Chat Group Escanor 14 (Patreon)

Holding the dying Kushina in one arm, Minato had already gripped a specialized Kunai in his other hand, golden Chakra faintly flowing.

With a formidable enemy having just departed, any unknown entity appearing at this moment could be a new threat.

"Minato… wait…"

Kushina in his arms used her last shred of strength, letting out a weak voice.

"They… are here to help… I called them over…"

Minato's pupils constricted slightly.

Called over? At a time like this? Through what method?

Escanor's gaze swept past Minato's vigilant face, falling upon Kushina's pale countenance.

"Hello, sir. Let's just consider us… well, bounty hunters. Strictly speaking, there is indeed a reward."

He had no intention of delving deeply into the complex mechanism of the Chat Group, glossing it over with an easily understandable worldly identity.

Akainu remained silently standing in place. He sharply scanned the surrounding environment, evaluating the degree of destruction and the residual aura.

In the distant outside, the huge roars and vibrations continuously came through. Obviously, the monster known as "Nine-Tails" was wreaking havoc.

The temperature on his body seemed to rise by a fraction more, and a faint smell of sulfur permeated the air.

Escanor patted Akainu's shoulder, signaling him not to be nervous, yet it gave him a cold sweat.

He felt that this person called Pride in the Chat Group could melt him in an instant.

How was that possible? He was the Mag-Mag Fruit user.

On the other side, hearing the loud noises and the battle shouts of the ninjas coming from the village, Minato was burning with anxiety.

He was the Hokage, the guardian of the village, yet right now he had to stay here.

He glanced at his wife in his arms whose life was rapidly fading away, and then looked toward the direction soaring with flames in the distance, his heart feeling as if it were being torn apart.

"I must go."

"There's no need. Just leave it to us." Escanor said.

His gaze fell upon Kushina in Minato's arms, and then seemed to pierce through the wall to see the newly born little life in the distant safe house.

"You stay here and take good care of your wife and the baby. This is the most vulnerable time of their lives, when they need a husband and a father by their side the most."

As the Hokage, Minato had to protect the village. As a husband and father, he likewise bore an unshirkable duty of protection.

At this moment, his wife's life was slipping away, and his young son had just escaped danger.

Kushina struggled to raise her hand, tugging at the corner of Minato's clothes. "Let them go, Minato. I trust them."

Minato looked at the trust in his wife's eyes and then at the two strangers before him whose depths were completely unscrutable.

Reason told him this was extremely risky, but his intuition, Kushina's trust, and the other party's words about "needing a husband and father by their side the most" ultimately made him take a deep breath and make a decision.

He solemnly nodded toward Escanor and Akainu, his voice hoarse. "I'll have to ask the two of you. Please make sure to stop Nine-Tails and protect the village."

The corners of Escanor's lips curled up. "Rest assured, it's a piece of cake."

He turned his head to glance at the Tailed Beast rampaging wildly in the distance.

"In front of me, Nine-Tails is no different from a kitten."

He bent his knees slightly, and with a "Boom", his entire body lifted into the air, drifting toward the direction where Nine-Tails was rampaging.

Akainu's action was completely different. His right fist was covered by searing magma, the surrounding air distorting due to the high temperature. He took a step forward.

Boom!

The ruins beneath his feet burst apart, the gravel vaporizing the instant it came into contact with the high temperature around him.

His entire body transformed into a crimson stream, charging in a direct straight line and brazenly slamming toward the battlefield.

These two vastly different yet equally shocking ways of rushing forward made a strong flash of astonishment appear in Minato's eyes.

This was definitely not Ninjutsu! At least not any Ninjutsu system within his cognition!

As the figures of the two disappeared into the night and the flames, Minato immediately input more Chakra into Kushina's body, barely stabilizing her continually draining vitality, while urgently asking, "Kushina, who on earth are they? How did you…"

Resting in her husband's arms and feeling that familiar warmth and Chakra, Kushina's spirits rallied slightly.

In intermittent and concise language, she explained the "Multiverse Chat Group" that had suddenly appeared in her mind, mentioning the child who had always anxiously cared for them, as well as the process of her posting a task and these two powerhouses claiming to be from other worlds accepting the task to come rescue them.

"Other worlds… Chat Group…"

Minato found it bizarre beyond belief, but everything happening before his eyes, coupled with his wife's weak yet resolute expression, forced him to believe in this reality that transcended common sense.

"Aside from these two, we must properly thank that child who has always been worried about us." He said sincerely.

"Indeed… thanks to him…" Kushina softly echoed, her eyes softening for a moment before being replaced by worry once again.

"However… although those two look powerful, the power of Nine-Tails and that mysterious masked man… can they really solve this?"

Minato likewise harbored doubts.

Nine-Tails was the strongest existence among the Tailed Beasts, and its Chakra volume and destructive power could be called a natural disaster.

That masked man was even more bizarre and unpredictable, capable of instantly killing Biwako and the others, and able to control Nine-Tails.

Could these two unfamiliar powerhouses handle it?

Time passed amidst the couple's deep anxiety and after a while, a loud explosion rang out.

Rumble!

Accompanying this loud noise was a violent tremor akin to an earthquake.

Immediately following that, a huge fox, carrying a scorched smell, came flying toward Minato's house in an extremely disheveled and even somewhat comical posture.

At this moment, Minato inside the room was completely unaware when suddenly, a corner of the house was smashed open.

That huge fox grazed past the edge of the half-collapsed house where they were hiding, slamming into the open ground further behind, plowing out a deep ravine.

It had a visibly swollen bump on top of its head, its eyes vacant, seemingly not yet having recovered from that last strike. It was clear that Escanor had held back quite a bit of strength.

A figure strolled leisurely from the direction where the fox had flown.

Escanor's expression was calm, as if just waking from a nap.

The couple looked at each other, the look of shock in their eyes being self-evident.

Escanor walked up in front of Minato and Kushina, stopping his steps.

He first glanced at the crouching Nine-Tails in the distance, then looked at the edge of the house smashed down by Nine-Tails's head, slightly apologetic smile appearing on his face.

"My side is settled. Sorry, I added to the destruction."