Aside from Terumi Mei, everyone present knew each other. If they had met on any other occasion, they would have exchanged warm greetings about how long it had been. But now, meeting like this, they had to fight. Orochimaru couldn't exactly turn to Tsunade and Jiraiya and say, "After decades of friendship, you're really going to trap me with the Four Red Yang Formation?"
Compared to the awkward reunion of the Konoha Sannin, the situation with the Fourth and Fifth Hokages was even more complicated—a reunion of father and son, husband and wife, all at once.
"Has Naruto grown this much?" Minato Namikaze looked at his son with a sense of relief before turning to his wife outside the barrier. Gazing at her red hair, he murmured softly, "Kushina..."
"Minato..." Kushina Uzumaki's arm stiffened.
Naruto rubbed his forehead and said in a firm voice, "Hey, Mom, this isn't the time for you two to talk. We need to seal Dad first!"
"Let's do it!" Sasuke Uchiha flew toward Minato Namikaze.
According to the plan he and Naruto had discussed, Sasuke, who could also use the Flying Thunder God Technique, would handle Minato, while Naruto captured Orochimaru.
"Body Flicker Technique!"
A dozen of Sasuke's clones spread out, swarming Minato from all sides as they rushed forward with their swords raised. At the same time, Sasuke's Mangekyo Sharingan spun, its space-time dōjutsu pulling the distance between him and Minato ever closer.
Clang!
A kunai and a sword collided.
The battle between two masters of space-time jutsu was dazzling. Every time Minato vanished, Sasuke would use his dōjutsu to drag him right back to the battlefield.
On the other side of the fight, Orochimaru wasn't having nearly as much luck.
Naruto looked at the tense Sannin and asked calmly, "Mr. Orochimaru, are you going to surrender... or should we go through the motions first?"
"..." Veins bulged on Orochimaru's face, his expression turning ferocious. "Brat, do you really think you've got me? Ninja Art: Ten Thousand Snakes Formation!"
Countless long snakes spewed from his mouth, each one holding a sharp Kusanagi sword. The sheer number of them was enough to make anyone's skin crawl.
"Great Spiral Wheel!"
A black sphere dropped from Naruto's palm, instantly causing a massive explosion that completely obliterated the snake formation. Orochimaru was caught in the blast, leaving him covered in wounds and dripping with blood.
Sasuke hurriedly activated his Susanoo to block the shockwave, but his clones were swept away in an instant. His face immediately grew impatient. "Hey, Naruto, tone it down a little! Your jutsu is getting in the way of my fight!"
Sasuke's battle with Minato was already not going smoothly. He had thought that since he could also use the Flying Thunder God Technique and had a space-time Mangekyo Sharingan, he would have the upper hand. In reality, he was still on the defensive against Minato.
"Ha, Sasuke, just activate your Susanoo!" Naruto shouted, offering a suggestion and revealing his father's weakness. "Dad's Rasengan isn't fully developed yet. Its power is pretty small. It's probably... only good for scrubbing someone's back, right?"
Minato Namikaze: "..."
Sasuke Uchiha: "..."
Although the father and son looked so much alike, Naruto was openly dissing his own father in front of so many people, causing Minato to lose a bit of face.
But Sasuke decided to follow the advice.
A purple Susanoo materialized around him, holding a giant sword. The sight made everyone's heart skip a beat. Sasuke smiled confidently and shouted at Minato, "Fourth Hokage, this is a jutsu I was saving for a spar with Naruto!"
The Susanoo's massive sword came crashing down. At the same time, Sasuke's Mangekyo Sharingan spun wildly, warping space to pull Minato directly into the sword's path. Even if Minato used the Flying Thunder God Technique to escape, he couldn't increase the distance between himself and the blade. This was the terrifying power of the Mangekyo's dōjutsu. There was no escape.
Just as the Susanoo's sword was about to strike, Minato flipped his palm and threw several shuriken, setting up a Flying Thunder God Formation. Since he couldn't escape the attack, he would simply teleport it away.
Sasuke and his purple Susanoo reappeared on the other side of the battlefield, a hint of confusion in his eyes. "Flying Thunder God... can be used like that?"
"Of course," Minato replied with a smile. "The Flying Thunder God Formation is derived from the technique. It can transfer any attack, even a Tailed Beast Bomb..."
Sasuke Uchiha: "..."
Lesson learned. His best friend's dad had some tricks up his sleeve.
Minato narrowed his eyes and smiled at the miserable-looking Orochimaru across the battlefield. "Senior Orochimaru," he shouted, "can you undo my restrictions? If I can't fight with my full strength, I'll be defeated by the younger generation soon!"
"..." Orochimaru's mouth opened, and he spat out another version of himself. His signature substitution jutsu allowed him to recover from his injuries by consuming chakra. After hearing Minato's words, Orochimaru was silent for a moment before slowly forming a hand seal. His voice appeared in Minato's mind. "Alright. Find a way to break free from Sasuke and get me out of here!"
Facing Naruto's relentless attacks, Orochimaru was powerless. Even if he used his Eight Branches Technique, he doubted he could defeat the power of the Nine-Tails. Right now, Minato was his only hope. As long as Minato could defeat Sasuke and break free, he could use his technique to get them both out of Konoha.
Another pitch-black Tailed Beast Bomb came flying at him.
Orochimaru quickly formed hand seals and slammed his palms on the ground. "Summoning Jutsu: Triple Rashomon!"
Three giant bronze gates were pierced through by the Tailed Beast Bomb. Orochimaru, who had just recovered, was once again covered in wounds. Naruto's fighting style was completely unconventional.
He didn't follow the rules of a ninja at all, simply relying on his abundant chakra to crush his opponents with powerful ninjutsu. And there was little Orochimaru could do but passively defend. If this continued, the only thing Minato would be taking away would be the little white snake he left behind after death.
However, Minato's next moves immediately made Orochimaru understand true despair.
A majestic aura rapidly spread within the Four Red Yang Formation. Minato was now covered in a golden chakra cloak—his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode. A giant golden chakra hand emerged and simply pushed Sasuke's Susanoo away.
The next moment, Minato's body turned into a golden flash and appeared right beside Orochimaru.
Just as Orochimaru thought Minato was about to rescue him, a kunai engraved with the words "Shinobi" and "Love" was placed against his neck. Minato's hand pressed down as he said softly, "Senior Orochimaru, you can surrender now..."
Having regained control of his body, Minato quickly formed seals and cut the connection between himself and Orochimaru. Although he didn't know how to break the Impure World Reincarnation jutsu entirely, severing the link between the reanimated body and the caster was a sure way to break free from their control. Coincidentally, he had learned all of his sealing jutsu from his wife.
Orochimaru's fingers gradually went stiff. Even as he tried to cast a jutsu, he found that he had no control over Minato in his Kurama Mode. He slowly turned his head to look at Minato, a cold smile on his face. "Minato, you've changed. I forgot... Konoha's Fourth Hokage isn't only a master of the Flying Thunder God Technique, but also an expert in sealing jutsu!"
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Bonus:
Orochimaru: Don't ever trust the Uzumaki-Namikaze family!
Naruto: Hey! Our family has credibility, you know!
Orochimaru: I resurrected one of you, and now all three of you are trying to kill me!
Minato: ...
Kushina: ...
Naruto: ...Well, when you put it like that, you have a point.