When the enemy jonin suddenly stopped moving, the young man's eyes became steely, and without hesitation, he swung the sword in his hand.
"Puff!"
Blood splattered as the young man cleanly slit the jonin's throat. The light gradually faded from the latter's eyes, and then he collapsed, lifeless.
"What are you standing there for? Hurry up and get moving!" the young man shouted. At this moment, Uchiha Yoruki was sweating profusely. He had thought he was going to die, weakened suddenly as he knelt in front of the katana.
Hearing the command, Uchiha Yoruki quickly picked up the katana and stood up, slightly turned, and said, "Uchiha Fugaku?"
"Boy, how many times have I told you to call me Brother Fugaku?" Fugaku replied with a slight smile.
It was indeed the young patriarch of the Uchiha clan, Fugaku, who had saved Uchiha Yoruki from the enemy jonin. In the ninja world, it was common knowledge not to look into the eyes of an opponent who had the Sharingan, as one of its abilities was to cast genjutsu, a powerful illusion technique. However, very few Uchiha ninjas could actually use this ability.
Fugaku, though only in his teens, was already a true elite among the Uchiha clan.
"Your Sharingan has just awakened, and you can't maintain it for long during battle, or it will put too much strain on your body," Fugaku explained. Although the Sharingan is a dojutsu, it requires chakra to sustain its use. Uchiha Yoruki's newly awakened Sharingan couldn't handle prolonged usage. Protecting him was inevitable, as this was his father's true intention.
The Uchiha clan patriarch understood the conditions necessary for awakening the Sharingan better than anyone. Even so, he had believed that Uchiha Yoruki would need more than a year of battlefield experience before he could awaken it. But in just two months, Yoruki had achieved it. The young man was simply a genius. Even Fugaku, who had opened his Sharingan earlier than most in the Uchiha clan, had done so at the age of eleven.
Uchiha Yoruki nodded in response. His Sharingan had just been awakened, so naturally, he lacked the experience in using it compared to Fugaku, who had already awakened the two-tomoe Sharingan. The level of the Sharingan is determined by the number of tomoe in the pupil, with three tomoe being the strongest. Those who could awaken the three-tomoe Sharingan were among the elite of the Uchiha clan.
"With your current strength, it's too dangerous for you to stay on this battlefield. Get out of here quickly," Fugaku ordered. After killing the enemy jonin, the surrounding enemy ninjas wouldn't stop and would still attack him like vicious tigers.
Generally speaking, including the ninjas of Amegakure, there was a gap in numbers between Konoha and the enemy forces—about 200 ninjas. Even though most of Konoha's ninjas were elites, this gap wasn't easy to overcome. Therefore, the key to victory or defeat in this war wasn't on the battlefield itself, but in the three other critical fights: Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru against Hanzo; Hatake Sakumo against Tsuchiguki; and Uchiha Kai against the insect controller of the Kamizuru clan.
As soon as one of these battles was decided, it would determine who would gain the upper hand in the war. Ninjas of that caliber could play a decisive role in this closely matched battle.
"But..." Uchiha Yoruki's gaze drifted to the center of the battlefield, where a young figure, just as youthful as him, moved with incredible speed. His eyes were full of reluctance.
"This is an order!" Fugaku's tone was firm. As the young clan leader, his status in the clan was only slightly below that of the elders.
Uchiha Yoruki pursed his lips, then gritted his teeth and said, "Understood!" He then gradually retreated to the edge of the battlefield.
As for Minato, he had no time to worry about anything else. He knew that in battle, avoiding distractions from the outside world was crucial to determining victory or defeat. However, at this moment, he was struggling to maintain the upper hand in the fight.
The successive kills of enemy ninjas had drained much of his physical strength and chakra. And because of his speed, the enemy ninjas in this battle circle were now on guard. They didn't want to meet the same fate as those who had underestimated Minato and paid with their lives.
"Earth Release: Rock Fist Jutsu!"
"Boom boom!"
The broken rocks beneath Minato's feet floated into the air, gathered in front of his opponent, and condensed into a giant rock fist about half the size of a person, which then came crashing down on him.
"Instant Step!"
Seeing this, Minato quickly moved back, reappearing several meters away in an instant.
"Bang!"
Even so, the giant rock fist struck the ground, shaking the area for several meters around it. Minato felt the impact of the immense force.
Swish!
The enemy ninja seized the opportunity, rushing forward with a gleaming sword, intent on cutting Minato down.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"
Just as the enemy was about to reach him, Minato, who had barely managed to stabilize himself, formed a seal, and an earth wall rose to cover his body, barely in time. However, such an earth wall couldn't hold back a jonin for long.
Minato knew that his opponent had noticed his strength, speed, and reflexes had waned after the prolonged battle. If he had been at his peak, Minato's speed would have easily allowed him to avoid the rock fist's range.
But this was precisely what Minato had planned to use to his advantage, exploiting the jonin's keen observation.
Buzz.
He raised his right palm, and chakra quickly rotated and compressed, forming a blue chakra ball in an instant. Without hesitation, Minato raised his right hand and smashed it into the earth wall.
"Rasengan!"
"Boom!"
The earth wall, which Minato had deliberately erected to be weaker, was instantly shattered by the Rasengan. As debris flew everywhere, Minato stepped forward and drove the azure chakra ball into the enemy jonin's abdomen.
The jonin was stunned. In all the battles he had fought, he had never seen anyone actively destroy their own defensive ninjutsu.
"Puff."
The jonin spat out a mouthful of blood, his strength draining away as the long sword in his hand fell to the ground. While his body appeared largely unharmed, his internal organs had been completely crushed by the Rasengan.
"Die."
In an instant, Minato's specially made kunai pierced the jonin's heart, and Minato pulled it out with an icy expression.
At that moment, both the enemy ninjas and the Konoha forces were in shock. This was the third jonin that Minato had killed.
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