Konoha: Intentionally losing to Hinata at the start

That's right, Deidara has no intention of fighting Yu Ming now; he wants to escape.

Because he already knew from Yu Ming's control over lightning techniques that Yu Ming's strength was superior to his own, unless he fought with the determination to fight to the death, he would have no chance of gaining any advantage over Yu Ming.

Chapter 217 The Dragon Explodes, A Terrifying Web of Lightning

He threw the clay bomb, which he had already fully shaped in his hand, away.

“C2·Dragon”.

As Deidara threw the clay bomb in his hand, a clay bomb resembling a giant dragon, several meters long, appeared.

"Roar~".

The enormous dragon opened its massive jaws and lunged at Yu Ming.

Yu Ming remained calm, while the others were already preparing to make their move.

Seeing the actions of the others, Deidara's lips curled up slightly. "The explosive power of C2 is enough to detonate an entire ninja village. It's almost impossible to stop it."

Just as the dragon was about to touch Yu Ming, Deidara raised two fingers.

"Boom!"

At that moment, the dragon's body suddenly emitted a brilliant light.

Deidara used this ninjutsu to land in Sunagakure and detonate it.

If it weren't for Gaara protecting Sunagakure, the village would probably be in ruins by now.

Chiyo and the others were shocked. "Oh no, it's too late. Has this guy gone mad? He detonated the bomb, and he won't survive either."

Kakashi didn't look at Deidara at this moment, but instead looked at Yu Ming, who was standing there calmly.

He thought to himself, "Yu Ming, what tricks do you have up your sleeve? With your strength, you certainly wouldn't make a mistake at a time like this."

Deidara detonated the Dragon Bomb, a bomb powerful enough to level a major ninja village.

Deidara, using a clay stand, had already appeared hundreds of meters away.

Just as the explosion was about to engulf the group, a burst of intense lightning suddenly erupted from Yu Ming's body.

A massive lightning shield enveloped Kakashi, Chiyo, Naruto, and Sakura.

"Boom!"

The terrifying explosion instantly destroyed everything within a radius of hundreds of meters.

After a long while, the smoke and dust dissipated.

Everyone opened their eyes.

Chiyo and Kakashi narrowed their eyes slightly as they saw the lightning shield covering them.

"This is... the lightning net. Is this the lightning net that Jiraiya-sama was talking about?"

Kakashi had never seen this ninjutsu before.

He just didn't expect that Yu Ming could cast it instantly, without forming any hand seals, and condense such a lightning shield.

Chiyo was even more shocked. "This guy's Lightning Release is terrifying. Among all the ninjas I've ever seen, he's the strongest in this kind of Lightning Release. Even that old bastard from Kumogakure can't compare. He was able to withstand such a violent explosion, and at the very center of the explosion, he even created a lightning shield that covered all four of us."

"I can't imagine how powerful this kid's lightning technique has become."

Sakura was completely dumbfounded. She had never seen Yu Ming display such powerful strength before, and Yu Ming had never shown this lightning release technique either.

Is this a shield formed by condensed lightning release?

Naruto was even more incredulous that Yu Ming had managed to block such a violent explosion using his Lightning Release. Although he had witnessed just how terrifying Yu Ming's Lightning Release was, he had no idea that it could withstand such a horrific explosion.

When the smoke cleared, everyone looked around and was even more shocked.

Because a huge crater had appeared within hundreds of meters around them, and they were all inside the crater, a crater hundreds of meters wide.

This explosion was indeed quite terrifying.

It's easy to imagine just how terrifying Deidara was; he used a C2 attack with destructive power comparable to a small Tailed Beast Ball so easily.

This already demonstrates Deidara's strength.

No wonder Onoki had such high expectations for him.

Even if Deidara hadn't mastered Dust Release, just by using this secret technique to a very high level, he would still possess considerable strength.

He can definitely secure his position as the Tsuchikage.

What's even more terrifying is that Yu Ming actually managed to block such a horrific explosion.

Moreover, he didn't form any hand seals at all; he was even calmly looking ahead.

Next to the giant pit was a large river, and the river water kept overflowing into the pit.

When the smoke and dust cleared, Yu Ming also dispersed the lightning net.

The countless arcs of electricity disappearing into the air around them made everyone feel a chill run through their bodies.

Even Chiyo, a veteran ninja who had experienced several Fourth Shinobi World Wars, felt a chill.

"No wonder this guy can suppress the Tailed Beasts and possess such terrifying Lightning Release. He can even withstand an explosion of this level. I'm afraid even the Tailed Beast Ball can't do anything to him."

Chiyo wondered.

