He was the true last trump card outside the villa. The other ninjas attempting sneak attacks, if they succeeded, great; if not, they were merely paving the way for him.
But in the next instant, he felt a chill at his neck, a short blade was now pressed against it.
"Not bad, you've got some skill!" A voice filled with praise sounded behind him. "This chain of traps might just be leftover tricks of mine, but they're still worth a compliment."
"What's your name?"
The ninja swallowed nervously and replied, "Reporting to Minato, my name is Koizumi Ryo."
"Oh, so it's you!" Minato said in realization. "Aren't you Mikoto and Tsuki's teammate?"
"I'll remember you!"
The short blade gently grazed Ryo's neck, and at that moment, there were no more enemies outside the villa.
The entire defense team now consisted of only twenty people inside the villa.
And the battle had been going on for less than an hour.
"Minato, what should we do about the ones inside?" Fugaku walked up to Minato and asked.
Minato didn't answer. Instead, he walked to one side of the villa, activated the Lightning Release Chakra Mode, clenched his fist, and swung it hard.
The villa wall instantly broke open, and the gust generated by his punch surged into the building, directly blowing the entire wooden villa apart.
---
"Does he have any idea how much trouble I went through?" In the monitoring room, Shin grumbled.
"Hahaha!"
Everyone in the monitoring room burst out laughing involuntarily.
This was already the Nth time he had complained.
The training grounds had been built by him, and he was also responsible for later maintenance, after all, he excelled in both Wood Release and Earth Release.
Of course, aside from bloodline limits and ninjutsu others couldn't learn, there was nothing he wasn't good at.
---
In the battles that followed, aside from Kushina causing trouble for the three-man squad, everyone else was easily defeated.
But two fists couldn't fend off four hands, and in the end, Kushina too was taken down after being surrounded by the three of them.
As for the youngsters, Nawaki, Yahiko, and Konan, who had been with Kushina, only six or seven years old, they were purely just along for the ride, coming to "gain experience" rather than actually fight.
Against the bloodthirsty Minato, they were nothing but cannon fodder, taken out in a single move, feeling utterly wronged.
Mikoto's strength wasn't bad either, and with Fugaku intentionally holding back, she managed to last a bit longer, but was ultimately ambushed and killed by Hizashi without warning, dying with resentment.
When Minato reached the basement entrance, he again took the unconventional route, directly using Earth Release to dig away all the soil and rock above it, revealing a baffled-looking fat uncle inside.
He had been hiding there, only able to faintly hear the chaos outside. Saying he wasn't nervous would be a lie, after all, he wanted to win too.
But upon seeing the densely packed traps in the basement, he felt reassured.
Unfortunately, Minato gave him no chance to trigger any of them, dragging him straight out.
"Well, if it isn't Torifu," Minato said with a smile upon seeing the familiar face. "Come on, where's the thing I want? Hand it over, and I'll make it quick for you."
"You really killed them all?" Torifu jumped out of the basement, looked around at the three remaining people and the wreckage all over, and exclaimed, "You've got skills!"
"Spare me the small talk," Minato said irritably. "We're still enemies right now. What? Want to fight?"
"Forget it, these arms and legs aren't up for it." Torifu sighed, then said excitedly, "Konoha's future is in good hands. Here, this is for you."
With that, he pulled out a scroll and tossed it to Minato.
Minato's eyes narrowed sharply, he grabbed Fugaku and Hizashi, pulling them back in a rapid retreat.
The next moment, BOOM!
The scroll erupted in a violent explosion, shaking the ground itself. The blast was far louder and more forceful than any previous explosive tags.
When the smoke cleared, Torifu, who had jumped into the basement at the last second to avoid the blast, popped his head back up like a thief, peeking nervously over the edge of the pit.
Seeing that Minato and the other two were completely unharmed, he let out a huge sigh of relief.
This was all Shin's fault, he insisted I stir things up at the end. Isn't that just begging for trouble?
If I had actually injured Minato and his team, wouldn't the whole of Konoha want me skinned alive?
---
Inside the cinema, Sakumo explained, "This was a test set by Shin, meant to show everyone that during a mission, a ninja must never, ever let their guard down."
Fukuyama nodded. "Exactly. Many ninjas don't die because of the enemy, but because they grow complacent."
Sakumo continued, "From this, it's also clear that Minato's ability to complete so many missions was no fluke, he stayed alert from start to finish."
Fukuyama added, "I wonder if anyone noticed, ever since Torifu appeared, Minato seemed relaxed, as if lowering his guard. But his feet never stopped being positioned for immediate movement."
Sakumo agreed. "That detail is easy to overlook, but an experienced ninja wouldn't miss it. It shows Minato was ready to either attack or retreat at any moment, proof of his exceptional skill as a top-tier ninjas."
The audience, who had been outraged moments ago at the massive explosion that almost killed Minato's team, began to calm down after hearing the two men's analysis.
Still, in their hearts, they were furiously cursing both Shin and Minato.
These two... they really had to push things this far?
What if something had happened? Then what?
Fukuyama's voice came again: "I know many of you are wondering, wasn't this going too far? What if Minato's team had slipped up and gotten hurt?"
"All I can say is, you're overthinking it. As someone who has completed countless missions, I can say with certainty: an excellent ninja only truly relaxes after returning to Konoha and handing in the mission report."
"So now... I'd say Torifu's about to be in trouble. Minato won't really rest easy until Torifu is 'dead.'"
Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, Minato and the other two charged at Torifu from three directions.
"Wait, what are you doing?" Torifu panicked. "It was your brother who told me to, ow! Hey, you!"
Before he could finish, a blade nicked his neck, a kunai jabbed his heart, a palm strike hit his stomach, and two kicks landed squarely on his backside. Torifu looked utterly wronged.
"You're doing this on purpose, as payback!"
"Torifu, maybe say less, you're already dead," Minato teased.
Torifu's face twisted in grievance. "Oh, so you do know I'm dead? Then why kick my butt after I'm dead?"
"We're enemies, aren't we? What's wrong with kicking an enemy twice?"
"Fine, I won't stoop to your level," Torifu muttered bitterly, but didn't say more, he'd caught sight of Minato shifting his foot again.
---
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Completed at Chapter 278!
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