Makoto stopped controlling the output of his chakra, and the Rasengan in his hand dispersed with the wind.
"Minato-senpai, do you still want to continue?"
Minato showed a helpless smile. "Well, let's stop here. Fighting you feels like sparring with my own Shadow Clone. Now I understand just how troubleso it is to fight soone who knows the Flying Thunder God Technique."
"Of course it's troubleso. Those who can't beat you can't escape, and those who can beat you can't keep you. No matter what, it's a loss. That's why there used to be an unspoken rule—if you encountered the Yellow Flash, abandoning the mission wouldn't be punished."
"Hahaha, that was years ago." Minato laughed brightly, then sighed with emotion. "Makoto, your growth has truly exceeded everyone's expectations. To think you could already apply the Flying Thunder God Technique in real combat… In terms of strength, you've already surpassed us seniors. Thinking about it really makes one emotional."
On that point, Makoto agreed.
If the Kage-level tiers in the ninja world were divided as fans in his previous life did—ordinary Kage, elite Kage, and Super Kage—then he had already passed elite Kage and was moving toward super Kage, approaching the level of Hashirama and Madara.
Against soone like Minato—who had extraordinary reflexes and possessed a bug-level space-ti ninjutsu—he actually had a simple counterasure: don't give him even a mont to activate his technique. Stick to him with relentless attacks and drag him down.
When it ca to endurance, how could an ordinary human possibly outlast his constant Sage Mode?
Sorry—having a massive chakra reserve really does let you do whatever you want.
But although Makoto wasn't a saint, he was soone who understood gratitude. Toward these seniors who had sincerely taught him, he still held respect.
One shouldn't get arrogant. Humility was still necessary.
"Minato-senpai, you flatter . After all, this was just a spar. You still have many techniques you didn't use."
"Aren't you the sa?"
At that mont, seeing the two of them stop, the spectators ran over.
Genma looked dissatisfied. "That's it? I feel like I watched sothing, yet saw nothing at all."
Yugao nodded repeatedly. "Yeah, yeah! You didn't even decide a winner."
Makoto put on a stern face and lectured his troublemaking companions: "Yugao, sparring should stop at the right point. We can't start infighting. That wouldn't be good."
Minato nodded. "Makoto is right."
The two exchanged a smile.
There was no way they would decide a winner—that was a mutual understanding.
Kushina said, "Since you're done, let's head ho. The sun's already setting."
Minato turned serious. "Kushina, you and the others go back first. I have sothing I want to discuss with Makoto."
"Don't take too long. Co back early for dinner."
...
The sun dipped below the horizon, leaving behind its final trace of light struggling at the edge of the sky.
Everyone had already left. Even the Kakashi squad secretly on duty had gone with Kushina.
Minato closed his eyes and sensed the surroundings, confirming no one was nearby before saying, "Makoto, you check as well."
Makoto did so, confirming that only the two of them remained. "Minato-senpai, why so mysterious? Is there so confidential mission you want to entrust to ?"
"Not exactly. Makoto, what I'm about to ask may involve your personal secrets. This is just my own curiosity. If you don't want to answer, you can refuse."
"No problem!"
Makoto already had a guess.
As expected, Minato asked, "Makoto, do you know about natural energy?"
"Natural energy? What's that?"
Of course he knew—but at his current age, he shouldn't. There were no explicit records of such things in Konoha's public books or scrolls, not even in the library.
Natural energy and Sage Mode were known only to a small portion of Konoha's top echelon. The information was strictly classified.
The upper levels of the other four great ninja villages knew a little, but very little.
After all, the three great sage inheritances of the ninja world were all in Konoha. That was what you called true foundation.
Konoha sealed information about natural energy for a simple reason—it was too dangerous.
If ordinary ninja learned of it and tried to sense or train in it, failure would be one thing. But if they sohow succeeded, it would be no different from suicide.
They'd be reporting to the Pure Land on the spot.
Minato explained, "Makoto, you know this—chakra used by ninja is ford by combining physical energy and spiritual energy. But beyond that, there exists another type of energy in nature—sothing ninja normally can't utilize or even perceive. That is natural energy."
