When Minato was sent by Obito to the Kamui dimension.
He only saw Isshiki, fully revived, defeating Mū in the blink of an eye. With one hand, he gripped his opponent's throat, piercing Mū's body with a black rod.
Seeing this, Minato knew the ambush in the Kamui dimension had failed. Instead of killing Isshiki's head in one strike, it allowed Isshiki to fully revive. Ōtsutsuki were indeed too hard to kill!
Minato had anticipated this slight change; when devising the battle strategy, he had considered this issue. Even the possibility of the first wave's combo attack failing was accounted for.
And now, the Plan A combo attack successfully killed Jigen as the vessel, forcing Isshiki to revive, equivalent to slashing the enemy's entire health bar. This was already a huge victory!
Minato didn't expect to easily kill Isshiki in one attack; if it were that simple, he wouldn't be the strongest enemy in the entire world.
Upon seeing Minato appear, the revived Isshiki grew even more furious, his elegance and refinement accumulated over thousands of years completely gone. Because he was going to die!
Forced to revive with just Isshiki's incompatible head, he now had less than three hours to live… For a near-immortal Ōtsutsuki, this was like sticking his head out to peek at the gates of hell!
He had never been this close to death. Even when severely injured by Kaguya thousands of years ago, he wasn't this close to death.
After all, back then, he still had his entire upper body, with enough vitality to sustain Isshiki for thousands of years…
"Fourth Hokage, you bastard!"
The looming death drove Isshiki into a beast-like frenzy.
The more immortal a life, the more it sometimes fears death. At least Isshiki couldn't face death calmly. Otherwise, he wouldn't have hidden for thousands of years, desperately searching for a suitable vessel.
Isshiki released Mū from his grip and vanished from his spot, charging straight at Minato!
He changed his mind; even if he couldn't capture Minato alive, he would kill him!
To exact his revenge! Forcing a noble Ōtsutsuki to such humiliation demanded blood!
Unfortunately, Minato had no intention of facing the revived Isshiki head-on here.
*SRAK!*
Activating Flying Thunder God Technique, Minato vanished from his spot, instantly leaving the Kamui dimension, giving Isshiki no chance to attack.
As for Mū left behind in the Kamui dimension?
No need to worry. Without Rinnegan or Six Paths power, killing an Edo Tensei ninja was extremely difficult; at worst, Orochimaru could cancel Mū's Edo Tensei.
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Outside.
Ōnoki and Kushina, extremely anxious, waited restlessly.
Soon, they saw Minato's real body return, appearing beside Obito. Then Minato grabbed Obito, and together they teleported back to Kushina's side with Flying Thunder God.
"How did it go? Success?" Ōnoki asked anxiously, his aged face flushed with worry.
"A slight problem—Isshiki revived!"
"What? Sensei, wasn't he in the Kamui dimension? Even that couldn't kill him? No way, the power of Dust Release…"
"I'll explain later. I'll escort you away first; the next fight is too dangerous, you don't need to join."
Minato's clone was straightforward, grabbing his wife and Ōnoki, and instantly teleporting them away from the battlefield.
*BUZZ!*
The next second, a black-red space-time teleportation portal opened nearby, clearly activated by Isshiki. But this time, Obito didn't activate Kamui to interrupt it. Instead, he waited for Isshiki to emerge from the portal.
After all, this was part of the plan. From the start, Minato and the others knew that once they defeated Isshiki or forced him to revive early, the situation would reverse, and the initiative would return to Konoha's hands.
Because even though a living Isshiki had a lifespan limit, he could live for decades or years… giving him enough time and motive to avoid battle and escape. As long as he escaped, he had time to find a new vessel to carve the Kama seal and revive.
But now, forcibly revived using Jigen's incompatible body, his lifespan was likely only one or two days—not enough time to find another suitable vessel.
So, his only way to survive?
Recapture the only known suitable Kama vessel, Obito, and carve the Kama seal on him again to replace and revive!
In short, with little time left, Isshiki couldn't escape—he had to get Obito, his only lifeline!
Wherever Obito was, Isshiki had to follow and do everything to capture him alive. Like a lamb led by a rope.
This was Konoha's current advantage.
And the result was unsurprising.
Isshiki didn't choose to escape elsewhere via the space-time portal but returned to the battlefield, locking his gaze on Obito. Clearly, he realized his only lifeline lay with Obito.
"Fourth Hokage! Uchiha Obito!"
"Well done! You're truly impressive!"
"To force me to this point, you're even greater than the two before…"
Isshiki laughed in rage.
