The coordination between Minato Namikaze and the users of the Wind Style was the most effective slowing mechanism and spike against the Raikage's frontal assault.
But this time, Village Hidden in the Cloud's preparations were clearly more thorough!
Just as those hundreds of Flying Thunder God Kunai had been thrown and were still arcing through the air, not yet landing, a middle-aged man with purple hair and a sharp face, closely following beside the third Raikage, was none other than Toroi, a top Jonin of the Village Hidden in the Cloud who possessed the Magnet Style Kekkei Genkai.
A sharp glint flashed in his eyes as his hands rapidly formed seals at astonishing speed.
"Magnet Style: Magnetic Manipulation!"
In an instant, a bizarre scene unfolded!
The hundreds of Flying Thunder God Kunai flying through the air seemed to suddenly lose all momentum and came to an abrupt halt!
Then, as if drawn by an invisible and terrifying vortex, they crazily converged toward a single point, colliding and grinding against each other at high speed, producing piercing screeches and a series of explosive crackling sounds!
Seeing this, Minato Namikaze, who had been preparing to seize an opportunity to enter the battlefield, frowned. At the moment, his coordinates were nullified, and a brief hesitation appeared in his eyes…
"Roar!!!"
Then an extremely ferocious roar erupted from the rear of the Village Hidden in the Cloud army.
Immediately after, a pitch-black Tailed Beast Ball over twenty meters in diameter, radiating destructive energy, tore through the sky with a soul-shaking shriek, hurtling toward the most densely defended command node in the middle section of Konoha's defensive line!
If this strike hit, a massive breach would inevitably appear in Konoha's midline, with heavy casualties and a severe blow to morale.
At this critical moment…
Minato Namikaze's figure appeared instantly at the very front of Konoha's side. His hands moved at a speed the naked eye could hardly follow while forming a Ninjutsu in the air!
A space-time barrier composed of precise Sealing Jutsu instantly unfolded before him, intercepting the path of the Tailed Beast Ball!
The massive sphere of destructive energy plunged into the barrier like a stone sinking into the sea and disappeared abruptly.
The next second, high above an empty mountainous region more than a dozen kilometers away, space suddenly twisted, and that enormous Tailed Beast Ball reappeared out of thin air.
Boom!!!
A world-shaking explosion rose, accompanied by a towering mushroom cloud. Even from a great distance, one could feel its apocalyptic power.
With his own strength alone, Minato once again neutralized the Village Hidden in the Cloud's Tailed Beast Ball strike, demonstrating his role as Konoha's greatest mobile force and strategic deterrent.
However, the crisis was far from over.
The third Raikage's charge did not slow in the slightest due to the transfer of the Tailed Beast Ball. Instead, taking advantage of Minato's momentary distraction, his speed increased again!
Toroi firmly guarded his flank, ready at any time to use Magnet Style to eliminate any potential Flying Thunder God Kunai coordinate threats.
From a distance, Shinichi glanced toward the front lines and noticed that Minato Namikaze, who had just redirected the Tailed Beast Ball, had once again vanished.
Clearly, Village Hidden in the Cloud had specifically arranged for Toroi, the Magnet Style user, to carry out targeted interception against Minato, even nullifying a crucial wave of coordinate deployment at the very start.
Yet the Minato still managed to slip back into the Village Hidden in the Cloud's charging formation in a way incomprehensible to ordinary people.
This was Minato Namikaze; even when specifically countered, he remained the most unpredictable and troublesome variable on the battlefield.
"Everyone!"
Shinichi withdrew his gaze and took a deep breath.
"Follow me!"
As soon as his words fell, his figure disappeared from the spot, followed closely by the three hundred ninjas behind him.
The mission of Shinichi's battalion was simple yet extremely difficult and dangerous: to become the sharpest blade, plunging into the formation of several hundred Kumogakure elite support troops behind the Raikage at any cost!
To disrupt, divide, and delay this force that followed the Raikage like a spear shaft, weakening their support and protection for him, thereby alleviating pressure on the frontline.
At the same time, to create more opportunities for Minato Namikaze's harassment within enemy lines, and even find chances to cooperate with him and the Konoha forces from the rear to inflict substantial damage on this core assault force of the Village Hidden in the Cloud.
Rumble!
Just as the third Raikage charged forward with two hundred elite Kumogakure ninjas as the spearhead, and hundreds of elite support troops thousands of meters behind him were about to follow closely behind as the shafts of the spears.
An overwhelming, domineering aura of slaughter suddenly descended, locking onto the Village Hidden in the Cloud's elite support troops!
"Um!?"
The commander of these elite support troops, Diga, felt his heart suddenly contract as a sharp sense of danger surged!
Before he could even figure out what was happening, a violent gale mixed with ice, snow, and shattered stones was already crashing straight into his face!
A figure burst out from the wind and snow on the flank! His speed was so fast it left only a blurred afterimage on the eye.
Even more terrifying was that with every heavy step he took, the surrounding air violently shook, exploding into visible white shockwaves.
These shockwaves stacked layer upon layer like raging tides, surging outward in all directions with each step, plowing trenches into the ground along his path!
"Enemy attack! Form ranks!"
Commander Diga shouted. The moment the order was issued, the man and woman beside him, the unit's deputy commanders, Dana and Gaia, immediately began forming hand seals.
Right after, the several hundred Kumogakure ninja behind them displayed astonishing tactical discipline and synchronization, reacting almost reflexively!
"Lightning Style: Snake Lightning!"
"Lightning Style: Ground Flow!"
"Lightning Style: Wild Dance!"
"Lightning Style: Lightning Spear!"
In an instant, dozens, over a hundred, Lightning Style of varying forms lit up. Thick lightning serpents twisted forward, blue-white currents spread rapidly across the ground like a spiderweb, and sharp lightning spears tore through the air!
All kinds of lightning attacks intertwined into a destructive storm filled with annihilating force, crashing down toward the incoming figure!
At the same time, countless kunai and shuriken imbued with lightning nature chakra shot forward like a torrential rain!
However, the charging figure, Shinichi Higashino, completely ignored it all!
Not only did his momentum not decrease, but it also increased. As he accelerated, his fierce, unmatched battle intent and killing aura seemed to materialize. Before he even arrived, his presence was like an unsheathed peerless blade, stabbing viciously into the Kumogakure's formation with a piercing edge that could cut through everything.
What terrifying presence!
Diga's pupils shrank slightly. If not for the fact that his troops were well-trained elites seasoned in battle, this terrifying aura alone would have been enough to throw an ordinary unit into chaos and shake their resolve!
"Ha!"
With a sharp shout, Shinichi leaped high into the air while gripping the Adamantine Nyoi. Facing the overwhelming web of deadly lightning, he swung both arms in a raw, violent motion, smashing down toward the densest center of the Kumogakure's formation!
At the moment it descended, the Adamantine Nyoi transformed into a massive pillar dozens of meters long, its entire body flowing with a red-gold luster!
Rumble!!!
As the staff collided with the first incoming thick lightning strikes, an earth-shaking explosion erupted! The terrifying, brute-force, and condensed-fire nature chakra contained within the staff forcibly smashed apart the violent Lightning Style Ninjutsu!