BOOOM!
An explosion rocked the vicinity, bringing with it enough shockwaves to tear down a small hill. Minato was hurled backwards, skidding back, several meters away. The reishi sticking his foot to the ground kept him grounded as he forcefully stabilized himself.
'That big one. That shockwave is disrupting the flow of my Reiatsu and my movements.. I need to get close enough to do proper damage, but-'
Minato sidestepped, dodging a crimson slash to the throat, before his own blades swept out.
CLANG!
The two speedsters clashed blades, locking each other in a stalemate for a moment. Crimson red eyes glared into azure ones, and for the first time, the lower part of Hollow's mask cracked, and then..
"Your eyes...You're thinking, planning. But it will do you no good, Shinigami...'
'It can talk?' It was now Minato's turn to be surprised. 'The Hollows I fought before couldn't talk. Evolution? No wonder they're stronger..' He gauged. "You will die under my claws! You-"
Minato couldn't allow the Hollow to finish his speech and kicked out, slamming it to the side with a fast spin kick.
His head snapped to the left only to see the ape's mouth widening, charging up another attack. His eyes squinted as he noticed the patterns, from the forms of it's attack.
BOOOM!
The shockwave tore through the landscape, but Minato was unscathed. The substitution Jutsu was an incredible technique. The only problem was it could only do so much as substitute the user with an inanimate object. He blurred into motion several meters away only to be caught up by the green skinned Hollow.
"DIE!!*
It's tentacles on its head expanded towards Minato, ready to capture him and possibly rip him apart, but he backflipped, his eyes catching sight of the speed Hollow's claws ripping towards him from the side. He formed multiple hand seals, and then brought a hand close to his lips.
"Fire style: Great Majestic Flame Jutsu!" An incredible explosion of flames, ravaged the entire battlefield, turning everything it touched to cinders with a heat that seared the ground itself. The two attacking Hollows were pushed back by the heat, moving just in time to escape the heat while the monstrous ape simply withstood it with it's fierce armour.
This impasse gave Minato a much needed breather and a window of opportunity to finally come up with a plan after observing the extent of their capabilities.
'That big one, it recharges itself whenever it uses that shockwave. The glow on its chest dims after charging up and using the attack. And it cools down for just a minute.
But to take it down I'll need to take out the annoying one first and possibly tentacles to have a shot at it. A Shadow Clone might be able to distract them while I take care of speedy.
But I don't know how long it would last against the destructive shockwaves. It'll all depend on how fast I take out the speedy' Minato took a deep breath. He had not really finished working on the Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu, but what he could currently accomplish should suffice for the meantime.
"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Forming a criss crossed hand seal, with his index and middle fingers on both hands, smoke exploded around him as two hadow clones formed beside him, identical in all ways, except with slightly blurry faces. It could fool the Hollows due to the identical Reiatsu and all, but he doubted it could fool someone stronger.
"Handle the big one and tentacles, I'll take care of speedy and come join you.."
He motioned to them as they nodded and disappeared, heading towards their opponents for the battle. He carefully sifted out the speed Hollow's Reiatsu and then heaved a breath. His face turned serious. He picked up a stone tossed it into the air and before it could land, he was gone in a streak of yellow light.
Hooked claws ripped towards the Minato clone that was battling the tentacled Hollow, but in a split second the speed Hollow shifted it's body, dodging a slash from the real Minato's wakizashi. It had not even stabilized itself when a kunai slashed across its chest, drawing blood as it pushed off heading into the distance in a streak of crimson while another yellow streak chased after it.
*
The two streaks criss crossed each other, metal spark flying off, as they raced through the District into the outskirts, their bodies like phantoms. They clashed one more time and separated, the Hollow stabilizing itself into a low stance while Minato hopped onto the side of a wall.
Silence reigned for a moment, and blood spurted from a slash in the Hollow's side, while Minato groaned. On his chest, a crimson slash was embedded in his skin, not bleeding or anything, just there, like a mark.
"My ability allows me to explode anything I slash three times with my claws.
That was the first strike. In two strikes, I'll end your pathetic existence!.." It cried out and exploded towards Minato in a gust of wind. The blood pulsed around the fresh wound on Minato's chest, no blood loss, no tearing flesh. Just that eerie, glowing mark burning into his skin like a seal. A curse of death counting down.
