"Kurokawa, have you dealt with that brat yet?"
On the other side, the four-man squad that had been surrounded by Master Minato alone had already lost three chūnin in succession. Only the jōnin, Narita Daisaku, was left struggling to hold on.
Minato's attacks weren't especially lethal - more like scraping and grinding - but his movement speed and attack frequency were terrifying. Narita Daisaku had to focus entirely on defending against Minato's relentless assault, leaving him no room to pay attention to the other battlefield.
As long as Kurokawa finishes off that kid and comes to support me, everything will turn around. Even fighting one against four, Namikaze Minato's stamina couldn't be limitless.
"Almost done!"
Hearing the reply, Narita Daisaku finally felt a bit of relief. At last, he wouldn't have to face Namikaze Minato alone.
With the two of them working together, they would surely be able to repel Minato and escape.
At this moment, Narita Daisaku had already lowered the original mission objective - eliminate the pursuer Namikaze Minato - to simply escaping alive counts as success.
Who could've imagined Minato being this monstrous? One man facing an elite squad and still gaining the upper hand, killing three well-coordinated chūnin with ANBU backgrounds in less than ten minutes.
Wait - !
That wasn't Kurokawa's voice!
Narita Daisaku's heart skipped violently. While defending against Minato, he shot a glance toward the other battlefield - and his face instantly turned deathly pale.
Uchiha Mai had shattered Kurokawa's throat with External Form · Dream Bullet, completely disabling his mobility.
Then, forming his other hand into a claw, Mai thrust forward and pierced straight through Kurokawa's throat, punching bloody holes through flesh and bone, finishing him completely.
With the carotid artery severed, Kurokawa's brain lost consciousness almost instantly. His head lolled to the side as he collapsed lifelessly onto the ground.
"Teacher Minato, I'm here to help!"
Uchiha Mai shook the blood from his hands and charged toward Minato and Narita Daisaku, intending to "support" his teacher and pad his combat record.
Narita Daisaku had been suppressed by Minato for a long time. His stamina was nearly exhausted, and several vital joints and body parts were already heavily injured. He was at the end of his rope - Minato could finish him off at any moment.
If I don't rush in and grab the achievement 'Uchiha Mai and Namikaze Minato jointly slay a Kumogakure jōnin', am I even human?
In high-end matches like Guan Yu and Zhang Fei versus Lü Bu, why did Liu Bei dare to jump in? Because Guan and Zhang alone could already hold Lü Bu back.
When it comes to fighting hard during garbage time, Uchiha Mai never falls behind.
No need!
Deep down, Minato felt slightly resistant. A student rushing over to help after finishing his opponent - such filial devotion was commendable.
It's just… the timing was a bit awkward. With or without Mai, Minato could kill the enemy easily.
Seeing Uchiha Mai charging over, Narita Daisaku knew that once the two successfully joined forces, his fate would be sealed - certain death.
Though honestly, he was already ninety percent dead anyway.
Fight, and there's still a sliver of hope. Don't fight, and death is guaranteed.
Narita Daisaku's rage surged. In this life-or-death moment, he chose to gamble everything.
While blocking Minato's attacks, he rapidly formed several hand seals with one hand. His remaining chakra surged into his palm and violently exploded as his fingers clenched.
Lightning Release · Lightning Flash Fist!
This was a technique similar to Chidori or the Raikage lineage's Lightning Release · Heavy Flow Violence - a ninjutsu, or perhaps nin-taijutsu, that never appeared in the original canon.
In truth, it was nothing more than modifying a few hand seals and adjusting the chakra pathways. At its core, ninjutsu is simply shape transformation and nature transformation.
Any capable jōnin would customize commonly used techniques to better suit themselves, creating their own exclusive "pseudo-secret techniques."
The thousands of jutsu Kakashi copied with his Sharingan fell into this category.
The vast majority of those techniques were minor variations - less universal than mainstream jutsu, but slightly stronger in the hands of their specific user.
Narita Daisaku swung his Lightning Flash Fist without holding anything back, smashing it toward Minato, intending to trade his life for Minato's.
Minato frowned slightly. Killing Narita Daisaku was inevitable, but there was no need to rush it. Mutual destruction would be foolish.
Forced to abandon the finishing blow, Minato slashed with the kunai in his hand, cutting toward Narita Daisaku's attacking arm instead.
A flash of white light passed -
Narita Daisaku's arm was severed at the elbow, cleanly sliced off like Gilgamesh's.
Suffering such grievous injury, Narita Daisaku wasn't worried - instead, he was overjoyed.
Because this move was a desperate gamble that actually paid off.
Though Minato had taken his arm, the overwhelming offensive momentum was broken, giving Narita Daisaku a chance to escape.
"Farewell, Namikaze Minato!"
Narita Daisaku laughed loudly, coating chakra onto his legs and bolting in another direction.
He was gone.
This play?
This play was sacrificing the rook to save the king.
Seeing Narita Daisaku escape Minato's attack range at the cost of one arm, Uchiha Mai froze briefly - then exploded with joy.
There's actually something this good?
I just wanted to fight hard during garbage time and boost my presence - how did the kill become mine?
What is this?
This is 'Kumogakure jōnin displays overwhelming strength, forces back Konoha jōnin Namikaze Minato; outstanding genin Uchiha Mai arrives at the last moment to turn the tide and save the day'.
Stealing this kill is completely justified.
[Path of Offense and Defense] activated. Cost: 500,000 ryō. Duration: 2 seconds.
Uchiha Mai lowered his torso slightly to reduce air resistance and shot forward like a leopard. His speed surged another level, intercepting the fleeing Narita Daisaku in an instant.
"What?!"
Narita Daisaku was horrified. Out of the tiger's den and into the wolf's lair - why did this brat's speed suddenly skyrocket again?
At full strength, Narita Daisaku wouldn't have cared even if three Uchiha Mai were tied together. If the kid fought well, he could just run.
But now, after being ground down by Minato, his stamina and combat power were nearly depleted.
"Hundred Forms · Demon Burn!"
While charging, Uchiha Mai drove his elbow upward into Narita Daisaku's chest, shattering several ribs and launching him diagonally into the air.
Mai stepped forward again and leapt, smashing an uppercut into Narita Daisaku's jaw. Chakra surged out and detonated into flames, inflicting a third wave of damage.
At the same time, Mai spun his body a full 360 degrees midair, flames swirling around him like blazing ribbons.
Cool as hell.
"Boom!"
After suffering consecutive devastating blows, Narita Daisaku crashed heavily into the ground, crushing the forest undergrowth beneath him - now nothing more than a corpse.
Uchiha Mai landed steadily after completing the Hundred Forms · Demon Burn combo. He brushed his bangs aside and said expressionlessly:
"The only reason you're going to die… is because you made me angry."
Pure posing.
Minato: "..."
Uh… wasn't it me who beat him half to death so you could loot the kill?
Regarding the "thousands of jutsu" setting: this is my own secondary interpretation. After all, the original canon shows too few techniques.
At the same time, I want to elevate the prestige of jōnin a bit.
A jōnin who has mastered shape and nature transformation modifying universal jutsu into versions better suited for themselves sounds perfectly reasonable, right?
end of chapter