When he assumed the position as the Kage of the Hidden Cloud Vilge, he mastered the Lightning Style Chakra Armor technique, a technique passed down through generations by the Raikage. Hatake Sakumo, who had reached the peak of Kage level—one of the highest tiers for a bloodless ninja—still found himself at a disadvantage in several battles against ōtsutsuki Kinshiki.

  Whenever his opponent used Yin and Yang Release to create countless weapons, each strike became unpredictable, and Sakumo was completely thrown off bance. He couldn't afford to underestimate the power of his foe.

  In the next moment, ōtsutsuki Kinshiki hurled a massive hammer toward him. It seemed to be pulled by an unseen magnetic force, and with a fluid motion, the red giant axe, conjured from the Yin-Yang Chakra, appeared to come alive, automatically nding in his hands.

  With a vicious swing, ōtsutsuki smmed the golden axe down toward Sakumo. The force of the blow forced Hatake Sakumo to react instantly. His face hardened as the Lightning Style Chakra surged to life around him, and he thought to himself, "This guy... His speed is unreal!"

  In a desperate bid to counter, Sakumo unleashed his Chidori—Reflow Fsh!

  His short sword shimmered with electric chakra, transforming into a massive lightning spear, crackling with power. He unched it with a thunderous force toward his opponent. For a brief moment, both combatants locked in a csh of raw energy. The ground beneath them trembled as their techniques collided.

  For about three seconds, they were deadlocked, each unwilling to give an inch. Finally, ōtsutsuki Kinshiki was forced to retreat several meters, while Sakumo was sent flying back tens of meters, crashing into the earth.

  "Not only is his speed faster, but his strength too… Am I so inferior?" Sakumo thought as he struggled to regain his footing, his mind racing.

  As he fell, Sakumo's gaze sharpened, his pupils constricting with focus, a cross mark forming, just like Naruto's signature style.

  "Lightning Style: Shadow Clone!"

  The thunderous chakra that surged around him formed another clone of Hatake Sakumo. The clone grabbed the real Sakumo, anchoring him to the ground with precise force, steadying his body for the next strike.

  "But I'm not completely out of options yet."

  With a renewed determination, Sakumo shared a knowing look with his Lightning Style Shadow Clone. The two of them moved in unison, attacking once more, ready to shift the tide of battle in their favor.

  ...

  ...

  Among the three, Minato was the first to bring the battle to a close.

  ōtsutsuki Urashiki, though he could wield partial abilities of both Yin-Yang Release and the Rinnegan, was painfully cking in fighting talent. His combat skills were abysmal, almost on par with Hidan from the Akatsuki. Much like Hidan, who relied on his immortality to compensate for his poor combat abilities, Urashiki was simirly dependent on his unique abilities to reach the pinnacle of Kage-level strength. Without the power of Yin-Yang Release and the Rinnegan, it was likely he wouldn't even be able to maintain the strength of a quasi-shadow.

  "Why did you try to capture Naruto?" Minato demanded, stepping down firmly on Urashiki's back and neck, pinning him to the ground. His left hand gripped the opponent's arm in a tight hold, while his right hand raised the Flying Thunder God kunai, preparing to strike Urashiki's throat.

  Though Tatsuya had given the order to eliminate him outright, Minato hesitated. The attempt on Naruto's life was still fresh in his mind, and he wanted to understand Urashiki's motivations before finishing him off.

  "Hey! You—you're just a human to be controlling me like this... Don't think you've won!" Urashiki snarled, his Rinnegan glowing a dangerous red.

  Suddenly, the surrounding space warped and shattered. A dark, swirling vortex appeared, rapidly expanding into a bck hole that began to suck in everything nearby.

  "Ninjutsu? Is this like Obito's...?" Minato's eyes widened as he recognized the familiar sensation of space distorting around him. Could he be trying to escape with a technique like Kamui?

  Without a moment's hesitation, Minato disregarded his earlier question and immediately raised his kunai, preparing to end Urashiki's life before he could flee.

  "Shinra Tensei!" Urashiki uttered coldly, and the massive repulsive force of the technique exploded outward. Minato was thrown back violently, sent soaring into the air by the overwhelming push.

  "You bastard!" ōtsutsuki Urashiki sneered, his grin widening as he shook the Yin-Yang fishing rod in his hand. "You insulted me just now, and now I'm going to make you pay for it!"

  But before he could make his move, a voice, cold and indifferent, echoed through the air.

  "Reduce All Creation to Ash~"

  At that instant, a tornado of wild, fiery fmes descended from the sky, forcing ōtsutsuki Urashiki to halt mid-motion. His expression shifted, eyes widening in arm as the fmes roared down upon him.

  "Shinra Tensei!" Urashiki growled, unleashing a massive repulsion force to form a protective shield around him. The wild fmes collided with the shield, but the bze didn't dissipate. Instead, the fire wrapped around the edges like a relentless, burning snake, clinging to the shield and waiting for the Shinra Tensei to lose its power.

  Urashiki's eyes flickered with frustration as he realized the fmes weren't just dispersing—they were tching onto him, unwilling to die down. Once the repulsion shield faltered, he would be consumed by the inferno.

  "This is so troublesome!" Urashiki cursed, his teeth grinding as he looked around. He noticed the white robe on his back was already singed in pces, and his mood soured further. Has a human from this dirt ball reached this level? His thoughts fshed to Momoshiki's embarrassed expression, and a pang of doubt lingered.

  "You forgot to remove the mark of Flying Thunder God."

  A voice rang from behind him. Urashiki spun around, his heart sinking. There, standing within the protective shield, was Namikaze Minato. The fsh of realization struck him like a lightning bolt.

  Urashiki's eyes darted to his neck, where, etched into his skin, was the unmistakable mark of the Flying Thunder God. Minato had left it there during their previous exchange, and despite Urashiki's attempts to erase it, the mark had once again reappeared.

  Ordinary ninjutsu couldn't erase the Flying Thunder God mark—but Yin-Yang techniques could. However, in his haste to deal with the battle, Urashiki had overlooked the mark left by Minato when he had been pinned down earlier. And now, that mistake had cost him dearly.

  "It's over."

  Minato's right hand surged with Chakra as he prepared his final move. The Wind Style: Spiral Shuriken, swirling with deadly intent, was ready to be unched. At such a close range, using the technique was dangerous, especially for a ninja without the Nine-Tails Mode to provide extra protection. But there was no other option. This battle had reached its climax.

  "Yomotsu Hirasaka!"

  ōtsutsuki Urashiki's eyes, now glowing blood-red with his Rinnegan, fred as he attempted to open a rift in space, trying to escape.

  "Damn it! Is it too te?!" Urashiki's thoughts raced as the Wind Style: Spiral Shuriken drew closer, his heart pounding in his chest.

  But before he could make a move, a dark presence overwhelmed him.

  "Taimatsu."

  A point of pure, concentrated fire—an ultimate fme—manifested in the air, its principle simir to the Third Raikage's Hell Stab. This condensed fme pierced the air like a spear, smashing through the rift and hitting Urashiki directly in the abdomen, right through the breach created by the Shinra Tensei earlier.

  "Ugh!" Urashiki coughed violently, blood spilling from his mouth as he staggered, the pain coursing through him like fire. The blood spttered against the ground, a stark contrast to the usual purity of the ōtsutsuki.

  Tatsuya, watching from above, couldn't help but smirk. "Hey~ I didn't expect you to have red blood. I thought the ōtsutsuki cn had white blood." He chuckled, his voice ced with amusement as he floated in the air, clearly enjoying the turn of events.

  ---

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