Nawaki trembled nervously as fierce battles raged on both sides of him.
He'd grown up hearing people call others geniuses all around him, and had always thought he was one of the strongest among his peers.
Back in the ninja academy, nobody was a match for him.
But now, he was completely humbled.
Fire-style ninjutsu, swordsmanship, cutting wind blades flying everywhere,
He was utterly outclassed.
"I'm no match. Not even close!"
"Coordinated Light Formation!"
Uzumaki Kushina formed hand seals as a dark shadow suddenly appeared on the ground, shooting at Minato at lightning speed.
This sealing technique had appeared before in the original story, Iruka once tried to trap the Nine-Tails Naruto with it, but it got crushed underfoot.
This sealing could also be combined by multiple people into a Multi-Lantern Formation, capable of trapping a Jonin-level ninja.
"Hm?" Minato noticed the shadow on the ground but moved quickly to the side without hesitation.
Seeing this, Kushina smirked, clearly pleased with her plan.
"It won't be that easy!"
The shadow continued to track Minato's movements.
Kushina maintained the Coordinated Light Formation with one hand, while with the other she swiftly slapped the ground.
"Barrier Sealing Mark!"
Instantly, runes formed a seal on the ground, but then quickly disappeared, almost like it was never there.
This was one of the two most basic sealing techniques Kushina knew.
The Coordinated Light Formation restrained enemies, while the Barrier Seal secretly planted an explosive tag at any spot that would detonate on contact.
Kushina thought her subtle move had fooled Minato, but he clearly saw through it.
"A trap, huh?" Minato glanced at Kushina's feet, pretending not to notice.
"With my mastery of sealing techniques, I'm not someone a blond-haired punk like you can defeat!"
Kushina said confidently to Minato.
On the other side, Nawaki pulled an explosive tag from his pocket, it was one Kushina had him hold for practice, and he still carried some with him.
"Hm." Nawaki looked at the tag and nodded, "This should be enough!"
With that thought, he lowered his presence and sneaked up behind Kushina.
"Kushina, I'll help you!"
Hearing that, Kushina looked back with horror.
"Don't come over here!"
Nawaki hesitated, glancing at Minato and Kushina.
"Is it because I'm no help?" he thought, feeling a bit insulted.
"It's fine!"
"I'm really strong!"
He stomped down on the edge of the barrier seal next to Kushina.
Boom!
A loud explosion rocked the duel arena.
Seisui and Uchiha Haru on the other side were both surprised.
What was going on? Such a huge blast!
The two instinctively stopped what they were doing and turned to look at Kushina.
Minato stood frozen, staring at the two mangled bodies on the ground.
What…?
Though he'd been holding back, he realized that the slow Coordinated Light Formation had been deliberately letting them get close.
One slash from him and Kushina would've died.
But now, without even making a move, he had managed a double kill.
This was unreal.
"Ahhhh!" Kushina, seeing the two bodies from a god's-eye view, was beside herself.
She only needed to maneuver a bit more to guide Minato onto the barrier seal with the explosive tag and win, yet Nawaki ruined everything by rushing in!
"When we get out, I'm definitely beating you up!"
Kushina gritted her teeth.
Meanwhile, Seisui glanced at the fallen pair and immediately understood what happened.
Tsk, tsk.
How pathetic to get blown up by an explosive tag.
He recalled how Nawaki had died stepping on a similar trap in the original story.
Uchiha Haru brightened at Seisui's expression and quickly formed seals.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
A giant fireball spewed from her mouth, flying toward Seisui.
"Hm?!"
Noticing the flame, Seisui reacted instantly, flickering behind the fireball.
This was the Flying Raijin template of Tobirama, short range but effective for countering many jutsu.
Haru wasn't surprised to see Seisui dodge, it had taken her a long time to learn his habits.
"Flame Blade!"
Haru infused chakra into her blade; it smoked as flames engulfed it.
She slashed fiercely at Seisui.
"You still underestimate me!" Seisui drew his sword, moving swiftly as water mist swirled around him, accumulating steadily.
Haru backed away carefully.
She wasn't willing to fight Seisui in the mist.
As long as he was in the mist, he could turn it into real water anytime and lock her down.
"It's over!"
Minato's voice suddenly came from behind her.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!"
"Damn!"
Before she could react, a slicing gale surrounded her.
Haru tried hard to dodge, but the storm left deep cuts on her arms and legs.
"Iaijutsu: Wind Pressure!"
Seisui's voice whispered in her ear just as she narrowly escaped.
But she saw nothing, then plunged into darkness.
When she came to, she was back inside the room.
"Ahhhh!"
"Nawaki!"
Kushina gripped Nawaki's neck fiercely; her hair floated wildly as she looked like a demon from hell.
Seisui patted Minato on the shoulder.
"Minato, you're really lucky."
Minato shrank back, watching Kushina Choke Nawaki.
"Heh heh," Minato gave a stiff laugh.
At that moment, Uzumaki Mito came out.
Seeing Kushina and Nawaki's state, she didn't intervene.
Instead, she looked at Seisui and asked,
"Did Nawaki give you trouble?"
"No," Seisui shook her head.
"Grandma Mito!"
Kushina ran up to Mito, as if she'd found her pillar of support.
Pointing at Nawaki, she complained, "He stupidly stepped on the barrier seal with the explosive tag!"
"Hm?" Mito was surprised, then smiled and gently patted Kushina's head.
"It's fine, it's fine. Next time, let him step on it a few more times."
Then she turned serious, glaring at Nawaki.
"No dinner for you tonight!"
"Oh…"
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