As the distance increased and the battle grew fiercer, both Suna and Mist shinobi became too preoccupied to tend to their wounded comrades left behind on the battlefield.
Three Corpse Crows suddenly descended in a blur from above.
A Mist ninja, hastily treating his wounds, suddenly lifted his head.
Before he could even pull out a kunai, Kei's Corpse Crows swiftly struck and decapitated him.
The instant their eyes met, the Mist ninja fell under the effects of Kei Yamanaka's [Heart-Transfer Cursed Seal Jutsu]. His mental defenses shattered, leaving him frozen in place.
The next moment, Minato Namikaze appeared, slicing the man's neck open with a kunai.
A flash of golden light shimmered briefly in the sunlight.
Minato had already appeared before another ninja marked by one of the crows.
Hiss~!
Minato claimed yet another Mist ninja's life. Only then did blood spurt from the first victim's neck.
A wave of helplessness and suffocation washed over the dying man as his vision darkened.
The three Corpse Crows maneuvered through the dense forest like ghosts, providing Minato with optimal drop points for his [Flying Thunder God Technique].
True to his nickname, "Golden Flash," Minato lived up to his name.
The six remaining on the battlefield didn't last ten seconds before all were eliminated.
Thump… thump… thump… thump…
In a quiet alley within the town, four Mist ninja heads landed at Kei Yamanaka's feet as Minato casually tossed them.
Meanwhile, slung over his shoulder was a severely wounded and unconscious Sand ninja, while his right hand dragged another unconscious Mist ninja. In his left, he carried Samehada—the Great Shark Skin Blade—and reappeared in the alley once more.
With a toss, the still-hot Samehada flew through the air and landed in Kei's hands.
"Water Gate, awesome job!"
Kei grinned widely, praising his dear friend.
He toyed with the scorched Samehada, which gasped for air and lolled its tongue weakly, still reeling from the Scorch Release.
Reaching into the scroll pouch on his chest, Kei quickly unsealed a sealing scroll and immediately sealed Samehada inside.
As for the four Mist ninja heads lying on the ground,
he likewise sealed them temporarily into the scroll.
"Can your summoned beasts find a safe hideout? We should move first."
Still holding one unconscious captive in each hand, Minato asked his trusted companion for advice.
The boat they had arrived on had long since departed after dropping them off at the port.
If they wanted to extract intel from those severed heads, they'd need a secure hideout first.
"We don't know this area as well as Mist or Sand do. Instead of fleeing blindly, it would be wiser to hide in plain sight."
Kei performed a series of hand seals and instantly released the [Summoning Technique].
Several kilometers away, the three crows returned instantly to the bird summoning house in Konoha.
Then, assuming the standard hand seal stance unique to the Yamanaka clan,
he directly activated his [Mind Transfer Puppet Jutsu] on the two unconscious captives.
Helpless and unable to resist, the two prisoners lost control of their own bodies.
Using their bodies as vessels, Kei performed the [Transformation Jutsu], morphing them into flashy female figures.
Then, striking a rather seductive pose, he flashed a playful look at Minato.
And he himself had transformed into the appearance of a creepy middle-aged man using the Transformation Jutsu.
"You... I... Ah..."
Minato Namikaze hesitated several times before finally sighing helplessly, imitating Kei Yamanaka's transformation and changing into a greasy middle-aged man.
After removing lingering bloodstains and other trackable scents on their bodies,
each carried a "girl" who looked incredibly seductive,
and confidently checked into the most luxurious inn in the town.
Inside the largest suite the inn offered,
Minato erected a basic soundproof barrier.
Meanwhile, Kei Yamanaka immediately began reading the captives' minds using the 'Mind-Reading Jutsu.'
The Mind-Reading Technique, also known as the Memory Reading Jutsu,
was one of the required skills for entry into the Analysis Team.
Due to its extremely high demand on mental fortitude, even in Konoha, there were barely ten people in total who had mastered it.
Within the Analysis Team,
Kei Yamanaka's father, Hayato, was widely praised for his Yin Release mastery—capable of extracting an entire day's worth of memories from a subject in under sixty seconds.
But only a few individuals knew
that Kei Yamanaka could extract a full day's memories from an average Jonin in under thirty seconds!
And after the skill listing [Somewhat Understands] had been upgraded to [The Expert King of Konoha], this speed almost doubled.
During the five and a half hours from noon until evening,
Kei Yamanaka quickly scanned through all the memories spanning the past two years of both prisoners' lives, recording all the important intelligence onto scrolls.
[Beep~ S-rank class-specific quest "Acquire Intelligence on the War Between Sunagakure and Kirigakure" completed. Reward: 1 Keyword Draw opportunity, 1 Keyword Copy opportunity.]
"!!!"
Just as Kei Yamanaka was finishing up organizing the scroll,
he heard the system notification echoing in his mind, causing his entire body to go numb.
What did he just hear?!
A Keyword Copy opportunity?
Copy opportunity!
Almost instinctively, Kei turned to face Minato Namikaze, who was standing by the window.
Space-Time Insight!
The Flying Thunder God Technique he'd always wanted finally had an opportunity.
Without hesitation,
Kei used this copy opportunity directly on Minato Namikaze.
[Keyword Copy successful. Congratulations, host has obtained the purple keyword "Space-Time Insight."]
...
[Host: Kei Yamanaka]
[Occupation: Ninja]
[Activated Keywords: Transmigrator (Red), Yin Release Master (Purple), Space-Time Insight (Purple), Shout-to-Summon (Purple), The Expert King of the Ninja World (Blue), Handsome (Blue)]
[Inactive Keywords: Chrysalis User (White), Fragile Skin, Tough Life (White)]
[Keyword Draw Opportunities: 1]
[Keyword Gift Opportunities: 1]
...
A nameless sensation surged within Kei Yamanaka.
The space around him gradually began showing subtle changes in his perception.
In the original world, space was intangible and elusive—invisible, intangible, utterly imperceptible.
Yet with the enhancement brought by the keyword,
subtle spatial pathways began to emerge,
countless spatial nodes came into view,
and even the tiniest ripples within space could no longer escape his perception.
Countless attempts before had all ended in failure—the spatial coordinates he'd been unable to sense were now painfully clear.
Establishing the Flying Thunder God formula and setting spatial coordinates suddenly seemed almost trivial.
He could easily carve his own Flying Thunder God mark—if he wanted to—just as effortlessly as Minato Namikaze.
Moreover, he clearly sensed the Flying Thunder God Kunai inside the weapon pouch at Minato's waist.
These spatial coordinates, uniquely attuned to Minato, were nearly perfectly compatible with his chakra.
Kei Yamanaka had a vague feeling that he, too, might be able to use those coordinates for teleportation.
However, because of differences in chakra nature, the speed and fluidity of the transfer would likely fall more than a notch below Minato's level.
"Unique spatial coordinates?"
Kei Yamanaka understood immediately.
Every person's chakra had its own unique characteristics.
Even if their chakra natures matched, performing the exact same ninjutsu would still yield slightly different results.
Especially with the Flying Thunder God Technique—a jutsu that already pushed speed to its absolute limit—those differences would be magnified exponentially.
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