Rock Ninja Retreat

"Hidden Mist Technique! Is this brat from Kirigakure!?"

Just as the white mist began to spread, the six elite jonin present, with the exception of Minato, let out a cry of shock in near-unison.

Qi's Hidden Mist Technique was far too conspicuous outside the Land of Water. After all, the insight of a jonin was different from that of a chunin; unless it was something strictly classified, there was basically nothing they did not know.

Qi's so-called "secret" could only bluff those at the level of special jonin at best. Forget elite jonin; even ordinary jonin had sufficient clearance to browse the various intelligence reports and descriptions of similar ninjutsu collected by their respective villages.

The Hidden Mist Technique was practically the signature of Mist Ninja. Even if others knew it, they wouldn't use it, because only Mist Ninja possessed the techniques to utilize dense fog to enhance their own combat prowess. This group could not believe that Qi had nothing to do with Kirigakure.

And as far as they knew, once such a unique technique leaked, any major ninja village would absolutely dispatch Anbu to hunt the user down, regardless of where they were...

"Don't get the wrong idea, he is a ninja from our Konoha Village, not some Mist Ninja!"

Minato let out a cold snort. With the support of Tsang Yeh, he had finally freed his hands and was now facing three Iwagakure ninja alone, while Tsang Yeh was similarly holding off two Cloud Ninja by himself. As for his special jonin subordinates, they had already gone to support the outnumbered Sunagakure Ninja.

Although elemental advantage was a good thing, if the disparity in numbers was too great, it was still very dangerous. The number of Cloud Ninja was more than double that of the Sunagakure Ninja...

However, that was none of Minato's concern. He only needed to focus on taking down these three elite Iwagakure jonin.

"Disappear!"

With a loud shout, a series of new hand seals were completed by Minato. In an instant, the area where the three Iwagakure ninja stood twisted in a bizarre fashion. In the blink of an eye, their bodies were torn to shreds, turning into large patches of mud in the process.

"Is that so? Since when does Konoha use the Hidden Mist Technique?"

A low voice rang out. An Iwagakure ninja appeared behind Minato, a kunai appearing in his hand with a flick of his wrist, which he then thrust toward Minato's heart. Two other Iwagakure ninja also emerged from the ground, closing in for the kill.

"Who doesn't know this is a unique technique of the Mist Ninja? Do you dare deny he has no connection to them? I'm afraid Kirigakure doesn't even know about this yet, right?"

"Ridiculous."

The kunai stabbed at empty air. Such an attack could hardly pose a threat to Minato; with a single teleportation, he easily escaped the trio's encirclement.

"He was never from Kirigakure to begin with. If Kirigakure isn't worried, you lot are worrying far too much."

The Fourth narrowed his eyes, aiming repeatedly at the vital points all over the bodies of the three Iwagakure ninja before him, seemingly considering where to strike first...

"He is now the grand-disciple of the Hokage and my junior brother. If you have the life to leave, feel free to spread the word and see if Kirigakure even cares."

He knew very well that the Hidden Mist Technique Qi learned was personally granted by the leader of the Kirigakure Anbu. Ogata had already communicated this to the Konoha high command; if Kirigakure wanted to hunt him down, they would have done so long ago.

The reality was that the Kirigakure high command had essentially tacitly approved of it and had no intention of reclaiming it. Although the Konoha high command had carefully analyzed this strange attitude, they could not reach a conclusion. The only explanation was that Kirigakure was likely in such chaos that they couldn't even be bothered with such trifles.

These three Iwagakure ninja were looking in the wrong place by bringing up Kirigakure. At this moment, even if Konoha went to their doorstep, they probably wouldn't have time to pay attention; they were too busy with their own internal strife. Uchiha Madara certainly wouldn't care if a Kirigakure ninjutsu had leaked—what did that have to do with him?

"How is he not concerned at all!?"

Seeing that Minato was not shaken in the slightest, but rather becoming even more ruthless, the three Iwagakure ninja felt extremely frustrated. One of them glanced at the dense fog not far away and heard the screams coming from within, his anger flaring up.

"We can't let that brat wipe out our men. I'm going to finish off those few brats! You two deal with him, no problem, right?"

