Shocking Change

"Your reputation is well-deserved, Your Excellency. Such incredible speed!"

On a flat stretch of ground, several figures were locked in a continuous, tangled struggle. This was deep within the forest, a place that should have been lush with vegetation, but looking at the devastation around them, it was clear that this clearing was the result of these individuals' complete disregard for the environment.

The one who spoke was a man exuding a cold, sinister aura. It was obvious that to the locals here, he was a foreigner, for his skin was tanned to an excessive degree, bordering on a dark, brownish-black.

His attire also differed greatly from those of Iwagakure and Konoha, and the headband tied around his forehead immediately identified his allegiance: a Kumogakure Ninja!

Yet, despite the cold aura he radiated, his combat style was anything but cold; it was, in fact, excessively hot. With a few quick hand seals, a series of rumbles erupted as massive bolts of lightning coalesced, crashing down toward his enemy.

Kumogakure favored Lightning Style as their primary discipline, and it seemed this man was no exception.

"Hmph! I never expected you Kumogakure dogs to actually join forces with Iwagakure."

A figure was flickering with mind-boggling speed, constantly shifting positions. The fierce, relentless bombardment from this Cloud Ninja failed to land a single hit, all of them evaded with ease.

There was no need to guess; the only person with such monstrous speed was the Yellow Flash, Namikaze Minato.

At this moment, he was facing the combined assault of five ninjas: three from Iwagakure and two from Kumogakure. Furthermore, all five were undoubtedly elite Jonin-level combatants; the proof lay in the fact that there wasn't a single corpse on the ground yet!

Kumogakure boasted the highest offensive power among the five great villages. These two Cloud Ninjas not only used lightning-natured chakra to enhance their bodies for high mobility, but their weapons were also coated in intensely concentrated chakra, the blinding lightning glare nearly enough to blind an ordinary person.

Conversely, while the three Rock Ninjas lacked such speed, they possessed monstrous defensive capabilities and raw strength. One of them, clearly possessing a Bloodline Limit, caused an explosion with nearly every punch, capable of smashing a massive crater into the ground with a single blow.

As fellow Jonin, no matter how formidable Minato was, he was forced into a disadvantageous position for the time being. Although he wanted to disengage, he hadn't left any coordinates elsewhere, and the range of his Flying Thunder God was limited; he naturally couldn't use this technique to escape.

But what troubled him most wasn't even that. It was the fact that whenever he attempted a counterattack, the Cloud Ninjas would retreat rapidly, forcing the three Rock Ninjas to press the assault. Wind countered Lightning, but against Earth, the effect was significantly diminished. Unless they stood perfectly still to absorb his attacks, they could almost ignore his standard strikes thanks to their mastery of the Hardening Technique.

After dodging another sudden strike from a Cloud Ninja, the cold light in Minato's eyes intensified. Even the most patient person has a limit; the enemy's disgustingly cowardly combat style had stirred a great deal of anger within him.

Did this group really think he was only capable of the Flying Thunder God technique?

"That's it! Don't let him move!"

Suddenly, a Rock Ninja in the rear let out a sharp shout, reached out, and slammed his hands onto the ground.

"Earth Style: Earth Flow Burial!"

"Boom, boom, boom..."

Under the stunned gazes of everyone present, the entire patch of ground flipped upward like a massive tidal wave, rolling down toward the spot where Minato stood!

"Damn it!"

"Zuomen, I'll kill you!"

Watching the wave of earth and stone crashing down upon them, the two Cloud Jonin who had been tangling with Minato turned black with rage, cursing loudly before turning to run.

What kind of joke was this? If they didn't leave now, they would be buried alive; they didn't know Earth Style techniques!

This "tidal wave" composed of earth and stone was simply too massive; it was large enough to engulf all three of them along with their target.

"So you know there are marks on the ground... but that's not enough!"

Watching the sky-covering mudslide, Minato merely sneered, and his entire body vanished from where he stood.

When he reappeared, he was directly behind the Rock Ninja who had performed the technique!

The five of them had been fighting here for quite a while; he had stepped on almost every inch of this land, leaving behind countless marks. It could be said that wherever Minato had stepped, there was a mark.

