The Chunin Exam Venue
Swoosh!
A figure with dark golden chakra radiating from her entire body moved with extraordinary velocity, landing gracefully in front of Minato under the watchful gazes of both the masked man and his black-robed ally.
"Thank you for your tireless efforts, Kushina," Minato said with obvious gratitude, glancing sideways at his wife's shadow clone as she took position beside him.
"Who exactly is the unknown chakra signature that's currently engaging Tsunade-senpai?" he asked with a slight frown, his enhanced sensory abilities having detected that both Tsunade and Hatake Sakumo had encountered hostile forces in different sectors of the village.
One of the chakra patterns was completely undisguised and easily recognizable - the distinctive chakra fluctuations belonging to Sasori.
However, the chakra signature engaged with Tsunade, as well as the energy emanations from the two enemies standing directly before them, seemed to have undergone some form of concealment or alteration.
Kushina shook her head with obvious frustration, indicating that she couldn't identify the individual currently battling the legendary Sannin.
She frowned deeply and cast a sideways glance at the black-robed figure and masked man positioned in front of them, her expression immediately showing unmistakable disgust and revulsion.
"They, along with several other enemies throughout the village, have strange parasitic entities attached to their bodies," Kushina explained with clinical precision. "It's these foreign organisms that are interfering with normal chakra perception and making accurate identification difficult."
"Does the Nine-Tails' chakra grant you the ability to sense good and evil intentions, similar to what Uzumaki Mito once possessed?" the masked man asked with obvious concern.
Both he and his companion had learned from their intelligence network that Kushina was somehow able to detect the White Zetsu clones that had been carefully attached to their persons, and that she could perceive their true chakra signatures despite the masking techniques. Her Uzumaki bloodline clearly provided capabilities they had not anticipated.
Immediately, his heart sank with the weight of this tactical disadvantage, and he fixed Minato with an extremely grim stare.
Just as Madara had predicted before his death, the man standing before them had indeed evolved into their most formidable and dangerous enemy.
Even though their coalition had successfully assembled numerous S-rank rogue ninja from the wanted lists of multiple nations, combined with the three legendary Kage that Orochimaru had resurrected using the Impure World Reincarnation technique, their overwhelming force should have been sufficient to challenge any village in existence.
With the addition of these two factors, even Konoha during its golden age under the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama himself, might have struggled to mount an effective resistance.
However, because of Namikaze Minato's existence and the extraordinary developments in his power, Konoha had become something truly terrifying to behold.
Excluding only the legendary figure who had once been revered as the "God of Shinobi" throughout the entire ninja world, Konoha's current military strength had arguably surpassed even its most prosperous historical period.
The masked man and his black-robed ally exchanged meaningful glances, both recognizing the disturbing implications of their situation. Even after years of careful intelligence gathering through their extensive White Zetsu network, they had completely failed to discover Uchiha Shisui's awakened Mangekyō Sharingan or Uzumaki Kushina's remarkable ability to control and harness the Nine-Tails' power.
This meant that although they had taken the initiative in launching today's coordinated assault against Konoha, the man standing before them seemed to have been patiently waiting for exactly this kind of attack to occur.
"BANG!"
At that moment, Kushina's shadow clone beside Minato dispersed in a cloud of white smoke, having served its purpose of providing crucial intelligence about the village-wide battle situation.
Minato turned his full attention back to the two enemies positioned before him, his brow furrowing slightly with concern as he processed the tactical information he had received.
According to his comprehensive intelligence files, there should have been one additional member of the masked man's organization participating in this assault.
The rogue ninja named Hidan had reportedly sacrificed a high-ranking member of the jashin cult in Yugakure Village, gaining the same type of immortal body that Kuriyama Shinzo had possessed in previous encounters.
Through the systematic perception and search efforts conducted by dozens of Kushina's dispersed shadow clones throughout the village, it had been confirmed that Hidan was definitely not present within Konoha's boundaries.
Minato then glanced toward Uchiha Yoruki, who was currently engaged in his own confrontation with Kakuzu on the damaged arena wall, and made several subtle hand gestures to communicate tactical instructions.
Yoruki immediately understood the silent communication, and his expression gradually darkened with grim determination as he acknowledged the new information.
Simultaneously, Minato fixed the two enemies standing before him with a stare of absolute coldness and lethal intent.
His massive chakra reserves actually began forming a visible azure energy film around his entire body, and stress fractures started appearing in the ground beneath his feet, spreading outward toward the damaged arena walls and spectator areas.
After confirming that Sasori had been successfully intercepted by Hatake Sakumo and that no signs of widespread poisoning had been detected throughout the village, Minato felt ready to commit his full attention to this long-overdue confrontation.
