"Orochimaru, you knew too?
Just now?"
After his shock, Jiraiya immediately thought that Orochimaru, like himself, might have realized it by comparing Minato and Tobirama when he saw Garp stop Flying Thunder God Slash with a single finger.
After all, it wasn't a secret that Minato's improved Flying Thunder God was faster than the Second Hokage's.
At the very least, within Konoha, it wasn't something only he knew.
"Just now?
Please don't lump me together with someone as slow as you.
I already realized it back in the Land of Water, Lord Garp is even stronger than what we believed to be his… peak!"
Orochimaru replied to Jiraiya, then turned his head with interest to look at Minato, whose body was tense and expression stiff as he stood before Garp, as though he still hadn't recovered from the shock of his Flying Thunder God Slash being stopped by a single finger.
And in fact, that was exactly the case.
At this moment, Minato's heart was like a surging storm of raging waves, completely unable to calm down.
With his keen mind and extraordinary insight, even though he hadn't been fortunate enough like Orochimaru to witness Garp in action multiple times.
The mere fact that his Flying Thunder God Slash had been neutralized, combined with the intelligence he had previously gathered, allowed him to analyze a great deal.
Any one of those conclusions was enough to shock him.
And when all of that information came together and hit him at once, it left the man known as the fastest in the shinobi world utterly frozen in place.
"Stopped my Flying Thunder God Slash with just one finger… Doesn't that mean Lord Garp is even stronger than when he faced Lord Second back then?
How is that possible?
No matter how powerful his physique is, his age is right there. At most, he could resist the erosion of time, but he shouldn't be able to completely ignore it…"
The more Minato thought about it, the harder it was to believe, and the more horrified he became.
Even though chakra was a miraculous force that existed in the shinobi world, cases like Garp's were still unheard of.
At the very least, throughout all of shinobi history that he knew, there had never been anyone like Garp, someone who had reached such an old age, yet not only showed no decline in strength, but had instead grown even stronger.
Uchiha Madara couldn't do it.
Senju Hashirama couldn't do it.
Not even the Sage of Six Paths and his brother could grow stronger as their bodies aged and deteriorated.
"Brat, you look like you're having a hard time accepting this. But that's on me.
Just now, I only told you that hesitation leads to defeat. I forgot to tell you, being decisive means giving it away for free."
Garp didn't open his eyes to look at Minato, but under the perception of Observation Haki, Minato's turbulent emotions were laid bare to him.
"Go back. My nap time is almost here."
As he spoke, the finger pressing against the tip of the Flying Thunder God kunai applied a little more force.
In his state of shock and daze, Minato suddenly felt an overwhelming surge of power, like a mountain flood or a raging sea, rushing through the kunai and crashing into him.
Unable to withstand it, he was sent flying.
Although he wasn't injured, he still landed in a sorry heap dozens of meters away.
"Minato, are you alright?"
Seeing this, Jiraiya hurried over and helped Minato up from the ground.
Originally worried, he relaxed after seeing that Minato had merely taken a fall and wasn't injured.
So the rumors were true.
Iron Fist had always been extremely tolerant toward ninjas of the village era.
Or rather, not ninjas of the village era, but kids of the village era.
Though he didn't want to admit it, Jiraiya knew that whether it was Minato or himself, in Garp's eyes, they were probably just a bunch of kids who hadn't grown up yet.
That was why, even after Minato had spoken arrogantly and even initiated a wager, Garp still had no intention of being ruthless.
He had merely taken the edge off Minato's pride, and that was all.
"Jiraiya-sensei… I'm fine."
Minato stood up and shook his head, but inwardly, he let out a heavy sigh.
His body was fine, but his heart was not.
He had thought that his Flying Thunder God, faster than the Second Hokage's, might not be able to injure Iron Fist, or even cause him much trouble.
But at the very least, it shouldn't end like it had for the Second Hokage, whose Flying Thunder God Slash had been caught between two fingers.
Yet reality gave him a harsh lesson.
Garp hadn't used two fingers to catch his Flying Thunder God Slash.
He had stopped it with just one finger.
That kind of blow, that kind of defeat, was even more devastating than what Tobirama had suffered back then.
"Maybe… we should just forget about it. I think you've realized it too.
Even though you're faster than the Second Hokage, Lord Garp is also stronger than he was back then.
Under these circumstances, if he can stop your Flying Thunder God Slash with one finger, imagine what would happen if he got even slightly serious."
After hesitating for a moment, Jiraiya finally spoke up, urging Minato to give up this wager.
Losing to Garp was nothing to be ashamed of.
And the price Minato would pay after losing was merely to leave immediately.
It wasn't some unbearable cost.
...
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