Massive waves of chakra poured out from Kushina Uzumaki as a crimson barrier rose violently from the ground—sealing Yoru and Uzumaki Hiromi inside the blazing cage of the Four Red Yang Formation.
"So they pre-marked this whole area with Flying Thunder God seals…"
Yoru narrowed his eyes as he glanced beyond the barrier, locking his gaze on the panting Kushina outside.
"To produce a barrier of this scale alone… as expected of the Nine-Tails' Jinchūriki."
Normally, the Four Red Yang Formation required four Kage-level shinobi to maintain. But Kushina had brute-forced it by splitting her chakra through Shadow Clones—a feat only someone from the Uzumaki clan, empowered by the Nine-Tails, could possibly pull off.
But inside the barrier?
How are you planning to kill me now?
The Four Red Yang Formation sealed everything within. Nothing gets in. Nothing gets out. As long as Yoru didn't touch the barrier walls, he was in no danger.
"How're you holding up, Kushina?"
Minato looked at her with concern.
"I'm fine. That damn fox is just getting irritable again,"
Kushina said, taking a sharp breath. Four tails of fiery chakra erupted behind her.
"Only four tails, huh… stupid fox."
Of course, Kushina could force more chakra out of the Nine-Tails, but their relationship was… less than cordial. Just maintaining the barrier at this scale had already pushed her control to its limits.
Any more, and the Nine-Tails' will would start influencing her own.
Still, even with just four tails, the oppressive chakra pressure radiating from her was overwhelming—palpable even through the barrier.
"…So that's what they're planning."
Yoru squinted as realization dawned.
"They're going to detonate a Tailed Beast Bomb inside the barrier."
"Even with my reinforced defense, a direct hit from a Tailed Beast Bomb would be fatal."
"But with this barrier in place…"
Fwwshh!
Suddenly, a tear opened in the barrier for just a moment—barely perceptible—and through it, Minato reappeared with Four-Tails-cloaked Kushina, blinking directly into Yoru's face.
"What?!"
Yoru's expression froze.
And in that split second—the Tailed Beast Bomb exploded at point-blank range.
BOOOOOM!!!
The explosion's force ripped through the inside of the Four Red Yang Formation. Because the barrier was airtight, all that energy was trapped—colliding, compressing, and multiplying, becoming far more devastating than a normal Tailed Beast Bomb.
Outside the barrier, Minato and Kushina reappeared again just in time—panting heavily.
Kushina staggered and dropped to one knee, spent. But upon seeing Minato faltering, she grit her teeth and forced herself up, helping him to stay upright.
They both stared at the raging, distorted energy storm inside the barrier.
Their expressions were a mixture of exhaustion… and disbelief.
"It's over…"
"…Yeah. That bastard is finally dead."
"A war like this—kill or be killed…"
Minato's voice wavered as he looked at the frozen ruins of Kazama Ridge in the distance.
"If we hadn't followed Danzō's orders and launched the Tailed Beast Bomb attack on Kirigakure, none of this would've happened."
"But… Danzō wasn't wrong, was he?" Kushina muttered. "They were the ones who bombed Higashimatsuyama first. We just struck back."
"Still… taking it this far…"
Minato sighed. A war where both sides suffer ruin—was that really victory?
Kirigakure had been devastated—but they could retreat overseas if necessary.
Konoha, on the other hand, had lost too many elite shinobi. Their manpower was dangerously depleted.
And worst of all—this wasn't even the only war they were fighting.
"There's no such thing as a reset button, Minato."
A cold voice rang out from within the storm.
Both Minato and Kushina stiffened. Their eyes snapped back toward the barrier.
The Tailed Beast Bomb's shockwave hadn't fully settled yet. The inside of the Four Red Yang Formation was still hazy with smoke and residual chakra…
But then—two beams of light tore straight down from above, slicing through the storm and revealing a pair of unscathed figures at the center.
Yoru and Hiromi stood calmly in the heart of the blast zone.
Unharmed.
"What…?"
Kushina's face twisted in disbelief. "That blast was point-blank. How could they…"
"It's space-time ninjutsu,"
Minato said grimly—his mind already processing what happened.
"He created a dimensional offset—a subspace pocket to hide within during the explosion. Just like the masked man… No, wait. It's similar, but more restricted. It's…"
"A top-tier spatial transfer technique."
"You've got an incredible instinct for this, Minato."
Inside the Reverse Barrier, Yoru casually glanced at the Flying Thunder God seal burned into his left shoulder.
Even the subtle placement of that mark—how Minato had left it there without Yoru noticing—proved his unmatched mastery of space-time ninjutsu.
And all of this without having any Ōtsutsuki bloodline?
Truly, the saying was right—every genius pales in the face of the Yellow Flash.
But still…
I have cheat codes.
"You bastard…" Minato growled. "You had that up your sleeve the whole time?"
"And you haven't used Sage Mode yet, have you?"
Yoru looked down at the two, expression calm and aloof.
"This war… went far beyond my expectations. We've suffered major losses, yes. But thanks to you— and that slippery rat Danzō—I've reaped far more than I imagined."
Massive battle points. Prestige. Status.
A reputation strong enough to shift the entire political landscape of Kirigakure.
This war had allowed Yoru to leap from obscurity—an average jōnin—into a position of true power, a shinobi whose name would echo across nations.
"I have a feeling we'll meet again very soon…"
"…under entirely different titles."
PS: Read Advance Chapters at https://www.patreon.com/c/ReadJin