"A terrifying sense of oppression!" Ai's expression grew somber as he looked at the creature sealed by the sealing technique, its head about to be buried in the earth.
According to Rai, this creature had mutated from Monim, and the transformation was truly shocking.
Facing it, Ai felt a deep, soul-crushing pressure.
The creature's power had been amplified to a level that even made Ai take notice. If he had faced it alone, he doubted he could subdue it as quickly as he had now.
Minato Namikaze nodded in agreement with Ai's observation. If it weren't for the two of them working together, this creature's unpredictable speed alone would have posed a massive threat and inflicted severe damage on any other ninja.
With its incomprehensible steel-like skin and regenerative abilities, it would be a battlefield menace, second only to a Tailed Beast.
Just as Minato was about to say something, his expression shifted, and he vanished in an instant. Almost simultaneously, Ai's figure darted away in a flash of lightning.
The sealed earth suddenly swelled like a balloon before bursting apart, dirt and blood shooting out in all directions with a fierce, whistling wind.
A deep crater, nearly a hundred meters in diameter, was blasted into the ground nearby, wiping out the surrounding trees and vegetation. From above, the crater looked like a single, ominous eye set in the forest.
A broken mask fell from midair, bouncing twice on the ground before lying still.
In an instant, Minato and Ai reappeared at the edge of the crater. Their gazes were immediately drawn to the mask on the ground.
Just as Ai was about to step forward to examine the mask, Minato urgently called out.
"It's best to be cautious with that mask," Minato said, feeling a faint, sinister energy emanating from it.
Ai glanced at Minato and stopped in his tracks.
"What just happened? Didn't your sealing technique work?" Ai looked around the bottom of the large crater, stunned by the power of the explosion that had left the area bowl-shaped.
"I don't fully understand it either," Minato Namikaze replied with an awkward smile, though he had a hunch. He suspected it was connected to the strange, natural energy that had been emanating from that monster.
"I'm taking this mask!" Ai pointed to the mask and demanded firmly. He clearly noticed that Minato was holding something back, but chose not to press further.
Now that the monsterized Monim was dead, the mask he left behind naturally belonged to the Cloud shinobi.
It was obvious that this mask held a great secret, possibly even related to Sage Mode! For the Cloud Village, which relentlessly pursued power, this was not something they could abandon.
But soon, his dilemma was resolved.
A Cloud Village diplomatic team and the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, arrived with a squad of ANBU, which made Minato breathe a sigh of relief.
"What happened? And where is the monster?" Hiruzen, who had learned some details on the way, landed beside Minato, gazing at the massive crater below. With a sense of suspicion, he turned to Minato for an explanation.
"Ai and I worked together to deal with the monster. This is what remains after it self-destructed," Minato summarized concisely.
"The monster was our Cloud Village jonin, Monim, who had mutated. I need to take this mask back with me," Ai said, creating a Lightning Clone to reach for the mask on the ground.
But as soon as the Lightning Clone touched the mask, it destabilized, becoming an unstable humanoid spark, its energy dispersing outward.
It was a sign that the technique couldn't be sustained and was beginning to disintegrate.
"Hmph!" Ai let out a muffled grunt.
In the end, the Lightning Clone burst into a flash of electricity and vanished in front of everyone. Part of the chakra dispersed into the air, while another part was absorbed by the mask.
For a moment, all eyes were on the eerie mask on the ground, its ghostly face seeming to waver between laughter and tears.
"Should I try with a Shadow Clone?" Minato Namikaze suggested, looking cautiously at Ai.
Ai initially wanted to refuse, but after glancing at Hiruzen Sarutobi, he silently nodded. Although he worried that Minato might simply teleport the mask away using the Flying Thunder God Technique, the current situation, his knowledge of Minato, and his curiosity about the mask all made him set aside his sudden unease.
With Ai's permission, Minato swiftly formed a hand seal and created a Shadow Clone. Mimicking Ai's Lightning Clone technique, the clone stepped forward and picked up the mask.
Just like before, the clone exploded into a puff of smoke, and the mask fell back to the ground. New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on novel·fıre·net
Absorbing the clone's sensations and memories, Minato winced as he suppressed the sudden disturbance in his chakra, then frowned and said, "The mask has some kind of power. It absorbs and destabilizes chakra. It's best not to touch it, or it may interfere with chakra refinement and usage."
Unconvinced, Ai activated Lightning Release Chakra Mode, powering up to maximum output as he engaged his Lightning Armor. He strode forward and grabbed the mask.
An unusual force surged from the mask into Ai's body, causing his Lightning Release Chakra Mode to flicker as if it was short-circuiting.
Ai felt the power eroding his chakra and even his consciousness. A faint whisper echoed in his mind, eventually blending with his own voice.
Ai threw the mask, which landed face down on the ground with a slight bounce.
He felt as though something foreign had entered his body; his arm, which had held the mask, tingled with numbness and a sense of loss of control.
At the same time, however, he noticed a subtle increase in his chakra. If he hadn't been carefully monitoring his body, he might have missed this slight boost.
"Saki," Ai called, his gaze shifting to a female ninja in the Kumogakure delegation. Carrying a scroll on her back, Saki stepped forward, using a sealing technique to contain the mask.
She opened her scroll, placed the mask on a symbol marked "Seal," performed a series of hand signs, and sealed it away. After completing this, she quietly returned to her group.
Due to the unexpected incident, the Kumogakure delegation lost interest in returning to Konoha. Instead, they quickly signed the peace agreement on the spot, and Minato, along with the Third Hokage's ANBU escort, saw the delegation out of the Land of Fire.
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