Minato created a clone in a flash of smoke. The duplicate grabbed his hand, spun its body with force, and hurled him upward like a human projectile. In an instant, Minato cut through the clouds and vanished into the sky.
Mōryō groaned in pain.
He had not expected that.
The impact almost made him lose control of his army of stone men. The creature's pride was deeply wounded, and, though reluctant, he decided to summon his troops to crush that insolent ninja. However, in the very next moment, something made him shudder.
His army… was not moving.
Trapped.
Immobilized by an invisible force.
A roar of fury exploded from all his mouths at once. A purple light began to form inside each monstrous throat, pulsing like living venom. The heads rose and fired beams of energy straight at Konoha.
But Minato's clones were already in position.
One of them pulled out a special kunai, gripping it with both hands. Others did the same. Some leapt into the air, crossing their arms into a precise seal.
Before the beams could reach the village, the space before them tore apart.
A black void opened in the air and swallowed the energy blasts as if they were nothing. In the next instant, new portals opened behind Mōryō.
The same purple lights emerged from them.
And struck the creature head-on.
"AAAAAAAH!" Mōryō roared, shaking his colossal body. "BASTARD! MASKED ONE, WHERE ARE YOU?!"
Before, he would have felt shame.
Now, he felt nothing but fury.
He did not fear death — because he did not believe he could die. What terrified him was something else: being sealed again.
Free once more… only to be cast back into eternal imprisonment.
No. That could not happen.
"Y– YOU—" his voice boiled with hatred, but the words died in his throat.
Something in the sky caught his attention.
The clouds began to spin, forming a gigantic vortex. A white light mixed with red pierced through the center of the spiral.
The clouds parted.
And there was Minato.
Suspended in the air, golden hair waving in the wind, with an immense concentration of chakra spinning in each hand, shaped into two colossal shuriken of energy.
Despair struck Mōryō like never before.
Minato raised his voice, clear and merciless:
"Sage Art… Mega Rasenshuriken!"
He threw the first one.
The blade of chakra sliced through the heavens and struck Mōryō in the abdomen before he could even move, lifting the gigantic body into the air.
Then Minato threw the second.
The two techniques collided in the sky with an apocalyptic crash.
A colossal explosion tore through the clouds, blasting them away in all directions, while a shockwave shook mountains, forests, and all of Konoha below.
---
On the outskirts of Konoha, where Minato's clones had taken the citizens and also the ninja who had not managed to evacuate in time, a heavy silence dominated the area.
Everyone stared at the sky, stunned.
The explosion was still echoing in the distance when a gust of wind swept through the region like an invisible wave. In immediate response, several of Minato's clones slammed their hands into the ground.
"Doton: Earth Wall!"
Stone barriers rose in front of the crowd. Even weakened by the distance, those blasts would still be dangerous for ordinary people. The ninja held firm; the civilians huddled behind the improvised protection.
When the wind ceased and the sky opened again, a murmur spread through the crowd.
Then someone shouted.
"Did the Hokage… win?"
For a second, no one answered.
But when they realized that the terror was no longer advancing, that the village was still standing, the silence broke into applause, cries, and tears.
People began to celebrate.
"Long live the Hokage!"
"Minato-sama saved us!"
"He's invincible!"
Some cried in relief. Others knelt, giving thanks. Children clung to their parents, pointing at the sky with shining eyes.
Minato Namikaze had protected everyone.
---
Atop the Hokage building, two figures silently observed the battlefield.
Hiruzen Sarutobi kept his eyes half-closed, his expression a mixture of astonishment and reflection. Beside him, Danzō Shimura stood motionless, his face hard as stone.
"How… did that appear inside the village?" Hiruzen murmured. "And those stone soldiers too…"
The wind carried his words away, but his gaze shifted discreetly toward Danzō.
"Was it the masked one again…?"
He spoke as if thinking out loud, but deep down he was testing the man beside him. Hiruzen had already been informed about the gigantic stone army that had appeared out of nowhere and that had only failed to devastate Konoha thanks to Minato's immediate action with his clones.
Danzō did not answer.
His silence was heavy.
He too knew nothing, but his expression was far from pleasant as he stared, in the distance, at the point where Minato was fighting the creature.
Hiruzen took a deep breath.
"After today… it seems no one will doubt him anymore," he said with a faint, weary smile. "Minato proved that he has the power to protect everyone."
He raised a hand to his beard, stroking his chin, his eyes filled with admiration and shock.
Deep down, he had never imagined that his successor hid power of that level.
"Truly… incredible…"
Danzō let out a low grunt and turned, beginning to walk away.
"You're not going to help?" Hiruzen asked, without turning.
Danzō stopped for a moment.
"He doesn't need my help."
That was all he said.
And he kept walking.
Deep in his chest, however, that thought left a bitter taste.
He knew.
If he went there… he would be nothing more than a burden.
---
The explosion finally dissipated, and for a moment Minato believed everything was over. The silence that followed seemed to confirm his hope, until a dark presence moved within the dust.
Suddenly, the being appeared before him, still alive.
Minato's eyes widened.
Mōryō was regenerating.
"I didn't expect that…" he murmured, before dashing forward.
Chakra began to spin violently in his hand, forming a Rasengan that grew with every step, becoming a colossal sphere of unstable energy. Mōryō opened his mouth in a desperate scream.
"So much pain…! It hurts…!"
He felt as if all his energies were being torn apart from the inside out. His body bent, twisted by suffering. He had never imagined he could survive that attack, but what terrified him even more was realizing that his demonic energy was being consumed rapidly.
What if it ran out?
He did not even dare imagine what would happen then.
But he had no time to think.
In a yellow flash, Minato was already in front of him.
The giant Rasengan struck Mōryō head-on, hurling his body through the forest like a living projectile, smashing trees and opening craters along the way. At the same instant, dozens of clones appeared around them. Some threw other clones into the air, as if preparing a celestial bombardment.
Minato planned to create several Mega Rasenshuriken.
"I am… a little tired?" he murmured, confused.
He closed his eyes for a second and felt his chakra flow.
It was normal.
Even so, something was wrong.
His body felt heavier.
A light pain spread through his muscles, especially in his legs, where the sensation was more intense. Until that moment, amid the frantic battle, he had not noticed anything.