As soon as the words fell, countless straight black lines leaped out from the void, framing the outline of an upright coffin that stood erected in the area.
Soon,
Those black lines, radiating an aura of endless destruction, began to connect and form the long planks of the coffin, continuously piecing themselves together horizontally and vertically, simultaneously completely enveloping Minato.
Buzz buzz buzz!
Buzz buzz buzz!
Violent Reiatsu surged.
Countless black lights shimmering with a dangerous glow flashed. The coffin's formation process, which seemed extremely slow, was yet so irresistibly overwhelming.
Even Minato, famed for his godly speed, couldn't struggle in the slightest. He could only be utterly swallowed by those black curtains, alive, filled with fear and apprehension of the unknown.
The black coffin seemed intent on burying the Yellow Flash.
Abruptly, under the complex gazes of countless Ninjas on the battlefield, with some bewildered, some frantic, some horrified, some terrified, that terrifying coffin finally took perfect form.
As Reiatsu surged like a tidal wave, even space itself seemed to collapse. The aura of destruction extended into reality, causing the hilly battlefield for several thousand meters around to sink half a meter out of nowhere, cracking with spider-web-like fissures.
The black coffin was filled with endless darkness and chaotic, terrifying gravity currents.
Within the dreadful gravitational environment, it seemed as though both time and space were distorted. All perception sank into chaos, becoming utterly disordered.
At this moment, Minato was imprisoned by this inconceivable technique. Just as the Fire Release: Rasengan vanished into nothingness, he was locked in place by these invisible, terrifying gravity currents.
All his space markers were erased, the flow of his Chakra frozen like ice. He could only watch helplessly as he was devoured by those terrifying black curtains.
The currents tore and pulled, like a meat grinder shredding raw flesh, running rampant within the internal space of the black coffin.
The terrifying gravitational field even sealed neural responses, causing one to lose their five senses… sight, touch, taste, smell, hearing, all completely sealed. Whoever was inside would utterly become a clay doll-like existence, self-mutilating and powerless.
Time seemed to stand still.
The wind in the sky also dissipated.
No one knew how long it had been before that black calamity standing on the battlefield finally began to slowly dissipate.
The collapsing, crumbling black coffin emitted a series of piercing sounds like shattering glass.
Boom!!!
The final implosion was silent, extinct, and terrifying.
In an instant, the roar of the black coffin's explosion resounded across the entire battlefield like thunder, causing the world to shake.
This was truly a spectacle of immense scale and overwhelming power.
"Sora…"
"God Sora!"
"This is Sora-sama's power!"
"Marvelous! A god! Sora-sama must be a reincarnated god!"
The Kirigakure's Ninjas all revealed expressions of extreme fanaticism. The black coffin formed amidst terror and pressure, and disintegrated amidst earth-shattering roars.
Anyone could see that this was undoubtedly some indescribably fearsome secret technique, possessing the terrible power to reverse heaven and earth.
"This, this… what kind of technique is this!??"
"Although the range isn't as large as the previous ice that sealed the battlefield, this coffin-like black light gives an even more terrifying feeling, as if the entire world could be devoured by it!"
"Heavens! Just the ripple effect of its residual power, the earth… it actually cracked open! What kind of power is this!"
"Monster! The monster has appeared again!"
"Dead… we're dead for sure, we're really dead this time!"
As for the Konoha's Ninjas who originally held indifferent or even skeptical attitudes, their faces all changed dramatically.
The gazes of everyone were filled with horror and terror. Some even felt their scalps go numb and their souls tremble.
Petrified.
Suffocated.
Terrified.
Silent.
Then, under the gaze of countless Konoha's Ninjas, filled with wild joy yet disbelief, Minato staggered out from the gradually dissipating black coffin.
All over his body, terrifying black currents still entwined and hummed, still emitting an aura of destruction.
But no matter how terrifying that destruction-filled aura was, Minato seemed to have not suffered any visible harm.
"Huff… Huff…"
Amidst heavy, labored breathing, Minato stood rigidly in place. He barely raised his head, his pale gaze fixed on Sora.
After a long silence, he finally spoke slowly: "Yuki… Yuki Sora, as you said just now… in a duel between you and me, bringing out such an immature technique to use against an enemy… isn't it a bit too reckless?"
