The Winning Hand

Killer B, covered in wounds and carrying the weakened A as he steadily retreated, watched Xu Yue revert to his normal appearance and seal the severed Eight-Tails tentacle.

His eyes were filled with vigilance.

But all his fighting spirit had already vanished.

At that moment, Minato Namikaze landed nearby and silently watched the two of them, seeming to weigh his options and make a decision.

"Senior Minato, forget it. These two are pretty interesting."

Xu Yue had initially been the one to suggest whether they should keep the two alive, yet now he was also the one proposing that they let them go. This surprised Minato Namikaze, who had been weighing the matter.

However, Xu Yue had fought this battle head-on himself, so Minato Namikaze had no intention of objecting. He simply motioned for Killer B to leave.

Killer B naturally breathed a sigh of relief. For once, he reined in that strange tone of his and thanked Xu Yue. "We’ll remember this. If we meet again, we’ll definitely let you off."

As he spoke, he swiftly took A and several nearby Hidden Cloud ninja and withdrew into the forest behind them.

Once they had left, Xu Yue completed the final suppression of the seal on that tail.

Whew. It’s only one tail, but it’s even more troublesome to seal than the dispersed Chakra of the Three-Tails. No wonder it’s the Eight-Tails.

There were two reasons he had spared the brothers this time. First, the mission itself required them to make a name for him.

How could they spread his name if they were dead?

The other reason was that Xu Yue had no confidence in dealing with a rampaging Eight-Tails during the remaining duration of Sage Mode.

A tailed beast’s endurance was absurd.

So when Killer B had prepared to go all out, Xu Yue decisively stopped, preserving his gains by sealing the Eight-Tails tail that had been severed earlier by Sage Art: Chidori.

At this point, Killer B and A had likely only just entered the Kage-level. Both were at a disadvantage against Minato Namikaze, so it was only natural that Xu Yue could suppress them during the brief duration of his Sage Mode.

Tsukuyomi also completely countered the future Fourth Raikage.

He had practically been defeated the instant he started to show his strengths.

After letting the stubborn Killer B go, Xu Yue unexpectedly received two more notifications.

Killer B, A, and he had formed a bond as respected rivals.

Their favorability had actually started at 20 points.

So letting them go hadn’t been for nothing.

He also received a notification that the mission had been completed, with a perfect evaluation.

Not only had he defeated his opponents physically, he had also conquered them spiritually and inspired their respect!

Without a doubt, an S-Rank Plot was securely in the bag.

As he considered this sudden mission from the space and connected it with his previous experiences, Xu Yue vaguely came to another conclusion.

Was Reincarnation Space using rewards to keep his mouth shut?

Was it guiding him through missions not to alter the plot too drastically?

Back in Koutetsujou, an achievement mission had only appeared after he completely changed the plot. This time, however, a triggered mission had appeared before he even acted. One cleaned up after him, while the other guided him—the implication was obvious.

The same had happened with Kakuzu. A notification had popped up on its own, causing him to spare Kakuzu as well.

This gave Xu Yue some new thoughts on the rhythm of the space’s missions. If that was truly the case, then succeeding afterward would solve many of his problems…

"Incredible. We haven’t seen each other for long, but Yue’s growth has already surpassed all imagination."

Minato Namikaze walked over to Xu Yue, staring at him with an astonished expression. He knew that Xu Yue still had Wood Style, which he had not even used!

Minato Namikaze had never doubted his own talent, but even he had to admit that compared to this rising star, he fell far short in terms of talent.

"Haha, I relied on Sage Mode. I can’t keep this up for much longer. Senior Minato, you’ve trained in it too, right?"

Xu Yue spoke without concealing anything from Minato Namikaze.

"I have indeed trained in it, but I don’t have your talent. If I want to use it, the preparation time is far too long."

Minato Namikaze had also used Sage Arts after being brought back through Impure World Reincarnation during the Fourth Holy Grail War, but his Sage Mode truly was somewhat impractical. It simply could not keep up with Minato’s fast-paced attacks.