The Speed Hollow stood ahead, crouched like a predator ready to pounce, its mask partially cracked and its eyes now gleaming with a manic red glow.
"One strike," it whispered, tongue curling from its fanged mouth. "Just two more."
Minato's grip tightened on his blades. His breath was uneven. His shoulders shook, not from fear, but tension. He could feel the Hollow growing stronger. Faster. And worse… it was adapting.
FWOOM!
A sonic burst shattered the stillness as the Hollow vanished. Minato's instincts screamed, he ducked, rolled, and twisted mid-air, but a sliver of a crimson blur sliced past him..
SLASH!
Pain ignited along his back. A second glowing claw mark carved itself into his skin.
He landed hard, skidding across the stone tiles of the outskirts. Sparks flew as his boots ground to a halt. The hood of his jacket behind him, torn and smoking.
The Hollow hovered several meters away, hunched, trembling with overflowing energy.
"You're fast," Minato admitted aloud, panting.
"But now… you're even faster."
The Hollow laughed, its voice more human than beast.
"Speed is survival. I evolve every second I fight. I grow… even as you decay, Shinigami." It blurred again.
Minato brought his blades up, parrying one, two, three blindingly fast strikes, but the fourth nearly pierced his chest.
Only a last-second twist avoided a fatal blow. The Hollow kicked him across a crumbling wall and into a mound of broken timber.
He gasped, coughing dust. His limbs trembled, not from fatigue, but from the overwhelming pressure of keeping up with something that refused to stop evolving. The next strike would be the end.
Minato closed his eyes for a moment.
'If I don't end this now… it won't just be me. The others, Genma, Fuji… everyone, this thing will slaughter them.'
A whispering breeze drifted through the battlefield. Minato placed his hand to the earth. The dust stilled. He could feel it, Reishi… everywhere.
Not just in the air, but in the stones, the trees, the bones of the land itself. It pulsed around him like a second heartbeat. He drew it in, the spiritual essence of the natural world. And then..
He stood. His eyes opened, now golden with horizontal slits for pupils, with concentric rings in his irises and around his eyes. His presence changed. He felt lighter… faster… sharper.
The pain from his wounds numbed under the ambient flow of Reishi. Toad Sage Mode. He didn't think he'd need to use his ace card against the speed Hollow. The revelation was eye opening. He needed even more strength.
The Speed Hollow hesitated, nostrils flaring. "What… is this new pressure?" it snarled. Minato stepped forward and vanished.
CRACK!
A kunai ripped into his chest, faster than it could think, or move, bearing enough power that it nearly mushed it's insides.
Before it could even react..
CLANG!
Minato's wakizashi slashed across its back. Then the kunai ripped into it's side. Then again. The onslaught began. Minato had never been one to play with his food, but this was satisfying. The two blades punctured more holes into the Hollow than he could count.
Taking a step back, he became a blur of golden motion, his Sage-enhanced body moving so fast the Hollow's afterimages were left behind while it was already bleeding.
"Why! why can't I...?!" it growled, trying to keep up.
Minato's next strike cracked more of its mask, revealing a pair of terrified, human-like eyes beneath.
"You evolved too fast," Minato said calmly, appearing above it, hair flapping in the wind.
"Rule number 1 and 3, never underestimate your opponent, and never reveal too much."
He raised a single hand, Reiatsu swirling like a vortex.
"Rasengan!"
The spinning sphere of compressed spiritual energy screamed as it tore through the air. The Hollow lunged, but it was too late.
SHOOM!
The Rasengan collided with the center of its chest, right near the Hollow hole in his chest. There was no scream, only a final, broken gasp as the Hollow's body imploded in a burst of wind and dispersing reishi particles. The marks on Minato's body faded with the creature's death.
He landed in a crouch, jacket singed at the edges. His blue eyes narrowed at the fading remnants of the Hollow.
One down. He turned toward the battlefield where his two clones were still clashing with the ape and tentacled Hollows in the burning distance.
"Two more to go."
And with a flicker of golden light, he was gone.
---
A/N: I was heartbroken when I saw the comments saying this fanfic was written by AI. I don't know what so bad about using AI to edit my work, but to prove my credibility, I'll gladly send the raw, unedited work that I craft each day for hours.
Reading it might not be as pleasant as the edited chapters, but I'll do it if you ask. I have nothing to hide..
Extra chapter loading.. 15 powerstones, new chapter. Good day fellas..