Heading to Claim One-Tail Shukaku, the Yellow Flash Minato Namikaze!

"Um... sir, this is yours."

Haruki Hyuga wiped the sweat from his forehead and trudged wearily over to Ato, handing him the sealing scroll in his hand.

After Ato accepted the half-human-height scroll, Haruki Hyuga collapsed stiffly to the ground and passed out.

He had already been seriously wounded in his battle against the Stone Shinobi, with barely any chakra left in his body.

The only reason he could still move was because the faint chakra provided by Soldier Pills had helped him recover a little strength.

But sealing Ato's spaceship had directly drained Haruki Hyuga's chakra dry once more, even consuming part of his life force before the spaceship was finally sealed inside the sealing scroll.

The only reason he had held on until now was sheer willpower.

"Passed out?"

Ato gave the unconscious Haruki Hyuga a casual glance, then turned his attention to the sealing scroll in his hands.

"The Ninja World's item-sealing scrolls are rather similar to the Universal Capsules on Dragon Ball Earth."

Ato examined the sealing inscriptions on the scroll with fascination.

The sealing jutsu of the Naruto World was extremely wondrous.

It could seal objects.

It could also seal chakra, malicious thoughts, and other forms of energy.

It could even seal Tailed Beasts and souls.

It could be said that as long as one could imagine it, there was nothing sealing jutsu could not accomplish.

Naruto World sealing jutsu was far stronger than the Mafuba of the Dragon Ball Universe.

Ato added Naruto World sealing jutsu to his list of abilities he absolutely had to learn.

The mere fact that sealing jutsu could seal energy made it a natural counter to the Dragon Ball Universe!

Grrr!

The sound from his stomach interrupted Ato's thoughts.

"I'm hungry. Looks like I can't waste any more time here."

Ato rubbed his stomach. He was so hungry that his chest was practically pressed against his back.

He needed to go have a feast.

But before that, Ato still needed to head to the destroyed Bellflower Mountain City and claim One-Tail Shukaku.

Ato curled his right hand, and the unconscious Haruki Hyuga on the ground immediately floated into the air before being wrapped up by his tail.

Boom!

A massive sonic boom rang out. Ato transformed into a streak of light, and the white shockwave formed in the air behind him lingered for a long time.

Moving with the speed of chasing stars and moons, Ato sped toward Bellflower Mountain City.

In a forest several kilometers ahead of Bellflower Mountain City.

Four Konoha Shinobi—one adult and three children—appeared in an instant.

One of them had blond hair. His sunny face was now tightly furrowed with concern.

This Ninja was none other than the Yellow Flash who had made his name during the Third Shinobi World War, the future Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.

Behind Minato Namikaze stood his three disciples.

Kakashi Hatake, Obito Uchiha, and Rin Nohara.

"Wh... what exactly happened?"

Kakashi, only twelve years old yet already a jonin, stood atop a large tree and looked down at the scene ahead. His expression beneath his mask had turned exceptionally grim.

A few minutes earlier, Konoha Village had lost its Mind Communication Technique signal with Bellflower Mountain City.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, had urgently ordered Minato Namikaze, who had just returned from a mission, to rush to Bellflower Mountain City and investigate its situation.

Minato Namikaze then brought his disciples and used the Flying Thunder God Technique to transfer to this forest, the closest one to Bellflower Mountain City.

It was not that Minato Namikaze had not wanted to use Flying Thunder God directly to teleport to Bellflower Mountain City.

Rather, the Flying Thunder God Mark he had left there had been completely destroyed several minutes ago.

Behind Kakashi, Obito Uchiha had long since widened his eyes, too shocked to speak.

Before the four of them, the once-lush forest had completely vanished, replaced by an enormous canyon.

The canyon stretched all the way to where Bellflower Mountain City had once stood.

And the once-grand and massive Bellflower Mountain City had become a giant crater hundreds of meters deep.

"Is this really Bellflower Mountain City?"

Obito Uchiha stared blankly in the city's direction and could not help removing his goggles to rub his eyes.

"Sensei... has Bellflower Mountain City been destroyed?" Rin Nohara likewise looked toward Minato Namikaze in a daze.

The sunny smile Minato Namikaze usually wore had long vanished. Faced with Rin Nohara's question, he first nodded heavily before his expression returned to calm.

