"Was that... Sage Mode?"
Minato Namikaze looked at Xia Yan's red eyeshadow and the chakra brimming with Natural Energy. Disbelief crossed his face, but he quickly calmed down again.
Of course he recognized Sage Mode. His teacher, Jiraiya, could use it, and he had studied it himself!
Although he did not think he had learned it particularly well, he at least understood how terrifying the technique was.
Xia Yan knew Sage Mode?
That really had been beyond his expectations, yet it also seemed perfectly natural.
After all, Xia Yan was a member of the Senju Clan. According to the records in the Hokage's office, the First Hokage had been a Shinobi exceptionally skilled in Sage Mode.
Minato Namikaze did not quite understand why the records about the First Hokage were now so tightly sealed.
Those who knew what he had done back then were mostly old, and one could even say that hardly any remained.
The younger generation basically only knew that he had founded Konoha. They truly knew nothing else.
But as Hokage, Minato Namikaze still had access to a fair amount of information.
Shaking his head, he decided he was better off not thinking about those things right now.
Especially the reasons so many of the former Hokage's deeds had been concealed.
After so many shocks from Xia Yan's information, he really felt more lost and more distressed the longer he thought about it.
"Is this your Senju Clan's Sage Mode?"
Quickly putting the thoughts in his mind aside, Minato Namikaze asked slowly.
"No, it isn't the Senju Clan's Sage Mode." Xia Yan shook his head and looked earnestly at Minato Namikaze. "I didn't gain the Katsuyu Sage's recognition. I learned my Sage Mode elsewhere."
Elsewhere?
Minato Namikaze raised his eyebrows, seemingly having thought of something.
His teacher,