Watching Qin Yu vanish from where he stood in an instant, like a ghost disappearing into thin air.
The inexplicable oppressive aura that had filled the entire Hokage's office vanished without a trace.
Boruto, who stood nearby, seemed completely drained. He collapsed onto the floor and greedily gulped down fresh air.
As for the others, though they were not as badly affected as Boruto, they too took several deep breaths before the suffocating feeling in their chests eased somewhat.
However, after that sudden shift in atmosphere, they clearly understood that after more than twenty years apart, Uchiha Qin Yu had likely become even more terrifyingly powerful.
"Boruto, are you all right?" Minato Namikaze asked as he helped Boruto up from the floor.
"I already told you that Uchiha Qin Yu was no ordinary person. Those auras just now leaked out unconsciously. If all of that pressure had been directed at one person, you probably wouldn't have been able to endure it and would have passed out on the spot."
In the Original Work, during the Chūnin Exams, Second Pillar and Naruto had their first encounter with Orochimaru's attempted hunt.
At their first meeting, Orochimaru had used his overwhelming killing intent to suppress Second Pillar and Naruto outright.
If Second Pillar had not stabbed himself at the critical moment, he would likely have been taken out by Orochimaru in a single wave.
So, they were no strangers to methods that used spiritual pressure to subdue enemies.
However, such methods generally had an especially strong effect on newcomers.
What Minato Namikaze and the others had never expected was that even battle-hardened veterans like themselves would be affected.
A single thought could not help but arise in all their hearts.
They had grown weaker!
Just as Uchiha Qin Yu had said, living in