The night wind swept by, stirring a few fallen leaves that spun through the air before drifting slowly down.
Tianyi stood in the center of the grounds, his hands hanging naturally at his sides, his robes swaying gently in the breeze.
With his right hand, he drew a specially made Kunai from his waist and spun it once around his fingertips.
With a light toss, the Kunai spun into the sky, tracing a silver arc beneath the moonlight.
Minato's gaze stayed fixed on that Kunai, while his right hand had already reached for the Flying Thunder God Kunai at his waist.
The Kunai reached its highest point, paused in midair for an instant, then began to fall.
"Clink—!"
The Kunai struck the ground with a crisp ring. The sound was especially clear in the silent night, like the crack of a starting pistol.
"Whoosh—!" Several Kunai flew toward Tianyi.
Minato vanished from where he stood in an instant. Flying Thunder God! He was so fast that even the moonlight had no time to leave an afterimage on him.
In the next instant, he appeared in three different directions around the training ground—not clones, but three consecutive Flying Thunder God jumps completed in an extremely short span of time.
Each Kunai shot toward Tianyi from a tricky angle, sealing off every path of escape.
Minato's tactic was clear—use the Kunai to force his master to move, then finish the battle with a Rasengan the moment he exposed an opening.
Tianyi did not move. He stood where he was, pressing his hands together as natural energy poured into his body from every direction.
"Sage Mode—activate!"
Several black markings emerged from the corners of his eyes, like ink spreading across rice paper as they slowly extended over his cheeks.
His presence grew weaker