Upon hearing this, Makiya felt no more burden. Responding to Minato's invitation, his remaining chakra surged out, and a terrifying chakra fluctuation instantly enveloped the Forest of Death.
Minato's expression stiffened, his mouth twitching slightly as he inwardly cursed his own loose tongue.
'How can he still have so much chakra after fighting for so long? Is Makiya really from the Uchiha clan?'
'I should ask Kushina later if the Uzumaki clan ever intermarried with the Uchiha.'
On the outskirts of the Forest of Death, the Anbu who had just arrived stumbled, nearly falling off the tree branches. The terrifying chakra fluctuations struck fear into their hearts. They exchanged glances and gritted their teeth as they pushed forward.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart skipped a beat. This was bad. A ninjutsu of this scale meant they were putting their lives on the line. What on earth had happened?
Dazzling golden light radiated from within the forest. Everyone approaching instinctively looked up to see a golden sea of fire soaring into the sky, coiled like a dragon across the heavens.
The sea of fire churned, golden flames crossing the sky, gradually shrinking inward to condense into a flaming tachi nearly a hundred meters long.
Although the volume of the flames had been significantly reduced, the golden blade emitted an even more terrifying fluctuation. Makiya pushed forward with both hands, veins bulging on his arms.
"Fire Style: Rising Sun Blade."
The hundred-meter golden blade pierced the sky. The heatwave stirred up a hurricane, closing in on Minato in the blink of an eye.
"So fast!" The watching Anbu's eyes widened. Due to the visual illusion, the flaming blade appeared to fly slowly, but in reality, it was impossible to escape and could only be faced head-on.
Minato's face turned solemn. His hands formed seals rapidly, and a massive black formation appeared before him. Jet-black characters spread out crookedly, appearing as if imprinted on space itself.
The golden tip collided with the pitch-black formation, but there was no explosion or flash of fire. The tip pierced straight into the formation, the black characters slowly contracting as the blade delved deeper.
It was as if an invisible, abyssal maw existed in the void, swallowing the hundred-meter golden flame blade whole. As the last bit of the hilt vanished into the void, the black characters finished contracting. Space distorted momentarily before returning to calm.
Makiya suddenly looked up. He sensed his ninjutsu appearing high in the sky.
It was too far; he could no longer control it.
The flaming blade was formed from countless violent, high-temperature golden flames. Without his control, the consequences were self-evident.
Winter days grew dark early. It was mid-afternoon, the sun was tilting westward, and the daylight was dimming.
Suddenly, countless golden rays spilled from the horizon, illuminating the earth. The villagers of Konoha stopped in their tracks, instinctively looking up.
"What... is that?"
"A second sun?"
"Am I still dreaming? Ow, that hurts! It's not a dream."
"Is it a ninjutsu from one of the ninja masters?"
"No way... What kind of ninjutsu can do this? Even the Hokage wouldn't be able to achieve this, right?"
"..."
The golden light flared intensely, momentarily outshining the sun before gradually fading.
A warm breeze descended from the sky, as if a midsummer wind had blown into winter. The seasonal dislocation left everyone in a daze, unsure if what they had just seen was a hallucination.
The golden light dissipated, leaving a large hole in the clouds centered where the light had been. The sky above Konoha was perfectly clear.
On the outskirts of the Forest of Death, Hiruzen Sarutobi retracted his gaze and silently crossed out the backup plan to eliminate Makiya.
Uchiha Makiya had come into his own. The optimal solution was conciliation—pulling him into the Hokage's faction. Starting a war recklessly would only lead to mutual destruction, much to the delight of other villages.
"What a terrifying Fire Style. Is that golden fire a new Kekkei Genkai?"
Hiruzen remained silent, a deep sense of envy stirring within him. He had mastered all five nature transformations and their attributes, yet he had never been able to develop a single Kekkei Genkai to benefit his descendants.
One could only say that if it wasn't meant to be, it wasn't meant to be.