Kakashi looked at Yu Ming with great satisfaction, "Yu Ming, you have truly surpassed the Fourth Hokage. My initial expectation for you was that you could approach the Fourth Hokage's level, but now it seems that you have already surpassed him."

Kakashi knew that Yu Ming's Flying Thunder God Technique was comparable to, or even stronger than, that of the Fourth Hokage...

Because Yu Ming's instantaneous reaction speed to an attack is faster than that of the Fourth Hokage.

The most important aspect of the Flying Thunder God Technique is not the teleportation process itself, because in space-time ninjutsu, the teleportation process is the same for everyone.

The most important moments are the instant of activating the Flying Thunder God Technique and the instant of teleporting to the target to launch the attack.

The most crucial moment is the instant you teleport to your target's side; that's when your reaction time is tested, and your attack must be faster than theirs.

Otherwise, it won't be you killing the other person, but the other person killing you.

This is the limitation of the Flying Thunder God Technique.

He only helped you solve the movement problem in the middle; at the moment of launching the final attack, you will not be able to activate the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Therefore, to unleash the full power of the Flying Thunder God Technique, one must have an extremely quick reflexes to master it.

If a ninja with average reaction speed uses the Flying Thunder God Technique, it won't be an advantage, but rather a burden.

Because if the enemy's reaction speed is faster than yours, you will be killed the moment you teleport to their side before you even have a chance to launch an attack.

A prime example is when Minato Namikaze fought against the Fourth Raikage and Killer Bee.

Killer Bee's instantaneous reaction ability is definitely superior to that of the Fourth Raikage.

Minato Namikaze was able to bypass the Fourth Raikage instantly because his instantaneous reaction ability was superior to the Fourth Raikage's. The reason Killer Bee predicted this was because Killer Bee's instantaneous reaction ability was very close to Minato Namikaze's.

If a sensory ninja possessed that kind of speed and strength, Minato Namikaze might have lost back then.

However, during that period, there were almost no players whose reaction speed surpassed that of Minato Namikaze.

After all, the reason why Minato Namikaze was able to learn the Flying Thunder God Technique was because his reaction speed was very fast, making him very suitable for this ninjutsu.

Yu Ming's reaction speed is now definitely faster than Minato Namikaze's.

The lightning net that was activated in that instant just now proves that the explosion was extremely fast, almost instantaneous.

However, Yu Ming activated it the instant of the explosion and condensed a lightning net.

This reaction speed is simply terrifying.

Chapter 218 Yu Ming's strength surpasses that of Minato Namikaze.

During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Tobirama Senju was defeated by Madara Uchiha using the Flying Thunder God Technique because his reaction speed was simply not as fast as Madara's.

He was caught by Madara Uchiha the instant he attacked.

Therefore, if you don't have a fast and good tactical mind, as well as a strong instantaneous reaction speed, then mastering the Flying Thunder God Technique is useless.

It can only be used for long-distance instantaneous teleportation at most.

This is why many people don't learn it; besides lacking the talent, the ninjutsu simply isn't suitable for them.

Not every ninja has a high instantaneous reaction speed.

Furthermore, the Flying Thunder God Technique consumes some chakra.

Minato Namikaze's chakra wasn't a huge amount, but he was still a Kage-level ninja, which was much more than an elite Jonin.

Furthermore, Minato Namikaze fought with his brain, so his use of chakra was very rational.

They won't use ninjutsu indiscriminately.

Yu Ming's speed in all aspects surpasses that of Minato Namikaze.

Whether it's reaction speed, tactics, or most importantly, chakra quantity, he surpasses Minato Namikaze.

This is why Kakashi immediately recognized that Yu Ming surpassed Minato Namikaze.

The reason we didn't notice it before is because Yu Ming was purely focused on power output at level 28.

His terrifying power is definitely at the Kage level, and even among Kage level, few can rival him.

However, Yu Ming rarely used the Flying Thunder God Technique after learning it, and no ninja needed Yu Ming to demonstrate his reaction speed.

Therefore, Kakashi was unsure whether Yu Ming had already reached the level of Minato Namikaze in terms of the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Now he's sure.

Yu Ming looked toward a mound of earth not far away.

"I didn't expect such a violent explosion to not kill you, Scorpion."

Upon hearing Yu Ming's words, a mound of earth several dozen meters away from him began to move.

Then the mound of earth exploded, and the scorpion emerged from it.

In that instant, he used Earth Escape Technique, sinking dozens of meters into the ground.

Furthermore, he used Earth Release to create numerous earthen walls around him.

The explosion posed no real threat to him.

Yu Ming calmly said, "Kakashi-sensei, Naruto, Sakura, go after Deidara and see if you can stop him."