From nearly 100 meters above, Gamabunta, Gamaken, and Gamahiro—a trio of imposing toads from Mt. Myoboku—plummeted toward the three giants charging down on Minato. With a calculated maneuver, Minato had summoned the toads at just the right moment, allowing them to intercept the descending giants.
Due to his careful positioning and the energy already expended in controlling these constructs, the giants' strength was already halved. Thus, despite the monumental clash about to ensue, Minato knew he would not bear any significant loss in summoning his allies from Mt. Myoboku.
Rather than attacking, the three toads simply let gravity carry them down, colliding forcefully with the giants in mid-air.
"Bang!"
The thunderous impact resonated through Rōran, shaking the ground and sending powerful shockwaves in all directions. Sensing the oncoming danger, Naruto and Kushina quickly pulled Sara to a safer distance, the strength of the toads' fall and the giants' combined weight creating a tremor that threatened everything nearby.
Hidden in the shadows, Mukade watched in disbelief. He attempted to use his puppeteering to separate the giants and avoid the catastrophic collision, but Gamabunta, Gamaken, and Gamahiro each clung tightly to their assigned giants, forcing them downward with tremendous force. Under the weight and momentum of the falling toads, the "chakra lines" controlling the giants strained, fraying under the pressure.
"Bang!"
With earth-shattering force, the six colossal figures crashed to the ground, obliterating everything in their vicinity. Buildings within a radius of dozens of meters collapsed, the ground itself caved in, and three immense craters scarred the landscape. The shockwave from the impact shattered the stone giants into rubble, the force obliterating them into fragments.
In the midst of the dust and debris, the three toads stood tall in the massive pit, each surveying their surroundings.
"Is this Rōran?" Gamabunta asked, exhaling a plume of smoke from his pipe. Mt. Myoboku held a long, ancient history, and its sages likely knew more about the lands and hidden powers of the ninja world than most shinobi villages combined.
"What are these things, anyway? They look like rock monsters. Could Sunagakure be behind this?" Gamaken mused, his large frame tense as he observed the surroundings. Rōran was indeed within the Land of Wind, and among the major ninja villages, Sunagakure would be the most likely to engineer such creations.
Minato glanced at the toads, his gaze serious. "It's unclear, but one thing is for certain—this guy Mukade is dangerous." He'd withheld information about Mukade from Naruto, realizing that Mukade's knowledge of the dragon vein could make him a formidable threat.
The ability to animate stone giants was enough to turn any battle in his favor, a powerful weapon in the hands of the wrong person.
"You're quite the summoner, Minato," Gamabunta commented, his tone somewhere between admiration and begrudging respect. "To call out all three of us at once—it's not something just anyone could do."
The last time Minato had summoned Gamabunta, the toad had still been somewhat skeptical of his abilities. But since mastering the Sage Mode of Mt. Myoboku, Minato had proven his worth to even the most powerful of the toads. He was, after all, a prodigy that the elder sages spoke of with reverence. Even the Great Toad Sage himself had once foretold that Minato would one day prevent a calamity that could engulf the entire ninja world.
Minato chuckled at the remark. The first time he had gained Gamabunta's respect, it had been through similar feats, but now he had come a long way. If he were to compare his chakra capacity to what it had been before, he knew that even at his peak, summoning all three toads simultaneously would have drained 60 to 70 percent of his chakra. However, the Nine-Tails' chakra had since permeated his body, constantly transforming and strengthening him. Though the summoning still cost him chakra, it was a price he could bear without much strain.
"Let's get clear of this area—it's still not safe," Minato said, casting a wary glance at the remaining giant. Though it had retreated, it hadn't attacked Kushina and the others. Mukade seemed content to use Kushina and Naruto as hostages to keep Minato from using his Flying Thunder God Technique to escape.
But he won't actually harm them, not yet. Minato's eyes narrowed. His plan isn't complete, and Sara is still part of it.
The three toads exchanged looks, wary of the lone giant that remained standing at a distance, watching them with ominous intent.
"Shhh!"
Just then, a faint purple glow emerged from the top of a distant building, intensifying before transforming into a beam of light that illuminated the three deep craters. Minato's eyes narrowed as he witnessed the shattered giants slowly reconstruct themselves under the light.
"That must be the power of the dragon vein. Someone's manipulating Rōran's dragon vein?" Gamabunta noted, his instincts sharp despite his imposing size. Though not adept at Sage Jutsu, he possessed enough perceptive skill to sense the unnatural energy.
Minato nodded, a wry smile forming on his face. "Thank you for your help, all three of you. My objective here is complete—there's no need to keep fighting these things."
As long as they remained within Rōran, the giants would keep regenerating, and confronting them head-on was unwise. This endless battle wasn't Minato's style.
"I'm no warrior of finesse, but I hope I helped a little," Gamaken remarked in his usual self-deprecating tone.
"You did more than enough," Minato assured him with a nod. Forming a series of seals, he dismissed the three toads, who vanished in puffs of smoke, leaving only faint traces of their presence in the craters.
"Let's see what other tricks you have up your sleeve now," Minato muttered, his gaze fixed on the lone giant still standing. As if in response, a sneer echoed from the giant's direction. Mukade's mocking voice resonated through the rubble.
But Minato only smirked. In the blink of an eye, he appeared beside Kushina, Naruto, and Sara. Without hesitation, he placed his hands on Naruto and Kushina's shoulders, firmly gripping Sara's wrist, and in a flash, all four disappeared from the spot.
"Bang!"
The Minato who had been facing the giants erupted into smoke—a shadow clone, disappearing as quickly as it had appeared.
"It was just a clone?" Mukade's eyes widened, his pupils shrinking in shock. Moments earlier, Kushina, Naruto, and Sara had been within his reach, but now they were gone.
Mukade clenched his fists, realization dawning on him. Minato hadn't dismissed the three toads because he lacked the chakra to maintain them; he'd merely allowed Mukade to believe that. His attention fixated on Minato, giving the real Minato just enough time to whisk Kushina, Naruto, and Sara away and conceal his chakra.
This was no spur-of-the-moment decision, Mukade realized. It was a calculated trap, all planned in advance.
"I was outsmarted," he muttered, fists tightening in frustration. Though Mukade had feared Minato's prowess, he'd assumed that as a young shinobi, Minato was not yet the legendary Fourth Hokage of the future. But he had underestimated him, allowing himself to be outmaneuvered by Minato's intelligence rather than his raw strength.
For a fleeting moment, Mukade recalled a certain figure who had once warned him, "The most dangerous thing about Namikaze Minato isn't his power but the mind that wields it."
Mukade gritted his teeth, acknowledging the truth in those words. Even facing a younger version of Minato, he had been utterly blindsided.
"What was he truly after in appearing here?" Mukade wondered, his voice tinged with bitterness. One thing was clear—when Minato reappeared, Mukade would no longer hold the upper hand.
==============================================
Support me at p@treon.com/goldengaruda and check out more chapter of this FANFIC or more early access chapter of my other fanfic translation.
==============================================