The Masked Man.
Staring at the figure standing before him, Minato's eyes blazed with barely contained murderous intent that seemed to radiate from his very core. Years of preparation and strategic planning had led to this moment of confrontation.
"Do you honestly believe that a simple barrier like this will be enough to kill me?" the masked man asked with apparent confidence, though his visible eye beneath the orange spiral mask remained intensely focused on Minato's every movement, not daring to show even the slightest hint of negligence or overconfidence.
The memory of their previous encounter remained fresh and painful. The last time they had faced each other, he had been completely outmaneuvered at the very moment when victory seemed assured, and had barely escaped with his life intact.
However, before the masked man could finish voicing his taunts, Minato had already launched into action with the lightning-fast reflexes that had made him legendary throughout the ninja world.
"Swoosh!"
Even while speaking those words of apparent dismissal, the masked man's body language revealed his intense wariness of every subtle movement Minato made. Years of experience had taught him never to underestimate the Yellow Flash's incredible speed and tactical brilliance.
As Minato's attack commenced, the masked man's visible eye instantly transformed, revealing the distinctive crimson pattern of his Sharingan.
Minato's strike passed harmlessly through his opponent's body as if the man were nothing more than an illusion or ghost.
"Crack!"
The chakra suppression barrier covering the elevated platform began to show spider-web patterns of structural failure at that exact moment, then collapsed entirely in a cascade of shattered energy fragments.
While Minato's tactical methods were indeed sophisticated and brilliantly conceived, his opponent had obviously come prepared for this specific confrontation. In order to properly conceal the barrier's presence until the optimal moment of activation, Minato had been forced to limit its overall power and effectiveness.
Although the barrier possessed impressive chakra sealing capabilities, it also had clearly defined operational limits that could be exceeded under sufficient pressure.
Obviously, the masked man's pupil power and raw chakra reserves were so formidable that they exceeded the barrier's maximum tolerance levels, allowing him to break free through sheer overwhelming force.
"Still as problematic as ever," Minato muttered grimly as the masked man made no immediate move to launch a counterattack.
The antagonist's caution was entirely understandable, as he had no reliable way to assess exactly how much Minato's already legendary speed might have improved during the past decade of training and experience.
Any rash or poorly timed action could provide Minato with the perfect opening to exploit, potentially resulting in instant death before he could react or defend himself.
As for the masked man's unique abilities, Minato had developed a fairly comprehensive understanding of their mechanics many years ago during their previous encounters.
Even so, he still hadn't managed to devise a reliable method for completely countering or neutralizing the intangibility technique.
This ability to phase through attacks rendered even the most devastating offensive techniques completely useless, no matter how much raw power they contained.
It was an almost invincible defensive capability that, in some ways, represented an even more advanced and versatile technique than Minato's own legendary Flying Thunder God jutsu.
Glancing back at the crumbling remains of the chakra suppression barrier, the masked man fixed Minato with a baleful stare and spoke in a voice filled with grim satisfaction:
"Fourth Hokage, since you already knew I would eventually come for you and your village..."
"Then surely you must have considered what Konoha will be forced to face as a consequence of your interference!"
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!
In a secure shelter hidden somewhere within Konoha's underground network, most of the people who had been present in the dueling arena just moments before suddenly materialized in flashes of displaced space and time.
The sensation of instantaneous spatial transportation left the majority of the evacuated civilians and visiting dignitaries feeling disoriented and confused.
"Where exactly are we?" Naruto asked with obvious bewilderment, looking around at the unfamiliar underground chamber with its reinforced walls and emergency lighting systems.
"Ahhhhh!"
However, before he could fully process their new surroundings and situation, Gaara, who was kneeling on the floor directly in front of him, suddenly clutched his head with both hands and released a low, animalistic roar of pain and rage.
Swoosh!
At that critical moment, a figure appeared instantly beside the struggling Sand ninja through a Body Flicker technique.
Shisui's eyes snapped open and closed in rapid succession, and suddenly the distinctive three-tomoe pattern of his fully activated Sharingan appeared in his pupils.
The One-Tail sealed within Gaara's body was clearly on the verge of a complete rampage, and immediate suppression was absolutely essential before they could safely return to the village proper.
However, just as Shisui moved closer to begin the necessary genjutsu techniques, his heart suddenly clenched with instinctive alarm.
"Who's there?" he called out sharply, raising his eyes to scan the shelter's interior.
Standing before him, a figure draped in a voluminous black robe slowly raised one hand in his direction with deliberate menace.
A powerful gravitational force suddenly erupted from the mysterious attacker, causing Shisui's body to lose its balance and stability as he was forcibly pulled forward against his will.
Shisui's form was yanked through the air toward his opponent, but just as he was about to make unwilling contact, the corners of his mouth actually curved upward in what might have been interpreted as a smile of anticipation.
"Whoosh!"
Brilliant green chakra light suddenly blazed to life around his entire body, quickly condensing and solidifying into the distinctive skeletal framework that surrounded him like ethereal armor.
A massive ethereal hand grew out from the skeletal structure and reached out to grasp the black-robed attacker with crushing force.
"Susanoo?!" the figure beneath the black robes exclaimed in genuine surprise and alarm.
