The fact that one of the clones Rei Kaguya had prepared to store senjutsu chakra was forced to be used before Kushina Uzumaki activated her Nine-Tails Jinchuriki mode was honestly somewhat outside his expectations.
Because he had not expected Orochimaru's interest in him to be so great that he would not hesitate to cooperate with Minato Namikaze in this manner.
The essence of the cursed mark developed by Orochimaru was an inferior copy of Jugo's special constitution, which had been affected by natural energy leaking from Ryuchi Cave.
When the cursed mark was injected into a target's body, it would naturally grant the target a certain degree of the trait to absorb natural energy.
It was precisely because of this that Rei Kaguya instantly lost the ability to resist the moment he was struck.
His current Mount Myoboku Sage Mode was only level one.
After barely figuring out the basics on his own, he had spent ten days and had only managed to create two Shadow Clones capable of storing a small amount of senjutsu chakra for later use.
He was still in a delicate stage where he had to carefully maintain the balance between chakra and natural energy.
The sudden addition of the cursed mark instantly broke the balance Rei had been carefully maintaining.
If he had not noticed the danger and immediately recalled a clone storing senjutsu chakra, then used Kushina and Minato's sealing techniques to suppress the imbalanced chakra and natural energy inside his body, perhaps his body would already be starting to show signs of petrification by now.
However, being ambushed by Orochimaru and marked with a cursed seal was not entirely a bad thing for Rei Kaguya.
At the very least, he could now rely on his newly learned beginner-version Sage Mode and the cursed mark, an inferior product carrying the aura of Ryuchi Cave, to vaguely sense the location of one of the Three Great Sage Regions—Ryuchi Cave.
But even if he found the location of Ryuchi Cave, how was he supposed to sneak over there during wartime and learn the true Ryuchi Cave Sage Mode without affecting his own reputation?
Hiss. If he needed an excuse for that, was there not a fairly decent one standing right in front of him?
Thinking this, Rei Kaguya used the power of senjutsu chakra to attack the two Four Symbols Seals on his body while turning his gaze toward Minato Namikaze, who was staring at him in shock.
"Sage Mode… There is no mistake. That is Sage Mode."
Minato Namikaze had once followed Jiraiya in practicing Mount Myoboku's senjutsu.
Although he was not very proficient right now and could not apply it in actual combat, he had not fallen so low that he could not even tell whether someone else was using Sage Mode.
"Sage Mode!? Isn't that an ability only the First Hokage and Lord Jiraiya can use?"
Kushina was stunned by Minato Namikaze's muttering.
"You mean Rei Kaguya is also a sage who has mastered Sage Mode?"
"Yes. His current appearance is definitely a sign of entering Sage Mode… But it looks very immature. The balance between his chakra and natural energy is also not very good. There is something strange interfering with him too."
"Could it be that, Minato?"
Kushina pointed at the cursed mark on Rei Kaguya's neck that was brightening and dimming repeatedly, brows tightly furrowed.
"The snake Orochimaru gave you made that strange wound. Rei Kaguya's abnormal reaction just now also seemed to be caused by that wound…"
"I will confirm it myself… Rasengan."
A ball of high-speed rotating blue chakra formed in Minato Namikaze's hand.
With a Body Flicker, he appeared behind Rei Kaguya, intending to use the nearly invincible pulling ability of the Flying Thunder God Technique as before to test whether Rei would pay special attention to protecting the area where the cursed mark was located.
But this time, just as he raised the Rasengan in his hand, he saw Rei Kaguya's spinning back kick enter the corner of his vision.
He has become so much faster!?
By instinct, Minato Namikaze jumped to another Flying Thunder God kunai ten meters away, intending to avoid Rei Kaguya's attack and reenter the battlefield.
But almost at the same time he transferred, Rei Kaguya's figure also appeared near that Flying Thunder God kunai.
With a heavy bladed flying kick, he struck Minato Namikaze's side while Minato was caught off guard.
"Guhah…"
"Minato!?"
When Kushina Uzumaki saw Minato Namikaze spit blood and get sent flying, red and sinister chakra immediately began rising from her body.
However, before the Nine-Tails' chakra could take shape as tails, Minato Namikaze returned to her side in a rare state of disarray, clutching his wound and breathing heavily as he stopped her.
"Kushina, don't… It is not yet time to use that power."
"But Minato, your injury…"
Looking at Minato's shirt and pants being rapidly dyed red, Kushina's voice trembled as she tried to resist his reassurance.
"Do not worry. I used Flying Thunder God to dodge the moment I was hit… Do not look at me like that, Kushina. I am the Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze. Being stabbed a little is nothing serious…"
Minato Namikaze forced out a smile no different from usual, trying to reassure his wife this way.
But before he could finish the rest of his words, he saw Kushina's expression darken.
At the same time, her red hair floated upward like burning flames and began swaying.
"Minato~ Be good and go back to the camp to find a medical-nin for treatment. Leave the rest to me. Did you hear me?"
"But…"
"No buts."
Minato Namikaze wanted to say a few more words, but Kushina released even more Nine-Tails chakra with overwhelming force, smiling with narrowed eyes as she cut off any chance for him to continue.
Seeing that his wife had already shown an incomparably firm attitude, and with his complexion growing increasingly pale, Minato could only nod helplessly and warn her with worry filling his voice.
"You must be careful, careful, and more careful, Kushina… Under Sage Mode, even if you are the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, he can still cause you real damage."
"If you do not go back now, I really will get angry, Minato."
"…I will return as soon as possible."
After saying this, Minato Namikaze disappeared from the battlefield.
Only Kushina Uzumaki remained behind, with more red tails constantly emerging from behind her.
Looking at this scene, Rei Kaguya, who had just broken through the Four Symbols Seals on his body and regained his full combat strength, narrowed his eyes and asked in a low voice, "Is it worth it? Even though our current battlefield is more than ten kilometers from Kannabeyama, once you activate your Tailed Beast form, there is no way the people over there will fail to sense the Nine-Tails' enormous and sinister chakra…"
"You should know very clearly why Konoha has hidden your identity as a Jinchuriki for so long, Kushina Uzumaki."
"Of course I know."
Kushina's face, already hidden beneath the Tailed Beast cloak, let out a voice completely different from normal.
She raised her head, swaying the five tails behind her, and stared hard at Rei Kaguya with a violent gaze.
"I know that once my identity as a Jinchuriki is exposed, the others in the village may reject me. I know the normal life I once had will never return… but so what?"
"This power exists to protect the village and protect the people I love! Minato was wounded like that right in front of me. Am I supposed to watch him drag such a heavy injury around and keep fighting for the village!?"
"This is my first time using the Nine-Tails' power as a Jinchuriki… If I cannot control my strength properly and kill you, do not blame me for going too far… ah!"
Half-human and half-beast, Kushina released a tremendous roar.
The red chakra around her body surged with that storm-stirring roar, shooting straight into the sky.
Even Rei Kaguya, who was still maintaining his beginner-version Sage Mode, felt somewhat breathless beneath the terrifying power she displayed.
"This is the Nine-Tails, the strongest existence among the Tailed Beasts…"
"Come. Let me see how large the gap still is between the current me and a top-tier powerhouse like you!"
Rei Kaguya took a deep breath and charged forward without fear, meeting Kushina Uzumaki, who was wrapped in a Tailed Beast cloak.