A huge cloud of smoke billowed around Namikaze Minato, and a colossal creature appeared in the middle of the valley.
It was an enormous red toad. Its massive body nearly filled the entire valley, leaving far less room to move.
What the Kirigakure ninja found most astonishing was that the toad wore a purple robe, had an enormous short sword strapped to its waist, and held a lit pipe in its mouth.
Some of the Konoha ninja recognized the toad and shouted excitedly, "That's Lord Jiraiya's Summoning Beast, Lord Gamabunta!"
Regardless of how powerful Gamabunta was, its incredible size alone was enough to put immense pressure on Kirigakure.
Gamabunta took a puff from its pipe, then glanced at Namikaze Minato standing on its back through its half-lidded yellow eyes. In the gruff tone of a crime boss, it asked, "Minato, are you in the middle of a fight with Kirigakure? I—"
Gamabunta was a well-traveled toad and had recognized the enemy before Konoha at a glance. But halfway through speaking, its eyes and mouth suddenly flew wide open, and the pipe slipped from its mouth and fell.
A huge, raging wave was surging straight toward it. Even more alarming, a terrifying cold was spreading through the wave at a visible speed. The water behind it had already begun freezing solid.
By then, most of the water flowing through the valley had frozen. The surface formed by the Great Waterfall Technique beneath everyone's feet had become a smooth mirror, while the waves rising along the sides stood frozen like a painting. The entire valley had become a miniature glacier!
The Kirigakure ninja abandoned their pursuit and fell back, trying to avoid being caught in the wave surging toward them.
As for Uesugi Shinji, the main target of the technique, the retreating Konoha ninja were so terrified that they stopped holding back. They used up what little chakra they had left to flee with the Body Flicker Technique.
Even so, quite a few Konoha ninja were caught in the wave because they were too slow, and were frozen inside it. They clearly wouldn't survive.
A technique of this scale was beyond what Uesugi Shinji could perform with his own chakra in an area without a water source. Fortunately, he had Kisame as an unusual partner. Kisame could create an enormous amount of water, cutting the chakra cost of the technique by nearly eighty percent!
"Gamabunta, use oil!"
As the icy wave swallowed more and more Konoha ninja, even Namikaze Minato, who had remained utterly calm until then, spoke with a hint of urgency.
Gamabunta knew there was no time to waste. It opened its mouth and sprayed a vast quantity of green liquid at the wave, which had nearly reached them.
The green liquid was Toad Oil, a substance unique to the toads of Mount Myoboku. Thanks to Gamabunta's incredible lung capacity, the oil it sprayed managed to hold back the surging wave.
But Gamabunta had only a limited supply of Toad Oil, nowhere near as much as the water Kisame had created using chakra alone. In no more than five seconds, Gamabunta would run out of oil, and the wave would swallow it too.
Fortunately, Namikaze Minato had summoned Gamabunta in time to hold the wave back for those few seconds, buying the Konoha ninja precious time to retreat.
Seeing that most of his remaining subordinates had reached a relatively safe distance, Namikaze Minato finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He quickly formed Hand Seals again and marshaled what little chakra he had left.
"Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet!"
Flames poured from his mouth and merged with the Toad Oil, instantly igniting it in a blazing red inferno.
The flames fueled by Toad Oil burned at a far higher temperature than ordinary fire. The valley, which had grown much colder because of Uesugi Shinji's Ice Release technique, suddenly became scorching hot.
A sizzling roar rang out where the flames met the wave. Vast quantities of water vaporized in the heat, and within seconds, mist filled the entire valley, shrouding everything from view.
Terumi Mei immediately used the Body Flicker Technique to rush toward Namikaze Minato, intending to strike while he was maintaining his Fire Release technique. But by the time she arrived, Namikaze Minato and Gamabunta had both vanished, and the Konoha ninja had taken advantage of the thick fog to escape the valley.
"The Yellow Flash... I never imagined the Shinobi World held a ninja so difficult to deal with," Terumi Mei murmured.
She had thought her preparations were thorough enough. With elites like Uesugi Shinji and Kisame assisting her, they had been ready to wipe out the Konoha ninja in this ambush.
But no plan survived contact with reality. Namikaze Minato had single-handedly ruined her plan, preventing her from finishing the job in one fell swoop.
As Terumi Mei reflected on the battle, Namikaze Minato had already left the valley and gathered his subordinates. His own thoughts were just as troubled.
This was his first mission as commander of a large force, yet it had ended in failure before they could even reach their destination. He had never expected that.
Namikaze Minato was broad-minded and didn't dwell on his failure. Instead, he was deeply wary of the strength Kirigakure had displayed.
Thinking of Terumi Mei and Uesugi Shinji, who had just fought him, as well as Kisame, whose chakra reserves were astonishingly vast, Namikaze Minato decided he should return to Konoha first and report the battle to the Third Hokage.
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