The ninjas arriving one after another stopped behind Hiruzen, looking up at the sky in deep thought.
Judging by the Hokage's attitude and the space-time teleportation ninjutsu just now, it must have been someone sparring with Jonin Minato Namikaze.
The question was, when did the village get another powerhouse who used golden flames?
Could it be a direct subordinate secretly trained by the Hokage?
A few high-ranking officials exchanged glances. If that were the case, Hiruzen Sarutobi's schemes were deep and his shrewdness terrifying.
As they continued deeper, the answer was soon revealed.
The lava solidified, and melted river water flowed into the massive crater blasted out by the ninjutsu. It boiled and evaporated, filling the air with water vapor and surrounding the area in mist.
Makiya and Minato picked a pool with the perfect water temperature and comfortably soaked in it.
There was no other choice. Both of their clothes had been destroyed during the battle, leaving only their boxers—made from the universe's sturdiest material—intact. It was a truly unpresentable sight.
Since it had come to this, might as well take a bath first.
Besides, they were covered in sweat after the fight.
As the two soaked in the man-made hot spring, they exchanged battle experiences and grew much closer.
"That final move of yours, the Golden Flame Glazed Void-Breaking Evil-Slaying Slash, was incredibly powerful," Minato said with excitement. "Just using Flying Raijin to teleport it away consumed a massive amount of my chakra. I wonder what it would feel like to teleport a Tailed Beast Bomb."
"It's the Rising Sun Blade," Makiya corrected.
"Eh? But 'Golden Flame Glazed Void-Breaking Evil-Slaying Slash' sounds so much better. I've always had a talent for naming things," Minato tried to persuade him, only to be heartlessly rejected by Makiya again.
The two exchanged thoughts and tactics from the battle, both gaining a great deal.
Suddenly, a dark shadow flashed by, and Makiya thought he saw a red octopus appearing before him.
"Minato! What! Are! You! Doing!" Kushina Uzumaki was enveloped in a red glow, her red hair fluttering in the wind. Her eyes were crimson, and an angry 'cross' vein popped on her forehead.
"Ah, Kushina, you're here," Minato said, waving with a smile.
*Thud!*
A heavy blow sent Minato crashing into the water. Makiya backed away with a grin, watching the bubbling surface and offering a two-second silent prayer for Minato.
Such a terrifying woman—an ordinary person wouldn't be able to handle her. Only Minato could endure Kushina's explosive temper, perhaps even finding joy within the pain.
In a way, their personalities were a perfect match—one willing to hit, and the other willing to take it.
Minato surfaced, a large bump hidden amidst his blond hair, glowing red and emitting white smoke.
"Sorry, Kushina, you might have misunderstood."
Minato took a step forward and pulled the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero into his arms as she was about to explode again, whispering into her ear.
As his solid chest suddenly drew near, the heat from his skin brushed against Kushina's face. Her face flushed bright red, her anger vanished instantly, and she allowed Minato to hold her.
Makiya: "..."
He had been quite hungry after the fight, but now he felt completely full.
Makiya had no intention of invading Minato's privacy. He diverted his attention so he wouldn't overhear their conversation. He didn't know what Minato said, but Kushina nodded obediently, standing behind him like a submissive little wife.
He calmed her down just like that?
Makiya didn't understand, but he was deeply impressed. Minato truly was a paragon of early romance; he had managed to charm Kushina so much back in the Ninja Academy that she wouldn't marry anyone but him. He really had some tricks up his sleeve.
If he had Minato's skills, would he have remained single until graduation in his previous life?
"Hello Makiya, I'm Kushina."
Having been calmed down, Kushina proactively approached Makiya and greeted him openly.
"Hello, I'm Makiya Uchiha." Makiya stood up to shake Kushina's hand.
Just then, Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived with a group of ninjas.
The group hadn't yet recovered from the shock of the devastated battlefield. As they came to a halt, they saw two naked men surrounding the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
'Who am I? Where am I? What happened? What is going on here?'
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