153-From Boiling Rocks to Sinking Sand
The chaotic scene unfolding before him was startling, a fierce battle with Asa, a recently promoted S-rank shinobi from Iwagakure from what Minato had heard.
Asa, still enraged, noticed Minato's sudden appearance.
'Hmm? Where did he come from? And he is wearing our normal shinobi attire. He must have been colluding with them and decided to come and save his comrades. It doesn't matter, he will suffer the same fate as them,' he thought, eyes narrowing with suspicion and determination.
Minato, Sama, and Hiro had been meticulous in their disguise preparations. When they attacked various locations in the Land of Wind, they wore masks to conceal their identities.
Additionally, they also changed their appearances to resemble Iwa shinobi, ensuring that even if someone managed to glimpse beneath their masks, they would still accomplish their objective of framing Iwagakure shinobi.
Assessing the precarious situation, Minato quickly realized that Yano and Renjiro were in immediate danger. His sharp senses stretched out to detect any of his seals in the vicinity.
'This one will do,' he thought with relief, noting that the seal he had placed on Renjiro's jumpsuit was still intact.
In an instant, Minato appeared behind Renjiro and teleported both Renjiro and Yano, who were about to be swept away, or rather burnt, by an approaching wave of lava, back to where Yano had placed his kunai moments ago.
When Yano and Renjiro first assumed the identities of merchants, they had not completely discarded their original clothes. Instead, they wore them underneath their merchant disguises, using the Transformation Jutsu to ensure everything appeared normal.
"What is going on?" Minato demanded, his voice urgent as Asa's anger only increased, seeing his targets evade his attack.
'How did he do it? Is he that fast?' Asa wondered, incredulous at Minato's speed.
"He discovered our disguises," Yano managed to answer, his voice strained. Renjiro quickly nodded in agreement, his face tense from the exertion and pain.
"Are you ignoring me?" Asa shouted, his voice echoing through the desolate landscape.
"Do we fight him or leave?" Renjiro asked.
Both he and Yano had been doing their best to dodge and stay in character. They could not use most of their jutsus as it could be traced back to the village, something they did not want to happen.
So Renjiro did not even dare to use his Sharingan which would have made the dodging easier. Nevertheless, Renjiro was not slow even without relying on his dojutsu.
Asa's chakra flared once more, his eyes locked on the trio with unbridled fury. "You won't escape this time," he snarled, preparing to unleash another devastating attack.
Asa quickly made a series of hand signs before slamming his hands to the ground and shouting, "Lava Release: Collapsed Eruption Burial!"
Immediately, the ground beneath everyone's feet began to shake, and cracks appeared where they were standing. The cracks rapidly expanded, surrounding Minato, Yano, and Renjiro. The ground then split open, revealing lava that erupted, creating a fiery barrier around the three Konoha shinobi.
'It's hot. It feels like I'm in a furnace,' Renjiro thought as the lava started to envelop them. He quickly glanced at Minato, who was the reason he wasn't making any moves.
Minato retrieved some of his kunais and threw them in various directions before the lava completely enveloped them. He then teleported Yano and Renjiro to a cliff where one of his Kunais had landed, escaping Asa's attack.
'Do we fight or leave?' Minato thought. 'I still don't know how their part of the mission is progressing, so leaving might be a bad choice. Even if I leave a seal here, getting back would still cost me chakra that I cannot afford to lose in this situation.
We also cannot stay and fight since that will risk us getting exposed if we use any of our special jutsu, especially for Yano. His vacuum wind style is widely known because of Danzo-sama, so they'll know where we are from.'
Minato's mind raced as he thought of his next move until an idea popped into his head. 'That's it!' Turning to Yano, he asked, "Where did you guys put the kunai?"
Yano was confused and asked, "Which one?"
"The one you were supposed to put in the capital city," Minato said.
"It is in the Daimyo's hall. Why are you asking?" Renjiro said.
When he used genjutsu on Usui, he also handed the kunai to him and instructed him to place it anywhere in the hall.
"How did it even get there?" Minato was confused but continued, "The best way to end this is to get him out of here."
'Does he want to teleport him back to the city?' Renjiro wondered as he asked,
"Why?"
Minato didn't say anything as he flickered close to Asa and threw some of his kunais at him.
'They survived? How? I just...' Asa couldn't even afford to complete the thought as he used his kunai to deflect the incoming projectiles.
Minato's kunais landed behind Asa, and before Asa could even prepare for his next attack, he felt Minato appear behind him.
In an instant, they disappeared and reappeared in the Daimyo's hall at a corner where the kunai was placed, startling everyone still present in the hall.
Immediately after, Minato quickly teleported back to Yano and Renjiro.
"How did your mission go?" Minato asked when he appeared next to Yano and Renjiro.
'Did he already teleport him?' Renjiro wondered as Yano answered, "We have only killed some nobles in the capital city."
'Only that? We can still work with that,' Minato thought as he asked, "Is it enough to suspect Iwa and the Land of Earth?"
Yano nodded.
"Good, we can head back and join Sama and Hiro." Minato nodded and prepared to teleport back when he felt a new seal placed in his network. The seal tugged him, and Minato complied, choosing it as his next destination.
Immediately, they teleported and appeared in what felt like quicksand. They immediately began sinking deeper into the sand Renjiro could swear was moving.
'Where are we?' Renjiro thought before he heard a voice say, "I won't ask again, who are you?"
As the question lingered, the three continued to sink deeper and deeper into the sand. Minato felt the granules sliding around his legs, pulling him down steadily.
The sensation was unnerving as if the earth itself had come alive to swallow them whole.
Minato tried to gauge where they were when he saw two figures in the distance. Unlike their own precarious position, these figures seemed to be drowning in the sand, so deep that only their heads were visible. The dim moonlight cast eerie shadows over their faces, making it difficult to identify them at first.
Minato squinted, focusing his keen eyes on the two figures. Recognition hit him like a bolt of lightning.
'That's Hiro and Sama!' he realized with a jolt. Relief and worry mingled in his chest.
Renjiro, struggling to maintain his balance as the sand shifted beneath him, finally spotted the man who had questioned them earlier. The figure exuded an air of authority and power, Hovering on some sand above them. Renjiro's eyes widened in recognition and fear.
'It's the Third Kazekage! We just went from boiling rocks to sinking sand.'
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