"Kei, kill or capture him?"
Minato Namikaze watched as Sasori of the Red Sand attempted to retreat and signaled discreetly to Hizashi Hyūga behind him.
"Byakugan! Activate!"
Hizashi gave a slight nod, activated the Byakugan, and stared intently at Sasori's retreating figure from the window.
"Capture him. After all, he's a rogue ninja who came from Sunagakure. How we handle him depends on Kazekage's opinion."
Kei Yamanaka formed a single-handed seal and used the Mind Body Transmission Technique to link Hizashi Hyūga's perception with Minato Namikaze's.
"I understand."
Minato's figure flickered and vanished from everyone's side in an instant.
Next moment.
Thirty shiny black crows took flight two kilometers away, dispersing and directly blocking Sasori's escape route.
Using the dispersing crows as anchors, Minato continuously applied the Flying Thunder God Technique multiple times, launching over thirty specially designed Flying Thunder God Kunai from his personal sealing scroll down into the dense forest below!
With the support of the Byakugan, which could perceive all chakra pathways,
The puppets, their chakra threads severed, collapsed like cut grass.
The awkward Iron Sand Body couldn't keep up with Minato, who possessed hyper reaction speed and could instantly leap to high places by using his crows!
Sasori's core, which he thought was well hidden, was completely exposed under the Byakugan!
The Sand shinobi exchanged uneasy glances.
Even Pakura, as Kazekage, felt a chill run down her spine.
Such speed was terrifying!
Boom!
Tsunade knocked out A, the Third Raikage, with one powerful punch and casually tossed the unconscious body toward Dodai, who stood anxiously nearby.
In mere minutes,
Tsunade had been trading blows without dodging any attacks and fighting at full strength, leaving the Third Raikage battered and bruised.
Looking at the blackened eye sockets and the bald patches on his head,
It was clear how brutal the beating A had endured before losing consciousness.
"Huff~ Feels great!"
Tsunade stretched her waist. Wisps of chakra-infused steam rose from her wounds.
Within just a few seconds, she was fully healed!
She patted her hands clean and waved toward the direction of the building.
An Anbu ninja quickly flashed forward, eyes shining with excitement and admiration, presenting the Hokage hat to Tsunade.
Their Hokage really fought in an overwhelming style!
Neither dodging nor evading, matching fists with fists, kicks with kicks, standing her ground against A's relentless assault while pounding him without mercy!
The Third Raikage was down, yet their Hokage emerged completely unscathed!
She truly was worthy of being the Hokage!
Putting on the hat, Tsunade glanced at her torn clothes and frowned in annoyance, then strode confidently toward where Pakura stood.
"Kazekage, are you alright?"
"She should be in much better condition than the Raikage."
Pakura held onto her Kazekage hat, suppressing the shock inside, feigning indifference as she replied to Tsunade's question.
"Hahaha~ Sorry if I put on a bit of a show, Kazekage. Come on, let's go upstairs for some tea! Tsuchikage has already arrived!"
Seeing Pakura mock the Third Raikage while subtly praising her, Tsunade burst into laughter.
Now that's one of my kind of people!
That way of speaking is oddly comforting!
The Suna shinobi behind Pakura had finally begun to recover from the near-death escape they'd just experienced.
Looking at Tsunade's slightly torn clothes, then at the Third Raikage's battered body that was almost unrecognizable, and finally at the strange battle scene in the distance, everyone stood silently.
One-Tail Jinchuriki Bunpuku even closed his eyes tightly and murmured Buddhist sutras softly to himself.
Konoha's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki Kushina Uzumaki was swinging over ten golden chains as thick as water barrels, chasing after the octopus-like Eight-Tails and lashing fiercely.
Four-Tails was half-crouched, awkwardly performing a traditional female dance, radiating maximum shame.
A burly Konoha ninja in a green spandex suit and stubble rode atop Little A—son of the Third Raikage—yelling about "Youthful Passion" while throwing furious punches. The entire spectacle radiated pure energy.