In response to the immediate threat, the concealing robe was torn away entirely, revealing that several mechanical arms had suddenly extended from the attacker's body to block the incoming assault.
"Bang!"
Shisui's Susanoo attack struck those defensive mechanical appendages with tremendous force, scattering metal parts and components across the shelter floor, though the enemy had managed to successfully defend against the technique.
When this initial assault failed to achieve decisive results, Shisui immediately activated his Susanoo again and prepared to launch an even more powerful follow-up attack.
"Hmph!" the black-clad figure snorted with cold disdain, his body trembling slightly as repulsive force burst outward from his position in all directions.
"Bang!"
The omnidirectional repulsive wave struck Susanoo directly, causing hairline cracks to appear across its ethereal surface while simultaneously knocking both the technique and Shisui himself backward through the air.
"Is Uchiha Shisui really the only significant threat present?" the attacker mused aloud, scanning the crowd of evacuated civilians and visitors with analytical interest.
Apart from Shisui, there appeared to be no other particularly powerful ninja among the assembled group, and none of them had possessed sufficient reaction time to effectively respond to the lightning-fast combat exchange.
Minato had clearly anticipated the conspiracy orchestrated by the masked man and his associates, which explained why elite fighters like Kakashi and other jōnin-level personnel had not been transported to this location along with the civilians.
The attacker felt a brief moment of surprise, as continuous intelligence gathering had provided no indication that Uchiha Shisui had successfully awakened the legendary Mangekyō Sharingan.
With Shisui temporarily neutralized and knocked away from the immediate area, the mysterious enemy took a purposeful step forward and extended his hand toward the still-struggling Gaara.
Although he considered it somewhat redundant given his primary objectives, creating additional chaos and problems for both Konoha and the Fourth Hokage remained a worthwhile secondary goal, and the One-Tail's power represented considerable destructive potential.
At that crucial moment, Kushina suddenly stepped directly between the attacker and both Gaara and Naruto, positioning herself as a human shield.
"The Fourth Hokage's wife?" the enemy observed with interest. "We failed to capture you during our previous operation, but now you've delivered yourself to us."
"How foolish!" he thought internally, as repulsive force began building in the palm of his outstretched hand.
"Whoosh!"
At the precise moment the black-clad attacker was forming this thought, dark golden chakra suddenly erupted from Kushina's body like liquid fire, enveloping her entire form in an aura of barely contained power.
As soon as this extraordinary chakra manifested, the very air within the shelter seemed to vibrate and tremble with its intensity.
Although Kushina's body was indeed pulled forward by the gravitational assault, multiple chains that appeared as strong as gold and iron simultaneously extended from her back, lashing out toward the black-robed figure like enraged serpents seeking their prey.
The speed of the chakra chains far exceeded the velocity of the attacker's gravitational pull technique.
"That's the Nine-Tails chakra!" the enemy realized with shock, instantly recognizing the distinctive energy signature.
He had been present during Kushina's childbirth and had personally sensed the Nine-Tails' chakra stirring within her body during that traumatic night many years ago.
However, compared to the violent and chaotic Nine-Tails chakra he remembered from that previous encounter, the power now enveloping Kushina was notably less savage and uncontrolled, though its raw strength was undeniably genuine and formidable.
Abandoning his attempt to pull Kushina closer, he focused entirely on defending against the incoming chain attacks, but the golden restraints had already closed the distance to their target.
Just as the first chain was about to make contact with his body, a transparent energy film materialized directly in front of him.
The chakra chain struck the defensive barrier, causing visible ripples to spread across its surface, but those disturbances faded away with alarming speed.
The chakra was being absorbed!
Observing this development, Kushina's dark golden pupils contracted with concern and she immediately recalled her chains to prevent further energy drain.
At the same time, Shisui managed to steady himself and landed gracefully beside her, looking with obvious surprise at Kushina's dramatically transformed appearance while keeping his eyes fixed warily on their black-clad opponent.
Had the enemy chosen not to absorb his Susanoo technique earlier because he feared that such an action would provide an opening for Lady Kushina to close the distance and unleash an even more devastating attack?
This enemy clearly possessed extensive and detailed knowledge regarding the capabilities and limitations of the Mangekyō Sharingan!
"The people of Konoha have actually progressed to this level," the black-robed figure observed, staring at the Nine-Tails chakra surrounding Kushina with a mixture of shock and grudging admiration.
At this tense moment, the other people sheltered in the underground facility turned their shocked and bewildered gazes toward the unfolding confrontation.
The more intelligent among them had correctly deduced that the Fourth Hokage must have used his Flying Thunder God technique to transport them to this secure location.
The immediate appearance of an enemy attacker suggested either a security breach or a more complex conspiracy than anyone had anticipated.
"They actually managed to locate this place and anticipated Minato-sensei's contingency plan?" Shisui's expression grew increasingly grave as he considered the implications.
The fact that the black-clad enemy had been able to find this supposedly secret shelter so quickly clearly demonstrated that their opponents had come extremely well-prepared for this operation.
At that moment, Kushina fixed the mysterious attacker with an intense stare and spoke in a voice filled with shocked recognition:
"Are you from the Uzumaki clan?"