The Flying Thunder God Technique has many interesting variations. In the original series, Tobirama Senju could only teleport between marked locations, which was the most basic application of the technique.
However, Minato had greatly expanded upon this technique in the original series.
This led to the development of the Flying Thunder God: Guiding Thunder.
Remember the Night of the Nine-Tails in the original story? Minato used the Flying Thunder God: Guiding Thunder to teleport away a Tailed Beast Ball launched by the Nine-Tails.
Similarly, during the Fourth Great Ninja War, Minato once again used the Flying Thunder God: Guiding Thunder to transfer away the Tailed Beast Ball of the Ten-Tails. This demonstrated the immense potential of the technique.
In this world, Minato had also mastered the Flying Thunder God: Guiding Thunder, which allowed him to use the Flying Thunder God Technique for both offense and defense.
Not only could he teleport moving objects, but he could also actively teleport stationary objects within a designated area.
However, teleporting stationary objects required the creation of a formation around them beforehand.
These ten or so kunai were the markers of Minato's new formation.
"Namikaze Minato wins and enters the Outstanding Youth Ranking! Rasa falls into the Losers' Bracket!"
With Nawaki's announcement, Minato became the second person to enter the Outstanding Youth Ranking, while Rasa was relegated to the Losers' Bracket.
Rasa was helpless in this situation, but there was nothing he could do. Minato's space-time abilities were simply too absurd.
"Hehehe, this time I was faster than you!"
Kushina beamed at Minato with pride. She had lost to him countless times before, but this time, she entered the Outstanding Youth Ranking ahead of him. To her, it felt like she had finally won against him.
Minato merely smiled indulgently and said, "Then I lost this time."
Of course, there was no real winner or loser. In reality, ever since Minato met Kushina, he had already lost his heart to her.
"Lord Minato is truly worthy of his reputation! Even Lord Rasa was effortlessly defeated!"
"Although it didn't look like a direct victory, with Lord Minato's abilities, if he wanted to kill Lord Rasa, it wouldn't have been difficult at all."
"Kushina is so lucky! Having Lord Minato as her boyfriend must make her the luckiest woman in the world!"
"That's not true. The luckiest and happiest woman should be Lady Tsunade!"
"There are still 18 contestants left. Another battle among gods is about to unfold. I can't wait!"
The crowd erupted into discussions once more, discussing how Minato remained worthy oif beng Minato.
Soon, the third match began.
This time, it was Kitsuchi vs. Ranzuki.
It was common knowledge that Earth Release countered Water Release.
However, when Water Release was strong enough, elemental counterplay no longer mattered.
Just like Ranzuki, who only used two techniques to defeat Kitsuchi from start to finish.
One was his clan's Hydrification Technique.
The other, Water Prison Technique.
Yes, it was Water Prison Technique, but with two additional words at the front: Sage Art.
The Sage Art: Water Prison Technique was vastly different from the ordinary Water Prison Technique, particularly in terms of scale.
Ranzuki's Water Prison engulfed the entire battlefield, enclosing everything within a massive water sphere.
With his Hydrification Technique, Ranzuki had no need to worry about breathing underwater.
Kitsuchi, however, was in a completely different situation. Trapped within the massive Water Prison, he had no way out.
If he tried to attack, it would be useless, Ranzuki's Hydrification Technique rendered physical attacks ineffective, and Kitsuchi didn't know Lightning Release.
If he tried to escape, he would be disqualified as the entire battlefield was covered in water, leaving no way out.
With no options left, defeat was inevitable.
Kitsuchi remained still. At this moment, he couldn't breathe and wouldn't last much longer.
In a final desperate attempt, he unleashed his most powerful Earth Release technique, hoping to break through the Water Prison entirely.
Unfortunately, water is the softest thing in the world.
His earth couldn't break through water at all.
And so, Kitsuchi lost.
There was nothing he could do, the difference in strength between them was simply too great.
Due to the effects of the Eight Gates Sage Ascension Technique, Hozuki Ranzuki had already reached the Super Kage level.
Even though he was at the lower end of that tier, Super Kage was still Super Kage, far beyond the capabilities of someone like Kitsuchi, who was merely at the High Kage level.
Thus, Hozuki Ranzuki became the third person to enter the Outstanding Youth Ranking.
From there, one thrilling battle after another continued.
A total of eleven battles were held, with each one taking longer as the tournament progressed.
By the time the battles concluded, it was already afternoon.
At last, the eleven Outstanding Youths who had advanced past the fourth round were revealed:
Uzumaki Kushina
Namikaze Minato
Hozuki Ranzuki
Konan
Hyuga Hizashi
Kurama Byaku
Uchiha Ming
Senju Ryo
Nara Shikaku
Miyagi Shun
Yoru
Among them, ten were from the Hidden Sage Village, and one was from the Region of Water.
This shocking result left the crowd speechless.
Everyone had long known that Hidden Sage Village was truly the gathering place for geniuses, but seeing this outcome firsthand made them realize just how terrifyingly strong Hidden Sage Village's talents really were.
With the Winners' Bracket concluded, the Losers' Bracket battles were scheduled for tomorrow.
Today, however, belonged to the eleven Outstanding Youths.
"That was absolutely exhilarating! Every single one of today's eleven matches was incredible, each one more thrilling than the last!"
"Yeah, they were all fantastic. But the one that stood out to me the most was the fight between Nara Shikaku and Gekkō Gin. Shikaku's intelligence is just too terrifying, every single move of Gekkō Gin was completely calculated and countered. From the start of the battle to the very end, it felt like everything was under Shikaku's control."
"Exactly! In terms of raw power, Shikaku is probably the weakest among the eleven, but when you factor in his battle intelligence, it's impossible to pinpoint his exact strength."
"Now, it all comes down to tomorrow's Losers' Bracket matches. I wonder who will be the final ones to enter the Outstanding Youth Ranking?"
The remaining competitors included:
A of the Region of Lightning.
Rasa of the Region of Wind.
Tetsu of the Region of Fire.
Sarutobi Hoshi of Hidden Sage Village.
Kitsuchi of the Region of Earth.
Rinto of the Region of Earth.
Others from Hidden Sage Village.
Each of them had the potential to advance.
But in the end, it all came down to luck.
They only had one chance left.
Even if someone was the second strongest among them, if they were unlucky enough to be matched against the strongest, they would be eliminated immediately.
"That means… in the Losers' Bracket, only the single strongest person will be guaranteed to enter the Outstanding Youth Ranking."
"The problem is, there's no one in the Losers' Bracket with absolute dominance over the others."
"They're all at similar power levels. Anyone can win, and anyone can lose."
"There's no way to predict who will make it to the Outstanding Youth Ranking in the end."
Just as people had said, the Losers' Bracket was turning into an all-out battle among monsters.
Anyone who had already lost in the first or second round had basically been eliminated completely.
Now, every remaining competitor was incredibly powerful.
And the worst part?
Almost all of them were evenly matched.
It was impossible to say who would make it through.
It would all come down to Luck, to avoid facing a natural counter.
And their Willpower, in case when two warriors of the same level fought, sometimes it all came down to sheer determination.