"We are elite jonin, after all. Even if we can't kill him, self-preservation shouldn't be an issue. Go do your thing. Since he isn't a Mist Ninja, then kill him."

The other Iwagakure ninja glanced coldly at the dense fog and nodded in agreement.

"Damn it, stop!"

Minato's expression changed instantly. The Hidden Mist Technique was indeed powerful, but it depended on the user. At Qi's current level, the Hidden Mist Technique he cast could not handle an elite jonin. If this Iwagakure ninja were allowed to run over there, Qi and Kakashi would be in great danger.

His hand seals changed again, and the surrounding space immediately began to distort, the range several times larger than before. By this time, that Iwagakure ninja had already completely tunneled into the ground!

"This guy is getting serious! Watch out!"

The two Iwagakure ninja battling Minato were shocked. Just by leaning forward slightly, they felt a tearing pain across their bodies. If not for their Hardening Technique, they would have likely lost a few limbs!

"Rise!"

With a thunderous roar, the entire stretch of land from where the four were fighting all the way to the area where Qi was located seemed to be gouged out by something, vanishing instantly. Then, to the horror of the two Iwagakure ninja, it appeared above their heads and slammed down fiercely!

The power of space-time ninjutsu was truly terrifying. Unable to stop the Iwagakure ninja from using Earth Release to tunnel, Minato had simply moved the entire patch of land away...

"A monster..."

The two Iwagakure ninja drew a sharp breath. With their level of cultivation, their discernment was top-tier; the person before them was clearly no less formidable than the White Fang of the Leaf...

"BOOM!"

The mountain-like mass of earth slammed down from the sky, instantly sending dust billowing and rocks flying...

However, such an attack did not deal much damage to the Iwagakure ninja. Soon, the three Iwagakure ninja emerged from the now-settled ground, though their faces were uglier than ever.

"Damn those Sunagakure Ninja... It seems we won't be able to kill this person today!"

Listening to the sounds of battle and screams from the dense fog slowly fading to almost nothing, the three knew that the ninja they had brought with them had likely suffered heavy losses.

Regardless of anything else, the failure of this mission was a foregone conclusion; there was no need to question it.

"We'll remember today's debt. It seems the name of the Yellow Flash will soon resound throughout the ninja world, just like the White Fang of the Leaf."

The three Iwagakure ninja glared grimly at Minato as their bodies began to sink downward simultaneously.

"We lost today. Until we meet again!"

Before the sentence was even finished, the three had completely submerged into the ground, simply walking away...

Minato did not try to stop them. The opponents were elite Iwagakure jonin highly proficient in Earth Release; if they wanted to leave, no one could stop them, and he had no need to try.

However, he did not dare to be careless. He crouched in place for a long time, and only after confirming that the three Iwagakure ninja had truly departed did he finally relax his mind.

"Finally, they're gone. The Earth Release techniques of the Rock Ninja are truly troublesome..."

Indeed, the Earth Release techniques of those few Rock Ninja had been refined to the absolute limit. Not only was their defensive power ridiculously high, but once they submerged into the ground, even Minato could only wait passively for them to reveal themselves.

Among the Five Great Villages, who could be considered simple? Konoha's so-called "strongest" status was merely relative, after all...

With a silent sigh of admiration in his heart, Minato turned his gaze toward the rear, where two Kumogakure Jonin were currently entangled with Tsang Yeh.

The space between the three had practically become a death zone; Wind Release and Lightning Release had churned the surroundings into a chaotic mess. The destructive power of elite Jonin was being displayed to the fullest by these three...

"The Rock Ninja have already left. It's about time I finished you off!"

A layer of murderous intent clouded Minato's eyes. His usual geniality was reserved for his own people; toward enemies, he had no kindness to speak of.

It was at this moment that the thick fog spreading through the surroundings suddenly vanished, and the figures of Qi and Kakashi slowly emerged from within.

Around them, more than a dozen Rock Ninja lay scattered across the ground in disarray. Those who weren't dead had their limbs broken, having completely lost their ability to fight...

Qi's Hidden Mist Technique had clearly achieved a satisfying result once again...