It was just a matter of seconds.
As the voice of Honoka echoed in everyone's hearts for the second time, a golden flash appeared before her, as swift and dazzling as the moon emerging from behind the clouds.
Her Adamantine Sealing Chains had already reached their limit.
The golden chakra chains shattered inch by inch, dissolving into specks of golden light.
In this fading glow, the firm back of Minato gave her an indescribable sense of security.
The warmth and radiance of his chakra presence pulled her back from the brink of despair and darkness, filling her heart with newfound hope and salvation.
The rapidly spinning chakra sphere formed in Minato's palm.
The monstrous, ferocious Ultimate Summoning Beast lunged forward, only to be struck directly by the high-speed Rasengan, sending it flying backward and smashing hard into the laboratory wall.
The steel-reinforced walls caved in from the impact, and the ground trembled violently.
Within the damaged interior of the research facility, waves of scorching heat from the volcanic crater carried the pungent stench of molten lava.
The Ultimate Summoning Beast struggled to rise. The spiraling wound on its abdomen, a bloody mess of torn flesh, began regenerating at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Fresh pink flesh writhed and twisted, rapidly weaving itself into new, complete muscle tissue.
What was even more terrifying, another grotesque, fan-shaped organ grew from the monster's head once again.
As the organ leaned back and gathered power, it suddenly began to swing violently.
Sharp wind blades infused with wind chakra shot toward Minato and Honoka.
Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—
Numerous Flying Thunder God kunai shot out in all directions.
Minato swiftly picked up the stunned Honoka and, using the Flying Thunder God Technique, effortlessly dodged the incoming wind blades.
The beast let out an enraged roar.
Earlier, while battling the Kiri ninjas, a deformed, bud-like organ had grown on its body. Now, as it inhaled and exhaled, it launched powerful water cannon blasts infused with chakra, combining them with the wind blades in relentless pursuit of Minato and Honoka.
Meanwhile, a Kiri jonin, who had been reduced to a puddle of water after being struck by the beast, looked at the suddenly appearing Minato with a sinister glint in his eyes.
As he reformed his upper body, preparing for a surprise attack to eliminate Minato and escape in the chaos, a hand lightly patted his shoulder.
"Dude, isn't it kinda rude to interrupt someone when they're trying to impress a girl?"
Kei crouched slightly behind the half-formed Kiri ninja.
Although his voice wasn't particularly loud, his silent and undetectable approach had already made cold sweat drip down the ninja's back.
The Hydrification Technique of the Hōzuki clan was renowned throughout the ninja world.
It granted them near-complete immunity to most physical and even some ninjutsu attacks.
However, the weakness of the technique was also widely known.
As long as they encountered Lightning Release, their liquid bodies would be paralyzed, unable to maintain their fluid state.
"Barging in and destroying our research facility… aren't you afraid this will spark a war between our nations?"
The Hōzuki jonin slowly turned his head to glance at Kei beside him, while secretly calculating the odds.
If he suddenly activated the Hydrification Technique, could he evade this man's attack?
After all, the opponent had already identified him as part of the Hōzuki clan.
But did he also know about its weakness?
Should he gamble on whether or not the opponent would use Lightning Release?
"You're just some nameless extra, why waste time talking nonsense?" Kei rolled his eyes, uninterested in wasting time with such stalling tactics. With a single hand seal, he immediately cast a genjutsu.
At a distance of less than a meter, the Hōzuki jonin had just seen Kei forming a seal. Before he could decide whether to counter or escape, his consciousness suddenly sank.
He was instantly trapped in an endless genjutsu world.
His previously tense body gradually relaxed, and his liquefied form reverted to its normal state.
Whatever he saw in the illusion, his expression became increasingly obscene. He stood up and walked toward a nearby support pillar.
With dazed, dreamy eyes, he flirted with the cold, lifeless pillar before hugging it tightly, swaying his hips while letting out creepy, perverse chuckles.
The Demonic Illusion: Paradise was an A-rank genjutsu that Kei had created by improving upon the D-rank Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique, the C-rank Sly Mind Affect Technique, and another C-rank technique.
Although difficult to execute, its effects were overwhelmingly powerful. It could draw out the target's inner desires and amplify them without limit.
Paired with an incredibly realistic illusionary setting and multi-sensory interference, including sight, sound, and touch, the genjutsu was nearly inescapable.
Unless the victim's mental strength was far superior to the user's, or their willpower was unshakable enough to resist their own desires and forcibly break free despite the risk of mental damage, they were essentially doomed.
Kei used the Mind Puppet Switch Cursed Seal Technique to control a small puppet, dragging the Hōzuki jonin out.
He then had the puppet discreetly remove the terrified or unconscious researchers from the area as well.
Everything was progressing exactly as he wanted.
These irrelevant nuisances should stay out of Minato's love story.
"This is getting interesting!"
Carefully, Kei closed the door behind him, leaving the battlefield to the handsome hero and beautiful heroine still locked in combat with the Ultimate Summoning Beast inside the lab.
The storyline was going exactly as planned.
The heroine was in peril, and just when all hope seemed lost, the hero descended from the heavens to save her.
Next, the hero just had to unleash his full power and defeat the monster.
And then… how could the heroine not fall head over heels for him?
Enraged and frenzied beastly howls, accompanied by the rumbling of countless massive creatures approaching, grew louder and louder.
Kei frowned slightly.
Closing his eyes, he sensed the Flying Thunder God kunai he had left at the entrance of the research facility earlier.
Utilizing the spatial mark Minato had engraved on it, he activated the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Kei's figure vanished from the lab.
As Minato carried Honoka, skillfully dodging the beast's attacks, he vaguely sensed a faint spatial disturbance.
Puzzled, he glanced toward the corridor they had entered from.
If his perception was correct, someone had just used space-time ninjutsu?
Did Kei summon something?
But that energy felt…
"The Ultimate Summoning Beast has the ability to devour all living creatures, absorb and integrate their strengths, and even assimilate different chakra natures, generating mutated organs that allow it to use corresponding elemental techniques…"
Nestled in his arms, Honoka continued relaying information about the beast. Minato had no time to dwell on the space-time anomaly.
He refocused his attention on the grotesque, abominable creature before him—this fight was far from over.