Naruto: Starting as the Third Hokage with Tears in His Eyes

Chapter 490 On the battlefield, call me Lord Tsuchikage!

That's...from Konoha...

The thought flashed through Ai's mind like lightning, before it could even form a complete sentence.

A bright yellow light suddenly shone on the kunai, as if a small sun had been ignited out of thin air.

The light was not dazzling; instead, it carried a warmth that dispelled all gloom, gently enveloping Ai and Killer Bee's bodies, which had been squeezed almost deformed by immense pressure.

"Watergate!"

The Fourth Raikage, a man known for his fierceness, now had a voice that trembled with barely suppressed joy.

Within that yellow light, a slender figure flashed by, his short golden hair standing out starkly against the dark cage, like the light of dawn tearing through the night.

Minato Namikaze's figure solidified completely.

He didn't even glance back at the rescued Raikage brothers. His azure eyes were as calm as the deep sea. He simply stretched out his hands and, with a swift motion, precisely placed them on the shoulders of the two men, whose muscles had bulged from their struggle.

Not a single word was superfluous.

There wasn't a single unnecessary movement.

The next second, a brilliant yellow light shone!

The concepts of time and space are forcibly distorted and folded at this moment.

Ai and Killer Bee felt their bodies suddenly lighten, and the immense force that could crush steel vanished instantly.

The scene before them transformed into countless bizarre lines and blocks of color, as if the whole world had been dragged into a rapidly flowing tunnel. A strong sense of dizziness, as if their souls were about to be thrown out, swept over every nerve.

boom--!!!!

The instant their figures vanished, the pure white light, powerful enough to break everything down into primordial molecules, completely engulfed the two towering rock cages.

There were no earth-shattering explosions.

There was no deafening roar.

There was only a chilling, absolute stillness.

Under that pure white light, the indestructible 10,000-ton rock, along with the ground, air, rainwater, and everything else in that area, vanished without a trace, as if wiped off the face of the earth by an invisible hand, leaving not a single trace of its existence.

A huge, square hole with a smooth, mirror-like inner wall suddenly appeared on the spot.

Onoki was breathing heavily, his small body floating in mid-air, looking down at his masterpiece.

However, there was not a trace of joy in revenge on his deeply lined old face.

His gaze was fixed on that absolute void, his facial muscles twitching violently from extreme astonishment and anger.

What about people?

What about those two little brats from Cloud Village?

He watched with his own eyes as they were trapped and killed by the earth magic of Huangtu, and watched with his own eyes as his Dust Release perfectly hit the target.

but……

Just now, in that final, irreversible moment, he saw it.

He clearly saw a fleeting... yellow light.

"Konoha's...golden...flash..."

Onoki practically spat out the name from the deepest part of his teeth, each syllable filled with anger and resentment powerful enough to crush steel.

It is him again!

It's that Konoha brat again, always wearing a gentle smile but with ruthless methods!

"Father!"

Dust swirled up, and his rock-hard face was filled with incomprehensible shock and confusion. "Where...where are they?"

They ran away.

Onoki's voice was hoarse, like two rocks rubbing against each other.

"Escaped? How is that possible! Under your Dust Escape..."

"It's the Flying Thunder God Technique!"

Onoki interrupted him furiously, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white. "It was Minato Namikaze from Konoha! He saved them!"

Upon hearing this, Huang Tu subconsciously touched his chin.

That faint whooshing sound just now, that specially made kunai that everyone overlooked... So that's how it is, it wasn't a weapon at all, but a spatial marker.

Just then, a flash of yellow light appeared once again atop a dense forest in the distance.

Minato Namikaze, accompanied by A and Killer Bee, quietly appeared on the trunk of a giant tree.

He gazed at the furious Onoki in the air, his face still bearing that signature gentle and humble smile. He even nodded slightly to the Tsuchikage, as if they were just having a chance encounter on the battlefield and he was simply exchanging a polite greeting.

That was not a provocation.

But more than any deliberate provocation, this was a deep-seated humiliation for Onoki.

It was a kind of composure, a kind of ease, a kind of confidence that allowed him, the mighty Earth Shadow who had experienced numerous battles and was known as the Two Scales, to be manipulated at will.

"Aaaaaaahh ...

Unable to contain his rage any longer, Onoki let out a roar like a wounded beast.

"Konoha brats—!!"

He instinctively wanted to condense Dust Release again to disintegrate that golden figure along with his damned smile.

However, having already used Dust Release several times in order to break through the Hidden Cloud Village's defenses, the emptiness of chakra and the fatigue in his body surged up like a tide.

More importantly, Onoki clearly understood that the best opportunity had been missed forever.

In the face of that monster who has mastered space-time ninjutsu, once he leaves his coordinates, it's a pipe dream to try and catch him with a technique like Dust Release that requires time manipulation.

"Go! Loess Plateau! We're retreating!"

Onoki practically ground his back teeth to powder before he managed to squeeze out the command that represented utter defeat.

With a final, venomous look, he gazed deeply at the golden figure standing in the wind and rain in the distance. Without the slightest hesitation, he abruptly turned and flew rapidly toward the direction of Iwagakure.

"Oh...yes, Father!"

Just as Huang Tu was about to catch up, Onoki turned around and punched him hard on the forehead.

"Bang!"

"On the battlefield, call me Lord Tsuchikage!"

Onoki roared at the top of his lungs.

Then, he took the remaining Iwa ninja and disappeared into the heavy rain without looking back.

That figure was filled with a sense of disarray, panic, and resentment at the impending end of an era.