Beneath Konan's wings, countless sheets of paper shot outward, her form making it appear as if they were feathers on pure white wings.
Among them, some were marked with Minato's Flying Raijin seal.
Konan didn't know exactly what Minato intended, but she could feel the emotion he had just transmitted.
Shoot them all… aim for Brother Seisui's face!
That, she understood, was what her senior meant.
Though it seemed like a long time had passed, in reality, only an instant had elapsed from Minato's call to the papers shooting out.
Yuki Seisui looked up at the barrage of paper hurtling through the air and smiled.
"Iaijutsu: Wildfire!"
He swung his sword, sending a scorching blade of fire flying toward Konan. Any paper that came near would ignite, just like ordinary paper meeting an intense flame.
But it was all an illusion.
Seisui's chakra attributes had started as wind and water, but he hadn't neglected training other elemental chakra.
Though not as strong as his innate attributes, it was more than enough for combat.
Konan's paper had been soaked in camphor oil—a special preparation.
While it looked like ordinary paper, the fireblade's high temperature made it appear as if it ignited on contact.
Camphor oil is flammable, but its ignition point is around 400°C. The fireblade hadn't even touched the paper, yet it seemed to burn—the temperature was unimaginable.
Minato's eyes narrowed. He held a palm toward Seisui.
The wind blade Seisui had absorbed instantly transferred through the Flying Raijin seal on Konan's paper.
Though its force had been reduced when cutting the paper golem earlier, its collision with the fireblade still produced a tremendous BOOM.
In midair, the two barely touched, yet a powerful explosion erupted.
Even with the windblade weakened, the fireblade disintegrated instantly.
Yet the scattered flames still blocked all paper aimed at Seisui.
========
At that moment, Konan's paper golem advanced. From its mouth emerged a long spear of white paper, and its fists struck downward toward Seisui.
Seisui already anticipated the paper golem's approach.
"Good, bring it on!"
He smiled, dodging the spear, ignoring the downward strike, and stepped along the paper golem's arm.
Using its head as a stepping point, he vanished like an arrow leaving a bow.
Seisui's disappearance caused Minato's expression to change. He scanned his surroundings, shouting to Konan:
"Be careful! You can't catch him in this state!"
Who knows where he'll strike from next!
Minato's warning put Konan on high alert, raising her altitude.
But Seisui had vanished into the shadows, ignoring Konan, and suddenly appeared behind Minato.
A chill ran down Minato's spine. Without looking back, he blinked away to the side.
His movement was clean and precise, with no hesitation.
But even with his speed, Seisui was a different story. Once he sensed danger, it was already too late.
It's like seeing a cockroach in your house… by the time you react, it's already everywhere.
The same applied to Minato. Feeling danger and then trying to escape? Too late.
Seisui's blade descended like it could cut through everything. Minato blinked away, but his body split midair under the strike.
"Minato… forgive me."
Seisui whispered, then turned to Konan flying above.
Flying ninjas are really unfair, he thought.
Especially someone like Konan, who could fly freely, deal heavy damage, and attack from range.
It's like some deadly hybrid… but not exactly.
Seisui didn't have constant flight, but he had plenty of anti-air abilities.
With a flick of his sword, four fireblades sliced toward Konan. Between them, his sword was hidden, its water chakra instantly freezing it into ice.
Seisui's real body vanished from the arena in an instant.
Konan searched, but found nothing.
From a god's-eye perspective, Minato gaped. He hadn't expected Seisui to combine fireblade, ice, and Flying Raijin in such a way.
The intense heat of the blades instinctively made one want to dodge, yet one wouldn't imagine someone could hide inside them.
Minato envied Seisui's mind; he would never have thought of this.
Indeed, only Seisui could pull it off.
Konan couldn't locate Seisui, but it didn't hinder her dodging the four fireblades.
Surrounded by countless floating sheets, she transformed into a paper tornado and flew forward.
But as she became the tornado…
Seisui appeared behind the paper tornado, shocking Minato.
Four shadow clones appeared simultaneously, positioned around Konan like the points of a pentagram.
Strangely, none moved or flew, yet neither Seisui nor the clones fell.
He seemed almost ethereal, shifting positions with the clones constantly.
From above, Minato watched the Flying Raijin symbols and the shifting positions.
The sheer amount of chakra…
Seisui stayed aloft by continuously swapping positions with his clones. Instant teleportation at sufficient speed kept him suspended, like stepping off one foot onto the other to ascend.
Even Newton's coffin couldn't contain him—but this was the ninja world.