Minato and Isshiki clashed once more.
Minato, who had managed to counter Sukunahikona, did have some advantages, but he was still no match for Isshiki.
Even without the lesser-known Sukunahikona, Isshiki's strength still surpassed Minato's Kyuubi Mode, and their speed was nearly equal.
In terms of physical skill mastery, Isshiki Otsutsuki was even superior to Minato!
It was no wonder he had been a monk for a thousand years!
Fortunately, Minato had the Flying Thunder God Technique.
If something went wrong, he could instantly teleport away, which was why he managed to hold his own against Isshiki with a 40-60 score.
However, Isshiki's methods were not limited to this.
In another close-range fight, a black rod suddenly appeared without warning and stabbed through Minato's collarbone!
It was initially aimed at Minato's head, but luckily, he managed to deflect it!
The problem was that Minato hadn't sensed the presence of the black rod beforehand, and the rod hadn't moved through the water!
What was going on?
Daikokuten: Another form of the eye technique called Kokugan.
Objects that had been shrunk could be stored in another dimension where time stood still, and objects in that space could be summoned instantly at any time.
All Isshiki needed to do was hide the shrinking black rods in Daikokuten, then suddenly summon and shoot them out.
They could bypass all water currents, making it impossible for Minato to predict their positions, thus hitting their target without any warning!
This was almost equivalent to an instant version of the 'Object Flying Thunder God'!
When Minato was stabbed, he used the Flying Thunder God to retreat.
Otherwise, he would have been stabbed several more times.
And Isshiki also seemed a bit proud:
"Did you really think you could win by seeing Sukunahikona? How naive!"
Minato teleported out of the lake, took a breath, and pulled the black rod out of his left collarbone.
'Even though I had already overestimated this enemy, I didn't expect I was still underestimating him!'
'Besides Sukunahikona, there's actually such a powerful eye technique!'
Daikokuten attacked without warning, and even Minato couldn't react in time at such close range.
This was even more difficult!
But it had to be done, no matter how hard it was.
If Minato didn't kill Isshiki here, he couldn't imagine how much disaster would befall Konoha if the other party attacked!
The next moment, Minato dove back into the water and attacked Isshiki once more.
To counter Daikokuten, Minato had to change his fighting strategy.
First, let a large number of shadow clones surround Isshiki, then seize the opportunity to have the main body and clones launch a Flying Thunder God Rasengan, appearing right next to Isshiki, and then launch the attack.
After one attack, the Flying Thunder God teleported again.
This would reduce the chance of being hit by Daikokuten without warning.
From then on, Minato was like a golden lightning bolt, continuously striking Isshiki.
They could even exchange blows several times in a second! Every moment was like a flickering aurora, cunning and swift, attacking and retreating immediately without delay. Truly.
Isshiki was always a step slow when Daikokuten attacked with his black rods several times.
He only managed to stab Minato's shadow clones, failing to injure the real body.
However, Minato also found it difficult to injure Isshiki himself. After all, each attack lasted only a moment, and he also had to break through the black rod defenses around Isshiki, so it was very hard to find an opening.
Even after dozens of confrontations, Isshiki remained unharmed, but Minato was stabbed several times by the black rods, leaving five bleeding holes in his body, though fortunately, none were fatal.
"HAHAHAHA... It's useless, you can't defeat me!"
"You can only jump around like a flea... You don't have much time left! If you don't fight harder, your village will be in danger..."
Isshiki taunted as they fought.
This Minato was not only fast, with the Flying Thunder God, but also intelligent.
In terms of overall strength, he was no match for him. The fact that his robe had been torn earlier was just a result of a slight carelessness.
Now that he understood Minato's strength, Isshiki naturally became more confident and calm.
He even deliberately provoked Minato to reveal his weaknesses so he could seize the opportunity and kill the Hokage directly!
But just as Isshiki was feeling proud, a group of inconspicuous goldfish was quietly guided by Minato's shadow clones around him, swimming against the rapid current to a spot not far from him.
The water here had been moved from a distant large lake.
It was only natural that there were fish in the lake.
Isshiki noticed this and immediately used his black rods to kill dozens of small fish in an instant.
He found that these small fish were ordinary and had no chakra in their bodies.
He no longer paid attention to them and was too lazy to care.
Arrogance often lurks within a person and always reveals itself unconsciously.
Finally, the opportunity had arrived!
Minato deliberately took a hit from Isshiki's black rod, getting stabbed in the right chest, which immediately shocked Isshiki.
Then Minato immediately used the Flying Thunder God to teleport.
But this time, he didn't teleport far, instead teleporting to the side of the inconspicuous goldfish and appearing right behind Isshiki.
It turned out Minato had placed a Flying Thunder God mark on the small fish!
"Damn it!!!"
Isshiki was shocked. He truly hadn't expected his opponent to do this.
The dozens of previous confrontations had made him accustomed to assuming Minato would retreat after one attack.
He never expected the other party to rely on a small fish and teleport right behind him!
He had no time to defend himself!
*Pu-chi!*
Minato's kunai directly pierced Isshiki's heart!
At the same time, several black rods around him also stabbed into Minato's body; however, Minato didn't retreat, enduring the pain, twisting the kunai, and destroying Isshiki's heart!
But this wasn't safe!
He knew that the scars on Isshiki's body had super regenerative and self-healing abilities, just like Obito before.
So after pulling out the kunai, Minato threw a mini Bijudama and shot it into Isshiki's body along the wound.
Only by using the Bijudama to blast Isshiki into pieces could he completely eliminate the possibility of this person healing himself!
No one could withstand a Bijudama explosion inside their body at close range!
❂❂❂❂❂
Minato also used the Flying Thunder God to teleport away just before the Bijudama exploded, teleporting directly outside the barrier.
Of course, he still held the foolish little goldfish in his hand.
At least this little one had helped him, so it deserved to be saved.
*BOOOOOMMMMMMM!*
A massive explosion erupted from within the water, and the lake water within a radius of hundreds of meters was shattered into pieces, turning into a large mist of water, then rushing down.
The lake water at the center of the explosion instantly evaporated due to the high temperature and pressure, forming a giant negative-pressure tornado that churned the earth upside down, making the entire barrier look like a stormy apocalypse.
Seeing this, Minato didn't let his guard down completely.
While reluctantly pulling out the black rods from his body, he continued to watch the center of the explosion.
Although he was 98% sure, Isshiki was most likely dead!
But after all, the target's death hadn't been fully confirmed.
And he had done his best, using every means to severely injure Isshiki.
If a point-blank Bijudama explosion still couldn't kill the opponent, then Minato wouldn't fight to the death.
He had decided to immediately escape, return to the village, make preparations first, and then go ask his seniors for help.
If that didn't work, he would just ask Hashirama and Madara to call a few more people to gang up on this bastard!
When a solo challenge couldn't defeat the enemy, group battles became legitimate and even honorable from this moment on!