Chapter 467: Naruto vs. Edo Tensei Minato Namikaze
The Konoha battlefield lay in ruins, choked with ash and the lingering scent of scorched earth. Naruto Uzumaki braced his hands on his knees, his chest heaving as he drew in ragged breaths. Beside him, Gaara wiped a streak of grime from his cheek. They had just managed to temporarily repel Itachi, buying themselves a fleeting moment of respite.
Suddenly, the air pressure dropped.
Naruto snapped his head around, his gaze piercing through the drifting smoke toward the far side of the battlefield.
On a patch of scorched, empty ground, the earth began to tremble. A low, grinding rumble echoed across the cratered wasteland. Dirt and shattered rock cascaded outward as an ancient, weathered wooden coffin slowly rose from the depths of the earth.
With a heavy thud, the coffin lid fell forward, kicking up a fresh cloud of dust.
As the debris cleared, a solitary figure stood quietly within the shadows of the wooden box. He wore a pristine white haori, his back turned to the devastated landscape. Emblazoned across the fabric were blood-red kanji.
Fourth Hokage.
"That is..." Naruto whispered, his blue eyes widening until the whites showed. His breath hitched in his throat.
That silhouette. That familiar, spiky hair.
"The Fourth... Hokage? That is my father!"
Gaara stiffened, his sand automatically swirling around his ankles in agitation. "Minato Namikaze?"
Slowly, the figure turned.
The bright, handsome face of Konoha's Yellow Flash was now marred by the deep, ash-like cracks characteristic of the Edo Tensei. His eyes were dark, the sclera pitch black, but beneath that lifeless exterior, a terrifying power was brewing.
The very next second, a blinding surge of golden chakra erupted from Minato Namikaze.
The sheer force of it whipped the surrounding debris into a localized hurricane. The texture of that chakra, the heavy, wild, and suffocating pressure it exuded... Naruto knew it all too well. It pulsed with the exact same frequency as the beast sealed within his own stomach.
That is... Nine-Tails Chakra.
A brilliant golden cloak instantly enveloped Minato from head to toe. Dark, jagged lines crawled across his body, and six black tomoe materialized around his collar.
Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.
"That is the power of the Nine-Tails?" Naruto muttered, entirely stunned.
Deep within the seal, the massive fox finally broke his silence.
'That is my other half... the Yin Nine-Tails.'Kurama's voice echoed in Naruto's mind, unusually low and grave.'Naruto, be careful. Minato Namikaze, combined with my power... he is a monster.'
"Dad..." Naruto swallowed hard, his throat dry and tight, as if packed with sand.
"Naruto." Minato slowly raised his head. Despite the dead, cracked visage of the reanimation, his expression twisted with deep guilt and agonizing pain. "I am sorry."
His voice trembled slightly, a physical manifestation of his soul desperately fighting against the absolute control of the jutsu binding him.
"My body... is no longer under my control."
Before the final syllable even left Minato's lips, the space where he stood was empty.
Only a faint golden afterimage remained suspended in the air.
Too fast.
Naruto's pupils shrank to the size of pinpricks. Even with the heightened sensory perception of his own Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, his dynamic vision could barely register the incoming flash of golden light.
Driven entirely by instinct, Naruto jerked his head violently backward.
The cold steel of a three-pronged kunai grazed the very tip of his nose, leaving a thin line of blood in its wake.
Before Naruto could even blink, a palm wreathed in dense, swirling golden chakra slammed directly into his abdomen.
"Rasengan!"
The impact was deafening. Naruto folded over the sphere of grinding chakra and was launched backward like a cannonball, tearing a deep trench through the earth before smashing through a jagged boulder.
"Cough... cough..." Naruto hacked violently, clutching his stomach as he dragged himself out of the rubble. His golden chakra cloak flickered erratically, struggling to stabilize. "What incredible speed!"
"Naruto! Watch out!" Minato's voice echoed across the battlefield, laced with panic. "I am coming again!"
