Chapter 129 – Seal-less Ninjutsu: Rasengan
As the one fighting Ishiro directly, Namikaze Minato's perception was vastly different from the other spectators.
He could clearly sense the differences in Ishiro's one-handed seals—the number of seals and the speed were both inferior to using two hands.
However, even with these differences, Minato didn't dare to let down his guard.
No matter what, if Ishiro combined his one-handed seals with his swordsmanship, he could absolutely turn the tables in an instant.
Although Ishiro's one-handed ninjutsu took longer to cast, Minato wasn't confident that he could seize victory before Ishiro finished.
With both sides wary of each other, they once again fell into a tense standoff.
But this time, the atmosphere among the spectators was completely different from the previous tense silence.
Now, they were chatting enthusiastically:
"One-handed sealing… It's incredible! I never thought I'd live to see such a legendary technique."
"Yeah, I always thought it was just a myth, nothing more than a rumor. But it's real!"
"Pity that man's not a Konoha ninja."
Their chatter, however, didn't disturb the two combatants at all.
After a brief face-off, Ishiro and Minato tacitly started a new round of battle.
This time, Ishiro didn't foolishly insist on close combat.
Having already tested the strength of his new tactics, there was no need to take unnecessary risks.
He instantly flickered behind a large tree.
Minato, who had been charging forward, froze for a moment before realizing the danger:
Ishiro had voluntarily left his line of sight—he must be preparing to use some kind of clone jutsu.
Knowing Ishiro's attacks could be highly unpredictable, Minato chose not to Body Flicker directly toward him.
Instead, he decisively formed hand seals, using a B-rank Wind Release jutsu—Wind Blade.
A massive horizontal wind blade slashed across the trees at extreme speed.
The large tree was instantly severed, but Ishiro, hidden behind it, managed to dodge by rolling away.
Minato didn't immediately attack the scrambling Ishiro.
Instead, he carefully surveyed his surroundings, looking for any sign of Ishiro's true body.
But he found nothing.
"This is trouble," Minato muttered under his breath.
He didn't believe Ishiro would simply run and hide after breaking contact.
During the time Minato cast the Wind Release jutsu, Ishiro could have easily performed one or two other jutsu.
Still, whether the scrambling Ishiro was real or fake, Minato had no choice but to deal with him first.
Flicking his wrist, Minato threw a kunai at Ishiro while simultaneously forming hand seals.
Seeing this, Ishiro instantly realized what was coming—Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique.
Knowing that dodging such a large barrage was useless, Ishiro immediately began forming seals for Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall.
Minato's eyes narrowed slightly. His use of the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique had been information that should've been secret.
He instinctively assumed that his technique had somehow been leaked.
A rain of shuriken embedded themselves into Ishiro's Earth Wall, but caused no real harm.
Minato didn't want to waste time.
It would delay his search for the real Ishiro if he lingered here.
He immediately Body Flickered to the side of the Earth Wall, and upon seeing Ishiro mid-seal formation, flickered again for a close-range assault.
Caught off-guard by Minato's decisive actions, Ishiro was forced to interrupt his technique.
Within a few quick exchanges, Ishiro was "blown apart" at close range.
But when Ishiro's "body" shattered into chunks of rock, Minato's heart sank—
It was a clone!
"So he really used a Clone Technique… But where's the real body?"
"Water and Earth dual affinity. When I used Wind Blade earlier, I didn't sense any anomalies around me. Could he have gone underground?"
"But... resolving even just this Earth Clone wasted quite a bit of time. Now, where is he hiding?"
Thinking this, Minato quickly formed hand seals and activated his sensory technique again.
Before long, he detected Ishiro hiding behind a distant tree.
In a few flashes, Minato instantly closed the distance.
Seeing Minato suddenly appear, Ishiro was shocked.
First, because his hiding spot had been discovered.
Second, because Minato didn't hesitate at all—he directly launched a full-strength assault without any probes or tests, catching Ishiro off guard.
Forced to react hastily, Ishiro didn't have time to employ his defensive B-rank kenjutsu.
He could only launch a desperate Blade Aura Slash, trying to force Minato to retreat.
But this time, Minato was clearly prepared.
He deftly avoided the slash and parried Ishiro's retreating sword arm with his kunai in his left hand.
At the same time, with his right hand, Minato's palm formed a spiraling blue chakra sphere at breathtaking speed.
