Fleeing from Konoha-Chapter 539 - 72: Isolation

March, early spring.

In a deserted hilly area in the Land of Grass, the final battle between Konoha and Hidden Rock began.

Having lost a significant amount of supplies, Hidden Rock decided to make a desperate gamble.

Faced with Hidden Rock’s unabashed full assault, Konoha’s squad in the Land of Grass could only brace themselves for battle.

Hidden Rock probably realized that after the rise of Yellow Flash Namikaze Minato, prolonging the strategy against Konoha was undoubtedly a very foolish tactic.

Thus, they wanted to determine victory or defeat with Konoha all at once during this moment.

On the day of the battle, the clear sky was covered by dark clouds, and the sound of explosions roared from the battlefield.

The release of ninja techniques caused the earth to crack, as Fire Style and Water Style intertwined, and wind and thunder ravaged the battlefield.

In the gruesome battlefield, a golden flash penetrated the core of the Hidden Rock forces, causing chaos there.

When many Konoha ninjas arrived, the battle had often already ended.

Seeing that flash, people instantly understood that it was a personal fight belonging to someone.

Under that extremely exaggerated speed, any defense seemed fragile and laughable.

Even the Hidden Rock ninjas didn’t expect that the Yellow Flash, who initially posed only a slight threat, would become a major peril to Hidden Rock today.

Their Earth Style joint attack tactic was completely unable to handle the Yellow Flash’s Space-Time Ninjutsu.

It was speed beyond human reach.

In the eyes of Hidden Rock ninjas, the Yellow Flash was undoubtedly the fastest ninja of the era.

The prolonged battle ended with a comprehensive defeat for Hidden Rock ninjas.

Bodies, bodies, bodies, everywhere one looked there were bodies.

The Blood Marked Ninja Bakutan Shu of Hidden Rock was also killed in battle, his life claimed by Yellow Flash Namikaze Minato.

On the battlefield, to Hidden Rock ninjas, the Yellow Flash was a merciless God of Death of slaughter.

Wherever the golden light shone, death would surely follow.

◎

The day after the battle, Konoha and Hidden Rock were tallying up the battle losses.

As the victors, Konoha’s casualties were lower than Hidden Rock’s. Moreover, one figure was particularly shocking: among the approximately fifteen hundred Hidden Rock ninjas killed in this battle, nearly two-thirds of them fell to the hands of the Yellow Flash.

Fatal wounds from custom Kunai cuts and the distinct marks of Rasengan attacks.

This data was incredibly astounding.

Even Konoha ninjas responsible for compiling the statistics were amazed by Minato’s strength, realizing he had unknowingly ascended to the ranks of Konoha’s top-tier ninjas.

The rumors of possessing an even greater strength than the Sannin might not be groundless.

After the battle concluded, Minato was completely unharmed, his clothes only dusted with a bit of dirt, with just some depletion in stamina and chakra, clearly he could continue fighting.

If not for Hidden Rock ninjas retreating in time, perhaps...

This answer, even calculated by Konoha ninjas themselves, felt like an achievement unattainable by someone in their twenties.

"Minato has a significant flaw."

Nara Shikaku said to his friends Akimichi Chouza and Yamanaka Inoichi.

Inside a hastily constructed tent, only the three of them were present.

As Shikaku walked in from outside, he immediately spoke these words with quite a solemn expression.

Chouza and Inoichi looked at Shikaku with confusion.

Thanks to Minato’s power in this conflict against Hidden Rock, they achieved complete victory; as a ninja, he was already perfect.

Why would Shikaku say Minato has a flaw?

"I just went to tally Minato’s battlefield results from these past few years."

"Is there any issue? I don’t believe those accomplishments are falsified."

Chouza said.

Shikaku shook his head, sighed rather troubledly: "It’s not that the battlefield results are false, it’s because they’re too real, that’s why they qualify as a flaw. Now Minato reminds me of Jonin Sakumo who committed suicide a few years ago."

Chouza and Inoichi’s expressions changed.

Hatake Sakumo is one of Konoha’s few forbidden names not to be mentioned.

Not just himself, even the names of the other three members of the former White Fang Squad have been deliberately erased from Konoha.

Although many people remember, the upper echelons already ordered to downplay this matter.

"Shikaku, say it plainly, why mention Jonin Sakumo?"

Inoichi asked puzzledly.

Shikaku answered: "Because Minato and Jonin Sakumo are very similar; both are highly mobile ninjas, one person is equivalent to a squad."

"Isn’t this a good thing?"

"In some respects it is good. But Jonin Sakumo being so powerful, was once one of the candidates for Fourth Hokage, but the biggest problem is... he lacked a foundation."

These words were somewhat rebellious.

But Hatake Sakumo’s suicide, with the high-level’s absolute advantage, suppressed all kinds of negative public opinion, also confirmed that Hatake Sakumo had immense fame in Konoha, but lacked his own loyal base, didn’t possess actual power hence that incident ended with little significance despite initial uproar.

"You mean..."

"I was also puzzled as to why Minato as a ninja, had such outstanding capability but such a weak foundation. By comparing Minato’s excellent performance on this battlefield and the past achievements of Jonin Sakumo, I found the commonality."

"What commonality?"

"Solo stage."

Shikaku’s expression was stern.

Solo stage? Both Chouza and Inoichi seemed to understand incompletely.

"They possess high power for surprise attacks, and one person is equivalent to a squad’s strength, it equals abandoning the assistance of other ninjas. They can complete the missions well on their own. During the previous assault on Hidden Rock’s supply point, we and Kakashi only destroyed Kannabi Bridge to attract Hidden Rock’s attention, while Minato alone raided all Hidden Rock’s supply points, completing the mission perfectly."