Gamabunta slashed down, but Ryou used the Mayfly Technique to escape into the ground.
Gamabunta snorted: "I haven't forgotten. I still haven't settled the score with you for resurrecting Uchiha Madara and nearly beating Jiraiya to death!"
Gamabunta watched every movement below with a solemn expression.
Just how difficult was Ryou to deal with?
Ordinary wounds couldn't hurt him at all, and even more serious injuries he could recover from quickly.
Gamabunta had cut off one of his hands, and in the blink of an eye, he had regenerated a new arm.
His Chakra was also shockingly vast; from then until now, there hadn't been a single sign of his Chakra being exhausted.
Fire Release, Monster Strength, Lightning Release... this series of Ninjutsu all required a massive amount of Chakra.
The Uchiha Clan's Chakra was indeed more than average, but it wouldn't be this exaggerated; even the Uzumaki Clan didn't have this much Chakra.
Did this guy have a Tailed Beast sealed inside him?
The most underhanded part was Ryou's Mayfly Technique; as soon as something went wrong, he would immediately find a crack in the ground to dive into and hide, then launch a surprise attack.
This kind of Uchiha was simply too devious! The Uchiha Clan's impression on everyone was that of elites, but how could there be such a wretched Uchiha?
Gamabunta said to Minato on his head: "Minato, are you ready yet?"
"Wait a bit longer, it'll be ready soon."
What was Minato doing?
He was absorbing Natural Energy, condensing Sage Chakra.
Minato had trained in Senjutsu, but to what extent? He said himself he wasn't good at it, but during the Fourth Great Ninja War, he activated Sage Mode in an instant.
One must know that during the intervening ten-plus years Minato spent in the stomach of the Shinigami, he was sealed; he had no consciousness, nor any sign of practicing Senjutsu.
Therefore, Minato's Senjutsu level during the Fourth War was the level he had when he was alive.
If Minato could have found the time to condense Sage Chakra when the Nine-Tails attacked the Village, perhaps he could have relied on Senjutsu to hold back the Nine-Tails for a moment or two, giving Kushina time to re-seal it.
That way, the tragedy in the original story wouldn't have happened. With Minato around, the subsequent series of Uchiha tragedies wouldn't have occurred.
That way, everyone could have a happy ending together—you're good, I'm good, everyone's good!
All of this was to blame on that damn Kakashi, who spoke the secret information of Kushina's pregnancy in front of Obito's memorial stone, which just happened to be overheard by Obito.
Kakashi should live in guilt for the rest of his life.
History is not inevitable, and fate is not fixed; it is merely pieced together by individual accidents or coincidences.
But once the die is cast, you and I are both just beasts of burden.
At this time, Minato had just plugged in the DMA and had only just touched upon this field, so he was still somewhat cautious.
He still needed time to condense Sage Chakra.
One must know that during the Fourth Great Ninja War, he didn't even bother to hold back anymore.
But at that time, everyone, whether human or ghost, was showing off; it was near the finale, and everyone was going all out.
Minato had the buff of the Ninja World War to instantly activate Senjutsu.
Right now, it was just a small activation! A small activation doesn't count as cheating.
Boom boom boom—
The ground where Gamabunta stood shook violently, as if some ancient beast was awakening within it.
Gamabunta suddenly became alert.
Wood Release: Pitcher Plant Technique!
Giant vines like green dragons burst from the earth, over a dozen vines binding toward Gamabunta.
With such a massive size, Gamabunta couldn't dodge in time and was restrained by Ryou's Wood Release, his body's Chakra being rapidly siphoned away.
Gamabunta's expression was grim: "Damn it, Wood Release? Ryou, you brat, you actually know the First Hokage's secret technique too?"
Ryou charged out from the earth, crackling lightning condensing in his hand as he struck at Gamabunta.
"Gamabunta, Minato, let me tell you, I am the best candidate for Hokage. The sweat I, Uchiha Ryou, have shed is redder than the blood you've spilled."
Ryou's Raikiri struck Gamabunta's toad leg, the powerful current immediately making Gamabunta croak in Pain.
With a poof, Gamabunta was summoned back to Mount Myōboku due to the severe attack.
