Minato: Thanks, I Guess!

Amid his wild laughter, Retsuo finally broke free of the control. As his elation surged, a massive amount of Yin Release Chakra gushed from his mouth.

As an Uchiha, he instinctively assumed that the Yin Release Chakra was heading for his Sharingan. But as it passed through his throat, it suddenly produced an intense "feeling"—the same feeling as spitting out the Great Fireball Technique.

The Great Fireball Technique was the only jutsu Retsuo could use proficiently in actual combat. After the Fire Release was expelled, the Great Fireball Spell Formula rapidly condensed it into a rapidly spinning fireball, which swiftly grew larger during flight.

Although this jutsu could not burn anyone to death, it was simple. Simple and imposing. Retsuo loved it dearly.

At this moment, following the sensation of the Great Fireball, Retsuo spat out a torrent of Yin Release. It then expanded with a boom, as if driven by some mysterious formula as well.

Amid his "hahahaha" laughter, this mass of Yin Release Chakra stretched into a barrier. Uchiha Retsuo laughed wildly while standing there in a daze. What the hell is this thing? Was there something like this in the anime?

The barrier was invisible and intangible, but Minato and Obito, locked in fierce battle, sensed its presence at the same time.

Minato's superb battle instincts immediately told him that his opportunity had arrived, but he was also worried that Retsuo might actually kill himself. Fortunately, Minato's Flying Thunder God Spell Formula was on Retsuo's body, so he immediately focused his attention on the mysterious man.

As for Obito, he suddenly froze just as he was about to use a little trick to immobilize Retsuo.

A flash of dark light flickered across the barrier. Biu~!

"Repelled?"

The Yin Release Barrier around Retsuo had actually repelled his Dojutsu Power? What kind of barrier was this?

The three of them noticed this scene almost simultaneously. Dojutsu was also invisible and intangible, yet it had collided with Retsuo's barrier and produced black sparks.

The Three Tomoe in Obito's eyes spun rapidly. This Yin Release was highly unusual!

Although he had deliberately restrained his Dojutsu Power, even Kakashi, who was a Jōnin at this point, could not resist it. With Obito's attainments in Dojutsu, he was even confident that, if the Third Hokage dared to meet his gaze, he could control him with his full strength.

Only Minato Namikaze, who excelled at all kinds of sealing techniques, was not as wary of Dojutsu.

The Shinobi World contained all kinds of bizarre secret techniques, kekkei genkai, seals, and barriers, each with different activation methods. Sometimes, even the person involved did not understand them. As the successor meticulously trained by Uchiha Madara, Obito was not shocked by the existence of a barrier. What surprised him was that it had appeared on his little brother.

He still wanted to test it, but Retsuo raised a kunai and began retreating toward the edge of the cliff step by step while loudly chanting the Will of Fire. He looked very much like he intended to stab himself and jump.

Obito grew increasingly exasperated... The situation had suddenly spiraled out of control, far beyond his expectations. He had to make a difficult choice immediately.

He had previously held the absolute upper hand, knew all of Minato's information, and possessed a large number of trump cards. Finding the right opportunity to kill his teacher did not seem difficult.

But if he failed to finish the battle in one stroke, Minato's situation would improve greatly.

Information was the most important thing to a ninja. The next time he faced Minato, he probably would not have such a good opportunity. Obito really wanted to persist.

However, Retsuo could not die! The Eternal Mangekyo could not be extinguished under any circumstances!

"This Earth Pig! Why does he have to cause me this kind of trouble?!"

Obito was furious! The problem was that he could not simply warp over and snatch Retsuo away.

Leaving aside whether he could get past Minato, if he really abducted Retsuo, would Minato not become suspicious? He might even analyze something from it.

For Obito, concealing his information was of the utmost importance...

Fortunately, even while fighting, he had been preparing to open a vortex. Seeing that Retsuo looked ready to jump off the cliff, he made an immediate decision and opened the vortex, teleporting to beneath Hokage Rock.

As long as Uchiha Retsuo jumped, even if he stabbed through his own heart, Obito was confident that White Zetsu could save him. Hmph!

White Zetsu was, after all, the most outrageous existence in the entire Shinobi World, as well as one of Obito's trump cards.

However, Retsuo had suddenly become addicted to chanting the Will of Fire. He continued singing while laughing wildly...

Obito was unbearably anxious!

He saw Minato looking down at him from above.

The concept of distance did not exist in the battles between the two of them.

Obito had no choice but to raise his head and put on an inscrutable expression. He met Minato's gaze with intense provocation while cursing inwardly: Jump already, you Earth Pig!

Did I come here to listen to you sing the Will of Fire song? Ah—

"Let me do it! I know the Will of Fire better than you!"

As his emotions fluctuated, and as he was no longer locked in fierce combat with Minato, a different thought arose in Obito's heart after his brief frustration.