Makoto silently complained: Not just one type—there are many kinds, all sorts of colors.
"If it can't be sensed or used, then what difference does it make to us whether it exists or not?"
"No. Not everyone is unable to use it. A very small number of ninja, through training, can fuse natural energy into their chakra, forming senjutsu chakra. At that point, the ninja enters a state called Sage Mode."
"Sage Mode… sounds pretty powerful."
"It is. Wait a mont."
After saying that, Minato closed his eyes and began sensing natural energy.
Unlike the original tiline, he hadn't died during the Nine-Tails attack. After temporarily stepping away from Hokage duties, aside from taking care of his family, he had frequently gone to Mount Myōboku to train over the past year.
Now, he could already enter Sage Mode.
After a while, Makoto sensed a large amount of natural energy gathering into Minato's body, rging with his chakra.
Orange eye shadow appeared around Minato's eyes, just like Naruto in the original tiline. But his face showed no toad-like features—he still looked completely human.
It took him less ti than a certain soone, and he didn't beco ugly. With his already handso face, the added markings only gave him a mysterious aura. Jiraiya would cry in the bathroom.
In the Fourth Great Ninja War of the original tiline, Minato could enter Sage Mode instantly—but back then he was in an Impure World Reincarnation state with infinite chakra, and had spent over a decade struggling inside the Shinigami's stomach alongside Yin Kurama. That couldn't be compared to his current human body.
After entering Sage Mode, Minato opened his eyes. His pupils had beco like those of a toad.
This was Makoto's first ti seeing soone other than himself enter Sage Mode.
"How incredible… even your chakra presence has changed. It's stronger than before. Minato-senpai, this is Sage Mode?"
"Yes, Makoto. This is the Sage Mode of Mount Myōboku, one of the three great sage regions where my summoning partners reside. At the mont, this is as far as I can go. I need so preparation ti, and I can't maintain it for long in battle."
"One of the three great sage regions—Mount Myōboku. You ntioned it before. Later, Tsunade-sama even asked whether I wanted to contract with Shikkotsu Forest. The last one is Ryūchi Cave, which Orochimaru-senpai contracted with, right?"
"That's right." Minato closed his eyes briefly to sense again, then opened them. "As expected, my earlier feeling when you fought the Fourth Raikage wasn't wrong."
"After that, I entered Sage Mode in the village to confirm it. Makoto, you can also use Sage Mode, right? That kind of chakra is unmistakable—it's completely different from ordinary ninja."
"Oh, you an that? So I can use Sage Mode too?"
Minato: "…"
"But I don't have eye shadow."
Minato corrected him. "It doesn't have to be eye shadow. It could manifest elsewhere. Don't you have any changes at all?"
"Changes? Yes, Minato-senpai, I do."
Since Minato had already sensed his uniqueness, Makoto didn't bother hiding it. More importantly, he was now strong enough—he didn't need to conceal himself like before. He could live more freely.
Makoto removed his Konoha forehead protector, revealing the silver star-ring pattern on his forehead.
Minato looked at the small, mysterious symbol without surprise. "As expected, it's Sage Mode. Makoto, when did you enter it? Just before sparring with ?"
"No wonder—our Rasengan were the sa, yet mine broke first. You were using senjutsu chakra. That explains it."
"Enter? I didn't enter anything. I'm like this every day."
Young junior, you saying that makes the effort I just put into entering Sage Mode look pretty stupid… I even thought I had surpassed Jiraiya-sensei.
"…" Minato fell silent, but quickly realized sothing. "Has it always been like this? But about a year ago, when you fought the Raikage, I clearly sensed your chakra change."
"Oh, that ti? Back then, I couldn't do this yet. I had to actively absorb a bit of that 'comfortable air' around ."
"That's right—that's absorbing natural energy to enter Sage Mode. As for your current state… it seems you've fixed Sage Mode onto yourself. When did that start?"
---
I will post so extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon/TitoVillar
---
User Comments
0 comments from readers