous torrent poured down from above the canyon. The spectacle was far beyond what could be called a waterfall; it was more like a massive tidal wave.
Among the Kirigakure shinobi, Kisame Hoshigaki stood out in particular.
His appearance alone was striking, but the scale of his Great Waterfall Technique was even more terrifying. The torrent he unleashed by himself was equal to that of seven or eight elite jonin. The Konoha Ninja below the canyon were stunned, unable to believe that a shinobi could wield Water Release on such a tremendous scale.
Seeing the Kirigakure shinobi appear so suddenly, Namikaze Minato knew that Kumogakure must have reached some kind of agreement with Kirigakure. Of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, only Iwagakure had yet to join the fray. The other four had all entered the war, and the Third Shinobi World War was now unavoidable!
Forcing down his worries about the future of the Shinobi World, Namikaze Minato knew that the most important thing now was to defeat the unexpected enemy before him.
"Earth Release shinobi, raise the terrain!"
As he shouted the order, Namikaze Minato used the Body Flicker Technique to charge toward the Kirigakure shinobi above the canyon. At the same time, he raised his hand and flung dozens of unusual kunai toward various points around the canyon's rim. Each had three blades, and a ring of marked formulae encircled its handle. They were his signature Flying Thunder God Kunai.
Minato wasn't charging in alone because he intended to face all the Kirigakure shinobi head-on. He meant to draw their attention to himself. His real trump card was the Flying Thunder God Kunai he had thrown in every direction.
Using these kunai, he could teleport to wherever one landed with the Flying Thunder God Technique. Whether attacking or evading, he had complete control of the initiative.
Seeing Konoha's commander charging toward them all alone, Terumi Mei furrowed her brow, unable to understand what the other side was trying to accomplish with such a suicidal attack.
She had heard that Konoha's Yellow Flash could use Space-Time Ninjutsu and had an incredible body flicker, but neither she nor the other Kirigakure shinobi present believed Namikaze Minato could threaten them by himself.
The Kirigakure shinobi who hadn't used the Great Waterfall Technique hurled kunai, shuriken, and other ranged weapons at Minato. A dense barrage covered him, attempting to kill him outright.
But the next moment, golden light flashed through the canyon. Minato, who had been charging toward the canyon's rim, vanished. From all around them came the unending screams of Kirigakure shinobi.
In a mere instant, Minato had used the Flying Thunder God Technique to kill eight Kirigakure shinobi above the canyon. To everyone watching, he seemed to have become golden light, appearing in eight different places all at once!
The Kirigakure shinobi were stunned—and so were the Konoha shinobi. The only two who weren't surprised were Minato himself and his student Kakashi, who already knew something of his strength.
Minato had demonstrated some of his abilities during the Second Shinobi World War, but he had mostly carried out missions alone. In truth, few shinobi knew the extent of his strength.
The Shinobi World knew that Konoha had a gifted shinobi called the Yellow Flash, but few yet understood the true weight of that name!
By the time Minato had used the Flying Thunder God Technique to reach the canyon's rim, the Kirigakure shinobi's Great Waterfall Technique had already turned the whole valley into a temporary sea.
The Konoha shinobi had used Earth Release to raise the ground beneath their feet, keeping themselves from being submerged. Even so, fighting Kirigakure in these conditions put them at a severe disadvantage.
After all, nearly every Kirigakure shinobi was skilled in Water Release. The environment allowed them to use Water Release Ninjutsu while conserving chakra and increasing the techniques' power.
Now the Kirigakure shinobi surged forward, treading over the water as they closed in on the Konoha shinobi at the center of the canyon. They intended to surround and wipe them out like dumplings in a pot!
Minato knew his side would be utterly defeated in a group battle. Their only chance was for him to take as many lives as possible, as quickly as possible.
Training shinobi consumed enormous resources, so wars between shinobi were usually fought on a relatively small scale and depended heavily on elite fighters. The two sides here had barely a hundred people between them. If Minato went all out, he could turn the tide by himself in a short time!
Minato was devastatingly efficient. In the blink of an eye, several more Kirigakure shinobi had fallen to him. Nearby, Terumi Mei watched him with a grave expression and decided to engage him herself.
"I never expected the Yellow Flash to be this troublesome. He's every bit as dangerous as the legendary Konoha Sannin!" Terumi Mei said solemnly. She had no confidence at all that she could defeat Minato.
"Ao, please take command of the troops. I have to go hold off the Yellow Flash."
After speaking to Ao at her side, Terumi Mei used the Body Flicker Technique and headed straight for Minato. Time was running out; every moment she delayed meant another Kirigakure shinobi would die at his hands.
At Ao's side, Uesugi Shinji, who also hadn't joined the fight yet, watched Minato with a calm expression. But he wasn't nearly as calm inside as he appeared.
There was no doubt about it: Minato was the strongest enemy shinobi Shinji had encountered since he began carrying out missions!
As the Light Brain continually analyzed Minato's abilities, Shinji reached a conclusion: if he faced him one-on-one on a mission right now, his chance of dying would be one hundred percent!
"Shinji, you and the others should join the fight too. Wipe out the Konoha shinobi as quickly as possible," Ao said.
Aside from Minato, who was dominating the battlefield, Kirigakure had the advantage. Shinji's squad had originally been kept in reserve for a critical moment. Ao thought that sending them in now to eliminate the enemy quickly would be a good choice.
Kisame and Hozuki Mangetsu, standing beside Shinji, looked eager at Ao's words. Both were composed, but anyone could see the fighting spirit in their eyes.
Shinji shook his head, his eyes still fixed on Minato as he flashed across the battlefield in streaks of golden light. Again and again, Minato used the Flying Thunder God Technique to shake off Terumi Mei, who pursued him relentlessly, then picked off the Kirigakure shinobi one by one. Terumi Mei, the strongest fighter on Kirigakure's side, couldn't make use of her abilities at all.
"I'll help the commander deal with the Yellow Flash. If we can't restrain him, we'll only win this battle at a terrible cost," Shinji said gravely.
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