Minato Namikaze took a step forward. His boot crushed a half-charred stone with a sharp crack, and his tone was as casual as if he were giving a delivery boy an address.
"Send another Pure Messenger."
"A truly pure Heroic Spirit, not some impostor in a so-called Brand-New Divine Body."
"I'll tell her every secret."
Nōhime froze as though a bolt of lightning had struck her square on the head.
Her face went still for a moment. Then fury flared in her pale violet eyes.
Her pupils contracted sharply, and murderous intent surged through her pale violet irises.
The wide sleeves of her white kimono billowed. A visible wave of white energy burst from her body in every direction, flinging away the charred stones, ash, and shattered remnants of bushes around her.
The wave swept across dozens of meters. Dust shot skyward like a gray curtain blown apart, engulfing Nōhime.
Her black hair came loose from her shoulders and whipped like a banner in the blast. The hem of her white kimono snapped in the wind, and her pale violet eyes shone fiercely through the dust.
"That's not what you said just now!"
Her voice rose to a shriek. Every word burned with rage from deep in her chest, its final note fraying in the blast. It echoed across the wilderness before the mountain wind swallowed it.
Minato Namikaze stood where he was without shifting an inch.
The wave swept past him, whipping his dark blue shirt and blowing back his blond hair, but his smile did not change.
He tilted his head. His gaze passed over Nōhime's face, twisted slightly by fury, dropped to her clenched fists, then returned to her pale violet eyes, seething with murderous intent.
The amusement at the corners of his mouth turned into open,