Chapter 11: You Have Worked Really Hard Minato-kun

...

"Huff... huff..."

"Did... did we get him?"

The tall Iwa Shinobi stared at the street that had been devastated by earth pillars. Scattered smoke completely blocked his vision. The violent explosion made the surrounding buildings shake, and faint, suppressed crying could be heard from inside the rooms.

However, his attention remained completely focused on what was directly ahead.

"Gendo!"

Just as he was muttering to himself, he heard Sen'gao-sama suddenly call out his name.

"Yes."

Gendo turned his head to look at Sen'gao-sama in front of him.

Then, he saw him reach out and point to the sealed box containing S-rank intelligence behind them.

Sen'gao stood before him, not even turning his head, his voice muffled

"Now, don't worry about anything else."

"Escape along our predetermined evacuation route."

Gendo was stunned upon hearing this.

Over twenty years old and still only a Chūnin level shinobi, being assigned to this kind of suicide mission - this alone showed how important he was to the village.

Similarly, for the village's sake, he had long been prepared to sacrifice himself.

But precisely because of this, when he heard this order, Gendo's first thought wasn't relief at potentially surviving.

Rather... it was confusion.

Following that, he immediately spoke up "Sir! You are far more important than me!"

"Shut up! Execute the order."

Standing nearly two meters tall, Sen'gao was like a brown bear just standing there. The minor wounds on his body seemed to have no effect on him, only his breathing was slightly heavier.

After two seconds, noticing that Gendo hadn't moved, Sen'gao finally softened his tone "Everything is for the village."

Gendo was suddenly speechless.

Yes.

This was their Shinobi Code.

Neither he nor Sen'gao were sacrificing themselves just for each other.

After realizing this, Gendo finally came to his senses. Without another word, he turned around, grabbed the box behind him, and unhesitatingly rushed toward the planned escape route.

However, at the moment he leaped...

Whoosh!

Several shuriken spun through the air, flying toward Gendo's escape route.

Sen'gao moved without hesitation. Despite his massive frame, he burst forth with speed rivaling a galloping horse. With his brass knuckles sweeping through the air, the wind from his strikes alone deflected all the shurikens.

Almost simultaneously with his movement...

From within the dust cloud, a slender figure shot out at a speed almost impossible to track with the naked eye, suddenly charging toward Gendo who was fleeing with the box.

Seeing this scene, a fierce grin instantly split across Sen'gao's face.

At the same time, he unhesitatingly sprinted toward the opposite direction.

"Earth Release: Light-Weight Rock Technique"

In an instant, his body became light as a feather.

His running speed was no slower than Sawara Kiri's.

Meanwhile, in his chest pocket was a scroll bearing Tsunade's Team information.

Indeed.

Both having Gendo escape with the sealed box and his own posturing to block Sawara Kiri's pursuit were smoke screens deployed by Sen'gao.

Earlier, while escaping from the Hokage Tower, he had already retrieved the items needed for this mission.

The only reason he hadn't opened it yet was because the sealing technique couldn't be solved quickly.

He realized it the moment he engaged with Sawara Kiri.

Though this opponent appeared young, they weren't someone he could defeat quickly, and their meticulous planning in using their group to complete the setup couldn't be underestimated.

In this situation, there was only one way to complete the mission.

Use his subordinate as bait.

To achieve his reputation as 'Sen'gao', he had done this countless times.

{Notes: Sen'gao in Japanese literally means Thousand face.}

For the sake of village missions, he could shoulder any sacrifice or darkness!

Whoosh—

The wind whistled.

His escape speed grew faster and faster. Even in Iwagakure, the secret "Light-Weight Rock Technique" was rare - it reduced his body weight to one-third while maintaining his full strength.

As a result, his entire body seemed to be carried by the wind, rushing toward the Konoha walls at an extreme speed.

'Just a little faster!'

'A little faster!'

'Freedom is almost within reach!'

This intense desire for survival seemed to push his chakra to its absolute limit.

As for Sawara Kiri who had been blocking Gendo's path of escape earlier, they were completely forgotten.

Sen'gao hadn't noticed. Every thought pattern, every notion, seemed to revolve around 'for the village'.

But what truly drove him to flee desperately toward the village outskirts was that intense... desire to survive.

Whoosh!

His massive foot landed, and his form traced an arc through the air.

Just ahead of him was his prepared escape route.

At this moment, Sen'gao's eyes were practically glowing.

However...

BOOM—

With a deafening sonic boom. In the originally empty field, a figure suddenly appeared.

"Thud."

A decapitated corpse was thrown to the ground.

Sen'gao immediately stopped in his tracks.

Looking at the young man before him, his weathered face involuntarily showed a trace of terror. His gaze toward Sawara Kiri was almost incredulous

"Just now, was that... space-time ninjutsu?!"

"Sort of."

Sawara Kiri casually tossed the S-rank sealed box aside and explained gently "The so-called 'Power to Stop' is actually controlling space, making a tiny distance become 'infinitely far.'"