Seeing this, Ishiro's body froze slightly, and a thought surfaced:
"Finally... It's here. Seal-less ninjutsu—Rasengan."
Without any pause, Minato smashed the Rasengan into Ishiro's chest.
BOOM!!
Ishiro's body, along with the tree he was hiding behind, exploded into fragments.
Yet Minato's face showed no trace of satisfaction from landing a hit.
Instead, his brow furrowed deeply.
"Another clone?"
It wasn't negligence on Minato's part.
At that moment, his sensory jutsu had only detected this one chakra source.
If Ishiro had truly fled, he should've sensed something different.
Under Ishiro's precise control, his Earth Clone had behaved stiffly and mechanical, while the Water Clone had been far more fluid and lively.
Thus, even Minato had been briefly deceived during their exchange.
Of course, part of Minato's thinking was that even if it was just a clone, eliminating it would bring him closer to the real body.
The spectators didn't know what was happening inside Minato's mind.
They were simply stunned once again—but this time, it was Minato who shocked them.
"Seal-less ninjutsu! Haha, it's seal-less ninjutsu! Minato-sama has mastered it!"
"As expected of the pride of Konoha's younger generation! Minato-sama is amazing!"
"Of course! Minato-sama is Jiraiya-sama's student, after all."
"Pity... I heard Minato-sama already has a girlfriend..." muttered a female jōnin wistfully.
The crowd, whose morale had been crushed by Ishiro's one-handed seals earlier, finally began to recover their spirits.
Only Aburame Shimi remained extremely grim.
Previously, no matter how flashy Ishiro's techniques had been, all he had managed was to struggle under Minato's pressure.
In Shimi's view, Ishiro was a prodigy, yes—but he hadn't yet fully turned his potential into absolute strength.
Victory for Minato had seemed inevitable.
After all, during the battle so far, Ishiro had been steadily forced to reveal his trump cards one after another:
Seal-less Body Flicker, high-speed hand seals, one-handed seals, blade aura...
Each time Ishiro exposed an ability, Minato would adjust and steadily take control.
Unless Ishiro had a completely unpredictable trump card, his defeat was only a matter of time.
But now—the battle had shifted.
Ishiro had finally leveraged the true advantage of a ninjutsu-type shinobi—
Combining various auxiliary techniques to seize the initiative.
Starting from the first Earth Clone, every step Minato took had unknowingly fallen into Ishiro's calculations.
Wind Release, Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique, sensory ninjutsu, Rasengan...
Minato had unleashed dazzling abilities one after another, but the result was: he had lost track of Ishiro.
Aburame Shimi, familiar with Minato's sensory prowess, knew:
If Minato had deployed the Rasengan, it meant he was truly certain there were no other chakra sources nearby.
And Ishiro had deliberately led him to that conclusion.
Using two clones, Ishiro had successfully reversed the flow of battle.
Watching Minato once again activate sensory jutsu to search, Shimi's brows furrowed tightly.
As an elite jōnin from the Aburame Clan, famed for their scouting abilities, he was extremely sensitive to matters of tracking and stealth.
By habit, he began analyzing Ishiro's possible hiding spots.
"Ishiro used both Water and Earth techniques. Most likely, he's underground... but surely Minato would think of that too."
"And Minato's sensory jutsu can detect underground."
"Wait— the sky!"
Shimi's eyes sharpened.
Ordinary sensory ninjutsu didn't focus on the sky.
In open skies without obstructions, hiding was nearly impossible—no one even bothered checking above.
Ishiro had exploited this mental blind spot.
Using Light-Weight Boulder Technique and Camouflage Technique, he had hidden himself midair, searching for the perfect opportunity to strike.
After leaving Minato's sight, Ishiro had created an Earth Clone, burrowed underground, moved far away, then produced a Water Clone.
Meanwhile, Ishiro's real body had floated into the air, camouflaging himself invisibly.
From the sky, he had personally watched as Minato smashed his Water Clone to pieces with Rasengan.
Calculating Minato's striking speed, Ishiro came to a grim conclusion:
With his current one-handed seal speed, he had absolutely no chance of blocking the Rasengan before it hit him.
Meaning: if Minato ever broke through his B-rank kenjutsu defenses in close combat, he would die instantly.
Looking down at Minato below, still scanning the area with sensory ninjutsu, Ishiro felt a cold sweat.
Next time, facing Namikaze Minato, he absolutely must not engage in close combat again.
Distance—keep as much distance as possible.
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