Minato staggered to a spot before Sora. His face was deathly pale, his gaze shattered, but he seemed unaware, still speaking with a warmth like the sun: "If not for our opposing stances… I really wouldn't want to fight a Ninja like you. If not for the chains of hatred already deeply entangling both of us… we might have become good friends…"
A smile appeared on Minato's ghastly pale face.
He could not lose.
Because on his shoulders rested the hopes of countless people… comrades, close friends, family, and those lovely children in the village, all eagerly awaiting news of victory in the war.
Therefore, even if he had to die, he must protect Konoha, protect this village.
For the sake of protection and hope, even facing a powerful enemy like Sora, he absolutely could not abandon his faith and perseverance.
The Flying Thunder God kunai was raised firmly.
This was Minato's desperate, all-or-nothing strike.
"Is it because of the Black Coffin that your five senses have become so dull?"
"Or…"
"Not just your body, but even your soul has been severely injured, causing your perception of your body to collapse to this extent?"
Sora looked at Minato, a trace of pity appearing on his calm face as he said slowly: "Pity… Yellow Flash of Konoha. The damage has already been done."
"The damage… has already been done?"
Just as Minato was stunned for a moment, his body also emitted a series of crisp, cracking sounds.
Splat!
Splat!
Splat!
Abruptly, countless fine, terrifying wounds split open all over Minato's body. Large amounts of scalding blood gushed out like a spring, causing the air to be filled with a pungent smell of blood.
Only at this moment did Minato notice the abnormality. He looked down in horror, his face full of disbelief as he looked at his own body, which had somehow already become riddled with holes.
Thud!
The next instant, as if struck by lightning, Namikaze Minato completely lost control, difficultly and powerlessly half-kneeling on the ground.
He struggled to raise his head again, but not just his neck… large amounts of muscle fibers throughout his body had ruptured extensively.
At this point, let alone raising his head, even moving a finger was nearly impossible.
A crushing defeat.
It came so suddenly, beyond everyone's expectations.
Even the most pessimistic Ninja on Konoha's side couldn't believe that their trump card, the popular candidate for the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, had been so thoroughly devastated by Kirigakure's monster, Yuki Sora, in just one encounter.
"Don't take it too hard. This is my first time using a power like the Black Coffin. It's very difficult to control it perfectly. You should understand the difficulty involved."
Sora looked down at the disheveledly kneeling Minato, his voice calm and indifferent: "In short, it's like trying to find, on a rainy day, among billions of raindrops, exactly one suitable raindrop to trap an inconspicuous ant without killing it. That sounds quite difficult, doesn't it?"
"You… you… what are you saying?"
"You said… what… what?"
"What on earth are you saying?!!!!!"
The blood-soaked, sense-deprived Minato suddenly roared, his eyes seeming to crack open: "Yuki Sora! I'm asking you what on earth… are you saying!!!"
"I don't understand!!!"
The pain of his body, the collapse of his perception, the loss of his five senses, the damage to his soul… all of this delivered a devastating blow to Minato.
His soul felt imprisoned in a dark dungeon, cold and unseen, filled with unknown fears within reach.
Such a soul impact was quite fatal even for a Kage-level Ninja like Minato. It even caused the Chakra within him to begin to disperse, creating irreparable gaps in his mental world.
'It seems…'
'Not a bad test subject!'
'What exactly is Chakra, and where do the strange changes in Namikaze Minato's body come from? Perhaps all the answers are hidden within.'
The look Sora directed at Minato revealed a hint of deep contemplation. And just at that moment, golden Reiatsu forcibly intruded into Minato's mental world, imprinting a mysterious golden curse mark upon both his heart and his brain.
Special Kido, Soul Manipulation!!!
After using the Kurohitsugi to collapse Minato's Chakra defense, Sora could finally, openly, carve the soul curse onto the soul of Konoha's Yellow Flash.
And just then, the sudden collapse to his knees and the unconsciousness due to severe injury of Minato caused the entire battlefield to erupt in an uproar.
No one could have imagined that the renowned Konoha's Yellow Flash would be defeated so decisively.
The faces of those Konoha's Ninjas who had previously belittled or even doubted Sora now showed expressions of fear and bewildered frenzy.
'To so easily suppress Konoha's Kage candidate… could it be that Kirigakure's Yuki Sora was truly as powerful as the rumors said!?'