On the battlefield, Zetsu had just used the Mayfly Technique to burrow up beside Pain.
But then, in the blink of an eye, Nagato was taken away by Minato's Flying Thunder God.
A massive explosion erupted. Though its center was suspended in midair within the Chibaku Tensei sphere, the flying debris still carried terrifying destructive power.
Zetsu could only dive desperately underground.
Since Kushina had been evacuated, Sarutobi Ishishu, who had been bound by the Adamantine Sealing Chains, was freed.
He wasn't far from Sarutobi Hiruzen. The moment he regained control, he threw himself over Hiruzen, shielding him with his body.
Meanwhile, after Nue's self-detonation, Sarutobi Ryunosuke could no longer remain hidden within his spatial technique, he fell from midair.
Luckily, the explosion had ended. Otherwise, with his level being barely that of a jonin, he'd have been blown to pieces instantly.
At that moment, a figure was rapidly approaching.
It was Asuma, who had rushed over.
"Old man! Are you injured?", Asuma didn't even spare a glance for the other clan members' conditions.
Because right now, Hiruzen had already lost an arm and was barely clinging to life.
Seeing Asuma arrive, Hiruzen forced out a breath, "What are you doing here! Go!"
"Old man! What the hell happened? I'm not leaving until you tell me!"
Asuma couldn't see any enemies nearby, so he pressed for answers.
Hiruzen's face, already ashen, darkened further, he was so anxious he nearly fainted.
Thankfully, Ryunosuke quickly steadied his breath and took out some medicine, feeding it to him.
Ishishu spoke rapidly, "The leader of the Akatsuki, Pain, came, along with the Fourth Hokage couple and Tsunade, seeking revenge."
"This, what you see here, is the result of the Akatsuki leader's secret technique."
"It must be that Orochimaru used Edo Tensei to resurrect the Fourth Hokage. They escaped the explosion with Flying Thunder God, but they'll be back any moment."
Asuma's face twisted in pain. He knew exactly what kind of man Hiruzen was.
When Rengoku expelled them before, Asuma already suspected those crimes were the old man's doing.
A man like Rengoku would never let them go unpunished, and sure enough, he had come for vengeance.
After swallowing the medicine, Hiruzen managed to steady his breathing. Ryunosuke quickly bandaged his shoulder.
Hiruzen said urgently, "Asuma, go back immediately. Take Konohamaru and leave the Land of Fire."
"Go anywhere!"
But before he could finish, the very thing he feared most happened.
"None of you are leaving!"
Tsunade's voice cut through the air, freezing every Sarutobi heart in dread.
The explosion had ceased, and Minato, using the Flying Thunder God once more, teleported everyone back.
When Minato had severed Hiruzen's arm earlier, he had already marked him with a Flying Thunder God seal.
Once marked, it never disappears. Wherever the battlefield is, whenever the time, Minato controls it.
They could easily dodge any explosion, regroup, and then teleport back fully prepared.
That was the terror of Namikaze Minato.
Asuma immediately stepped between Tsunade and Hiruzen.
"Lady Tsunade, please, spare the old man."
Seeing who they were up against, Asuma knew there was no escaping.
Though he and Hiruzen had long been estranged, he was still his father. So Asuma lowered himself to beg.
Tsunade had met Asuma a few times before. In his youth, he'd been rebellious, yes, but he wasn't the same kind of man as Hiruzen.
Still, this was the hatred of a slaughtered clan. Tsunade had no intention of forgiving any Sarutobi, especially Hiruzen's direct bloodline.
"Asuma, you'd better draw your weapon."
"I won't spare the Sarutobi clan, just as that old bastard never spared my brother back then!"
Asuma's gaze swept past Minato and Kushina's faces, finally settling on Tsunade.
The old man had done too many evil things, this day was bound to come.
He'd orphaned Naruto; now the Fourth and his wife had come for him.
He'd destroyed the Senju clan; now Tsunade stood before him.
So really, it was no wonder he could never get along with the old man. But still… he was his son.
Asuma sighed, drew his chakra blades, and slid his fingers through the knuckle guards.
He took a fighting stance. He chose to die standing.
Tsunade clenched her fists and was just about to step forward, when suddenly, everything changed.
A black-and-red vortex spiraled open in the sky, a spatial gate tearing reality itself.
From within it emerged a man in white robes, a Roman numeral "Ⅳ" engraved below his left eye.
He stood in midair, floating.
An oppressive force immediately pressed down on everyone present.
Among them, Minato, whose spatial abilities were the highest and who contained a part of the Nine-Tails, was the first to look up.
He quickly held out a hand to stop Tsunade and the others, his eyes sharp with caution toward this uninvited guest.
Minato's reaction drew everyone's attention.
Pain's face grew grave. His sensory powers were extremely sharp, yet he couldn't gauge this man's strength at all.
This man was someone who, originally, wasn't supposed to appear in the ninja world for another twenty years.
He was Jigen, the vessel of Otsutsuki Isshiki, the one who had come to Earth alongside Otsutsuki Kaguya to plant the God Tree.
The reason he had arrived now was because Nue's explosion had triggered fluctuations in spatial curvature.
Once that value exceeded ten, it would alert the clan, prompting someone to investigate.
Isshiki, however, had his own plans. This planet's energy was far too abundant. He could not let the clan discover it.
Back then, after being ambushed by Kaguya and gravely injured, Isshiki had used his ability to shrink himself and crawl into the ear of a monk named Jigen.
For a thousand years, he had been slowly restoring his body and plotting his resurrection.
Because Jigen's body couldn't withstand his full power, if he used too much of it too often, the body would collapse.
Jigen said nothing upon appearing. His gaze immediately locked onto Sarutobi Ryunosuke.
Then his eyes shifted, passing over Ishishu and Minato, flashes of surprise appearing on their faces.
In an instant, his body flickered, appearing right before Ishishu.
BOOM!
A muffled crack sounded. Ishishu was smashed into the ground by a single punch and instantly lost consciousness.
Tsunade's pupils contracted sharply. She specialized in monstrous strength, and she could tell at once just how devastating that punch had been.
The fact that Ishishu wasn't obliterated on the spot meant the opponent's control over raw power far surpassed her own.
Then, Ishishu's body vanished from Jigen's hand.
The next instant, he flickered again, and caught Ryunosuke with one hand.
Ryunosuke vanished too.
Jigen glanced once at Minato and Pain, then opened another spatial gate, and disappeared.
The crushing pressure lifted instantly, and everyone exhaled heavily in relief.
But not far away, Zetsu's face twisted horribly.
The black half of his face was filled with shock, rage, and a hint of terror.
'Otsutsuki?'
'How could there be an Otsutsuki in the ninja world?'
'That aura… could it be Isshiki?'
Zetsu, carrying Kaguya's memories, was plunged into boundless dread.
He had to retrieve the Rinnegan, immediately.
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