"Kakashi, investigate. See if there are any traces of enemies nearby."

At Minato Namikaze's command, Kakashi swiftly formed hand seals. "Summoning Jutsu!"

As a cloud of smoke rose, Kakashi summoned eight Ninja Hounds.

"Spread out!" Kakashi waved at the Ninja Hounds. They immediately split into eight directions and began a rapid carpet search.

Moments later, the eight Ninja Hounds returned to Kakashi's side.

"Kakashi, we didn't find any enemies, but there's a remnant of Tailed Beast chakra nearby," Pakkun reported his findings.

"Tailed Beast chakra? Could it be One-Tail Shukaku?" Minato Namikaze frowned slightly as he pondered.

He had been the one to provide Konoha with the intelligence that Chiyo had brought One-Tail Shukaku's jinchuriki onto the battlefield.

Therefore, the moment he heard about Tailed Beast chakra, Minato Namikaze thought of One-Tail Shukaku.

"Sensei, can a Tailed Beast cause such terrifying destruction?" Kakashi asked as he looked at the crater ahead.

Minato Namikaze said nothing.

Even the complete form of One-Tail Shukaku would find it difficult to create such terrifying destruction.

But aside from One-Tail Shukaku, Minato Namikaze could think of no other answer.

Perhaps the Ninja World's God of Shinobi, Konoha's First Hokage Hashirama Senju, and the Ghost of the Ninja World, Madara Uchiha, could have done it.

But those two had been dead for decades.

"No matter what happened, let's take a look first." Minato Namikaze leaped directly down from the tree, with Kakashi and the other two following close behind.

At Ninja speed, it took Minato Namikaze's group only a few minutes to reach the edge of the crater.

But during those few minutes, the expressions of the four grew increasingly grave.

All along the way, Ninja corpses lay everywhere.

Most of the bodies had been buried beneath the earth, with only mangled limbs exposed above ground.

Even so, Minato Namikaze and the others could still feel the tragedy of this place.

"Th... this is terrifying!" Behind Minato Namikaze, Rin Nohara's face turned pale. The hellish scene before her left her utterly overwhelmed.

"Sensei, there are survivors at the bottom of the crater!" With the Sharingan's keen perception, Obito Uchiha spotted Konoha Shinobi at the bottom of the crater and immediately shouted excitedly.

At the bottom of the crater, more than a dozen Konoha Shinobi leaned silently against its edge, staring blankly ahead.

Even Orochimaru, one of the Three Sannin and the Cold Lord, was somewhat silent at this moment.

"Inoichi, still no contact with Haruki Hyuga?" Amid the oppressive silence, Orochimaru suddenly spoke, his eyes filled with urgency and curiosity.

Since surviving, they had continuously tried to contact Haruki Hyuga, hoping to learn the whole truth from him.

However, although Inoichi Yamanaka, a jonin, had survived thanks to Manda, he had also been seriously injured.

His severe injuries greatly limited the stability of the Mind Communication Technique.

"Lord Orochimaru, no. I can't detect Haruki Hyuga's mental signal. Preliminary assessment suggests that Haruki Hyuga is already dead."

Pale-faced Inoichi Yamanaka shook his head distractedly, speaking in a heavy tone.

"Useless trash!" Orochimaru's expression turned colder and colder. His snake-like pupils narrowed slightly, and his chilling presence nearly swallowed Inoichi Yamanaka whole.

Orochimaru desperately wanted to know what kind of power could destroy an entire city with a single strike from hundreds of kilometers away.

"Lord Orochimaru, it's Minato Namikaze!" Just as Orochimaru considered whether to directly turn Inoichi Yamanaka into experimental material.

Hizashi Hyuga of the Hyuga Clan spoke up.

"Minato Namikaze?" Orochimaru looked up and immediately saw Minato Namikaze at the crater's edge.

The instant Orochimaru saw Minato Namikaze, his face twisted somewhat with excitement.

"Excellent, Minato! Quickly, take me to the Stone Shinobi battlefield."

So excited was Orochimaru that his head flew directly from his body, hovering in midair as his snake pupils flashed with exhilaration.

At this moment, Orochimaru had completely lost the calm expected of a Ninja.