He had been engaged in open and covert warfare with these two individuals for more than a decade - possibly even longer if certain suspicions proved accurate. Today, this prolonged conflict would finally reach its decisive conclusion!
Sensing the overwhelming killing intent radiating from Minato's position, both the masked man and his black-robed companion immediately shifted into maximum alertness and defensive postures.
Swoosh!
In the next instant, Minato's form completely vanished from sight without any visible movement or technique activation.
Even with the enhanced visual capabilities possessed by both enemies, they found themselves completely unable to detect or track where the Fourth Hokage had repositioned himself.
"WHOOSH!"
Therefore, the masked man responded almost without hesitation, the intricate patterns within his visible eye solidifying as azure chakra light suddenly erupted around his position. The energy immediately condensed into a half-formed Susanoo construct, providing protective coverage for both himself and his black-robed ally.
"BUZZ!"
At the precise moment their defensive barrier completed formation, violent chakra emanations flickered into existence directly above both men's heads.
"Super Giant Rasengan: Multi-Satellite Formation!" Minato declared from his aerial position.
Several enormous Rasengan constructs, each one orbiting around the Susanoo like satellites around a planet, suddenly descended with devastating force. The sheer power contained within this technique was so extraordinary that it could theoretically suppress even the Nine-Tails itself during a full rampage.
Consequently, visible cracks immediately began appearing across the surface of the Susanoo's protective barrier under the tremendous assault.
"Such incredible speed!" the masked man exclaimed with genuine shock and alarm.
Minato's attack velocity had reached truly extraordinary levels. Normally, such a powerful and complex technique would generate detectable chakra signatures the moment its user began gathering the necessary energy.
However, Minato had condensed his chakra and formed the complete attack so quickly that by the time their sensory abilities detected the technique's presence, it was already fully manifested and striking their defenses.
As the current Hokage of a major village, this individual was undoubtedly occupied with countless administrative duties and political responsibilities every single day, leaving him with presumably limited time for personal training and development.
Yet somehow, his current combat capabilities were dramatically stronger than they had been during their previous encounters over a decade ago.
Where could he possibly have acquired such overwhelming chakra reserves and devastating techniques?
Observing that his initial assault had been successfully blocked, Minato paused for only a moment before adapting his strategy. It appeared that their previous battle had indeed taught his opponents the critical importance of maintaining maximum caution when engaging him in combat.
Therefore, both sides were immediately employing their most lethal techniques without any preliminary testing or gradual escalation.
"DING! DING!"
Minato suddenly raised his free hand, and within his palm, concentrated wind chakra began forming visible cutting edges. In the blink of an eye, these elements condensed into the distinctive spiral pattern of his signature Rasengan technique.
Of course, Minato was now capable of creating far more powerful variations like the Rasenshuriken, but those advanced forms naturally required longer preparation time for proper formation.
The cracks that had appeared on the Susanoo's surface from his previous attack were already beginning to heal rapidly through the masked man's continuous chakra input.
It seemed that his opponent also intended to utilize the strongest possible form of Susanoo right from the beginning of their confrontation, holding nothing back in reserve.
The black-robed figure standing beside the masked man displayed obvious surprise when he witnessed Minato perform such a sophisticated technique with virtually instantaneous speed.
Given the demonstrated power level of the ninjutsu that Minato was currently wielding, the Susanoo in its current defensive configuration should not have been capable of withstanding such an assault.
Immediately recognizing this tactical reality, he burst out from the protection of the Susanoo barrier. At the same time, the newly formed Rasengan in Minato's hand began its descent toward the exposed target.
The black-robed enemy raised one hand defensively, and just as the spinning chakra sphere was about to make contact, a transparent energy film capable of absorbing and neutralizing chakra had already materialized in front of his position.
The destructive energy from Minato's Rasengan began being systematically drained and absorbed at an alarming rate.
Swoosh!
At the precise moment when the black-robed figure committed to his movement away from the Susanoo's protection, Minato disappeared once again through his space-time technique.
The masked man's pupil power granted him the ability to distort and manipulate space within his direct field of vision, but if he couldn't clearly observe his target's location, this formidable ability became completely useless.
The black-robed enemy was successfully absorbing Minato's ninjutsu as planned, but his tactical position had left him too far from the Susanoo to return to its protective coverage in time.
In an instant that seemed to bend the laws of physics themselves, Minato's form suddenly materialized directly behind the black-robed figure's exposed position.
His movement speed was so absolutely terrifying that even the masked man, despite possessing the enhanced visual capabilities of his Mangekyō Sharingan, found himself completely unable to track or anticipate Minato's sudden appearance!
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