Staying seemed unlikely to produce any good results.

He stared deeply at Retsuo, then once again slipped into Kamui Space and vanished.

Retsuo was nearly unable to keep up the act. At this point, he finally let out a long sigh of relief. Chanting the Will of Fire really was a divine way to stall for time. The Third Hokage truly had not deceived him.

That trash Obito had finally left. Whew!

Retsuo's legs went weak. He was terrified that he might fail to stand and actually fall. One millimeter from the cliff's edge—this was seriously thrilling...

However, before he could catch his breath a few times, Minato's figure vanished with a biu. His reminder still echoed across Hokage Rock: "Uchiha Retsuo, you are an even more outstanding successor to the Will of Fire than I am. I'm going after the Masked Man. I sensed him appear outside the village! Quickly report the situation to the Third Lord."

The voice was extremely loud, and Retsuo had no idea whether Minato had used some kind of jutsu. Many people heard it. The ninjas near Hokage Rock raised their heads one after another and stared upward. Only then did they discover that the Fourth Lord had actually been fighting an unknown enemy on Hokage Rock.

Uchiha Retsuo stood there in a daze. Why did you have to shout so loudly?

"And another thing, why is none of you following the script? I know you're still holding back Flying Thunder God Second Stage, but couldn't you give me one second of warning before leaving? Why was I chanting the Will of Fire just now..."

Retsuo had no choice but to panic. Minato was most likely heading toward an eternal farewell...

He could not let Minato leave like this!

Minato's death was a sacrifice for Konoha, but it was even more a death for love. No one could stop him unless he no longer wanted to die.

Retsuo knew that, as long as Minato did not want to die, there were a hundred ways for him to avoid using the Reaper Death Seal and sacrificing his life and soul.

Even considering only the interests of Konohagakure, if the Fourth Hokage and the Nine-Tails were destined for one to be lost, losing the Nine-Tails would be the lesser loss.

Leaving aside the fact that Minato was no weaker than the Nine-Tails in either combat power or battlefield deterrence, during the recently concluded Third Shinobi World War, the Sand Shinobi had already fought their way to Kikyo Mountain. They had nearly reached Konoha's doorstep, and the situation had once been extremely dangerous, yet they still had not sent Kushina into battle.

Was Kushina simply too weak? As someone who had been beaten by her, Retsuo certainly could not agree.

It could only be said that Konoha had never dared to deploy this nuclear weapon. With the Three Legendary Sannin still in Konohagakure, the Nine-Tails was precisely not indispensable.

The problem was that Kushina could not survive, and Minato no longer wanted to live...

Just as Retsuo stood there blankly, the Nine-Tails suddenly threw its head back and roared. The Three Tomoe in its eyes spun and vanished, slowly transforming into the Nine-Tails' characteristic vertical pupils.

This scene was witnessed by the ninjas throughout the village, and a wave of cheers immediately rang out across Konoha.

But in Retsuo's perception, vast amounts of Yin Release Chakra spread wantonly through the Nine-Tails' eyes into the sky above Konoha. It was filled with malice, cold and gloomy enough to make one shudder.

He did not know whether this came from the Nine-Tails' immense Chakra or was caused by the Sharingan's disappearance.

He did not even know why he could sense this Chakra. As a third-year student, he had never practiced sensory abilities.

At that moment, as if Yin Release were resonating with Yin Release, Retsuo also felt the barrier surrounding him begin to boil.

The power of Yin Release continued to intensify!

Even the Nine-Tails sensed it to some extent, its fox face revealing a humanlike look of astonishment.

How could the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, lack experience? Seizing the pause in the Nine-Tails' attack, he immediately wrapped his arms around the Adamantine Staff. "Go, Enma! Extend!"

A series of thunderous explosions rang out. In the distance, the Nine-Tails' enormous body was shoved sideways across the ground by the continuously lengthening Adamantine Staff.

Countless splinters of wood flew through the air again, and who knew how many houses were erased along the way.

Just as the Third Hokage gathered his strength and gave a forceful push, Retsuo suddenly came to his senses. He quickly picked up several Flying Thunder God Kunai and began running like a ninja.

The Sharingan's disappearance from the Nine-Tails meant that Minato had succeeded. He had still sealed Obito's Summoning Technique. Obito's strength came from the cheats Uchiha Madara had given him, not from his own ability. With an intelligence of only two, he would never possess Minato's battle wisdom in his entire life.

Therefore, the Nine-Tails' current location had to be the place where Minato would next appear. Unless something unexpected happened, Minato and Gamabunta, that golden combination, would once again use the Toad Drop Technique to give the Nine-Tails a lifelong humiliation!

Gamabunta would drop from the sky and land on it, pinning its head beneath his backside. The damage would be minor, but the humiliation would be immense.

