Hidden Organization

Judging people by their appearance was not Minato's style. Even if the person before him was a mere infant in swaddling clothes, if they posed a threat to Konoha, they had to face his heavy-handed justice.

However, seeing that the opponent was just a child, perhaps he could find a way to trick some intelligence out of them?

Minato did not believe for a second that Jack had come to Konoha to kill just for the fun of it; there had to be a massive conspiracy lurking in the shadows.

"Mana is running low..."

Standing in the clearing, Jack tried to gather the thick fog once more, but it was to no avail. She pouted in dissatisfaction, and at the same time, a command to retreat arrived from Qian Yu.

Although she hadn't obtained a new heart, fighting Minato would surely earn a decent amount of Dimension Points, right?

When the time came, she could just buy a "Chakra Scroll," and she wouldn't have to send Jack out to hunt for hearts all day long. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

Of course, the naturally greedy Qian Yu certainly wanted to earn even more Dimension Points. Since Jack's appearance had already been exposed and had left the enemy shocked, it wouldn't be too much to make up a fake identity, would it?

"Stop, child." Recovering from his astonishment, Minato deliberately softened his voice, his tone carrying a gentle yet unquestionable authority. "Your abilities are unique, but continuing this fight will do you no good. Tell me, who sent you? What is your objective? Perhaps... we can talk."

Jack had absolutely no desire to pay attention to the blond man before her. Just as she prepared to launch an attack with zero-frame startup and treat him to a Maria the Ripper, Qian Yu, having already fabricated a script, spoke through Jack, calmly introducing herself:

"Hidden Organization... Jack..."

Her childish, delicate voice echoed through the night. Minato frowned in thought, but he had no impression of this organization or name. "Is it some kind of emerging organization...?"

Jack slowly rose to her feet, her crimson eyes devoid of ripples, as if she hadn't heard Minato's question. She merely reached out to touch the wound on her arm left by the direct hit from the Sage Art: Rasengan. Her movements carried a childlike innocence, yet they exuded a chilling, sinister aura.

She looked down at her tattered black cloak and the wound, knitting her delicate brows in slight displeasure.

Minato did not relax his guard in the slightest. Jack suddenly launched another zero-frame attack, her figure blurring instantly. It wasn't the high-speed movement of a Body Flicker Technique, but rather as if she had merged directly into the fog!

"A sudden all-out assault?!"

Adhering to the principle of "emptying the mana bar before returning to base," Jack unleashed her Parting Gift.

The ghost-like, swift attacks were too fast even for Minato, who was in Sage Mode, to react to properly. He could only barely defend himself. Fortunately, the Rasengan required no hand seals. After a dozen intense exchanges, Minato seized an opening and thrust the Rasengan from his palm—

But this time, it failed to connect. Jack's agile figure leaped up, vaulted directly over Minato's head, and landed steadily on a utility pole.

"Only enough mana left to release the Noble Phantasm one more time..."

A flicker of emotion crossed the depths of Jack's emerald pupils, which then shifted to a deep crimson. Accompanied by "light-stream special effects," she began to execute Qian Yu's order to "make as big a scene as possible" and activated her Noble Phantasm.

"This place is hell—"

Jack crouched slightly, gripping her daggers in reverse, and chanted:

"We are the fire, the rain, the power, and the slaughter that descends upon this place, Maria the Ripper!"

The moment the words fell, the fog that had just begun to dissipate gathered together once more. Minato felt as if he were prey being stared down by a ferocious beast; his heart skipped a beat, and cold sweat poured down his back.

"What on earth is this technique?"

In the blink of an eye, a scarlet figure flashed out of the gray-black fog, charging at Minato like a beast going for the kill.

Minato instinctively used the Flying Thunder God to dodge the attack, but those four small knives were strangely impossible to evade. No matter how he dodged, it was useless.

Seeing this, Minato could only hold his kunai horizontally in front of him for a direct block, but the knives passed straight through his kunai, his arm, and finally, his body.

!

A surge of pain flooded his entire body. Minato's pupils contracted violently and then widened. He felt as if the organs inside him were being viciously torn and churned; he didn't even have the strength to stand.

"What... is happening...?"

The Sage Chakra dissipated, and Minato returned to his normal state. He tensed his body, struggling to prop himself up with his arms as he looked at Jack, who had finished the job and was clearly preparing to retreat. Minato was not only weak but also deeply confused.

The attack just now... it actually passed right through his defenses... as if it were intangible...

Watching Jack's figure vanish completely into the fog, Minato, having recovered a bit of strength, slowly stood up and looked at the full moon hanging in the sky once more.

"Hidden Organization... what exactly is your goal..."

Although he hadn't completed the "mission to capture the Fog Demon" assigned by Hiruzen Sarutobi, at least knowing the opponent's identity was, in Minato's view, not a total loss.

However, there was still a problem he didn't know how to solve...

Even though Jack had left, the surrounding poisonous fog had only thinned slightly; it showed no signs of dissipating. If this continued, it would likely affect the Anbu ninjas on night patrol...

"Should I try to see if I can seal it with a sealing scroll?"

Just as Minato was muttering to himself, contemplating a strategy, the surrounding fog was suddenly pushed away as if by an invisible pair of giant hands, piling up on both sides of the road. Then, two familiar figures appeared on the street.

"Uncle? Chixing?!"

Appearing before Minato were none other than Uncle, holding a glowing pufferfish, and Chixing, whose pointed head was illuminated by magma.

"Why are you two here?!"

"Nothing much... Uncle just sensed the presence of dark energy and decided to take a walk."

Wait... why aren't you afraid of that poisonous fog, and why does it seem like the fog is actually afraid of you?!

Before Minato could ask, his gaze, locked firmly onto the "glowing pufferfish," betrayed his curiosity. Uncle had no intention of hiding anything and immediately cleared up Minato's confusion:

"This gray-black fog is formed by a curse similar to black magic. Uncle's Qi Magic can naturally handle it with ease."

As expected... as the partner of Chixing, who possessed the ability to control magma, did Uncle also master some special power? "Qi Magic"... yet another power he had never heard of...

"Minato... why is your complexion so poor?"

Extinguishing the magma atop his head and entering a dormant state, Chixing asked in his deep, mellow voice.

"It's nothing..." Minato had just started to speak when he was interrupted by Uncle's "Oh my!" "Why are you covered in curses and the aura of black energy?!"

"Curses? Black energy?"

Is he referring to those four unavoidable daggers from Jack? Minato thought to himself, while another idea surfaced in his mind: since Uncle seemed to be omnipresent, perhaps he also knew information regarding the Hidden Organization?

As Minato opened his mouth to ask, Qian Yu, who was busy stitching together the backstories of all the characters, exerted his influence as well. "In that case, let Uncle be the 'ally of justice'!"