"Mission accomplished... I've managed to complete it, barely."
Minato's voice carried a noticeable tone of delight he couldn't quite hide.
After all, Rasengan was a ninjutsu Minato had started developing long ago. He'd now finalized the original concept and turned it into a fully developed ninja technique.
Just the basic form transformation alone was extremely difficult. A full Rasengan could finally become a true Ultimate Art-level jutsu.
An S-rank Ultimate Art!
How many naturally gifted genius ninja had spent their entire lives trying to achieve such a feat?
Even among geniuses, Minato had endured countless hardships just to complete this technique.
But now, after all that suffering, sweetness had finally arrived.
As soon as Minato finished speaking, Hiashi Hyuga's and Fumiro Aburame's eyes immediately turned to shock.
They simply couldn't believe that Minato, still under eleven years old, had actually succeeded in creating an S-rank ninja technique.
This was something unprecedented in the entire history of the Ninja World.
Tsunade, however, was over the moon — she couldn't help but slam Minato's shoulder in excitement.
"Cough... cough..."
The force from her hand sent him into a violent coughing fit.
Numerous gazes fell upon them, and seeing this, Mikoto and Nawaki quickly rushed over.
"Sorry, did I hit you too hard?" Tsunade quickly apologized. Even though she held the rank of commander, she rarely cared about formalities.
Minato adjusted himself slightly, steadied his breath, and waved his hand with a smile. "No, it's just because my chakra reserves were heavily depleted, and right now I'm also feeling pretty excited, so that's what caused it..."
Upon hearing this, Tsunade suddenly understood.
It was natural for Minato's chakra to be exhausted after completing an S-rank ninjutsu. Not to mention the medicine she gave him had side effects.
Seeing that Minato was fine, Nawaki and the others who had rushed over hesitated and stopped their steps.
Since the leaders were conversing with Minato, they couldn't approach recklessly.
Through the trials of war, even someone as impulsive as Nawaki gradually developed the temperament of a real ninja.
Sakumo Hatake approached Minato and gave a faint smile. "Good work."
Over the past two months, Minato had worked almost obsessively on this new jutsu — all to help Sakumo take down Liufei's metallic puppet for good.
"Hehe, This is entirely voluntary work. Being able to finish this technique now makes me feel no sense of hardship at all," Minato replied with a smile. He meant every word he said.
In his eyes, this training counted as both a mission and more importantly, a challenge.
Minato disliked doing things without confidence in success, but this time, he had indeed taken a gamble—pushing himself beyond his own limits.
He had surpassed himself and achieved something that had once seemed almost impossible.
Minato spoke with undeniable fervor. Naturally, Tsunade and the others — all elite ninja of Konoha — could clearly sense and understand the passion in his voice.
Though they all understood that if Minato lacked such deep passion and devotion toward ninjutsu, even with his extraordinary talent, it would've been impossible for him to achieve so much at such a young age.
Orochimaru alone said nothing. Yet within his gaze fixed upon Minato's eyes swirled a sea of complex emotions.
At one moment, sorrow flickered in his eyes—he, who had always been hailed as a prodigy, actually felt powerless before a junior ninja.
But this feeling vanished quickly.
Pride would never allow such an emotion to linger.
Otherwise, he'd truly be inferior to Minato.
Tsunade composed herself and finally noticed all the eyes watching from around.
"What are you looking at? It's freezing out—get back inside!" She snapped with a smile, her eyebrows arched.
Upon hearing her words, everyone reluctantly pulled their stares away and disappeared into their tents.
"You must also be exhausted. Hurry back and rest. The battle against Suna will begin soon."
Tsunade added moments later. Noticing how pale Minato looked, she decided not to keep him standing around any longer.
"Mm," Minato gently nodded in reply.
Then he headed toward his own tent.
...
Before reaching his tent, Minato saw Mikoto and Nawaki waiting nearby.
Clearly, they still hadn't fully eased their worries about Minato's condition, so they had come especially to check on him.
Minato assured them he was fine. They didn't linger, clearly noticing how drained he looked.
After they left, Minato casually glanced sideways at another tent beside his own, where Yan Uchiha stood.
Their eyes met. The former smiled faintly, while the latter sneered naturally and turned into his tent.
Seeing this, Minato chuckled softly while shaking his head, then stepped into his tent.
...
A dozen minutes later, lying on the pile of straw forming the simple bedding inside the tent, Minato slowly opened his eyes.
In those bright blue pupils shined a soft gleam, while his earlier labored breathing now became steady and rhythmic.
His previous expression of joy had completely vanished.
"[New Jutsu] was completed, but not fully perfected—it still carries a chance of failure..."
A voice reached Minato's ears, to which he silently nodded.
This tent belonged solely to Minato; no one else shared it.
Because of his training with [New Jutsu], sharing a tent wasn't suitable.
Hearing the voice, Minato nodded slightly and quietly murmured, "It's mostly due to insufficient time... Also, my body is still rather weak."
He lightly clenched his fist. This body—barely eleven years old—was far stronger than most kids his age thanks to Nine-Tails' chakra, yet ultimately still too frail compared to his ambitions...
Otherwise, he wouldn't have needed to rely on Nine-Tails' chakra or Tsunade's medicine just to finish [New Jutsu].
Even though the Nine-Tails' chakra came from deep inside him, power beyond one's limit is still external in the end.
As for Tsunade's pills, they hardly need further explanation.
"If I use the Nine-Tails' chakra," Minato explained, "the success rate of this [New Jutsu] is about seventy percent. But… on the battlefield, using only Tsunade's pills would drop the chance to fifty percent."
The quality of the Nine-Tails' chakra naturally surpassed that of chakra boosted by Tsunade's pills. Considering the new jutsu had not yet been fully mastered, its success ultimately depended upon the superiority of the chakra used.
"Hehe, we'll give it our best shot! For her sake, we have to pull this off!"
As the voice sounded once more, Minato nodded solemnly in response.
At this moment, he opened his palm to reveal a hairpin resting within.
He held it tightly against his chest, as if through this hairpin, he could feel the young girl's longing thoughts from far away in Konoha village, the Land of Fire.
Then, all hesitation and uncertainty vanished from his eyes, replaced instead by an unshakable determination.
"That's right… For her sake, I must end this war quickly!"
...
...
It's already too late. I've got to head out—today's Lantern Festival, and I'm swamped. Sorry about that.
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