Before Naruto could even plant his feet, Minato vanished once more.
Flying Thunder God: Second Step.
In the exact fraction of a second that the Rasengan had made contact, Minato had slapped a jutsu formula directly onto Naruto's stomach.
'Damn it!'Kurama roared from within the seal, his massive tails thrashing.'Naruto! The power of the Yin Nine-Tails combined with the Flying Thunder God makes his speed vastly superior to yours! Do not try to match his speed!'
"I know!" Naruto roared back.
He slammed his hands together, forcing his chakra to erupt outward. The golden aura around him violently expanded, instantly manifesting into nine massive, solid chakra arms that wrapped around his body like a cage.
Clang!
Minato materialized in mid-air, his kunai stabbing viciously into one of the thick chakra tails. Sparks showered over the battlefield as the blade failed to pierce the dense defense.
"As expected of my son," Minato murmured. He kicked off the chakra tail, flipping gracefully through the air before landing silently on a distant rock outcropping. Though his cracked face remained physically rigid under the jutsu's control, a deep, unmistakable warmth flickered in his dark eyes. "To be able to perfectly master the power of the Nine-Tails... You have really grown, Naruto."
Naruto stood up straight, letting the chakra arms dissolve back into his cloak. He wiped the blood from his nose, his blue eyes hardening with unwavering resolve.
"Yeah. After all, I am the man who is going to surpass the Hokage!" Naruto clenched his fists, the golden flames of his chakra surging higher, illuminating the ruined landscape. "Dad, although I am really happy to see you... since you are being controlled, then let me defeat you!"
Without another word, father and son kicked off the ground. Two blinding flashes of gold collided fiercely in the dead center of the battlefield, the shockwaves of their blows shattering the earth beneath them.
On the opposite side of the sprawling warzone, the situation had deteriorated into a desperate struggle for survival.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Sasuke Uchiha inhaled sharply, his chest expanding before he unleashed a massive sphere of roaring flames. The fireball crashed down from the sky like a descending meteorite, baking the moisture from the air.
Standing at the epicenter, Sasuke controlled his skeletal purple Susanoo. The ethereal giant raised a blade forged entirely of Kagutsuchi black flames, swinging it upward to cleave the incoming firestorm in two.
But the moment the flames parted, death rained from above.
Countless crimson Yasaka Magatama plummeted toward him, tearing through the smoke like a storm of artillery shells.
"Damn it!" Sasuke ground his teeth together, blood leaking from his left eye.
He had just awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan. His visual prowess had skyrocketed to heights he had never imagined, yet he was still being pushed to the brink. Itachi possessed the infinite chakra regeneration of the Edo Tensei. In terms of sheer stamina and absolute mastery over ocular techniques, Sasuke was still vastly outmatched.
The relentless bombardment of the Yasaka Magatama slammed into the purple Susanoo, the massive kinetic impacts forcing Sasuke to slide backward, his boots carving deep grooves into the dirt.
A suffocating sense of frustration clawed at Sasuke's chest.
'I clearly awakened the Mangekyo. I clearly obtained this ultimate power... Why can I still not win?'
"Sasuke! To your left!" Gaara's calm, authoritative voice cut through the chaos.
A tidal wave of yellow sand surged upward from the ground, instantly hardening into a massive, dense shield that completely covered Sasuke's exposed flank.
The very next second, a colossal crimson hand crashed violently into the barrier.
The sand shield groaned under the immense pressure before crumbling into dust, but it had successfully absorbed the kinetic force of Itachi's sneak attack.
"Thanks..." Sasuke panted heavily, his chest rising and falling as he stared fixedly at the expressionless Itachi standing amidst the settling dust.
"Hehehe..."
A sickening, raspy laugh slithered from Itachi's throat. It was a sound that made Sasuke's skin crawl. Orochimaru.
