The Pinnacle of Speed

Facing the acidic mist stream at such close range, Namikaze Minato once again displayed astonishing reaction time and speed. Moving backward at high velocity, he shifted his body slightly to the side by a mere foot, just enough to narrowly evade the incredibly dangerous attack.

The acidic mist pierced the rock wall behind him, creating a small but bottomless hole from which a pungent white smoke began to rise.

It was not hard to imagine the kind of damage such an attack would inflict if it struck a human body directly!

Although Terumi Mei's attack failed to harm Namikaze Minato again, it successfully stalled his momentum. Terumi Mei caught up immediately and engaged him in taijutsu; the two traded blows, neither willing to give an inch, though it appeared Terumi Mei held a slight upper hand, initiating attacks more frequently than her opponent.

While neither of them was primarily a taijutsu-specialist ninja, both the power and speed of their strikes exceeded the level of a standard jonin, with each collision of fists and feet sending bursts of air pressure rippling around them.

At this moment, Namikaze Minato was actually holding back; while dealing with Terumi Mei, his peripheral vision was scanning the entire battlefield. He needed to identify the enemy who had used Ice Release to intercept his Flying Thunder God kunai.

He would not be so naive as to think it was a coincidence that someone could intercept six Flying Thunder God kunai at once. If he did not eliminate this person, his effectiveness on this battlefield would be greatly diminished.

"To be distracted while we are fighting—you must be looking down on this humble one far too much!"

Seeing that Namikaze Minato's attention was not entirely on her, his eyes shifting around as if searching for something, Terumi Mei felt a flicker of irritation.

Hearing Terumi Mei's words, Namikaze Minato's focus was pulled back.

"Your strength is impressive, but you cannot stop me."

Namikaze Minato's tone was calm, yet it radiated a powerful sense of self-confidence.

As his voice trailed off, his speed suddenly increased. He stepped back, putting less than half a meter of distance between himself and Terumi Mei, and with a wave of his arm, several Flying Thunder God kunai were launched in various directions at varying speeds.

Namikaze Minato had not been able to locate the target using Ice Release, so the simplest method was to repeat his previous tactic and bait the opponent into acting again.

Seeing this, Terumi Mei inwardly cursed, assuming Namikaze Minato was trying to use the Flying Thunder God Technique to shake her off again. She could only hope that Uesugi Shinji would continue to intercept those uniquely shaped kunai.

As long as they could seal Namikaze Minato's Flying Thunder God Technique, even if she could not defeat him, the Konoha ninja would eventually be wiped out by the Kirigakure Ninja, and the strategic goal of Konoha supporting Sunagakure would be considered a complete failure.

Uesugi Shinji did not let Terumi Mei down. Several inconspicuous, slender beams of white light shot out from above the valley, striking all the Flying Thunder God kunai and triggering a burst of ice spikes that knocked them all down.

In that instant, Namikaze Minato found the culprit behind the interception. He looked up, his gaze locking directly onto the source of the white light, and saw Uesugi Shinji, who was also staring coldly back at him.

A sharp, frigid killing intent flashed in his eyes, and the aura surrounding Namikaze Minato shifted instantly.

Locked in Namikaze Minato's sights, Uesugi Shinji felt his breath hitch, as if a creature had been pinned by its natural predator. He knew this was the effect of his opponent's overwhelming presence; a ninja capable of such an aura must be at the very pinnacle of the ninja world!

"Yellow Flash—it won't be long before this title becomes a nightmare for every hidden village outside of Konoha. But it is a pity that your 'flash' is of little use against me!"

Uesugi Shinji's eyes were also filled with killing intent as his left hand drew the wakizashi from his waist.

At this moment, Namikaze Minato abandoned the Flying Thunder God Technique and moved directly toward Uesugi Shinji using the Body Flicker Technique. Even without the Flying Thunder God, the speed of Namikaze Minato's Body Flicker was enough to drive other ninja to despair; even Terumi Mei was a step behind, forced to chase closely in his wake.

Crossing the distance of the battlefield took Namikaze Minato only two or three seconds. In the blink of an eye, he arrived before Uesugi Shinji.

Without a word, Namikaze Minato swung his Flying Thunder God kunai directly toward Uesugi Shinji's neck. Though it was a simple motion, the astonishing speed made it difficult for an ordinary jonin to react.

In the eyes of most people on the battlefield, Namikaze Minato's taijutsu move was nothing more than a blurred shadow. However, to Uesugi Shinji, who possessed a Light Brain and the ability to capture the movement trajectories of objects, the opponent's actions were crystal clear!

It was precisely for this reason that Uesugi Shinji could accurately intercept Namikaze Minato's Flying Thunder God kunai, giving him a degree of confidence that he could contend with this formidable enemy!

Uesugi Shinji quickly raised his wakizashi, steadily parrying the kunai, though the opponent's exceptional strength still forced him to take two steps back from the impact.

At this moment, their eyes met. Uesugi Shinji could see the blade-like, piercing cold light in Namikaze Minato's eyes, and he also saw Terumi Mei, who had arrived via Body Flicker behind him.

However, Terumi Mei was several paces behind Namikaze Minato, and the kunai she thrust forward could not keep up with his speed.

"So fast!"

Although Uesugi Shinji could accurately track Namikaze Minato's movements, he realized only when facing him that keeping up was incredibly difficult; even with his attention and reaction speed pushed to the limit, it was a struggle.

The next instant, the figure of Namikaze Minato, who had been right in front of him, vanished. Only a fleeting golden light flashed before his eyes, and when the opponent reappeared, he was already behind him.

This was not the Flying Thunder God Technique, but the limit of Namikaze Minato's taijutsu speed. In such close-quarters combat, a move like this was even more dangerous than the Flying Thunder God!

At that moment, a crisp sound of cracking ice emanated from Uesugi Shinji's chest, followed by a burst of shattered ice shards.

It turned out that Namikaze Minato had just struck his chest, but he had managed to manifest an Ice Release defensive armor just in time to withstand the lethal blow.

However, the hastily constructed ice armor lacked density, and it was completely shattered by the force of the impact.