Naruto: Flash Reborn — Minato’s Second Life

"Boom!"

A thunderous explosion tore through the air, drawing the attention of every ninja in the Hidden Hot Spring Village—both visible and hidden—toward the southwest corner. As dark smoke billowed into the sky, many Hot Spring Ninjas tightened their grips on their weapons.

From the collapsed section of the high wall in the village's southwest, nearly a hundred figures burst through.

Their eyes burned with madness, clearly reveling in the destruction.

The Followers of the Evil Deity Cult had spread across the entire Land of Hot Springs, their numbers vast. Among the thousand members gathered by Tachiyama Shinsaburo, these were all elite disciples.

Before joining the cult, some had been rogue ninjas from various villages, while others were hardened bandits or wandering samurai with years of battle experience. They were all formidable fighters.

Attacking a ninja village meant sending regular followers of the Evil Deity Cult would only result in pointless deaths.

These nearly hundred figures moved swiftly and nimbly, led by a Water Release ninja. Through flames and over broken stones and ruined houses caused by the blast, they charged wildly deeper into the Hidden Hot Spring Village.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

But things weren't going to go smoothly for them. Just after advancing about ten meters, several fireballs and over a hundred shuriken and kunai flew toward them from all directions.

Most of these people had tasted blood and risen from piles of corpses, so their reactions were razor-sharp. There were also around a dozen ninjas among them, who immediately launched counterattacks.

Ninjutsu clashed midair. Kunai and shuriken crashed together in deadly arcs.

In the chaos, a few were just a beat too slow—flames engulfed them, or kunai and shuriken tore through their hearts and throats.

Companions fell beside them, yet not even a trace of fear or retreat showed in the eyes of the Followers of the Evil Deity Cult.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Some among them dashed forward as well—the initial attack from the Hot Spring Ninjas had exposed their own positions.

Most of these rogue ninjas from the Evil Deity Cult were in their thirties and forties—longtime fugitives on the run.

With years spent in hiding and their bodies growing older, they turned to the Evil Deity Cult in search of eternal life.

These rogue ninjas were no pushovers, forcing the Hot Spring ninjas—who had been readying a second assault—to charge forward. They clashed head-on and locked into a deadly standoff.

This was merely a corner of the Hidden Hot Spring Village, where about a dozen ninja had lain in wait. After all, the Hidden Hot Spring Village was a small shinobi village, possessing no more than three hundred ninja in total.

Soon afterward, the rest of the attackers encircled them completely, leaving the Hot Spring Ninjas at a serious numerical disadvantage.

But after all, this was a battle between shinobi, and the Hot Spring Village had slightly more ninja than normal.

Victory wouldn't come easily for this group alone.

At the same time, from every direction surrounding the Hidden Hot Spring Village, numerous Followers of the Evil Deity Cult rushed inward, and the village's ninja acted immediately to stop them. Battles erupted across the battlefield, resulting in a fairly balanced contest of numbers.

Compared to those areas already erupting into intense battles, the main gate of the Hidden Hot Spring Village was surprisingly quiet. A tall, muscular, dark-skinned figure approached calmly from the front.

When he touched the Sensing Barrier, his familiar and violent chakra instantly startled Junko Watanabe hiding in the shadows. She exclaimed, "He's here! Ryo Yagura!"

Beside her, Minato and Yan Uchiha immediately grew serious. They had personally witnessed this man's strength before.

At their current level, if they were to fight him head-on, they would be wiped out in a single move.

Swish!

However, Sakumo, who carried a tanto on his back, immediately leapt forward from their side.

But the Hot Spring ninjas closest to the main gate had already launched the first wave of attacks.

Ninjutsu and shuriken rained down like a storm toward Ryo Yagura alone.

His form was swallowed by the storm of attacks.

"ZAP-ZAP!"

Then, thunderous roars erupted, and a deep blue blur shot straight out from the chaos.

Unscathed, Ryo Yagura's eyes narrowed as he darted toward a specific direction.

"So fast!"

To the Hot Spring ninjas' eyes, his movement was like lightning—far too fast for them to follow.

"Ahhh!"

A chilling scream pierced through every heart. The next instant, Ryo Yagura reappeared in sight, holding a bloody, headless corpse.

The Hot Spring ninja's head had been completely shattered by a single punch from Ryo Yagura.

Swish!

At that moment, Sakumo also appeared before Ryo Yagura, glaring at him furiously.

"Hehe, Sakumo Hatake, so you really are here."

Ryo Yagura laughed coldly, his voice frosty. His wide, glaring eyes burned with killing intent toward Sakumo.

He flung the corpse to the ground without a care.

Shadows flickered—multiple figures darted out at once.

Now, from all directions, Hidden Hot Spring ninjas emerged, surrounding him tightly.

He swept his gaze around—over a dozen Hot Spring ninjas had already gathered in this single spot.

Looks like they had anticipated their plan to attack head-on.

"Kill him!"

As the Hot Spring ninjas surrounded Ryo Yagura, more figures surged through the village's main entrance.

Nearly three hundred Followers of the Evil Deity Cult nearly blocked off the narrow main gate entirely, led by two jonin from the Cloud Village.

"Interfering in another nation's affairs—you've gone too far, Ryo Yagura! The Land of Lightning has stepped way beyond its bounds!" Sakumo's gaze turned thoroughly icy as he stared at the three hundred Evil Deity Cult members.

"Save your lecture!"

Without a care, Ryo Yagura crackled with electricity from his Lightning Release Armor. The next moment, he transformed into a bolt of lightning, charging straight at Sakumo.

Well-prepared, Sakumo unsheathed his Chakra Tanto from behind and clashed head-on with him.

Boom!

They collided violently. Sakumo's feet dragged across the ground, leaving long trails behind. At the same time, his Chakra Tanto sliced into Ryo Yagura's Lightning Release Armor—though only slightly, not enough to pierce through it.

"You're *not* Sakumo Hatake?!"

Ryo Yagura had never gained the upper hand in a direct confrontation with Sakumo. Moreover, the fighting style of the man before him felt completely different—his chakra-infused tanto carried no lightning nature at all.

The sharp Wind Release blades could even cut through his Lightning Release Armor. This was definitely Wind Release chakra!

"Boom!"

As his words fell, the "Sakumo" before him released his Transformation Jutsu. The chakra tanto in his hand transformed directly into a longsword with a black blade.

Now standing before Ryo Yagura was a young man with handsome features, and his eyes burned with intense killing intent directed at Ryo Yagura.

That was only natural; how dare someone from Kumogakure interfere in the Hot Spring Village's affairs? It was too arrogant!

"Who are you?" Ryo Yagura exclaimed in shock. A ninja capable of blocking his attack was certainly no nobody.

The man's lips curved up sharply, like the edge of a blade. Wind Release chakra surged around the black blade in his hand, sharpening its edge as it pressed deeper into Ryo Yagura's Lightning Release Armor.

"Leader of the Hidden Hot Spring Village, Fuu Akimoto!"

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