Although Namikaze Minato had been hidden inside Naruto's body all along, he could still see everything happening in the outside world through Naruto's eyes.
Therefore, everything Uchiha Yasuo had done was fully taken into his sight.
However, he did not know that the Uchiha clan had already been annihilated, merely assuming that these twin Uchiha were both defectors from Konohagakure.
And whether from the standpoint of a former Hokage of the village or from that of a father, he could not possibly let the powerful Uchiha renegade before him go unpunished!
Thus, when he saw Uchiha Yasuo release his Susanoo, he immediately flung a kunai, then used the Body Flicker Technique, raised a Rasengan high, and smashed it down toward Uchiha Yasuo's head.
Rasengan was useless against Pain, because it could not hit him. But against Uchiha Yasuo, it could—since he could not fly.
However, Uchiha Yasuo did not need to fly. His eyes swept across, meeting Minato's gaze.
Minato only felt the Nine-Tails' chakra within his body suddenly jolt, and he woke from the genjutsu in an instant.
After all, it was not a dōjutsu like "Tsukuyomi." An ordinary illusion, even when strengthened by the Mangekyō Sharingan, could only confuse Namikaze Minato for a single moment.
But that was already enough. When Minato looked again, he saw that Uchiha Yasuo had already stepped back two paces. Blood-red chakra surged from his body, rapidly solidifying and twisting; bones, muscles, and armor overlapped layer upon layer, forming a half-bodied Susanoo that completely protected him from all sides.
Yet Minato did not use teleportation again. His golden figure dashed forward like lightning, forcefully pressing the rapidly spinning gold-red Rasengan onto the Susanoo's armor.
"Nine-Tails Rasengan!"
The Rasengan infused with the Nine-Tails' chakra did not increase in size, but its power rose sharply.
The Nine-Tails Rasengan and the Susanoo's armor collided violently, producing a piercing friction sound that made one's ears ache.
After a brief stalemate, both exploded simultaneously, hurling the two men away at once.
In the center of the battlefield, a blinding light burst forth, forming a column of energy that shot straight into the heavens, as though piercing a hole through the sky itself.
Violent energy waves erupted from within the pillar, turning into turbulent currents of power that swept furiously in all directions. Wherever they passed, everything was shredded as though reaped by a storm of sickles.
The land, already ravaged, was once again repeatedly sliced apart, peeling away in layers like fragile biscuits. Even hard rocks were cut into fine fragments that swept out in all directions like a sandstorm.
"Haha…" Laughter came from within the smoke and dust, madness laced with a hair-raising delight.
Although a large hole had been blasted into Susanoo's chest, leaving Uchiha Yasuo's body completely exposed, he not only did not feel fear but instead burst into wild laughter.
"Namikaze Minato!"
"You really are a good father—letting your own son be kept like a dog by the Third!"
"No wonder you could be Hokage!"
"Sarutobi Hiruzen's brainwashing art is truly incredible!"
"Haha…"
Minato's face was as still as water. He opened his right hand, and a Rasengan appeared in his palm once more.
But before he could launch an attack, Uchiha Yasuo suddenly leaped forward and, using that shattered hole in Susanoo's chest, drew Namikaze Minato inside. Then he drove his chakra, and in an instant sealed the breach, trapping the two of them within the sealed space of Susanoo's abdomen.
He immediately bared a ferocious grin and lightly pointed a finger upward.
When Minato looked up, he saw that the Susanoo overhead had already taken the herb gourd from its back, aimed it downward, and pulled out the stopper at the gourd's mouth.
With a whoosh, a purple torrent poured out of the gourd's mouth, rushing headlong into Susanoo's abdominal cavity like a waterfall, covering the two of them and instantly filling the entire enclosed space.
These Rinkaichū are by nature indiscriminate between friend and foe, and at once they pounced toward the two on separate fronts, dyeing both of them purple.
"Haha…"
"Minato, try Aburame Torune's Rinkaichū!"
"Let's see which of us dies first!"
Uchiha Yasuo's deranged laughter echoed within the swarm, as if he did not take his own life into account at all.
But Namikaze Minato did not intend to die together with him here.
Namikaze Minato was already dead, but Uzumaki Naruto was still alive.
Even setting aside the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki and the village, as a father, he could not let his own son just die here.
"Lunatic!"
Minato cursed in anger and lunged forward at once, wanting to finish off Uchiha Yasuo as quickly as possible to break free.
But fighting in such a cramped place rendered the Flying Thunder God Technique he excelled at useless.
