The area flattened by Shinra Tensei had become the perfect battlefield with no buildings in the way, this was a place for pure head-on combat.
Of the three Konoha battlefronts, Human Pain's zone was the lightest in intensity, while Animal Pain's zone was the fiercest and most tragic in terms of losses. But this battlefield, between Deva Pain and Minato, was neither the easiest nor the bloodiest but it was the most critical.
The Rinnegan, said to be the eyes of the Sage of Six Paths, had appeared in not just one person, but six. Even the summoned beasts possessed them.
But now wasn't the time to investigate such mysteries, what mattered most was defeating the intruders.
"Repulsion, huh?"
Minato held a marked kunai in his hand. Around his eyes appeared red pigmentation, and his pupils turned into toad-like slits, he had entered Sage Mode while Deva Pain was distracted searching for the Jinchūriki.
Everyone Minato had allowed to remain on the battlefield was someone whose strength he acknowledged.
Many of the jonin who had previously clashed with Deva Pain were now injured. Considering there were only two enemies here, Minato had decided not to let Hyuga Hiashi and the others join.
With no pre-set tactics, this battle would rely entirely on real-time coordination.
"Observe for now," he said calmly.
Before the words even finished echoing, Minato hurled his kunai toward Deva Pain.
Empowered by Sage Mode, the kunai flew exceptionally fast, making it hard to react to, and increasing the difficulty of countering Flying Thunder God Phase Two.
But for Minato, this wasn't a problem.
"Sage Mode, is it..."
The speed and force behind the kunai made it nearly impossible to intercept, even for someone who knew the Flying Thunder God technique. Deva Pain couldn't afford to waste Shinra Tensei on a kunai.
He dodged slightly to the right, positioning Preta Paib close enough to assist if necessary. Preta Pain's primary role was still vision sharing.
Just as the kunai passed Deva Pain, Minato appeared in midair above it, grabbing the kunai with his right hand.
In Sage Mode, even fast-flying kunai were no issue for him. He maintained perfect control without being thrown off by his own momentum.
As he caught the kunai midair, his body twisted into a seemingly unbalanced arc, it was a dangerous position for anyone midair. Ordinarily, such a posture would leave someone wide open for a fatal counterattack.
But Minato's extraordinary physical coordination meant this wasn't a mistake, it was deliberate.
Using the torque from his waist, he flung another marked kunai with his left hand, aiming for Deva Pain's back. This double-kunai maneuver was the hallmark of Flying Thunder God Phase Two, rapid switching between two markers to attack from all angles, appearing like an unstoppable ghost dancing around the target.
At this moment, Deva Pain, Minato, and Preta Pain were nearly aligned in a straight line. Deva in front, Minato in the middle, Preta in the rear.
Preta Pain saw Minato's movements clearly and fed the visuals to Nagato.
The second kunai flew toward Deva Pain's head from behind. Thanks to Preta Pain's view, Deva Pain tilted his head just in time, the kunai grazed past his right ear.
In the very next instant, Minato appeared directly above the second kunai and grabbed it again.
This wasn't a premeditated move. Minato couldn't know if the kunai would land or miss, but the moment he saw it pass Deva Pain, he teleported instantly, relying on his near-Sharingan-level dynamic vision to execute the perfect timing.
Even at such a close range, with the kunai flying so fast under Sage Mode, very few shinobi could react in time.
If not for the Rinnegan's shared vision, even with his knowledge of the Flying Thunder God, Nagato would've lost control of the fight. But this shared sight gave him just enough warning.
Such phenomenal dynamic vision was essential to Minato's flawless execution of the Flying Thunder God, something even Obito struggled to match. It's not that Obito couldn't do it, but that Minato made it look effortless.
Now appearing at Deva Pain's right-front, Minato didn't attack immediately.Instead, he flicked the kunai in his right hand behind Deva Pain and twisted his waist, delivering a fierce whip kick aimed at Deva Pain's temple.
Using Flying Thunder God just to teleport and strike was too predictable.Instead, Minato blended teleportation and taijutsu in unexpected ways to divide his opponent's focus.
Deva Pain glanced sideways and reacted just in time. He raised his arm to block the incoming kick. But just as his hand reached for the leg, Minato vanished again.
"Worthy of the Yellow Flash…"
Nagato thought, as chakra suddenly surged behind him. Preta Pain's shared sight revealed that Minato had now reappeared directly behind Deva Pain, his right hand pressing forward with a Rasengan.
But Nagato had already been cautious. When Minato flicked the kunai behind him, Nagato had anticipated the move.He still had to block the whip kick, yet the moment his hand missed, he activated Shinra Tensei.
With no hesitation, just as the Rasengan was about to hit Deva Pain's spine, a powerful repulsive force exploded outward.
Minato was blasted away in a straight line, the Rasengan dispersed midair by the force.
Despite the lightning-fast, precise chain of teleportations and coordinated attacks, it was ultimately the shared Rinnegan vision that nullified Minato's perfect opening.
As Minato was blasted backward in a straight line by Shinra Tensei, his trajectory sent him flying directly toward Preta Pain. Under Nagato's control, Preta Pain had already adjusted his position when Deva Pain activated the repulsion force, ready to greet the airborne Minato with a powerful punch.
The two rapidly closed the distance, and in the blink of an eye, Minato was right in front of Preta Pain.
Preta Pain, whose build was slightly bulkier, raised his fist and swung it forcefully at Minato's incoming form.
But just before the punch could land on Minato's back, he vanished again, leaving the heavy blow to hit nothing but air.
That ghostlike spatial teleportation, the Flying Thunder God, made Minato an incredibly hard opponent to deal with.
After missing his strike, Preta Pain remained expressionless. Still under Nagato's command, he immediately retreated to Deva Pain's side, knowing that Deva Pain was in his five-second cooldown period after using Shinra Tensei and had to be protected until the next activation.
Meanwhile, Minato had already returned to his original position using the Flying Thunder God technique.
"Did you see it clearly?" Minato asked, his eyes fixed on the Deva and Preta Pains.
Yes, it did seem like a repulsive force, and it was powerful. But in Sage Mode, the strength of that repulsion wasn't enough to hurt him. The real problem was that Shinra Tensei also blew away his marked kunai, which disrupted his sequence.
Had the kunai remained, he could have teleported behind Deva Pain again during the dodge from Preta's punch and continued his attack chain instead of resetting.
Hearing Minato's words, the thirty Konoha shinobi around him all nodded slightly.
The combo Minato had just executed with Flying Thunder God had stirred every one of them.If they imagined themselves in his place, they doubted they could've defended against such a rapid and fluid assault.
If the enemy hadn't had that strange ability to trigger a defense without hand seals, Minato would've likely landed a hit just now.
And to think that even someone like Minato, who could wield Flying Thunder God to such perfection, had lost to Ye Zi in a previous battle…
Only by witnessing such exchanges firsthand could one fully appreciate how terrifying Ye Zi truly was.
"That repulsion technique appears to have a 360-degree area of effect, and it can even disrupt chakra. It seems capable of defending against ninjutsu, and theoretically, it could block all attacks… it's practically a perfect defense."
Minato's eyes narrowed as he analyzed aloud.
"But, every jutsu has a weakness. Until we find it, everyone: do NOT attack all at once."
His gaze sharpened as he began planning his next wave of offense.
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Currently on Chapter 583 - A Threat from Ye Zi