"Naturally, if used in reverse, it can also make a very far distance become 'infinitely near.'"

"Today is my first time using it."

"Pretty impressive, right?"

{Notes: Neutral Limitless: Infinity - is the base state of the Limitless and is essentially the power to stop.}

The moment he heard this information, Sen'gao's rich combat experience made him immediately realize something, and his entire body tensed up.

The next moment, Sawara Kiri suddenly stepped forward.

"Hum!"

The air seemed to rise with an intense resonance, making even the earth appear to tremble.

Sawara Kiri's form vanished.

When he reappeared, he was already within arm's reach of Sen'gao, as if he had dove into his embrace.

His stepping foot suddenly exerted force, his seemingly slender muscles abruptly swelled, and exploding chakra coursed through his entire body.

Power rose from the ground, penetrating through his waist and back.

The bursting force, with unstoppable momentum, wrapped around his arm as it swung forward.

BOOM—

The heavy punch struck out, creating ripples in the air. The cone-shaped shock wave burst open with a piercing boom at this extremely close range, shredding his sleeve completely.

It hit Sen'gao square in the chest and abdomen.

However, if observed at extremely close range, one could see that there was still a microscopic distance between Sawara Kiri's fist and Sen'gao's body.

Sen'gao's body alone bore the rapid changes of this brief 'Neutral Limitless: Infinity'.

His massive frame was completely lifted into the air by this single punch. His shattered ribs and sternum caused his chest to completely cave in. Blood spurted from his mouth and nose, and his eyes bulged.

Clearly, this terrifying destructive power was also caused by the switching between 'infinitely near' and 'infinitely far'.

Using the attractive force of 'infinitely near' to throw an extremely fast punch.

Using the repulsive force of 'infinitely far' to protect his own fragile body.

However, the chakra consumption was just as terrifying as the destruction.

With his current 'Six Eyes', he could only strike five times at most.

Before Sen'gao could react, Sawara Kiri's azure 'Six Eyes' flickered with light. His 360-degree perception, comparable to the perfect Byakugan, made him unhesitatingly turn and twist his waist.

His long right leg swept upward like a battle axe.

Just as he completed this motion, an earth clone that had been hiding underground for a long time barely managed to leap out, its arm wrapped in rock swinging down fiercely.

"Earth Release: Fist Rock Technique"

The kick, accelerating suddenly from mid-range, once again burst open a bubble of air.

BOOM!

Like a sweeping battle axe.

Just one brief kick completely bisected both the giant arm wrapped in rock and the earth clone made entirely of stone right at the waist.

It exploded with a deafening sound.

"Ha!"

Sen'gao, who had seemed completely incapacitated a second ago, suddenly channeled his last bit of life force into chakra the moment Sawara Kiri's back was turned. He drove his massive body, sending chakra to every corner.

"Explosion Release: Explo—"

Snap

Before he could direct his chakra to the appropriate pathways, his chakra-producing neural pathways was suddenly struck, extinguishing even that weak flame of chakra.

At the same time, another hand firmly gripped his throat.

Making him unable to make even a sound.

"Guh..."

Sen'gao's weathered face turned purple from lack of oxygen, but he still stared at the young man before him with bloodshot eyes.

Although he had long expected that he wouldn't die peacefully in bed.

But when that day truly came, this legendary spy who had operated across the Five Great Shinobi Countries for over a decade still couldn't accept it.

He couldn't accept that the one killing him was an unknown young Konoha shinobi.

Driven by this strong obsession, even with his throat gripped, he still managed to squeeze out words with difficulty.

"Who... exactly, exactly are you?"

Sawara Kiri's smile remained as calm as when he started.

"You want to know?"

"Open your mouth."

Sen'gao was stunned for a moment.

Then, he saw a sphere of clear blue chakra appear in Sawara Kiri's palm without any hand signs.

'Rasengan'

The next moment, it was forced entirely into his mouth.

BANG—!!

His entire head was completely pulverized.

As a spy, Sawara Kiri couldn't guarantee that he hadn't shown any tells in front of this 'senior colleagues'.

If the Yamanaka clan discovered any hints, it would be fatal.

Thud

He released his grip.

The massive headless corpse fell to its knees with a dull sound.

The scattered blood mist hung in the air, slowly dispersing with the evening wind.

Sawara Kiri stood quietly in place waiting.

After just a moment, as if sensing something, he raised his head toward the roof eaves.

Under the moonlight.

His azure eyes met Minato Namikaze's shocked gaze.

He looked at the two grotesque corpses on the ground, then at that familiar yet strange figure, momentarily unable to speak.

"Good evening, Minato-kun."

Sawara Kiri remained as gentle as ever.

Speaking this, his gaze fell on the blood stains on the young ANBU's body and the wounds that couldn't be bandaged during the urgent pursuit, as he softly praised

"You have worked really hard."

...