Naruto: The Hyuga Mastermind

Chapter 55: A Single Toad?

Several minutes passed, and Minato finally let out a sigh of relief as the Three-Tails stopped moving entirely.

Fugaku had succeeded.

"Minato, do you need the Three-Tails on the battlefield?"

Fugaku, having purged the foreign ocular power from the Three-Tails and brought it under his control, closed his tired eyes and deactivated his Mangekyo Sharingan.

As long as the Three-Tails and its Jinchuriki couldn't break free from his genjutsu, it would remain under his command.

"If possible, yes." Minato nodded.

Controlling a Tailed Beast would deal a significant blow to Kirigakure's morale and potentially cause some Mist shinobi to lose the will to fight, reducing Konoha's casualties.

However, if Fugaku couldn't maintain control, Minato wouldn't force the matter.

"No problem. The Mangekyo Sharingan is particularly effective against Tailed Beasts," Fugaku replied.

Hearing this, Minato's stern expression softened slightly. He turned to check on Kushina, who had successfully returned the Six-Tails to its human form. For the first time in a while, he felt a weight lift off his shoulders.

To prevent the Three-Tails from interfering with the sealing of the Six-Tails, Minato and Fugaku had led the Three-Tails away from Kushina.

If it weren't for the intense battle leveling the surrounding forest, Minato wouldn't have been able to see her progress from his position.

Fuji's side should be wrapping up too.

As this thought crossed Minato's mind, he spotted a familiar figure approaching from the distance.

It was Uchiha Yakumaru.

"Yakumaru, why are you alone?" Minato asked.

"Kakashi saw someone and left immediately. He said it looked like Obito. This is just my shadow clone coming to report," Yakumaru's clone explained.

"What did you say?" Minato's expression darkened, and he instantly teleported in front of Yakumaru's clone, staring intently into his eyes. "Obito?"

"I've seen him a few times in the clan. I'm sure of it," the clone confirmed.

Minato's thoughts raced. Part of him hoped it was true, yet another part instinctively denied the possibility.

Even if Obito were alive, why would he appear on this battlefield?

Could it be someone who merely resembled him? Or had Kakashi fallen under a genjutsu?

But Yakumaru was also present, and ordinary genjutsu wouldn't fool the Sharingan.

"I understand. You—"

Before Minato could finish, Kushina, having completed the sealing, turned sharply toward him, her eyes widening in alarm.

"Minato, get back! That's not Yakumaru!"

Minato froze.

The next moment, blood splattered.

"Ah, the same ability to sense malice as Uzumaki Mito. You Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails are truly troublesome," White Zetsu, disguised as Yakumaru, said with a smirk.

He glanced briefly at Kushina, whose eyes were filled with rage, before turning his attention to Minato, who clutched his injured arm.

He's fast.

White Zetsu was impressed. Thanks to Kushina's warning, Minato had avoided a fatal injury.

But… the seed had been planted.

"Spore Technique!"

Minato's expression hardened as white spores began sprouting on his body, rapidly absorbing his chakra to grow larger.

As the spores proliferated, White Zetsu's form reverted to its true appearance—a humanoid figure with a white half-face and rough, bark-like textures.

"Nice to meet you, Fourth Hokage. I'm here to kill you."

With those words, White Zetsu charged at Minato, a wide grin on his face.

"A transformation technique unlike any other, able to mimic perfectly…" Minato muttered.

Maintaining his composure, Minato placed his hand on the growing white spores and began inscribing sealing marks to suppress their growth. At the same time, he deftly evaded White Zetsu's attacks.

Plop.

With a final seal, the spores fell from his body, though not without draining a significant amount of his chakra.

Minato didn't seem to mind. His focus remained on dealing with White Zetsu.

Fugaku, having initially tried to rise and assist, realized that his heavily strained eyes needed time to recover. Observing that White Zetsu didn't seem particularly strong, he chose not to intervene.

In a battle reminiscent of a fight against an average Jonin, Minato easily overpowered the strange creature. After teleporting behind White Zetsu with the Flying Thunder God technique, he drove him into the ground with a Rasengan.

Both techniques are strange, but the creature itself is weak?

Minato frowned. White Zetsu's strength didn't match his expectations.

Was the plan just to use that special transformation technique for an ambush?

If Kushina hadn't warned him, he might have been critically injured, distracted by the news of Obito and Kakashi. But even so, this opponent felt… underwhelming.

Sensing Minato's growing doubt, White Zetsu laughed carefreely, even in the face of defeat.

"I told you, didn't I? I'm just a clone. Why don't you go find my main body? Hahaha!"

Minato's pupils narrowed, and his gaze instinctively shifted toward Kushina.

If White Zetsu's true target wasn't him, it could very well be Kushina, whose ability to sense malice had exposed the threat.

But scanning the area, he saw no sign of another enemy—not in the air, not on the ground.

Could it be…

"Minato, beneath Fugaku!"

"Wrong guess. Hahaha!"

As Minato's attention shifted toward his wife, Kushina's shout and White Zetsu's mocking laughter rang out simultaneously.

"Wood Release: Cutting Sprigs Technique!"

Sharp wooden spikes erupted from the ground, aiming for Fugaku's vital points.

Teeth clenched, Minato hurled a Flying Thunder God kunai toward Fugaku, but he knew he likely wouldn't make it in time.

With his Mangekyo Sharingan depleted, Fugaku had no means of fending off such a close-range assault.

He's going to die… and I'll be too late again…

But then—

Minato noticed a small figure by his feet, its tiny hands already forming seals.

The unease gripping his heart vanished.

Hearing the warning, Fugaku managed to summon a sliver of his ocular power. But it wasn't enough to fully activate his Susanoo in time. One spike pierced through his side.

From beneath the ground, White Zetsu's main body emerged, ready to extend smaller branches into Fugaku's body and finish him off.

Perhaps Minato and Kushina had greater significance to future plans, but Fugaku, vulnerable after clashing with Madara's ocular power, was the perfect target for an assassination.

Yet just as White Zetsu was about to strike, a thin jet of water, infused with Senjutsu chakra, shot from Minato's direction. It struck the spike piercing Fugaku, shattering it and preventing the killing blow.

A split second later, Minato's Flying Thunder God technique activated, and he teleported to Fugaku's side, whisking him away to safety.

"So it failed," White Zetsu muttered, smiling as if unbothered by the failure of his carefully planned attack.

As he sank back into the ground, his gaze lingered on the source of his plan's undoing.

A toad?

A toad from Mount Myoboku…

"Does this answer satisfy you, Lord Madara?"

Minato remained vigilant, his gaze fixed on the ground where White Zetsu had disappeared. His brow furrowed deeply.

A creature capable of merging with the earth, nearly undetectable before attacking; a transformation technique indistinguishable from reality; a bizarre spore technique; and—

Minato's eyes fell on the wooden spike Fugaku pulled from his side. His expression darkened.

The First Hokage's Wood Release…

This strange being had the potential to assassinate any shinobi in Konoha.

Even with intel, how could you prepare for something like this?

On the battlefield, certain countermeasures could be taken. But in everyday life, this creature's abilities were nearly impossible to guard against.

After all, no one could constantly doubt everyone around them. That was far too exhausting—and far too dangerous.

(Chapter ends)