Uchiha Yasuo's taijutsu level was by no means inferior, and with the powerful dynamic vision of the Mangekyō Sharingan, Namikaze Minato truly had no way to kill Uchiha Yasuo in a short time.
"Haha… Let's see which of us dies first!"
As Uchiha Yasuo fought him relentlessly, he laughed wildly without restraint, further agitating Namikaze Minato beyond measure.
Although the purple area spreading across Uchiha Yasuo's body was growing larger and larger, Minato at the same time felt that the Nine-Tails chakra cloak around his own body was rapidly being devoured by the Rinkaichū.
Although the chakra of a Tailed Beast was infinite, Naruto's body was far too young, his endurance limited. He had to take his son's life and safety into account, not daring to draw out too much, and even less to recklessly use the Tailed Beast's power in battle.
Once a flaw appeared in the chakra cloak's protection, he did not possess the same poison resistance that Uchiha Yasuo had.
Having realized this, Namikaze Minato did not dare to waste any more time. At once, he twisted his wrist and slammed the Rasengan in his hand fiercely down toward the ground.
In such a sealed and cramped space, if the Rasengan and Susanoo clashed again and caused an explosion, its power would far surpass that of an explosive tag, and even for the two of them, it would most likely mean certain death.
Therefore, escaping through the underground was the best choice.
Amid the deafening blast, sand and stone scattered across the ground, briefly obstructing Uchiha Yasuo's line of sight, and Minato took the opportunity to form hand seals.
With a swoosh, his figure vanished from where he stood, reappearing an instant later outside Susanoo.
The moment he left Susanoo's abdomen, he quickly shook his body, throwing off the outermost layer of the Nine-Tails chakra cloak along with the Rinkaichū tightly clinging to it.
"Tch, so this is the so-called Yellow Flash? Nothing special after all!"
Uchiha Yasuo spoke with a mocking tone, activated the herb gourd above his head, and like a great whale inhaling water, sucked all the Rinkaichū back in. Then, under Minato's gaze, he began to repair the injuries on his body.
Minato gave him a deep look, said nothing, and in an instant flickered to Akimichi Chōza's side, bent down, picked him up, and quickly ran toward Konohagakure.
The other Konoha shinobi also hurriedly followed behind him, preparing to retreat.
But whether they could leave or not depended on whether others agreed.
A cold voice drifted down from the sky.
"This Land of Rain is not a place you can come and go as you please!"
"Banshō Ten'in!"
Before the words had even fallen, a massive gravitational force suddenly arose out of thin air, acting upon all the Konohagakure ninja.
The force was overwhelmingly strong—even Minato found it hard to resist and could only be pulled backward.
As everyone's feet began to lift from the ground and they were about to lose control of their bodies, Akimichi Chōza suddenly shouted, snatched up a handful of pills, and shoved them into his mouth.
Ordinarily he could control his body's transformations on his own, but now, badly injured, his control had weakened greatly, leaving him no choice but to rely on medicine.
Once the medicine went down, his body immediately began to swell rapidly, turning again into a towering giant.
He stomped both feet heavily into the ground, reached out to grab Namikaze Minato, then swung his arm and hurled him forcefully into the distance.
Afraid that Minato might come back to save them, he shouted loudly as he threw: "Fourth-sama, you must take this information back to the village—let the village prepare defenses against it!"
"And also, the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki must not be lost—please protect him well!"
"No!" Namikaze Minato shouted anxiously, wanting to stop him, but under the pull of "Banshō Ten'in," he simply could not.
Back when Nara Shikaku and Yamanaka Inoichi had died, Akimichi Chōza had already resolved to die as well.
The three of them—Ino–Shika–Chō—had shared life and death together for many years; now that two were gone, he no longer wished to live alone.
He knew that Namikaze Minato had already died long ago. Judging from his state in battle, he could tell that Minato was not truly revived, and likely could not remain in this world for much longer.
The reason he had suddenly appeared now, for no apparent reason, was most likely because of his son, Uzumaki Naruto.
Now that another crisis had come, Akimichi Chōza intended to use the last of his remaining life to save Uzumaki Naruto.
However, Akimichi Chōza was very familiar with Namikaze Minato and knew that he would not abandon his comrades and flee, so he found a perfect excuse for him and forcibly sent him out.
Namikaze Minato, of course, also understood Akimichi Chōza's good intentions, so when the situation could not be reversed, he could only silently accept this kindness.
With tears in his eyes, he looked deeply at Akimichi Chōza; the moment he landed, he turned his head and resolutely disappeared at the far end of everyone's sight.
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