"What a look in your eyes," Orochimaru hissed, using Itachi's vocal cords. "Sasuke, the stronger your hatred burns, the more beautiful those eyes become. Come, become my vessel!"
"Sand Waterfall Imperial Funeral!"
Gaara ignored the taunts, slamming both of his palms flat against the earth.
The ground liquefied. Endless waves of yellow sand surged upward, twisting and weaving together until they formed two colossal hands large enough to blot out the sun itself. The hands slammed together, seeking to crush Itachi into nothingness.
A blinding flash of red light pierced the shadow.
The ethereal Sword of Totsuka swept outward in a wide, devastating arc. The legendary blade effortlessly severed the massive sand hands at the wrists, the sheer force of the swing continuing its deadly trajectory straight toward the two young shinobi.
"Get out of the way!"
Sasuke lunged forward, shoving Gaara violently to the side. He poured every ounce of his remaining chakra into his eyes, forcing his purple Susanoo to manifest its ribcage to tank the incoming blow.
The crimson blade struck the purple ribs.
Crack.
The Susanoo shattered instantly like fragile glass. The backlash of the broken defense slammed into Sasuke's body. He spat out a mouthful of blood, his vision swimming as he collapsed to one knee, clutching his chest.
"Sasuke!" Gaara yelled, instantly manipulating a stream of sand to pull his ally to safety.
Before the sand could reach him, a localized explosion of black flames erupted on the ground between them. The Amaterasu burned fiercely, forcing Gaara to retreat to avoid being consumed by the inextinguishable fire.
At the far edge of the battlefield, hidden behind the defensive lines, the atmosphere was grim.
"Cough, cough..."
Uchiha Fugaku was convulsing, each violent cough bringing up a thick spray of bloody froth that stained his chin and armor.
Although his previous death had been a carefully orchestrated act, Itachi's final strike had been brutally real. For the sake of absolute realism, the blade had narrowly bypassed Fugaku's heart, but it had cleanly punctured his right lung.
"Fugaku, do not talk. Save your strength," Jiraiya ordered, his expression darker than a thundercloud as he carried the Uchiha clan head on his broad back.
They burst through the flaps of the Konoha base camp.
"Medical squad! Get over here right now!" Jiraiya roared, his voice shaking the canvas tents.
Several medical ninja scrambled forward, their faces pale at the sight of the blood. They quickly laid Fugaku down on a makeshift cot. The soft, humming green light of the Mystical Palm Technique illuminated the dim tent as they desperately began emergency treatment on the catastrophic chest wound.
"Jiraiya-sama..." Fugaku reached up with a trembling, bloodstained hand, weakly gripping the sleeve of the Sannin's haori. His dark eyes were wide with raw, parental anxiety. "Sasuke... Sasuke is still out there..."
"Do not worry." Jiraiya gently patted the back of Fugaku's hand, his voice heavy but steady. "Naruto and Gaara are both there with him. They will hold the line."
"And..." Jiraiya turned his head, looking out through the tent flaps toward the distant, flashing horizon. His brow furrowed deeply.
Nine-Tails chakra. Mangekyo Sharingan. Edo Tensei monsters.
A battle of this apocalyptic scale was no longer something ordinary ninja could even approach, let alone interfere with. They were merely spectators to a clash of gods.
"Report!"
A ragged scream shattered the tense silence of the camp.
A scout ninja, his flak jacket torn to shreds and his face covered in drying blood, stumbled blindly through the camp entrance and collapsed hard onto the dirt floor.
"What is the matter? Why the panic!" a Konoha Jonin barked, rushing forward to haul the man up.
The scout ninja fell to his knees, his eyes wide with absolute terror. He gasped for air, his chest heaving.
"They... they are here..."
"Who is here? Speak clearly!"
"The Allied Shinobi Forces!" the scout roared, his voice cracking with despair. "The main forces of the Hidden Cloud and the Hidden Stone... they have broken through! There are at least ten thousand of them!"
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