Before leaving, he even threw out some parting words.
"Ryou, you brat, next time I'll definitely make you pay."
"Haha, Gamabunta, next time I'll definitely catch you to make toad wine."
Ryou laughed heartily with his hands on his hips, but the next second, a Kunai infused with Wind Release pierced through Ryou's war armor and plunged straight into his heart.
One must know that even Minato's Rasengan couldn't break through Ryou's armor, yet it was pierced now.
Ryou suddenly stopped laughing. He turned his head and noticed Minato's pair of toad eyes.
Ryou burned a life spore to quickly repair the puncture in his heart, then struck at Minato with Monster Strength.
"Motherfucker, you said you weren't good at Senjutsu, yet your Sage Mode is much more perfect than Jiraiya's."
Just how perfect was Minato's Sage Mode?
There were no messy toad warts on his face, only a pair of toad eyes representing a Sage, with no other toad-like traces whatsoever.
One must know that when Jiraiya fought Madara earlier, his Sage Mode was still a semi-finished product, his face covered in toad bumps.
Ryou's Monster Strength struck, and Sage Minato raised his hand, redirecting and countering.
Ryou's Monster Strength, which could shatter mountains and rocks, was caught steadily by Minato, who only retreated two or three steps.
Ryou's pupils shrank: "So terrifying!"
How great was the strength of Sage Mode?
In the original story, after training in Sage Mode, Naruto could lift giant stone toads weighing tens of thousands of kilos.
When fighting Pain, Naruto could shatter the Asura Path with a single punch.
This kind of strength was Sage Strength, a continuous strength, not an instantaneous burst like Monster Strength.
For the current Sage Minato, Monster Strength was already his normal level of strength.
The next second, Ryou immediately activated the Mayfly Technique, finding a crack in the ground to hide in.
Minato scratched his hair helplessly. Sage Mode was indeed very strong, but he didn't know Earth Release and couldn't go underground to fight Ryou.
Once Ryou hid underground, Minato was out of options.
"Damn it, Ryou, you're considered my senior, how can you have no Ninja professional ethics at all?"
Ryou laughed loudly underground: "What Ninja ethics? I don't buy that."
"Minato, I can't do anything to you, and you can't do anything to me. Let's just stop fighting and sit here and chat!"
"You only make a few hundred a month, why are you risking your life?"
Minato shook his head.
Minato was an excellent Jonin of the Village; completing one mission was enough for an ordinary family to live on for several lifetimes.
Furthermore, this was a mission concerning the survival of the Village; even a Ninja making three thousand a month must be prepared to sacrifice.
Ryou said: "Minato, can you tell me why didn't you aim for my head just now?"
"..."
Minato was suddenly stunned, because he never had the habit of aiming for people's heads, and even after being reminded by Ryou once, he hadn't changed.
Was this a kind of ridiculous mercy?
Minato remained silent for a long time without giving a direct answer, instead asking back: "Why didn't you kill Kakashi, Kurenai, and the others?"
Ryou fell silent.
One was above ground, the other was below. One was in the light, the other was in the darkness.
Perhaps they had both waited for the same dawn!
Minato looked at the battle on the distant high ground.
The rain was heavy, and ordinary people could only see about 50 meters, but Minato's vision clearly saw the situation on that battlefield.
At this time, Hanzo summoned his Salamander, spraying a large amount of poison mist, turning the battlefield into a world of poison.
Danzo released his Summoned Beast, Baku, using Wind Release to complement Hanzo's poison mist.
Nagato's Phantom Dragon had already been withdrawn.
The Phantom Dragon was very strong, but it could only deal with conventional Ninjas.
Hanzo had the Water Body Flicker; in the original story, he relied on this move to escape Nagato's Phantom Dragon.
Danzo was a Wind Release specialist and was also very fast. Nagato was very powerful, but after just this short while, Nagato had become skin and bones.
The Phantom Dragon couldn't last that long.
Besides, the Amegakure Anbu had all been killed, and a large number of Root Ninjas were also out of the game. It could be said that Nagato's Phantom Dragon had already performed a great service.
At this moment, Nagato was squeezing out the last of his life to control the Gedo Statue to block the pincer attack from Danzo and Hanzo.