Minato's performance exceeded expectations. Despite relying solely on taijutsu, he was nearly on par with the Suna ninja—only slightly disadvantaged.
He was just eight years old and hadn't even graduated from the Ninja Academy!
Yet reaching this level was already his limit. As a child from an ordinary family, even with remarkable talent, the techniques he could learn at the academy were limited to the most basic ninjutsu.
If he hadn't become Jiraiya's student in the future, there's no way he'd have learned something like the Flying Thunder God Technique.
And of course, youth meant limited stamina. The longer the fight dragged on, the slimmer Minato's chances.
In the midst of their skirmish, the Suna ninja noticed Minato's potential. A glint of murderous intent flashed in his eyes.
For Konoha to have so many prodigies... this boy cannot be allowed to grow stronger. These children will become major threats to Sunagakure in the future.
Wind Style: Gale Palm!
Catching Minato in a brief opening, the Suna ninja slammed his hands together, unleashing a violent gust of wind at close range that blasted Minato into the air!
With no foothold to maneuver mid-air, Minato was vulnerable. The Suna ninja swiftly pulled out three shuriken and flung them in a triangle formation straight at him.
Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh!
Two shuriken were deflected by projectiles from the side. Minato struck down the third himself with his kunai, flipping and landing steadily on the ground.
After landing, Minato gave a nod to Yahiko and Nagato.
"Thanks."
"We're just doing what little we can…"
Yahiko gave a bitter smile, feeling the weight of his own powerlessness.
Power… Without strength, you can do nothing. How can you even talk about changing the world?
Minato didn't have time to respond. The Suna ninja charged again, swinging his short blade in rapid succession. Ignoring Minato entirely, he aimed to strike down Yahiko and Nagato first.
The battlefield plunged into chaos. While Minato could defend himself, protecting others created openings—and soon, he was already wounded in several places.
Elsewhere, Konan tried to help Kushina by throwing her paper shuriken.
But it wasn't much help.
"…It's about time."
Deep within the battlefield, Nawaki fended off the Hoshikage's relentless attacks, but still spared the attention to monitor Kushina's situation.
Seeing her body nearly soaked in blood, that red hair now resembling a tragic crimson flower, fury flashed across Nawaki's face—but his mind remained calm.
To be honest, Nawaki wasn't necessarily clever, but he was definitely cold and rational.
Back when he had just transmigrated, he'd decided to sentence Kato Dan to death simply because he suspected the man might someday "steal" his Tsunade.
Even though he loved his sister deeply, he could still send her into the brutal Reincarnator Missions without hesitation, watching her suffer injury after injury from Garp.
Even now, seeing Kushina throw herself into danger for his sake, he maintained his composure.
Maybe that was precisely why the Lord God System chose him.
Intelligence could be bought, but temperament was much harder to shape.
A purely emotional, kind-hearted person could never succeed as a Lord God.
Of course, being cold didn't mean Nawaki lacked emotion—it just meant he was far more rational in certain ways than most people.
He knew that no matter how much danger Tsunade faced, as long as he was there, she would never die.
The same held true for Kushina, Yahiko, and the others right now.
Nawaki's goal was to let them experience the harshness of Reincarnator. The two Suna ninja? Merely "props" to further his plan.
Naturally, he wouldn't allow any of them to actually die.
At least—not yet.
Now was about the right time to end it. If the fight dragged on any longer, Minato might start to notice something was off.
After all, they weren't idiots. A fight that had been dragging on suddenly ending in an explosive turnaround—only protagonists get away with that kind of logic.
Thinking this, Nawaki cast a worried look at Kushina and shouted angrily at the masked Suna ninja.
"You bastard! Stop it right now!"
"Heh… see? Your dear Nawaki is worried now."
The masked Suna ninja sneered and vanished in a blur. With one quick slash, he severed Kushina's Achilles tendon!
Even with her toughness, the pain made her stifle a cry. Beads of sweat rolled from her forehead as she collapsed to one knee.
Seeing Nawaki's panicked expression, Kushina gritted her teeth, raised her kunai, and slashed toward her own throat.
"Big Brother Nawaki… Don't get distracted. Avenge me!"
Even Nawaki broke into a cold sweat—this girl was way too intense!
Luckily, with a sharp clang, the masked Suna ninja knocked the kunai from her hand and sneered.
"Die? Not that easy."
Kushina's face went pale.
She saw that Nawaki, distracted by her, had left an opening in his defense.
The Hoshikage's eyes gleamed coldly. His hands flashed through seals.
Mysterious Peacock Method: Hundred Foxes!
With a breath, the massive chakra tiger behind him scattered into four smaller, more agile chakra foxes.
Though smaller, they were faster and more cunning. They darted past the wooden barriers and lunged at Nawaki.
Shrieking, the four fox-shaped chakra constructs snapped at Nawaki's throat!
Blood burst into the air.
At that critical moment, Nawaki barely managed to retreat—but one of the foxes clamped down and tore off his entire right leg!
"Big Brother Nawaki!!"
The children's faces went pale. Nawaki was their strongest fighter—if he died, wouldn't that mean they were doomed?
Nawaki gritted his teeth and inhaled sharply.
Damn, losing a leg hurt.
But this level of self-sacrifice should've earned me max trust from the kids, right?
Rest in peace, my dear leg.
Hand seal: Ram.
Wood Style: Nativity of a World of Trees!
Nawaki unleashed his full strength, placing one hand on the ground.
With a deep rumble, the earth shook.
Then, within dozens of meters around him, massive wooden pillars burst from the ground, twisting and spiraling upward, rapidly forming towering trees with dense branches and leaves!
The trees twisted like furious giants, lashing out and entangling every nearby enemy.
"What… what kind of jutsu is this?!"
The Hoshikage screamed in shock and fury. He directed his chakra beast to attack the encroaching forest.
But to his horror, these trees were nothing like the flimsy Wood Style he had encountered before. Even when striking with full force, he could barely leave shallow cracks in the trunks—and those cracks quickly healed!
In seconds, the once-arrogant Hoshikage was completely swallowed by the forest.
Crunch!
A sickening squelch echoed as blood and flesh squeezed through the gaps between trees like meat through a press.
Nawaki hadn't expected his full-power technique to be so overwhelming. He had instantly slaughtered someone with Jonin-level strength—and couldn't help but grimace.
"…Oops. Might've gone a little too far."
~~~~~
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