Minato could not die! He had not even become my teacher yet!

For now, Retsuo did not ask Minato to keep Obito behind. He only hoped that Minato would not die...

As his ninja run continued accelerating, Retsuo headed for Minato rather than the Third Hokage.

As he ran, Retsuo suddenly realized that he was pretty good at it. Saying he moved like a startled rabbit would not be an exaggeration. Compared with his weak body in his previous life, he was practically a different person.

It seemed that he had not been idling during these nine years before awakening the wisdom of his previous life.

This was the first time tonight that Retsuo had used "his own" ability. The sound of his footsteps rang crisply through the night sky. His steps were powerful and coordinated, and he soon entered a wondrous state.

He was also extremely curious about the Yin Release Barrier. What characteristics did it possess? Judging from how it had just repelled Obito's Dojutsu, it was truly incredible!

It was just like how Uzumaki Naruto could use Talk no Jutsu to talk Nagato to death before graduating from the Ninja Academy. Astonishing! It was even more exaggerated than Kishimoto!

At this moment, Obito's combat power was no weaker than Nagato's. His Dojutsu could not possibly be child's play.

Retsuo strongly suspected that the Yin Release Barrier was the legendary Golden Finger. If he had chosen a different time, he would definitely have put everything else aside and cultivated it to his heart's content, at least figuring out its origins before doing anything else.

Unfortunately, he really could not do that now! He could not delay even one second. The Golden Finger had to wait.

As for whether he could dispel Minato's determination to die, that would depend on how effective his Talk no Jutsu was.

On this point, Retsuo was extremely confident, mainly because Minato Namikaze's bizarre actions were simply too much of a bug.

As the Fourth Hokage, it was hard to imagine that he was actually a level-ten Love Brain. He had really chosen to die for love while making Naruto the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki?

And there was still a lively Masked Man outside the village, ready to teleport into the village at any time and take his son away in one move.

The key was that the Masked Man could treat Konoha's barrier as if it did not exist, coming and going as he pleased. He also knew how to destroy the Jinchuriki seal and how to control the Nine-Tails.

Minato knew this perfectly well, yet as if he had been bewitched, he still made his son the Jinchuriki. Did he not consider that if he died for love today, his son might be gone tomorrow...

And the pitiful father who had doomed his own child, Minato Namikaze, as the only person capable of restraining the Masked Man, died.

Retsuo was completely speechless. Even if Minato and Kushina were alive, they might not have been able to guard against Obito. How could the Chakra left inside Naruto possibly protect his son?

Even if it was for his own son, could he not kill Obito before dying for love?

Was the Flying Thunder God Spell Formula he had drawn on Obito's back merely decorative?

If Obito's intelligence had not been only two and he had not forgotten to attack Naruto, the story would have ended long before the Night of the Uchiha Clan Massacre...

One really had to thank Obito.

Perhaps to thank Obito, Minato and Kushina never mentioned the Masked Man to the village even once before their deaths. As a result, Sarutobi Hiruzen did not know until his own death that a Masked Man even existed.

He did not know that such a terrifying enemy was hiding in the shadows of the Shinobi World, constantly watching Konoha. Instead, like a single-celled organism, he suspected that the Uchiha Clan had caused the Nine-Tails' Rampage.

Even on the eve of the Night of the Uchiha Clan Massacre, when the village discovered that someone had casually passed through Konoha's protective barrier, they still did not connect it to the mastermind behind the Nine-Tails' Rampage.

With so many flaws to complain about, Retsuo believed that, as long as he found Minato and gave him a casual tongue-lashing, his Talk no Jutsu would definitely succeed.

Unfortunately, given the situation today, Kushina probably could not be saved.

With the Uzumaki Clan's practically abnormal constitution, things might have been different if Tsunade were in the village. However, when the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki was undergoing her tribulation, not one of the Three Legendary Sannin was present. Who knew what earth-shaking, heaven-shattering mission they had to carry out at that exact moment? Sarutobi Hiruzen left Retsuo with nothing but complaints.

Still, if all else failed, they could consider sealing the Nine-Tails inside him!

Then he would become the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and he would become the Strongest Mouth King.

That was a pretty good deal. Although Retsuo knew this was basically impossible, the voice of Great King Yellow Brow from the old Journey to the West suddenly popped into his head.

No, he had to be restrained and keep a normal state of mind, especially when his Dead Master's Wife died...

Speaking of restraint, the people of the Shinobi World were accustomed to life and death, and they had always been restrained with their emotions. Asuma Sarutobi had just lost his father, yet he immediately accompanied Kurenai Yuhi out shopping. Even so, he was still a filial son.

Only the Uchiha Clan freely vented their emotions.

While he was lost in his thoughts, Retsuo suddenly felt his heart tighten. An invisible pressure enveloped him!

"Who's there!"

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