The Mizukage Strikes Back

Although he had comforted Obito Uchiha verbally, Madara was filled with resentment. He could not hold on much longer, yet now his plan had encountered an unexpected complication.

After hearing Obito's request, Madara agreed without the slightest hesitation, because he would never find another Uchiha clansman as easy to fool as Obito.

However, after Obito left, Madara discussed with Black Zetsu how to continue plotting against Rin Nohara.

She was an essential condition for Obito to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan. If she did not die, Obito would be useless.

Elsewhere, in Konoha, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, also discovered at this moment that Minato had left the village.

"He has only just become Hokage, yet he already dares to abandon his post. It seems this old man must continue holding Konoha's authority!"

Taking a hard drag from his pipe, Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled through the swirling smoke, openly finding himself a perfect excuse.

If not for the need to stabilize the unfavorable situation after the Third Shinobi World War, how could the position of Hokage have fallen to Minato Namikaze?

He could keep working for several more decades. Wouldn't it be better to pass the title of Hokage to his own son after he retired?

Naturally, Chentian knew nothing about this. Even if he had known, he could not be bothered to care. Once he became strong enough, wouldn't it be easier to suppress everything directly?

At this moment, Chentian, Minato, and the others were looking solemnly behind them, because Kushina had sensed pursuers approaching from nearby.

"There are twelve people in total. One is the Mizukage, and the other eleven are jonin! Should we wait for them here?"

Kushina fully displayed the Uzumaki clan's powerful sensory abilities, instantly identifying the enemy's strength.

"Yes, here. The sea is ahead, and it will make them even stronger!" Without even thinking, Minato answered Kushina. Then he said to Kakashi, Rin Nohara, and Chentian, "You are not strong enough yet. Go hide somewhere farther away and come out after we finish the battle."

As he spoke, Minato secretly sighed in relief. Fortunately, Chentian had asked Kushina to come along. Otherwise, even he would have had to flee.

The jonin were not a concern, but the Mizukage could hold him off for a while. By then, Kakashi and the others might die here.

"Kakashi, leave with Rin. Her safety is up to you." After patting Kakashi's shoulder, Chentian turned to Minato and said, "I'm strong enough to keep myself safe. I'll stay and help you."

After thinking for a second, Minato nodded in agreement.

Although Kakashi did not want to leave like this, he looked at Rin Nohara beside him and could only depart helplessly.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!..."

After Kakashi left, Minato and Chentian began preparing for battle.

Several kunai were thrown into concealed corners, each bearing the four words, "Sword of Benevolence."

These were kunai that Minato had already marked with the Flying Thunder God formula, allowing him to use the Flying Thunder God at any time.

The rest would be kept for use during the battle.

Unlike Minato, Chentian huffed and puffed as he ran toward the direction the enemy was coming from. He took out one explosive tag after another from his storage space and buried them all underground.

Minato and Kushina behind him were both dumbfounded, asking in confusion, "Xiaotian, where did you get so many explosive tags?"

Though they had not counted them carefully, there were at least a thousand!

"Haha!" Chentian gave an embarrassed laugh, only then remembering that he had not told them. He explained, "I wrote Ninja Breaks Through the Heavens, so I made some money. Most of it went toward buying explosive tags."

That made Minato and Kushina even more surprised, but they had no time to question him further, because the enemy had arrived.

"Golden Flash Minato Namikaze? I never expected you to be the one who abducted our Mist Village's tailed beast!" The Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, looked somewhat grim. But when he considered the jonin beside him, he regained his confidence.

He said, "Hand over the Three-Tails now, and I can let you leave. Otherwise, wait for the Mist Village and Konoha to go to war!"

"Pfft! Sorry, sorry, I really couldn't hold it in!"

Seeing Yagura's dark expression, Chentian hurriedly apologized and wiped the saliva from the corner of his mouth.

You're talking as if you could keep Minato here. Let us leave? Do you not know what the Flying Thunder God is?

"Hmph, refusing a toast only to drink a forfeit! Get them!"

Yagura was already short, and when he became angry, he looked like a bright red radish. Yet the aura radiating from him could not be underestimated.

Even Minato's expression turned solemn, showing that he was under some pressure.

"There are explosive tags all around us. Be careful!"

The instant they charged forward, a jonin beside Yagura suddenly called out in warning, allowing the ninja to avoid Chentian's explosive tags.

"Water Release—Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"

"Water Release—Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"

"Water Release—Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"

The eleven jonin and Yagura, who possessed Kage-level strength, began forming hand seals at the same time. They knew that once they closed the distance, Minato would not give them an opportunity to form seals.

Rather than that, they might as well unleash a combined ninjutsu and crush Minato in one stroke! As for Chentian and Kushina, they were completely ignored.

Chentian was merely a six-year-old child, so people were naturally inclined to overlook him. As for Kushina, Konoha had kept her information hidden and had never exposed her.

Today was also the first time Kushina had left Konoha since becoming a jinchuriki.

"Don't even think about it! Rasengan!"

With a sharp cry, Minato activated one of the kunai he had placed beforehand and instantly appeared beside Yagura and the others, the Rasengan in his hand spinning furiously.

The instant his right hand shot out, Minato vanished again and appeared beside the next person, launching another Rasengan.

In just an instant, eight of the eleven jonin behind Yagura were dead. The remaining three abandoned their hand seals in terror and used the Body Flicker Technique to leave the area.

There were no Flying Thunder God kunai where those three had been standing, so they escaped with their lives.

Yagura seized that chance to release his ninjutsu. Since he could not catch Minato's movements, his Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave was aimed at Chentian and Kushina.

Yagura wanted to use their lives to lure Minato in, but no matter how carefully he calculated, he never expected Kushina's combat strength to surpass Minato's!

"Water-Sealing Formula!"

With a soft cry, Kushina's slender fingers moved repeatedly. The surging waves were all sealed into a scroll by Kushina, and the crisis was resolved in an instant.

The next moment, Minato appeared beside Kushina again and calmly looked at Yagura across from them.

The reason he was only beside Kushina was that Chentian had charged out at some point. However, he had not gone to fight the enemy, but instead ran over to the corpses.