In the White House Situation Room, a holographic projection still showed live footage of Gotham Square.
Grand Commander Aoniu ground his teeth, his face full of resentment.
"That guy's just like Yongye. He's completely unpredictable!"
"He's going to be a huge problem later!"
General Lane's mouth twitched almost imperceptibly. He was about to offer a word of caution when the battle on the screen suddenly changed.
After another laser was deflected by a Kunai, Yongye darted toward the armor itself, closing the distance to less than three meters.
At that range, the armor's laser cannons no longer had a clear shot, and its gravity field was far less effective against Yongye's Ultra-Light-Weight Rock Technique.
Yongye brought his hands together, his fingers flashing through Hand Seals even faster than when he had used Lightning Release: Kirin.
Sage Mode!
Natural Energy surged toward him, gathering into Senjutsu Chakra.
Two slender streaks of orange extended from the corners of his eyes, forming distinct markings above his brow bones like wings reddened by firelight.
Yongye's eyes changed from Minato Namikaze's vivid blue to a deeper gold. A faint orange glow spread across the whites of his eyes, and his whole body seemed wrapped in warm flame.
He opened his right hand, palm up. Senjutsu Chakra spun, compressed, and gathered between his fingers. In the blink of an eye, it formed a massive Rasengan over two meters across, its edges whirling at high speed and its core blazing blue-white.
The Rasengan gave off a low hum in his palm. Fine ripples spread from its edges, churning the surrounding air into a visible vortex.
"Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan!"
Yongye's voice thundered over the square. His figure became a streak of intertwined gold and blue, carrying the spinning sphere of Chakra straight into the center of the dark