"What?"
When a voice echoed from deep within him, Minato couldn't help but shudder slightly.
His unusual reaction immediately caught the attention of Sakumo Hatake and Hyuga Kubei. Junko Watanabe, however, remained fully focused on their surroundings and noticed nothing.
Seeing this, Minato signaled a few secret gestures, indicating that he was fine.
[I have a way to locate Desert's Sorrow, but I need a moment.]
Understanding the meaning behind his hand signs, Sakumo Hatake nodded slightly after a brief pause.
After everything they had experienced together, no one could ignore Minato's contributions anymore—even though he was still a child barely eleven years old.
After exchanging a few knowing glances, they each gave a silent nod of agreement.
Minato immediately calmed his mind and mentally said, "I'm going to expand my perception!?"
Noticing his hesitation, "Senior Minato" grinned and said, "Do what you have to."
Nodding, Minato gently closed his eyes. His form and spirit seemed gradually to merge into one.
Chakra is the combination of spiritual energy and physical energy within a person's body. Yet beyond in this vast world exists an even greater and more magnificent force—Natural Energy.
Minato's chakra slowly extended outward from himself like countless invisible hands reaching out.
Just then, Junko Watanabe—who had been completely focused—was jolted by something unexpected. Beautiful eyes filled with surprise, she turned her gaze toward Minato beside her.
Because she could sense it—Minato too was performing chakra perception.
She herself dared only extend her chakra perception a few meters around herself, remaining extremely cautious. In seconds, his reach had completely engulfed hers.
Startled, Junko intended to stop him—but just then, Minato's chakra seemed to vibrate ever so slightly.
To a standard Ninja, such vibrations might mean nothing. However, to Junko, it felt as though Minato's chakra was speaking to her, telling her not to worry.
A chill ran through her as realization struck again. This method of transmitting information through chakra waves was something only sensor-type Ninjas specially trained for it could achieve.
Once holding a prominent position within Anbu, Junko had undertaken various missions and received training in this very technique. But even she had trained for a whole year before mastering the delicate art of sensing others through chakra waves.
Yet Minato's teacher was Jiraiya—who knew absolutely nothing about sensing. So where on earth had Minato learned his chakra perception skills?
It defied logic.
At that moment, however, Sakumo Hatake patted Junko's shoulder and offered her a smile.
If this were anyone else, it would definitely warrant further thought. But with the child prodigy standing right here, none of it seemed all that strange anymore.
At this moment, Junko also recalled how, since first meeting Minato merely over two years ago, his strength had already surpassed hers by far.
Slashing jonin, rescuing Nawaki, rampaging through Suna Puppet masters... every single one of Minato's actions defied the ordinary standards for a young boy.
Everything Minato showed right now was enough to mark him as the greatest prodigy in Konoha's history. His talent even evoked memories of the legendary figure who founded Konoha during the Warring Clans Era—the God of Ninja himself.
The First Hokage—Hashirama Senju!
Although they didn't know whether Minato could eventually reach the level of the First, judging by his age alone, he might even surpass the First Hokage.
After all, Hashirama came from the noble Senju bloodline, possessing immense power from birth, while Minato was born common, with nothing to his name.
In the intangible air, Minato's chakra suddenly spread outward. He tightly shut his eyes, focusing intently on sensing—both attuning to nature and avoiding enemy sensor ninja.
Minato extended his chakra around himself to a radius of dozens of meters before slowly halting.
This was because it marked the furthest range he could safely manage. Pushing further could alert the Third Kazekage inside the Kazekage Building.
If he provoked his intervention, all of Konoha's efforts here would end in vain.
Still, Minato wasn't afraid. He had already placed Flying Thunder God markers inside Mikoto's and Hanyu Yamanaka's homes.
Even if he failed and got interrogated, he'd whisk everyone back to Sunagakure anyway.
"Unite spirit and chakra, attune to natural energy." A voice echoed again within his mind.
Minato mentally responded affirmatively. Due to the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style, his own chakra had already intertwined with the Nine-Tails' chakra, blending together.
Therefore, right from the start of training sensing, Minato's chakra naturally possessed sensing abilities.
Now, Minato aimed to develop another ability unlocked after fusing with the Nine-Tails' chakra:
[Distinguish Natural Energy]
This skill was a level beyond ordinary sensing abilities. Once he mastered natural energy and entered Sage Mode, he could not only sense nature itself but also detect others' chakra.
However, detecting others' chakra didn't necessarily mean being able to perceive natural energy.
Even if every chakra-wielder in the world combined their strength, they still would not match the full power of nature itself.
Junko Watanabe also sensed Minato's chakra stopping. She noticed something startling—his perception moved like a living thing; just as it was about to cover the Suna ninja, it intentionally bypassed them.
This amazed her deeply. After finishing this mission, she definitely needed to ask Minato some thorough questions.
Such a skill was something even she herself didn't possess.
The chakra Minato released felt as though he had expanded his intangible form hundreds of times larger—a means to increase his range of environmental awareness.
From past experience with Sage Mode, Minato knew that sensing nature required first achieving inner calm and clearing one's mind completely.
At this moment, it was his chakra that [Detected Natural Energy], not his physical self. Therefore, Senior Minato told him to fully unify his spirit with his chakra.
Chakra is just an ability, not a living thing—that's why it's considered "empty." Minato just needed to merge his spirit with it completely, and that would be enough.
Though understanding this principle wasn't difficult, putting it into practice was extremely challenging. Over the next half hour, Minato's expression grew steadily more solemn. Even though it was bitterly cold outside, sweat trickled down his brow.
Seeing his state, Sakumo and the other two grew quietly uneasy inside. However, they knew Minato was earnestly trying his own method.
Time slipped away in silence…
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