"You brat, you're really not adorable at all," Tsunade scoffed with a chuckle after hearing his words.
Minato and Sakumo immediately understood the reason behind Sunagakure's losses from their battle three days prior.
With the Aburame Clan involved and the Hyuga utilizing their Byakugan, the effectiveness of Sunagakure's Suna puppet masters had been significantly weakened.
"Then once you neutralize Chiyo's Poison, it'll be our time to strike back," Sakumo said. With this kind of coordination, Konoha's casualties were still greater than those of the Sand Village, mainly due to Chiyo's Poison. However, now that they've obtained Desert's Sorrow, it wouldn't take long before they could counterattack.
"Mm," Tsunade nodded and said, "But those three—Chiyo, Kouhi, and Liufei—are indeed difficult opponents. Last time you weren't around, the Hyuga and the head of the Aburame Clan nearly fell into their trap."
Upon hearing this, Sakumo nodded in agreement. The Aburame Clan specialized in reconnaissance and had limited combat capabilities. Facing Liufei's metallic puppet, they felt constrained, so naturally Fumiro Aburame was no match for them.
"Hmph, if it weren't for the fear that the Third Kazekage might become impatient, we could simply call on Jiraiya from the Land of Rain, one of the legendary Sannin. What would we have to fear from Chiyo, Kouhi, or Liufei then?"
Tsunade snorted in response. As one of the legendary Sannin, together they were even capable of rivaling Hanzo himself.
Although Chiyo was a well-known expert, she still fell short when compared with the Third Hokage or even Hanzo.
However, if Jiraiya left the Land of Rain and headed to the Land of Wind to join the war, it would leave the Rain Village unstable. Moreover, the Third Kazekage himself might feel compelled to enter the battlefield directly.
If that happened, the conflict between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind, between Konoha and the Sand Ninja, would escalate beyond control. Even the Cloud and Stone Villages, who were currently engaged in their own battles, would undoubtedly get involved too.
Though Konoha possessed significantly more power than the Sand Village, should things truly come to an all-out fight to the death, even victory would leave Konoha severely weakened.
Such devastation wasn't what the war aimed to achieve, and therefore the Third Hokage would never allow it.
"Even without Jiraiya, Sunagakure's defeat is only a matter of time," Minato said.
Tsunade and others assumed he meant wearing down Sunagakure—and eventually the entire Land of Wind—financially through a protracted conflict until they had no choice but to surrender.
That wasn't entirely accurate. In Minato's past life, Konoha rose to prominence as the biggest winner of the Second Great Ninja War.
From the current trajectory, while certain historical details may change, the overall direction remained unchanged.
Sakumo Hatake had managed to defeat both Kouhi and Liufei, ultimately killing them and earning his title as the "Legend of the White Fang," striking fear across all ninja nations.
Minato wasn't exactly sure how he did it, but he now had a plan of his own.
"Sakumo-senpai, is there really no way to deal with Liufei's metallic puppet?" Minato looked toward Sakumo and asked.
Sakumo replied, "Liufei's metallic puppet is made entirely from special materials that conduct chakra, greatly reducing the impact of ninjutsu attacks against it."
"Based on my estimation, even A-rank ninja techniques would inflict minimal damage. Even S-rank Ultimate Arts wouldn't completely destroy it with a single strike. I could damage it at full strength, but not shatter it entirely."
Sakumo Hatake's words made them realize just how impenetrable Liufei's metallic puppet's defenses were. An S-rank technique was already the pinnacle of ninjutsu, yet still couldn't destroy it.
"Unless I could unleash an even more powerful Lightning Release technique or use my strongest attack twice in quick succession—but that's impossible."
As he spoke, Minato understood that this version of Kakashi's father, Sakumo Hatake, had not yet reached his peak power.
Moreover, the progress of the Second Great Ninja War was at least a year faster than what he had known.
Since Kakashi possessed the ability to develop new techniques at age twelve, surely his father Sakumo Hatake was also a genius in ninjutsu.
His victory against Liufei/Kouhi likely came from mastering a more powerful Lightning Release technique.
But Sakumo Hatake's growth, like his son's, required time.
Once he finished speaking, Sakumo Hatake's analysis lined up almost exactly with what Minato had already suspected. After a moment's thought, Minato said, "Perhaps… I have a solution!"
Hearing these words, Tsunade and the others couldn't help but sit up straighter, all eyes now on Minato.
"What solution?"
They could no longer ignore Minato's intelligence; they naturally assumed he had some idea.
But Sakumo Hatake seemed deep in thought as he looked at Minato.
Minato faced everyone and said, "I might be able to perform a ninjutsu attack comparable to Sakumo-senpai's ultimate strike."
The moment he finished speaking, shock flashed across Tsunade's face and the others'. Even Fumiro Aburame, who always kept his expressionless mask, revealed astonishment in his eyes.
Tsunade and Orochimaru had personally witnessed Sakumo Hatake's skills, while Hiashi Hyuga and Fumiro Aburame hadn't seen them firsthand but had a general understanding of his level.
Those were undeniably S-rank Ultimate Arts.
Even elite jonin couldn't be sure they'd mastered such techniques. Though they knew Minato surpassed ordinary jonin and was a prodigy in ninjutsu, mastering an S-rank technique still seemed impossible.
After all, his age was a factor. And an S-rank technique didn't just represent difficulty—it also consumed massive amounts of chakra, far beyond most ninja's limits.
A Minato not yet eleven years old—aside from the technical challenge, his chakra reserves likely couldn't handle the demands of an S-rank technique.
What they didn't know, however, was that Minato had already mastered an S-rank Ultimate Art, and even more powerful space-time ninjutsu.
In Konoha's history, only The Second had ever fully mastered the [Flying Thunder God Technique]. Now Minato had refined it into something even stronger than The Second's version.
"You've got to be kidding, right? Even your teacher hasn't mastered S-rank techniques yet."
Orochimaru exclaimed in disbelief. After all, even he had barely mastered a single S-rank Ultimate Art just before the Second Great Ninja War, and he still hesitated to use it lightly. Using unrefined ninjutsu in battle carried immense risks.
As for Jiraiya, he hadn't even fully perfected a single S-rank technique yet.
Not only Orochimaru but even Tsunade—who knew Minato well—looked deeply skeptical. She herself hadn't even fully mastered that level of ninjutsu.
"Hehehe."
Just when everyone found Minato's words unbelievable, Sakumo let out a light chuckle and spoke to the group.
Sakumo's next words caused Tsunade and the others' pupils to contract sharply, and from within the tent, a series of sharp intakes of breath could clearly be heard.
"The young genius standing right in front of you is currently developing an S-rank ninjutsu!"
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