Minato Namikaze also knew that the current situation made it inconvenient to attack Kumogakure, so he faced off against the Sunagakure ninja instead.
Toroi had clearly anticipated this situation. He took a few steps back, evidently not intending to interfere in their fight.
Yura struck first, swiftly forming hand seals and opening with "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough" at Minato Namikaze. Reading the hand seals, Minato anticipated the ninjutsu, easily dodged it, and charged toward Yura.
Anyone Sunagakure sent into the match was naturally no pushover. Yura's close-combat taijutsu was formidable, and he traded blows evenly with Minato Namikaze. He even seemed quite at ease in close combat.
The course of the fight made Orochimaru frown slightly. The strength Minato Namikaze displayed was indeed only at the jonin level, with nothing particularly special about it. Orochimaru wondered where Ye Feng's confidence came from.
Minato Namikaze grew increasingly alarmed as they fought. Yura's taijutsu was astonishing, and his reactions were no slouch either. Winning through close-combat taijutsu would be difficult, so he could only consider catching him off guard.
Minato Namikaze and Yura exchanged several more rounds at close quarters before Minato finally found an opening. His right hand met Yura's left head-on and grabbed it, refusing to let him pull away.
Yura was delighted at this. He quickly opened his left fist into a palm and locked hands with Minato Namikaze's right hand. Meanwhile, his right hand thrust the kunai he had already drawn toward Minato's body, which had no room to dodge.
Yura secretly rejoiced. He had drawn his weapon first, and at such close range, his opponent had no time to use ninjutsu. Even drawing a weapon now would be too late. At the very least, his opponent would be seriously injured.
But just as Yura's kunai neared Minato