After shaking off their pursuers, Minazuki Murasaki and Hōzuki Mangetsu returned to support the other Kirigakure forces.
With the two of them joining the fight again, the pressure on the Hidden Mist side eased significantly.
Soon, the battlefield fell into a strange stalemate.
The Konoha ninjas continued pressing their offensive. With stronger overall combat ability and excellent coordination, they steadily compressed the space available to the Kirigakure forces.
However, under the leadership of Mangetsu and Murasaki, the Hidden Mist managed to repel wave after wave of attacks from the Konoha ninjas.
Both Asuka and Minato Namikaze quickly noticed the deadlock forming across the battlefield.
The Konoha side lacked a top-tier combatant capable of breaking through the enemy line in a single decisive push.
Meanwhile, the Hidden Mist forces were weaker overall and lacked the tight coordination of Konoha, but they had the advantage of two powerful supporting ninjas.
Still, neither side could afford to drag the battle out.
If this tug-of-war continued, both armies would eventually exhaust themselves and suffer massive casualties.
Both Asuka and Minato understood this clearly.
They each wanted to break away and support their own forces—but that brought them back to the same problem.
If either of them were allowed to rampage freely on the battlefield, the damage to the opposing side would be catastrophic.
To counter this, both of them needed to intervene in the battle while also preventing the other from interfering.
Minato made a quick decision.
He bit his finger and formed hand seals rapidly.
Summoning Technique!
A huge cloud of smoke exploded across the battlefield.
When it cleared, the massive form of Gamabunta stood once again on the battlefield.
Before Gamabunta could ask anything, Minato Namikaze flashed onto the top of the toad's head using Body Flicker.
"Boss Bunta—oil!"
Hearing the urgency in Minato's voice, Gamabunta didn't ask questions.
He formed seals and opened his massive mouth, releasing a huge stream of oil.
At the same time, Minato formed hand seals above him.
Fire Release!
The flames instantly ignited the oil.
The fire surged wildly, its range and destructive power multiplying instantly.
Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet!
Faced with such a massive combined ninjutsu, even Asuka had to retreat.
He turned and used Soru to escape the attack's range at high speed.
But he was just a moment too slow.
As he escaped, several droplets of oil splashed onto his body.
In an instant, flames spread across his entire body.
Seeing this, Minato felt a slight sense of relief.
Even with Asuka's incredible regeneration, a technique like this would still take time to recover from.
Seizing the opportunity, Minato used Flying Thunder God to teleport himself and Gamabunta directly into the battlefield to support the Konoha forces.
What he didn't notice was that the flames covering Asuka's body were slowly being absorbed into him at a visible speed.
At the moment he had been struck by the attack, Asuka had activated the Black King mutant ability, successfully deceiving Minato.
The Black King's power was activated through conscious control. Because it wasn't a passive ability, the original owner had once feared mental manipulation and even created a helmet to block psychic attacks.
Without that helmet, even Magneto had once been killed by a single coin after Professor X invaded his mind.
Under the Black King's ability, Asuka was completely unharmed by the flames.
Combined with his Wolverine regeneration, his resistance to both physical and energy-based attacks had essentially reached absurd levels.
In the past, when facing large-scale ninjutsu, Asuka could only rely on brute endurance.
But now, with the Black King's ability, he could absorb the energy directly without suffering any damage.
Asuka slowly stood up.
Looking around, he saw that Minato had already disappeared.
Clearly, he had gone to reinforce the Konoha army.
But the truth was—
Asuka had deliberately allowed him to leave.
His real plan was to circle around and attack the Konoha army from behind.
Using Soru repeatedly, Asuka accelerated across the battlefield until he reached the rear of the Konoha formation.
After confirming his position behind the enemy army, he finally stopped.
From the distance, he could still see Minato Namikaze riding Gamabunta, tearing through the Hidden Mist ranks.
The next moment—
Asuka's eyes glowed red.
He unleashed the Cyclops ability at full power.
Previously, when fully unleashed, this ability could even destroy an asteroid from space.
Although Asuka's version hadn't reached that level yet, after long periods of adaptation, the power of his optic blast had grown far beyond when he first obtained it.
A thick red beam erupted from his eyes.
The laser tore through everything in its path with unstoppable force.
On the battlefield, Minato suddenly felt a sharp sense of danger.
His instincts screamed at him.
Without hesitation, he ordered Gamabunta to leap high into the air.
In the very next moment—
A torrent of red energy swept across the battlefield.
Under Asuka's deliberate control, most of the laser's path cut straight through the Konoha forces.
As he slightly turned his head, the beam swept across the battlefield in a wide arc.
Several Konoha ninjas who couldn't dodge in time were struck directly.
They were sliced in half instantly.
In a single attack, the Konoha army suffered devastating losses.
Nearly one-third of their forces were killed instantly.
Many others were severely injured just from being grazed by the beam.
Of course, since both armies were fighting at close range, a few Hidden Mist ninjas were inevitably caught in the attack.
But compared to Konoha's losses, the casualties on the Kirigakure side were negligible.
Landing from the air, Minato Namikaze looked at the devastated battlefield.
His face turned grim.
He had seen Asuka fire those red lasers before.
But the power back then was nowhere near this terrifying.
Just as Minato prepared to retaliate—ready to burn through his chakra to cause similar destruction within the Hidden Mist ranks—
A roaring Ice Dragon and Water Dragon suddenly rushed toward him.
Without him noticing, Hōzuki Mangetsu and Minazuki Murasaki had already surrounded him.
Their coordinated attack aimed straight at the distracted Minato.
But Minato Namikaze was still Minato Namikaze.
Even in that moment, he reacted instantly.
The moment the attack came, he used Flying Thunder God to vanish.
When Minato reappeared—
He was already inside the Hidden Mist main force.
Before the surrounding Kirigakure ninjas could react, he began slaughtering them.
Kunai flew through the air.
Minato's body flickered between locations as each kunai landed.
Every movement claimed a life.
The brutality of his attacks showed clearly—
Minato was truly furious now.
Mangetsu and Murasaki rushed back to stop him.
But with Minato's terrifying mobility, they could barely slow him down.
While Minato was rampaging through the Hidden Mist forces—
Asuka was doing the same to the Konoha army from behind.
Blue flashes of energy shot continuously from his fingertips.
Spirit Gun.
Each shot was like a sniper rifle.
One Konoha ninja after another fell.
The battlefield had finally reached the situation both Asuka and Minato had tried to avoid.
They had both begun attacking the enemy's army directly.
Using their overwhelming killing efficiency, the two monsters carved through the enemy ranks.
Against Minato's Flying Thunder God, the Kirigakure forces were almost helpless.
Seeing the situation spiral out of control, Minazuki Murasaki had no choice but to use the same tactic she had once used against Minato.
Ice Release: Ice Rock Dome of Magnificent Nothingness!
Massive ice walls rose from the ground once again.
Seeing the dome forming, Mangetsu immediately understood Murasaki's plan.
He began gathering surviving Kirigakure ninjas inside the ice barrier.
While Minato continued attacking outside, Mangetsu—thanks to the forgiving nature of his Hōzuki body—risked himself repeatedly to pull teammates inside.
Even so, Flying Thunder God was simply too overwhelming.
Minato's killing efficiency barely slowed at all.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield—
Asuka continued his massacre among the Konoha forces.
Small tornadoes formed in his hands.
With a casual wave, miniature whirlwinds appeared across the battlefield.
Nearby Konoha ninjas were dragged together by the winds—
and then eliminated one by one by Asuka's Bone Bullets.
---------------Author---------------
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