“Perfect, time to warm up.”
Before the words even faded, the body possessed by Rogue Ninja Kiyohara moved, so fast he left an afterimage in his wake.
He didn’t charge in a straight line, but followed an arcing trajectory, rushing straight for the three chūnin.
“So fast!”
One of the Iwa chūnin only had time to cry out in shock before hastily swinging a fist to meet him.
The possessed Kiyohara didn’t dodge or block.
His right hand casually grabbed and locked on, borrowing the force of the incoming blow and deflecting it, sending the man flying into the comrade beside him.
Then he ducked low to evade the third man’s kunai thrust, landing a kick on the joint of his shin.
“Crack!”
The chilling sound of snapping bone rang out, and that Iwa ninja collapsed with a scream.
“Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears!”
Seeing this, Sumashi quickly wove hand seals, and several sharp stone spears jutted up from beneath Kiyohara’s feet.
But Kiyohara seemed to foresee it.
The instant before the spears erupted, he lightly tapped his feet and leaped away first.
At the same time, he casually hurled the kunai he’d snatched toward Sumashi’s face, forcing him to break off his seals and raise a guard.
“This guy… what the hell is going on?!”
Alarm surged through Sumashi’s mind.
This brat’s movements, his eyes, his combat experience—it was like a completely different person from a moment ago!
This was the kind of battle instinct forged by countless trials.
Yūhi Kurenai and Nohara Rin stared, dumbfounded.
Rin covered her mouth, her eyes filled with disbelief.
“Kiyohara… how did he suddenly get so strong?”
Kurenai’s beautiful eyes went wide as well, a hint of surprise on her face.
In the middle of the field, Kiyohara clashed head-on with Sumashi, using deft leverage to shed most of the force behind the rock fists.
But his body’s base chakra and physical strength were limited after all.
He was blasted back several steps, his arms going slightly numb.
Dealing with so many opponents at once was also draining him enormously.
“The me of the past was still too empty…”
Whenever Rogue Ninja Kiyohara took control, he could always feel the limits of this body.
Even fighting at full load, he couldn’t keep it up for long.
Sumashi noticed Kiyohara’s fatigue and sneered:
“A spent arrow!
All together—take him down!”
The remaining dozen-plus Iwa ninja encircled him once more, unleashing their killing moves!
At that critical moment.
A flash of golden light appeared at the center of the battlefield as if by teleportation!
No warning whatsoever, as though he simply belonged there.
The newcomer had striking blond hair, wore a green flak jacket, and his handsome face carried a reassuring steadiness.
It was Minato Namikaze!
He didn’t even spare them a glance.
The special kunai in his hand had already blurred into a trail of afterimages.
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
Three Iwa chūnin had their throats slashed almost in the same instant, their faces still frozen in shock as they crumpled lifelessly.
Sumashi’s pupils contracted sharply.
An intense sense of danger made every hair on his body stand on end as he shouted:
“The Yellow Flash!”
He instinctively tried to use Earth Release to burrow underground and escape.
But Minato was faster!
“Flying Raijin: Second Step!”
With a flicker, Minato had already appeared behind Sumashi, his special kunai mercilessly carving across his back.
“Rogue Ninja Kiyohara” had indeed been using his body at full power, and now that it was over, his whole body ached.
“As expected of Minato Namikaze.”
Kiyohara thought to himself, looking at Minato Namikaze ahead.
These Iwagakure shinobi, who had brought them so much pressure, were nothing more than trash that Minato Namikaze could casually clean up now.
After all, Minato Namikaze was one of the three civilian shinobi.
As for the two behind him, Kiyohara believed they were Eight Gates Guy and Sage Kabuto in that order.
All three of them had no Kekkei Genkai whatsoever, relying purely on their own talent and hard work to reach the end.
It was just a pity that later on, they could only end up as support, buying time and creating opportunities for Naruto and Sasuke.
Minato turned around, looking at Kiyohara who was panting heavily and nearly spent, then looked at the shocked Kakashi, Kurenai Yuhi, Rin Nohara, and Genma Shiranui.
A look of apology appeared on his face as he spoke:
“Sorry, I’m late.”
Looking at the collapsed rubble behind them, and the Sharingan on Kakashi’s left eye, Minato Namikaze could already guess what had happened.
Obito was probably already… sacrificed.
“Thanks to you, Kiyohara.”
Minato Namikaze looked at Kiyohara.
When he was still far away, he had seen Kiyohara single-handedly holding off multiple Iwagakure shinobi.
If it weren’t for Kiyohara, Kakashi and the others wouldn’t have been able to hold out until he arrived.
Kakashi wouldn’t be standing here now — he would have collapsed from chakra exhaustion.
“These are all things I should do.
I will never abandon any comrade — that is my nindō, Lord Minato.”
Kiyohara shook his head.
Now that Minato Namikaze had arrived, it could be said that this mission was already 99% complete.
All that remained was for Minato Namikaze to take them to blow up the bridge, and Kiyohara could return to collect his battle merits.
Now all he needed to do was put on a good show of his Will of Fire spirit.
Sure enough, hearing Kiyohara’s righteous and lofty words, Minato Namikaze was stunned for a moment.
He sighed inwardly at how high Kiyohara’s resolve was.
“Good thing Lord Minato arrived, otherwise we definitely wouldn’t have made it out.”
Genma Shiranui wiped the fallen senbon with the corner of his clothes and put it back between his teeth.
He felt like he had already taken a round trip through the gates of death, nearly checking in at the Pure Land.
Minato Namikaze was silent for a moment at Genma Shiranui’s words, then said:
“No, I’m not the real hero.”
Minato Namikaze actually felt a sense of guilt in his heart.
Kakashi’s team and Kiyohara’s team — their greatest contribution was actually gathering enemy information and bringing the specially marked kunai he had engraved into enemy-controlled territory.
That was what allowed them to finally wipe out all these Iwagakure shinobi in one fell swoop, saving a tremendous amount of time and effort.
“Then who’s the real hero?”
Genma Shiranui was a bit dumbfounded.
“It’s Kiyohara, it’s Kakashi, and it’s Obito — and even more so, it’s all of you.
You are the real heroes.”
Minato Namikaze shook his head.
Especially Kiyohara — his outstanding performance in this mission had completely surpassed Obito, who possessed Uchiha blood, and Kakashi, the son of the White Fang.
This made Minato Namikaze see a reflection of himself in Kiyohara.
Back then, he too had gradually become excellent bit by bit in the same way.
“Alright, we should get going.
Once we blow up the bridge, we can return to the village.”
Minato Namikaze said.
“We can finally go back to the village.”
A hint of a smile appeared on Kurenai Yuhi’s young face, as if a weight had been lifted.
So at most, they could start the journey back to the village by tomorrow?