Karot turned around again, brought his hands together, and firmly caught Minato's kunai between them. Minato couldn't advance an inch.
Karot lifted his foot. Bang! Minato's clone turned into a cloud of smoke and vanished. Suddenly, Minato appeared from behind the smoke, a Rasengan in his hand as he charged toward Karot at high speed.
Karot reached out and caught the Rasengan in Minato's hand. Thud! Minato was sent flying, while only a wisp of smoke rose from Karot's hand.
"What happened?"
Jiraiya knew exactly how powerful the Rasengan was. He couldn't believe anyone could take one head-on without a scratch.
Blood dripped from Minato's right hand. He used the Palm Technique to stop the bleeding; basic Medical Ninjutsu was no trouble for him.
"Minato, are you okay?"
Kushina, worried sick about her beloved, couldn't help shouting.
"Don't worry. I'm fine."
Minato recalled what had happened just moments earlier. Karot had grabbed his hand directly, leaving him no chance to dodge and forcing him to take his own Rasengan head-on. What goes around really does come around.
"Sage Mode."
Minato entered Sage Mode in an instant. This wasn't Jiraiya's half-baked Sage Mode—it was the perfected version.
"He entered Sage Mode that quickly, Minato?"
Jiraiya murmured to himself.
Because of the First Hokage, Tsunade was familiar with Sage Mode. If anything, she thought Minato's version seemed weaker.
Orochimaru, meanwhile, was envious. He didn't have the necessary conditions to train in it.
"Kakashi, this is the first time I've seen Teacher Minato like this. He looks so cool!"
Obito didn't care whether someone was strong; he only cared whether they looked cool. If they looked cool, that was all that mattered.
Karot, however, watched Minato with some concern. He could no longer gauge Minato's strength. It was a leap in the quality