First, he feared Minato would take Obito and flee. Second, his frustration had pushed him to a mental breaking point. But his metaphor and jab made Madara in the spectator stands outside the barrier furious.
(What does he mean, greater than the two before? Wasn't the last pair to challenge Isshiki me and Hashirama? This beast dares mock me?)
Fortunately, Hashirama quickly restrained Madara, or he would've rushed into the battlefield.
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"Fourth Hokage, hand over Uchiha Obito to me!"
"I'll say it one last time! Otherwise, I'll kill you and every Konoha villager!"
Isshiki didn't rush to attack but threatened Minato with a dark expression.
After all, he genuinely feared Minato would take Obito and flee. If Minato teleported a few more times, Isshiki wouldn't find them within three hours!
So, his words deliberately threatened Minato, warning that he and Obito mustn't run; if they dared, he'd kill all of Konoha's ninjas!
Hearing this, Minato's killing intent surged. Daring to threaten him with his village and family touched his forbidden line. Isshiki had to die today!
Obito also felt overwhelming killing intent. Even setting aside Edo Tensei Rin, there was Kakashi in Konoha! Daring to threaten him with Kakashi, Isshiki had paved his path to death!
"Sensei, can I kill him?"
"Kill!"
The most devoted teacher-student duo in the world fought side by side again, reaching an instant understanding and attacking Isshiki together.
Seeing this, Isshiki wasn't angry but delighted. He wanted this cursed teacher-student pair to attack first. As long as they didn't run, he had a chance to capture Obito alive!
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
*CLANG!* *CLING!* *CLANG!* *CLING!*
*BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!*
Both sides simultaneously activated Sukunahikona, countless expanding black rods clashing; several massive Daikokuten cubes also collided… Instantly producing deafening roars.
Even the surrounding air trembled, rippling visibly.
Simultaneously, Minato and Isshiki vanished, shrinking to microscopic levels, then suddenly enlarging again, unleashing attacks.
For a while, to most spectators, their movements and battle were invisible.
Only golden and black lights flickered and moved constantly. In one second, they could vanish dozens of times, reappearing in different areas, unleashing terrifying battle impacts… Like countless stars and fireworks blooming rapidly in this space.
Beautiful, stunning, mesmerizing, but also terrifying. This battle's speed and intensity could instantly kill dozens of Kage-level ninjas.
But others could clearly sense it.
The golden light representing Minato was slightly slower than Isshiki's black light—not because Kurama's speed was lacking, but because Isshiki's speed was too fast!
Pure Six Paths-level strength and speed were no joke.
Though Minato's mechanics and abilities were slightly superior to Isshiki's—after all, Minato had Isshiki's dōjutsu plus Flying Thunder God, Bijū Bomb, and more, which Isshiki lacked.
But Isshiki's greatest strength was his taijutsu, or rather, his absolute stats. In direct contact, Minato couldn't withstand two of Isshiki's strikes. The first could pierce Kurama's chakra cloak and injure him; the second could take his life!
So Minato relied on teleportation and shrinking to dodge Isshiki's attacks, constantly moving and harassing, seeking Isshiki's openings…
Simultaneously, Isshiki realized he couldn't defeat Minato quickly!
His opponent had Flying Thunder God teleportation and Sukunahikona shrinking, making it hard for Isshiki to land a full-force hit…
Of course, if the fight dragged on, countless teleports and dōjutsu uses would accumulate fatigue on Minato, slowing him and causing mistakes. After all, the Black Eye wasn't his, and without pure Ōtsutsuki blood support, each use was more taxing.
If the fight prolonged, Minato would eventually err. Then, Isshiki could exploit the gap and kill him in one strike!
Unfortunately, time was what Isshiki lacked most!
How many hours could he drag out a fight with Minato? After all, Minato had Kurama inside, with terrifying endurance. Meanwhile, Isshiki had less than three hours!
He couldn't afford a prolonged battle!
Thus, Isshiki fought desperately, tanking Minato's Bijū Bomb explosion to briefly escape Minato's harassment. Then he burst with high speed, lunging at Obito nearby.
Obito couldn't teleport or shrink, and his speed couldn't match Six Paths-level Isshiki. He was nearly struck in the face, with no time to dodge.
(Success! You're mine!)
Isshiki was ecstatic, grinning and reaching to grab Obito.
But Obito didn't dodge, even greeting Isshiki with a slight smile.
The next second, a confused Isshiki passed through Obito's body, not touching him at all!
Kamui!