Minato Namikaze did not ask too much about Xu Yue’s other techniques. A ninja’s signature moves had to be kept secret even within the same village. Xu Yue had already been candid enough with him; asking further would have been excessive.

"At the moment, those two were the most active people on the front lines. Now that they’ve been defeated, we should be able to catch our breath for a while."

Minato Namikaze smiled, then continued to Xu Yue, "Also, congratulations. At least in the Land of Lightning and the Land of Fire, you’ve truly made a name for yourself this time. You’ve shed the label of genius and genuinely entered the ranks of the strong…"

Both of Minato Namikaze’s concluding statements took an unexpected turn.

After the AB Combo was defeated, the Land of Lightning did not pause. Instead, it withdrew its forces outright…

Soon afterward, the frontline camp received shocking intelligence.

The Land of Earth had launched a surprise attack on the Land of Lightning at the height of their previous fighting!

To preserve his remaining forces, the Third Raikage chose to stay behind. He held out against ten thousand ninja for three days and three nights before dying of exhaustion.

At this point, all frontline troops from the Land of Lightning had returned to reinforce their homeland.

Naturally, Konoha had no intention whatsoever of stopping them…

The scheming Third Tsuchikage had finally capsized this time.

He had chosen the best possible moment for a surprise attack and had indeed achieved tremendous results.

But they had severely underestimated the Third Raikage’s adaptability on the battlefield.

His powerful physique made it impossible for the vast majority of ninja to harm him in the slightest. He continuously avoided the elite forces and slaughtered ordinary ninja, only dying of exhaustion after three full days.

He had also inflicted massive losses on Iwagakure.

More importantly, his rearguard action preserved Hidden Cloud’s surviving strength within its homeland.

Since Konoha had not held down their frontline forces, after their main army returned and regrouped, the Land of Lightning still possessed formidable combat strength.

Especially because the Third Raikage had died protecting the retreat, the grief and fury of a bereaved army caused every Land of Lightning ninja to erupt with Chakra.

And while the Third Raikage had died, the inherited Fourth Raikage and the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Killer B, could still ensure the Land of Lightning retained its high-end fighting power.

The Land of Earth, which had no one to succeed its leaders, was now completely dumbfounded.

They now had to bear the consequences of killing the Raikage themselves!

As the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning went to war, Xu Yue understood that the Third Shinobi World War was about to draw to a close.

This continuation of the Second Shinobi World War was wrapped up at a remarkably unexpected pace.

Konoha had successively repelled Sunagakure, ruined Iwagakure’s surprise attack plan, ended the Land of Water’s tailed beast plan, and stood firm against the Land of Lightning head-on.

On the battlefield, the new generation led by Minato Namikaze—followed by Kakashi, Uchiha Shisui, and Uchiha Yue—had also shone brilliantly.

Konoha had once again secured its position as the foremost great nation.

And after defeating the AB Combo, Xu Yue finally shed that "little" from his title.

Together with Minato Namikaze, he became the Black Flash of Konoha’s Twin Flashes…

It was still just as perfunctory, still making it feel like he had been thrown in as a free bonus alongside Minato Namikaze. No one even knew how black was supposed to flash. He might as well put on Might Guy’s bodysuit and call himself the Green Flash…

His reputation in the village was also suppressed by an unseen hand. The Fourth Hokage had already been decided as Minato, and even Orochimaru had yielded ground to build up Minato’s prestige. They could not allow some Uchiha Clan brat to overshadow him!

Yet simply removing that one "little" caused Xu Yue’s Comprehensive Reputation to rise from +1 to +3.

His bond with Minato Namikaze also changed from "friends" to "partners."

At the same time, the deadline for the space mission was gradually approaching.

But…

"Reject return. Delay the time."

As Xu Yue made his decision, while most Reincarnators who were already exhausted in body and mind returned, Xu Yue chose to delay without the slightest hesitation.

The real challenge was only beginning now…

There will probably only be two updates today~ Let’s keep updating continuously~