It had barely been ten seconds.
When Uzumaki Honoka's voice rang out a second time inside everyone's minds,
a golden flash, like clouds parting to reveal the moon, suddenly appeared before Uzumaki Honoka in the blink of an eye.
Honoka's Adamantine Sealing Chains had already reached their limit.
The golden chakra chains, crumbling inch by inch, scattered into shimmering specks of light.
And within this fading radiance, the strong back of Namikaze Minato brought Honoka an overwhelming sense of safety.
That radiant and warm chakra presence
instantly lifted her soul from near-drowning despair and darkness, bringing her hope and salvation.
[Rasengan!]
A rapidly spinning ball of chakra formed in Minato's palm.
The Ultimate Summoned Beast snarled hideously and lunged forward. Under the Rasengan's high-speed rotation, it was immediately sent flying backward, crashing violently against the reinforced steel walls of the lab.
The steel-reinforced laboratory walls crumbled and caved inward, shaking the ground beneath.
From the damaged inner gate of the facility, searing heat waves erupted from the volcanic vent, filling the air with a pungent stench of molten lava.
Amidst agonized roars,
the Ultimate Summoned Beast struggled to rise again. The spiral-shaped wound on its abdomen, oozing blood and flesh, began visibly regenerating at an alarming rate.
Fresh pink granulation tissue writhed as it expanded, weaving into full muscle fibers.
Even worse,
another grotesque fan-shaped organ sprouted atop the creature's head.
After slightly tilting backward to build momentum, the organ suddenly swung repeatedly!
Whoosh—Whoosh—Whoosh—Whoosh—
Swish—
More than ten Flying Thunder God Kunai flew in all directions.
Minato swiftly scooped up the stunned Honoka and effortlessly dodged the incoming wind blades using the Flying Thunder God Technique.
"Graaah!"
Letting out an enraged roar, the Ultimate Summoned Beast
opened and closed the blossom-like organ that had previously grown due to the Kiri shinobi's attacks.
A jet of water infused with Water-elemental chakra surged forth with tremendous force, combining with the wind blades as it chased after Minato and Honoka, who kept dodging.
The Mist Jonin, who moments ago had turned into a puddle due to the beast's attack, watched Minato's sudden arrival and his eyes glinted with cruelty.
His upper body having just reformed, he planned to silently ambush Minato and escape amidst the ensuing chaos.
Suddenly, someone gave his shoulder a light tap.
Slap—
"Hey there, Big Bro from the Hozuki Clan. Isn't it pretty rude to interrupt a guy while he's trying to make a move?"
Half-crouching behind the Mist ninja—who had only managed to reconstruct his upper half—Kei Yamanaka spoke softly.
Though his voice wasn't loud, his appearance seemingly out of nowhere made the Hozuki-nin break into a cold sweat.
The Hozuki clan's Hydrification Technique was famous across the ninja world.
It allowed members of their clan to become immune to most physical attacks—and some ninjutsu.
Likewise, its weakness was equally well known in the ninja world.
As long as a body transformed by the Hydration Jutsu is struck by Lightning Release, it will become paralyzed and unable to fully liquefy.
"You Konoha ninja actually dare to force your way in and destroy our Mist research base. Aren't you afraid of sparking a war between our nations?"
A Jonin from the Hozuki Clan slowly turned his head toward Kei Yamanaka beside him.
Internally, he calculated whether suddenly activating his Hydration Jutsu would let him evade this person's attack.
After all, the enemy had already identified him as a Hozuki.
There was no way they didn't know about the weakness of the Hydration Jutsu.
Should he gamble on whether the enemy would use Lightning Release?
"You nameless extra, what are you yapping for?"
Kei rolled his eyes, uninterested in these obvious delaying tactics. He formed a single hand seal and immediately unleashed a genjutsu.
[Magical World: Reversed Realms].
At less than a meter apart.
The Hozuki Jonin had just seen Kei begin forming seals when, before he could decide whether to counterattack or retreat, his consciousness suddenly sank.
He was instantly trapped within an endless illusionary world.
His previously tense body gradually relaxed, and his hydrated form reverted back to normal.
No one knew exactly what he saw inside the illusion.
But his expression slowly turned lecherous. Standing up, he walked over to a nearby support pillar.
With a dreamy look in his eyes, he began shamelessly grinding himself against the cold, hard pillar.
Rocking his hips while letting out low, sleazy chuckles.
The A-rank genjutsu [Magical World: Reversed Realms], which Kei had just unleashed, was a technique he created by combining the D-ranked [Naraka Vision], the C-ranked [Fox's Mind Manipulation], and the C-ranked [False Reality Seal].
Although its casting difficulty was extremely high, its effects were equally oppressive.
It could tap into the target's deepest desires and magnify them endlessly.
Coupled with hyper-realistic illusions and multi-sensory manipulation involving sight, sound, and touch.
Unless the target had significantly stronger mental fortitude than the caster,
Or possessed exceptional willpower—resisting temptation, sensing the illusion's trap, and breaking free—potentially at the cost of mental trauma—
Otherwise, once caught in this technique, it was practically equivalent to waiting for death.
"Ugh, seriously disgusting to watch."
Kei, his expression curled in disgust, used [Mind Transfer Puppet Jutsu] to control five one-meter-tall puppets that dragged the Hozuki Jonin away.
Then he turned and silently ordered the small puppets to also lead the terrified or unconscious researchers away to safety.
He was very satisfied with how things were unfolding.
Let those annoying clowns not crash Minato's romantic moment!
"Tch tch~ Now this is getting good!"
Gently shutting the door behind him, Kei left the space to the handsome young man and beautiful lady still locked in battle with the Ultimate Summoned Beast inside the lab.
He couldn't help but grin at how the story was playing out.
The heroine starts off in crisis, then at her moment of despair, the hero drops in like a deus ex machina, rescues her from danger, and drives away the monster.
Next, as long as the hero displays his strength and defeats the beast,
Wouldn't the heroine naturally fall head over heels for him and stick to him like glue from now on?
Perfection!
*Roar!* *Screech!* *Moo!*
Roaring with rage and fury, the thunderous footsteps of massive beasts charging forward grew louder, accompanied by increasing tremors.
Kei Yamanaka slightly furrowed his brows.
He briefly closed his eyes to locate the Flying Thunder God Kunai he had left at the entrance of the research facility earlier.
The kunai still bore the spatial imprint left by Minato Namikaze. Activating it, Kei Yamanaka triggered the [Flying Thunder God Technique].
Shuah!
Kei Yamanaka's figure vanished from the research facility.
Still carrying Uzumaki Honoka while dodging attacks from the Ultimate Summoned Beast, Minato Namikaze vaguely detected faint spatial fluctuations. He turned his head in confusion toward the tunnel they had come through.
If his detection was right, someone had just used a space-based ninjutsu?
Could it be Kei Yamanaka using the [Summoning Technique]?
But this signature...
"The Ultimate Summoned Beast has the ability to devour all living creatures, assimilating and enhancing their traits. It can also consume various elemental chakra, which generate mutated organs that allow it to use corresponding elemental ninjutsu..."
Cradled in Minato Namikaze's arms, Uzumaki Honoka continued to relay information about the Ultimate Summoned Beast.
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!
<><><><><><><><>
~ 100+ Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
~ More *Free* Chapters and Books Available on Patreon!
patreon.com/Tansnovel
<><><><><><><><>