"Looks like the Hokage's underlings are just as fearsome."
Pakura listened to the fighting sounds continuously rising from behind her before stepping forward to walk side by side with Tsunade toward the wooden building.
After transforming his own body into a human puppet, Sasori of the Red Sand could control far more puppets than ordinary puppeteers ever could. That particular human puppet made from the Third Kazekage's body possessed the powerful [Iron Sand Body].
Underestimating someone like him could easily spell disaster!
"Minato Namikaze's strength is nothing to doubt."
Tsunade glanced at Kei Yamanaka, who sat calmly drinking tea atop the high building, a confident smile spreading across her blushing face.
Truthfully, she didn't fully understand Minato's real power.
But that was fine—Kei understood perfectly!
Just looking at his relaxed posture was enough to know Minato must have solid confidence in defeating this opponent.
So what exactly was there to panic about?
"The Golden Flash, huh?"
Pakura gave a slight nod without saying much further.
Behind her, however, Bunpuku saw sand gathering on his shoulder, forming a miniature version of Shukaku roughly twenty centimeters tall.
Its eyes locked onto Kushina without blinking.
"That smelly fox actually fights alongside humans now? I thought it despised them most of all! No good—we need to move faster or I'll miss the chance to mock that fox properly, like last time in Sunagakure!"
"You little tanuki, hiding from the First Kazekage, Second Kazekage, and Third Kazekage still works for you today? Now that the Fourth has appeared, haven't you faced any beatings yet? Or perhaps all your wildness got beaten out of you already?"
From far away, Nine-Tails' voice rang clearly inside One-Tail's mind.
The nine tailed beasts were originally one being; even when separated by vast distances, they could still communicate through their inner world.
Still, for all these years, Nine-Tails had always looked down upon contacting the others.
After all, weren't they all prisoners anyway? What was the point of reaching out?
Just to host some miserable pity party?
"Cursed smelly fox! Haven't you yourself been beaten by both the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha?"
"I've only ever been struck by two people—who fought me? You've gotten hit by one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight! Such weaklings, every last one of them!"
"Ahhhhhhh!! I'm going to kill you!! Gyuki, why don't you attack this damn fox instead of running away?!"
One-Tail Shukaku's eyes nearly popped from sheer rage at Nine-Tails' taunts!
It was about to react—when suddenly—
Just then, Kushina abruptly turned her head, her eyes brimming with excitement and anticipation as she fixed her gaze on it.
More than a dozen menacing sealing chains behind her instantly split—nearly half shooting straight toward it!
Shukaku itself already possessed formidable sealing abilities.
The moment it saw those chains, an intense sense of danger erupted from deep within its soul!
Its previously restless spirit instantly stilled.
If it charged in now, whoever took it down would probably end up counting all the way to nine before finishing!
"Shukaku! Come over here and team up with us! Shukaku!"
"Hey, you damn raccoon-dog! My jinchuriki's strength is just so-so. Hurry up, come on, this opportunity is for you—don't disappoint me!"
Gyuki's frantic voice echoed inside Shukaku's mind, while Kurama's words dripping with malice followed close behind.
Swish—
The sand-formed Shukaku perched on Bunpuku's shoulder scattered into a heap of grains.
It remained utterly silent no matter how frantically Gyuki and Kurama called or taunted it!
Hmph. After meditating with that old monk for so long, it had now become an enlightened tailed beast, unwilling to throw itself into reckless battles over trifles.
Such behavior was simply inappropriate—inappropriate indeed!
"Aww~ Kurama, you said it'd fall for it, right?"
Kushina looked disappointedly at the vanished Shukaku where it had stood on Bunpuku's shoulder.
"You scared it off, can you really blame this mighty lord?"
"Well, well—my bad."
Kushina pouted slightly, puffing out her cheeks.
Behind her, more than ten massive Adamantine Sealing Chains, as thick as water barrels, fragmented into hundreds of thinner chains, spreading like a divine net, instantly binding the full form of Eight-Tails completely.