This Rock Ninja had flipped the entire layer of earth for this very reason—to remove the surface and eliminate the marks. Unfortunately, he couldn't flip the ground behind his own back.

The Flying Thunder God technique might not be the strongest space-time ninjutsu, but it was definitely one of the most troublesome!

The teleportation successful, Minato didn't waste time. He raised the Kunai in his hand and thrust it toward the Rock Ninja's temple. Even while the Kunai was still in mid-air, the sound of it tearing through the air was enough to stir endless dread.

"Don't even think about it!"

The other two Rock Ninjas had already begun moving toward their companion the moment Minato vanished, arriving just in time.

Both of them flicked their wrists simultaneously, each deploying two short blades, and stabbed viciously toward Minato!

"Clang!"

All four blades missed their mark. Minato leaped into the air, evaded the strike, and landed in the distance. However, at that moment, the two Cloud Ninjas caught up once again, and he was dragged back into the fray.

This was the reason Minato hadn't been able to use other ninjutsu until now—he simply couldn't spare the hands to do so.

But compared to him, these Jonin from Iwagakure and Kumogakure were actually feeling even more frustrated and anxious, because they had been fighting for far too long!

And this was precisely the scene that the group of Sunagakure Ninjas, who had just arrived, witnessed.

"What is going on!? So many people!? And there are Cloud Ninjas too!"

Far away, separated from the combat zone, Tsang Yeh's expression was extremely grim.

"Cloud Ninjas counter Rock Ninjas; they should be bitter enemies. How could the Rock Ninjas be colluding with them?"

The Sunagakure Ninjas had all dropped low the moment they saw the figures. Qi and a few others were even pressed into the dirt by the surrounding ninjas, nearly getting a mouthful of mud.

"My lord, I don't think this situation is right. The intelligence from Iwagakure is vastly different from what we're seeing here!"

A Sunagakure Special Jonin whispered, "What do we do now?"

The joint lineup of Rock and Cloud Ninjas was truly terrifying. Five genuine elite Jonin—once they finished off Minato, they would have more than enough power to swallow their entire squad whole.

If nothing else, just take those three Rock Ninjas; if they combined their efforts for a high-level Earth Style technique, they could bury at least half of their squad in the ground to serve as fertilizer for the earth.

When it comes to the mutual generation and restriction of elemental affinities, no one who uses Ninjutsu is immune to it. It doesn't matter how formidable an expert you are; this is the most mainstream system of Ninjutsu, and on the battlefield, it is nothing short of a disaster.

Sunagakure Ninja, who specialize in Wind Release, do not necessarily suffer a disadvantage against Rock Ninja who specialize in Earth Release, but they certainly don't hold much of an edge either—otherwise, they wouldn't have felt the need to form an alliance with Konoha.

Only a melting pot like Konoha fears nothing, as they can find experts in every single branch of Ninjutsu. When the Konoha ninja army goes to war, they are never limited to one specific type of Ninjutsu; you can basically see all five basic elemental releases, not to mention the myriad of secret techniques that don't even fall under the category of Ninjutsu.

There is a saying that if you do no evil, you have no reason to fear a knock at the door, but this group of Sunagakure Ninja is the absolute antithesis of that sentiment. They are here to do evil, regardless of which side they are on...

One must realize that they originally intended to wipe out the Rock Ninja as well, and then claim that the allied forces from Iwagakure were killed by Minato. Now that they see this lineup, it would be strange if they didn't feel guilty. Rock Ninja and Sunagakure Ninja are currently standard enemies on the surface, and the secret agreements between the two sides are things that can never see the light of day...

Looking at the scene before them, no matter how they think about it, it seems that once Minato is dead, it will be their turn to be wiped out. That is, unless Minato can drag those five Elite Jonin down with him, or perhaps monstrously manage to kill them all—after all, Minato would not take the initiative to attack the Sunagakure Ninja...

And it is estimated, perhaps, possibly, certainly, that after the Rock Ninja finish them off, the leader of the Sunagakure Militant Faction will also receive the "resignation" they originally intended to send to Iwagakure!

Damn it, this joke... has really gone too far...

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