Uesugi Shinji's ability to defend against Namikaze Minato's killing blow at such close range greatly surprised Minato. Ever since he had begun taking on missions, this move had never failed.
Just then, Uesugi Shinji, his back to Minato, brought his hands together. The ground beneath Minato suddenly split open, and four ice walls rapidly rose from within, trying to trap him completely.
Though the four ice walls rose very quickly, they still posed no threat to Minato. Just as he was about to use the Body Flicker Technique to evade them, he suddenly found his movements slowing. Frost formed from the cold had already ensnared him.
In that brief moment of hesitation, the four ice walls completely trapped him. A ceiling extended over them, sealing the walls together. It looked just like a coffin made of ice.
"Ice Release: Ice Coffin."
It turned out that Uesugi Shinji had already prepared to counterattack before Minato struck him. A rare flicker of excitement appeared in Shinji's eyes. If he could defeat such a powerful enemy as Minato here, it would be something truly worth remembering.
Uesugi Shinji rapidly formed Hand Seals, and Ice Release chakra surged from his body. He was preparing to form sharp ice spikes inside the ice coffin and kill Minato outright.
But before he could finish the seals, Minato shattered the Ice Coffin from within. In his right hand, he held a sphere of chakra glowing blue, the new jutsu he had recently invented: the Rasengan.
The Rasengan was an A-rank jutsu that required no Hand Seals. The sphere itself was made of rapidly rotating chakra, and possessed immense destructive power.
Unlike the future Uzumaki Naruto, who needed to use a clone and spend quite some time "kneading" the chakra into a sphere, Minato could form a Rasengan in his palm in an instant!
Even after breaking out of the Ice Coffin, Minato was not completely out of danger. His attention was now at its sharpest. The Kirigakure Ninja before him, who specialized in Ice Release, was already difficult enough to deal with, and Terumi Mei was still attacking him from nearby.
"Lava Release: Lava Monster Technique!"
A great quantity of red-hot lava spewed from Terumi Mei's mouth, spreading over the area where Minato and Uesugi Shinji stood.
It seemed that, in her determination to kill Minato, Terumi Mei no longer cared if she hit Uesugi Shinji by mistake.
(Note: In the manga, Terumi Mei uses Lava Release, which combines Water Release and Earth Release. In the anime, she uses Lava Release, combining Water Release and Fire Release. This book uses the abilities from the anime.)
Minato furrowed his brow and was about to use the Body Flicker Technique to escape, but Uesugi Shinji refused to let him leave. He attacked again, holding Minato in place and leaving him no chance to dodge the lava.
The chance to escape vanished in an instant. The seething, scorching lava swallowed both of them completely. Many of the nearby ninja involuntarily paused their ongoing battles and turned their attention toward them.
Minato was undoubtedly the key to victory in this battle. The fate of every ninja present seemed to hinge on whether he lived or died.
The Konoha Ninja looked tense and anxious, while most of the Kirigakure Ninja watched with anticipation. They might have sacrificed a powerful fighter in Uesugi Shinji, but if they could take the exceptionally troublesome Yellow Flash down with him, it would be a worthwhile trade for Kirigakure.
Sometimes war was simply this cruel. A ninja's life could be weighed in such terms!
Watching from afar, Kisame and Rin felt their hearts sink. They thought Uesugi Shinji had died in Terumi Mei's indiscriminate attack.
They exchanged glances, each seeing intense bloodlust in the other's eyes. If Uesugi Shinji had really died, they would surely turn on Terumi Mei, whether that meant dying in battle or defecting from Kirigakure.
Elsewhere, Hozuki Mangetsu, who was locked in fierce combat with Kakashi, was stunned. He had not yet learned Ice Release from Uesugi Shinji. If Shinji died here, he himself would not survive much longer.
Hozuki Mangetsu's moment of distraction left an opening. Kakashi seized it and used the Hatake Clan's ancestral Ninja Blade technique, cutting Hozuki Mangetsu in half at the waist.
After killing Hozuki Mangetsu, Kakashi couldn't help feeling a little pleased with himself. His opponent, who was about his age, had been incredibly strong. If Kakashi's Lightning Release hadn't happened to counter his opponent's Water Release, Kakashi might already have lost.
But now that he had defeated his opponent, it could only mean one thing: he was the stronger one!
Kakashi had no worries at all about his teacher, Minato. He knew that Minato had mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique to perfection and could instantly reach any place in the world marked with a Flying Thunder God seal.
At that moment, all that remained in that patch of lava were the bones of the poor Ice Release ninja!
Before you continue