Amid dazzling blue light, Akashō was struck head-on by Minato Namikaze's Sage Art Rasengan. Her upper body was halted, but her lower body still lurched forward.
"Boom!!!"
Akashō was slammed violently into the ground. The Rasengan, infused with senjutsu chakra and spinning wildly, ground away all the flesh on his face as its penetrating force drove straight into his brain.
As the earth cracked apart, the blue glow slowly faded. Minato straightened up slightly, breathing a bit heavily. Looking at Akashō—her head buried in the ground, blood gushing from her mouth and nose, eyes rolled back white, her face no longer even recognizable—the tension that had gripped him finally eased. The yellow pigmentation around his eyes gradually receded.
Without a doubt, this had been the closest he had ever come to death in his life.
Unfortunately for this enemy, it seemed he had only heard of Minato's name but knew nothing about his abilities.
Thinking of this, Minato glanced at the Flying Thunder God mark on Akashō's calf.
It was left during their first clash after Akashō activated Terpsichora.
Minato crouched down again and checked Akashō's condition.
"Severe brain trauma. She's unconscious."
Minato muttered, "Taking a Sage Art Rasengan head-on like that—any normal person's brain would've been completely destroyed. And yet she's still alive. Truly a monster among monsters… but it's better this way. We can take her back and see if we can extract some intel."
With that, Minato hoisted Akashō onto his shoulder and began heading back the way he came.
...
When Akashō regained consciousness, the first thing he saw was a pitch-black tent ceiling.
Where am I…
He suddenly snapped awake. Wasn't he fighting Minato just now? How had even the surroundings changed?
Memories from before he lost consciousness began to return. Feeling waves of pain from his brain and face, Akashō couldn't help but sigh.
Right… it seemed… he had lost.
He stared blankly, feeling somewhat lost. He had finally unlocked an S-rank Villain Template, only to suffer a disastrous first battle.
Was Neferpitou too weak?
Akashō recalled his previous fight against the Third Raikage while using Kokushibo's template.
No. Neferpitou was definitely not weak—it was Minato who was absurdly overpowered!
Having personally experienced the Third Raikage's strength, Akashō was certain of it—Neferpitou was anything but weak.
Scenes from his battle with Minato flashed through his mind: the instantaneous movement of the Flying Thunder God Technique, shadow clones indistinguishable from the original, the Rasengan that ignored armor, the summoning of giant toads, and that inexplicable final move that drastically boosted his strength.
Most crucial of all was Minato's battle awareness—every move calculated, every step planned. The more Akashō thought about it, the angrier he became. This was supposed to be a rookie who had just entered Kage-level? Hell, Akashō even felt that even if the Third Raikage himself showed up, he might not be able to defeat Minato.
"Whatever… what's done is done. The past is the past. What matters is the future."
Akashō tried to sit up, but the moment he moved, he realized something was wrong.
He was tightly bound.
Expanding his En to investigate, he found himself lying inside a large tent. His entire body was wrapped up like a dumpling in layers of bandages, with only his eyes exposed.
On top of the bandages were inscribed lines of sealing formulas, resembling the sealing techniques mentioned in Orochimaru's scrolls.
So not only had he lost—he'd even been captured. How embarrassing.
But it made sense. Losing meant getting captured. That was only natural.
"Ha!!"
Akashō used all his strength, trying to break free from the bandages. But no matter how hard he struggled, they didn't budge at all.
"Damn it…"
After writhing for a while and seeing it was useless, he gave up struggling—for now.
"You're awake."
Before long, a familiar voice came from beside him. Rolling his eyes, he saw Minato dragging over a chair and sitting down.
"Minato Namikaze…"
Enemies meeting only fuels hatred. The moment Akashō saw him, his anger surged uncontrollably.
"Alright, don't be so hostile," Minato said, picking up a water flask. "You've been unconscious for over a day. You're probably thirsty. Have some water."
Akashō shut his mouth tightly, refusing any goodwill from Minato.
"Alright, alright."
Seeing his stubbornness, Minato didn't insist and pulled the flask back.
"If you don't want water, then let's talk."
"What organization are you from? And who is your leader?"
Faced with Minato's question, Akashō simply closed his eyes, ignoring him completely.
Even if he wanted to talk, he'd need time to make something up first.
Minato sighed. "Don't be like this. If you don't cooperate, once we get back to the Hidden Leaf Village, you'll be subjected to severe interrogation."
"Those methods are terrifying. You won't want to experience them. Even if you endure it, someone will eventually use genjutsu to directly probe your memories. By then, not only will you lose your secrets—you might even end up a fool. Why go that far?"
They can forcibly extract memories with genjutsu?
Hearing something new, Akashō immediately opened his eyes.
"Heh, sounds nice. But knowing you ninja, even if I talk, you'll just assume it's fake and still dig through my memories anyway."
"We wouldn't. You can trust the Hidden Leaf Village."
"Heh. Trust you? Someone who used every trick in the book during our fight?"
Minato was momentarily speechless.
"Someone like you—bet you use that same scheming brain when dealing with women too, huh? Spinning sweet lies, watching them fall step by step into your trap… you enjoy that, don't you?!"
"Pah! Scumbag!"