Affected by the sealing power, Eight-Tails' chakra quickly retreated back into Killer B's body.
In just over ten seconds,
Only a tightly bound Killer B remained at the scene, wrapped tight like a rice dumpling.
"?Little Eight's cryin' for help—Shukaku you bastard, you fool!? Today's defeat left me tied up like a sack! Oh yeah!? The rhythm still slaps today! Hey hey! Magic Girl over there, hurry up and cut me loose—I gotta jot down my flow!"
Eight-Tails' body wriggled twice but failed to break free, forcing it to lift its head and look toward Kushina beside it.
"Not bad flow. Heard you're big on concerts—next time hook me up with two front-row tickets."
Seeing that Killer B no longer had the will to fight, Kushina waved her hand, releasing the Adamantine Sealing Chains on him and slowly exiting her Perfect Jinchuriki Mode and Magic Girl Mode.
"Yo—Magic Girl, great taste!"
Under his sunglasses, Killer B's eyes suddenly lit up with sharp brilliance, completely ignoring the beating he'd just taken!
"I totally agree! Hehehe~"
Kushina raised her little chin proudly, hands on her waist as she burst into laughter.
"Big bro! My rap has fans now!"
Killer B turned his head to show off to his older brother, only to see his sibling, same as the Third Raikage, already unconscious, along with Dodai and others watching him coldly. Instantly, he dropped flat onto the ground.
Clearly, standing upright wasn't appropriate under these circumstances.
"This guy..."
Kei Yamanaka, perched atop a wooden rooftop, saw Killer B's performance and couldn't help but curl his lips upward.
To be honest, Killer B's rhymes really leveled up!
Most likely thanks to Nii's influence?
[Magnet Release: Iron Sand Body]—truly a remarkable Kekkei Genkai.
Standing on the rooftop of the wooden building, Tsunade gazed several kilometers away, where a massive wave of Iron Sand surged across the sky. Her eyes betrayed a flicker of surprise.
No wonder Pakura and the others barely made it here looking so disheveled.
To wield a Magnet Release technique on this scale, the enemy's strength was indeed extraordinary.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Within just a few short minutes, when a blinding white sphere over ten meters wide erupted in the distance, the once-terrifying mass of Iron Sand suddenly lost control and crashed to the ground.
The dense cloud of dust raised by the falling Iron Sand hadn't settled yet.
Already, Minato Namikaze had appeared at Kei Yamanaka's side, holding a cylindrical core from a Human Puppet marked with the character "Scorpion".
Thanks to the vision granted by the Byakugan,
Minato, pushing his speed to its absolute limits, was a living nightmare for any Puppeteer!
"You actually mastered [Wind Release: Rasenshuriken] without telling me?!"
Yamanaka Kei watched as Minato handed Sasori's core over to Pakura, giving his dear friend a sharp taunt.
And just how long had it been?
Combining [Flying Thunder God – The Crow Style] with [Flying Thunder God Kunai] was already enough. At least he had seen those Crows before and was somewhat prepared.
But this [Wind Release: Rasenshuriken]? There hadn't even been a hint of it!
"My last move? [Wind Release: Rasenshuriken] is fine, but I prefer calling it 'Spiral Storm Wheel Annihilation Ball.'"
Scratching his head, Minato casually replied, causing Kei to groan in exasperation.
"Ahem! Everyone, please sit down. Let's focus on what matters."
Tsunade had no intention of listening to these two naming disasters argue over technique titles any longer.
She cut in quickly, drawing everyone's attention.
"Hokage, are you planning to exclude Kumogakure from this discussion?"
A, the Third Raikage, strode onto the rooftop, his signature panda-like dark circles and bald head instantly recognizable.
Seeing how much younger A looked after shaving his head, Kei silently sighed—he was still just as fierce and straightforward as ever.
He gave a quick glance at the Cloud ninjas trailing behind him.
After a moment of hesitation, he turned his gaze back to the Third Raikage.
Only one chakra nature remained—Lightning…
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