Transformation

"Fire Style, Phoenix Sage Fire Technique."

Yueshu finished his hand seals, spitting five fireballs from his mouth.

The power of the five fireballs was not particularly great, but they were enough to block the enemies before him for a moment.

Glancing out of the corner of his eye, Yueshu quickly threw a kunai from the ninja tool pouch at his waist.

The kunai flew toward a position where a black-haired girl was panting heavily; she already bore several minor wounds, and she appeared quite disheveled.

Dang.

The kunai flew toward the enemy standing before the black-haired girl, buying her a moment of time and preventing the kunai that was about to strike her from landing.

"Hah!"

The girl let out a soft cry, sounding short of breath, and with a movement of her feet, she kicked the enemy before her away.

"Are you alright, Mikoto?"

Yueshu asked.

In this current situation, Mikoto was having the hardest time; her taijutsu was not as strong as Kushina's, her ninjutsu was about the same, and she hadn't yet had the chance to learn genjutsu. Facing the enemy's onslaught, she was under the most pressure.

Kushina, off to the side, was also somewhat disheveled, but the moniker "Red Hot Habanero" was not earned for nothing. Paired with Yueshu's Shadow Clones, she was barely managing to cope.

"I'm fine, I can keep going."

The girl's voice came softly, sounding somewhat strained.

Yueshu didn't speak, instead looking into Mikoto's eyes.

Those beautiful eyes were filled with tenacity.

Yueshu curled the corners of his lips.

Ah, ah!

How is anyone supposed to stop you when you look at them like that!

Yueshu couldn't help but think.

"Don't push yourself too hard."

Yueshu didn't stop her, offering only a word of caution before sending more Shadow Clones to Mikoto's side.

"Don't worry."

Mikoto gripped the kunai in her hand, watching the enemies before her with unblinking eyes.

"Wind Style, Wind Blade."

Minato Namikaze finished his hand seals, and a series of wind blades shot from his mouth toward the enemies.

The future Yellow Flash was an outstanding genius, even without the Flying Thunder God Technique at this stage.

On the other side, Kushina was not falling behind. Although she had no great attainments in ninjutsu, Kushina had given Yueshu and the others a different kind of surprise.

Sealing Technique!

Kushina had already begun to touch upon the Uzumaki Clan's ancestral Sealing Technique, and this battle allowed one to see her practical application of it.

The chains extending from her back were swung by Kushina with perfect precision.

They could serve as whips or bind others, acting almost like tails; most importantly, these chains also had the effect of suppressing chakra.

The red hair flying as Kushina fought perfectly embodied what it meant to be the Red Hot Habanero.

Everything seemed to be going very smoothly; even Mikoto, the weakest among them without her Sharingan activated, was barely holding off the enemy's offensive.

However—

"Earth Style, Earth Dragon Bullet Technique."

Minato Namikaze had just repelled an enemy, not expecting a ninjutsu to be unleashed so suddenly.

A dragon head protruded from the ground, charging forward relentlessly. The distance was too close; Minato Namikaze couldn't dodge it and would have to take the hit head-on.

Just as he was about to form seals to brace for the impact, Minato Namikaze felt his body being shoved the next second.

Before his mind could react, he was stunned for a moment as he was knocked to the side.

Shifting his gaze, he saw that it was Yueshu—or rather, his Shadow Clone—who had shoved him.

The Earth Dragon Bullet struck Yueshu, who immediately dissipated into a puff of smoke.

Before he could even offer his thanks, Minato Namikaze felt a gust of wind brush past him.

His hand moved on instinct, and Minato Namikaze raised the kunai in his hand.

Dang.

A surge of force traveled through his hand, knocking Minato Namikaze back; he dragged his feet across the ground for several steps.

"Minato, are you alright?"

Hui, having accepted his current inability to help, came over to Minato Namikaze, who had fallen beside him.

"I'm fine."

Minato Namikaze stood up, his face covered in dirt, his gaze fixed on the person who had knocked him back.

It was a man dressed in Jonin attire, with an Iwagakure headband tied around his waist, though the symbol on it had been slashed through.

There was no doubt about it; he was a rogue ninja from Iwagakure, and a Jonin at that.

"Iwagakure A-rank rogue ninja—Ono Ishi."

Minato Namikaze spoke as he looked at the man before him; this was the intelligence he had gathered.

"Oh? You know of my reputation?"

Ono Ishi chuckled, his eyes filled with contempt for Minato Namikaze.

After all, Minato Namikaze was merely a Genin.

Minato Namikaze gripped the Kunai in his hand, knowing that a bitter battle was undoubtedly about to begin.

Yueshu easily defeated another enemy with a single kick; these foes were nothing more than ordinary Genin who had never undergone systematic training, so for Yueshu, it was truly effortless.

Just then—

"Wind Style, Hurricane Blade."

The wind blew over, carrying a sharp, cutting sensation.

Yueshu quickly placed his hand on the Kusanagi Sword at his waist.

In an instant.

The Kusanagi Sword was unsheathed, and the sharp, incoming wind was cleaved apart by Yueshu himself.

"A B-rank ninjutsu?"

Yueshu looked at the person before him; the aura that man radiated was nothing like the low-class Genin from before—it was the aura of a Jonin.

The man was simply dressed in Jonin cloth armor, with a Sunagakure headband tied around his arm.

Likewise, the Sunagakure symbol had been slashed through; he was also a rogue ninja.

"Let me introduce myself."

"My name is Sashizhen. Remember that name, brat."

Sashizhen's attitude was incredibly arrogant, which immediately irritated Yueshu.

"And what if I don't want to?"

Yueshu retorted, causing Sashizhen to freeze for a moment.

Seemingly because he had been contradicted, and by a brat like Yueshu at that, the veins on Sashizhen's face began to bulge.

"You don't want to?"

Sashizhen's expression turned terrifyingly grim.

"Then I'll let you experience what it means to wish you were dead!"

As his voice fell, Sashizhen's killing intent surged forward, and Yueshu could clearly feel it.

The surrounding atmosphere dampened, and the air felt significantly colder; this was the weight of Sashizhen's killing intent.

A rogue ninja was a rogue ninja after all, and as a Jonin, he certainly possessed real strength.

Yueshu took a deep breath, gripped his Kusanagi Sword, and his eyes brightened.

Sashizhen's killing intent was indeed thick, but—

Jiraiya's killing intent was far thicker than his!

With a flash of steel, Yueshu seized the initiative and charged directly at Sashizhen.

"Interesting!"

Sashizhen laughed, gripping his own Kunai as he met the charge.

On the other side, the battle between Minato Namikaze and Ono Ishi had also begun.

The situation had shifted drastically; the four of them were now under siege, and with two Jonin among their opponents, things had suddenly become dangerous.

The waterfall continued to roar, Jiraiya was still being held up, and everything began to take a turn for the worse—

"Go ahead and make a scene. I didn't expect there to still be a God Tree Fruit left; although it's only a degraded version, it's enough to accelerate the plan."

Somewhere, in a place of utter darkness where no light could reach, a frail, aged voice slowly echoed.