200 meters away, behind a boulder, Uchiha Yuan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
That was a close one just now—the stone giant moved too fast. If not for his teleportation, he would've been smashed into a pulp.
After resting for a moment, Yuan turned to look at the stone giant summoned by Kitsuchi.
Visually, the giant resembled Onoki's Golem, but judging by its structure, it seemed like an improved version.
Compared to Onoki's Golem, Kitsuchi's was larger and more agile. It had traded some defense for much greater offensive power.
After analyzing the giant's characteristics, Yuan teleported back into the battlefield.
Kitsuchi's face darkened as he sensed Yuan's chakra. He had clearly lost track of Yuan's chakra earlier—so how had he suddenly reappeared?
How did he dodge that punch?
Both his feet had been trapped in the Swamp of the Underworld, so no matter how fast the Body Flicker Technique was, it shouldn't have helped him escape.
Could it be… space-time ninjutsu?
"Kitsuchi, it's my turn now," Yuan's voice interrupted his thoughts.
In the next instant, Yuan vanished from Kitsuchi's view.
He teleported to the stone giant's right leg and slammed a violet chakra sphere into it with his right hand.
Lightning Style: Rasengan
Because Yuan had been training in lightning release, he was very familiar with both the nature transformation and shape transformation aspects of lightning chakra.
As a result, he could easily infuse lightning nature into the Rasengan.
This Lightning Release Rasengan had much more destructive power than the original.
Furthermore, lightning naturally counters earth, so the stone giant's right leg was instantly shattered.
Losing its right leg, the giant lost balance and began shaking violently.
Kitsuchi quickly poured chakra in to stabilize it, but before he could repair the right leg, Yuan struck the left leg with another Lightning Release Rasengan.
Yuan's attacks became increasingly ferocious. With his Sharingan, he identified the stone giant's weak points and "detonated" them one after another using the technique. Soon, the giant collapsed.
From the perspective of those on the battlefield, they saw a series of violet flashes, and then the massive stone giant disintegrated into rubble.
Kitsuchi climbed out from the pile of debris looking rather disheveled. Facing this teenage boy, he felt a deep sense of defeat.
Just as Yuan was about to press the attack, a loud explosion echoed from the distance.
He paused and turned his gaze toward Minato Namikaze and the Third Tsuchikage.
Kitsuchi breathed a sigh of relief, using the time to treat his injured right hand while also looking in the direction of Onoki.
Minato and Onoki were locked in an intense battle. Unlike his usual sunny demeanor, Minato now wore a look of intense focus. It was the first time Yuan had ever seen such a serious expression on him.
Like Yuan, Minato was a speed-type shinobi skilled in space-time ninjutsu, whereas Onoki was a technique-type ninja.
In theory, Minato was the assassin and Onoki the caster—meaning Minato should have the advantage.
But Onoki was no ordinary caster—he could fly!
Minato's Flying Thunder God was being countered, forcing him into a tough fight.
While floating in the air, Onoki continuously launched a barrage of jutsu, forcing Minato to teleport again and again. Every time Minato appeared, Onoki would immediately strike with Dust Release.
Dust Release, being a Kekkei Tōta—an advanced bloodline beyond a Kekkei Genkai—disintegrates anything on a molecular level. Even someone like Minato couldn't counter it, only dodge it using Flying Thunder God.
Against this kind of relentless tactic, Minato had no good options. He'd tried throwing Flying Thunder God kunai toward Onoki, but the Tsuchikage always dodged them.
Minato knew this couldn't continue. He had to act decisively to change the situation.
After a moment's hesitation, his expression hardened. He threw down a smoke bomb to obscure Onoki's vision, then teleported to another location and tossed a Flying Thunder God kunai toward him.
At the same time, Minato formed hand seals and used the Third Hokage's signature jutsu: Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique.
The single kunai instantly multiplied into hundreds.
The trajectory was extremely tricky, and the sheer number of kunai made them hard to dodge. Onoki had no choice but to use Dust Release to envelop and destroy all of them.
To destroy that many kunai at once, Onoki had to expand the scale of his Dust Release.
Such a large-scale technique required his full attention.
And while Onoki was focused on neutralizing the first wave of kunai…
Minato teleported again and, from another angle, threw yet another Flying Thunder God kunai.
Just as Onoki released his Dust Release, Minato teleported to that second kunai.
Before Onoki could react, Minato's Rasengan landed squarely on his waist.
CRACK! A sickening sound rang out, followed by a scream. Onoki clutched his waist and fell from the sky, landing within the smoke-filled area.
The ground was still obscured, so Minato cautiously teleported outside the smoke.
Once the smoke cleared, he saw Onoki's state and finally allowed a smile to return to his face.
Everyone nearby had heard Onoki's earlier scream. All eyes turned toward this high-stakes duel between two top-tier combatants.
But to their shock, Onoki had lost.
This was Onoki!
Wielder of Dust Release, master of all Earth-style jutsu, the strongest shinobi in the Land of Earth—defeated!
Before everyone's eyes, Onoki had taken a Rasengan to the waist from Minato and crashed to the ground. The Stone-Sand alliance troops fell silent.
"The Yellow Flash of the Leaf… he's terrifying!" the silence was broken by a Stone jonin, who spoke in terror.
This jonin had survived the Frost Country battlefield. He had witnessed Minato's rise firsthand.
Now, facing him again at Kikyo Mountain, the rumor from the Land of Lightning rang true—Minato Namikaze had surpassed the Five Kage.
On the Konoha side, the sight of Minato defeating Onoki sparked cheers.
The duel between the strongest from both sides had ended—with Konoha victorious.
(To Be Continued...)