Konoha's Retreat (2)

A massive cloud of white smoke billowed around Namikaze Minato, and a colossal figure appeared in the center of the valley.

It was a giant red toad, its immense body taking up so much space that the valley felt cramped, leaving very little room for movement.

What the Kirigakure ninja found most bizarre was that this toad was wearing a purple haori, carried a massive short sword at its waist, and had a lit pipe dangling from its mouth.

Some Konoha ninja recognized the toad and couldn't help but shout in excitement, "It's Jiraiya-sama's summoning beast, Gamabunta-sama!"

Setting aside the sheer power of Gamabunta itself, its staggering size alone was enough to exert immense pressure on the Kirigakure side.

Gamabunta took a puff from his pipe, squinted his yellow eyes at Namikaze Minato standing on his back, and asked in the tone of a yakuza boss, "Minato, are you having a turf war with Kirigakure? I—"

Gamabunta was a well-traveled toad and recognized the identity of Konoha's enemies at a glance. However, halfway through his sentence, his eyes and mouth flew wide open, and the pipe fell from his lips.

A surging, massive wave was crashing toward them, and what made it even more dangerous was the terrifying chill spreading through the water at a visible speed; the water behind the wave was already rapidly freezing into solid ice.

By now, most of the water flooding the valley had frozen. The surface formed by the Great Waterfall Technique had turned into a smooth mirror under their feet, and the waves rising on both sides stood still like a frozen painting. The entire valley had transformed into a miniature glacier!

The Kirigakure ninja abandoned their pursuit and retreated to the rear to avoid being caught by the surging wave.

As for the primary targets of Uesugi Shinji's ninjutsu, the retreating Konoha ninja were so terrified that they stopped holding back, burning their remaining chakra to frantically use the Body Flicker Technique to escape.

Even so, many Konoha ninja were too slow and were engulfed by the wave, only to be frozen solid. These ninja were clearly beyond saving.

A scale of Ice Release ninjutsu this large would have been impossible for Uesugi Shinji to perform alone in an area without a water source. Fortunately, he had a special partner like Kisame, who could generate massive amounts of water for him, saving him nearly eighty percent of the chakra this technique would have otherwise consumed!

"Gamabunta, use oil!"

As more and more Konoha ninja were swallowed by the icy wave, the voice of the usually calm Namikaze Minato grew slightly urgent.

Gamabunta knew there was no time to waste. Without further ado, he opened his mouth wide and sprayed a massive amount of green liquid to block the wave crashing down upon them.

This green liquid was the unique toad oil from Mount Myoboku. Relying on Gamabunta's incredible lung capacity, the sprayed oil barely managed to hold back the ferocious wave.

However, the amount of oil in Gamabunta's body was limited, far less than the water Kisame could generate with pure chakra. In less than five seconds, Gamabunta would run out of oil, and the wave would swallow them both.

Fortunately, Namikaze Minato's timely summoning of Gamabunta to block for those few seconds had bought 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 with both hands, channeling the little chakra he had left.

"Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet!"

He spat out a massive torrent of flame, which merged with the toad oil and instantly ignited into a raging, crimson inferno.

The temperature of flames fueled by toad oil was far higher than that of ordinary fire, and the valley, which had plummeted in temperature due to Uesugi Shinji's Ice Release, suddenly became scorching hot.

A loud hissing sound erupted where the flames met the wave, and a massive amount of water vapor rose due to the extreme heat. Within seconds, the entire valley was filled with thick mist, obscuring everyone's vision.

Seeing this, Terumi Mei immediately used the Body Flicker Technique to rush toward Namikaze Minato's position, hoping to strike while he was maintaining his Fire Release. But by the time she arrived, both Namikaze Minato and Gamabunta had vanished, and the Konoha ninja had successfully retreated under the cover of the valley's thick fog.

"The Yellow Flash... I never expected there to be such a troublesome ninja in the shinobi world," Terumi Mei muttered to herself.

She had originally believed her deployment was sufficient, and with the assistance of elites like Uesugi Shinji and Kisame, she had been prepared to wipe out the Konoha forces in this ambush.

But man proposes, God disposes; Namikaze Minato had single-handedly dismantled her plan, preventing her from achieving a decisive victory.

As Terumi Mei lamented, Namikaze Minato, who had already left the valley to regroup his men, felt equally unsettled.

This was his first time leading a large-scale mission as a commander, yet it had ended in failure before they even reached their destination—something he had never anticipated.

Namikaze Minato was not a man to dwell on his failures, but he was deeply wary of the strength displayed by the Kirigakure side.

Thinking of Terumi Mei and Uesugi Shinji, whom he had just clashed with, as well as the astonishing chakra reserves of Kisame, Namikaze Minato decided he should return to Konoha first to report the intelligence of this battle to the Third Hokage.