When Sora made his move, both Minato, Kushina, and even Yagura, the Mizukage, paused—shifting their full attention to him.
Sora, of course, noticed this. But he didn't care in the slightest.
He hadn't gone to such lengths just to back down now. Why would he give up card drops just because they were watching?
Purple. Blue. White...
By the time he finished collecting, Sora had picked up a total of eighteen cards. He didn't have time to fuse them yet, nor check their contents.
Because Yagura, across from him, was beginning to show signs of retreat—something Sora absolutely wouldn't tolerate.
If there was no battle, how could he gather more cards? Besides, with Minato and Kushina here, victory was guaranteed.
So he acted.
"Chidori!"
Zzzzzzz!
A low growl of electricity sparked from his right hand as a brilliant blue glow formed—like the chirping of a thousand birds.
In the next instant, Sora shot forward at terrifying speed, instantly closing the distance on a Jōnin. Without hesitation, he drove the Chidori straight into his opponent.
That Jōnin never expected such a powerful strike from a six-year-old. Caught completely off guard, he barely managed to turn his body, taking the hit in the shoulder instead of the chest.
Still, a Jōnin was a Jōnin. Though wounded, he executed a Substitution Jutsu and vanished, leaving only a charred log behind.
Of course, the moment Sora dashed forward, Yagura—as a Kage-level shinobi—had taken notice.
Seeing Sora's explosive strength, he was shocked and immediately moved to strike him down.
But before he could act, Minato appeared nearby with a dangerous glint in his eyes.
Kushina also launched into motion, targeting the remaining two Jōnin to stop them from interfering with Sora.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!"
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
...
In the blink of an eye, Minato was locked in battle with Yagura, while Kushina engaged the two Jōnin.
She didn't know many combat-style jutsu—most of her repertoire came from sealing arts—but she wasn't holding back.
With a surge of chakra, two red fox tails erupted behind her, and a glowing sphere formed in front of her palms.
"Tailed Beast Bomb!"
With a sharp cry, Kushina launched the bomb toward the two Jōnin.
BOOOOM!
The moment the Tailed Beast Bomb neared them, it detonated violently. Trees within the blast radius were instantly uprooted and disintegrated into dust.
A crater several hundred meters wide and over ten meters deep tore through the earth. The sky above dimmed under a layer of swirling dust.
As for the two Jōnin? They had vanished without a trace—not even a scrap of fabric remained.
"Holy crap! That's terrifying!"
Blown back over ten meters by the shockwave, Sora stared in awe at the destruction in front of him.
He'd seen the power of Tailed Beast Bombs in the anime, but witnessing it firsthand was something else entirely.
If not for the four or five cards lying peacefully at the bottom of the crater, he might've thought the Jōnin had escaped.
After the shock came a surge of joy—especially when he spotted a golden card beneath Kushina's feet. It gleamed like a beacon, pulling his gaze toward it like magic.
But while Sora was stunned, the real shock came from Minato, Kushina, and Yagura.
They didn't know Sora's exact age, but he looked to be no older than five or six. Yet he had just taken down a Jōnin—on his own!
Minato and Kushina were especially shaken. They had lived with Sora for some time. They knew he had a huge chakra reserve, but they didn't expect his combat ability to match it.
And just now, he had clearly used Kakashi's original technique—Chidori. But how?
In their minds, Sora was like Naruto from the original story—overflowing with chakra but not particularly skilled.
Now they realized his strength and chakra were on the same level. Both had already reached the Jōnin class.
Minato even began to consider whether he should grant Sora official Jōnin status once they returned.
Sora, of course, had no clue they were this shocked. After wounding that Jōnin with Chidori, the man had just so happened to land on one of the explosive tags Sora had set earlier.
In the next instant, a thunderous boom echoed across the battlefield—completely obliterating the Jōnin without a trace.
...
"Hahaha! I've struck gold!"
While Minato and Kushina double-teamed Yagura, Sora ignored the fight completely.
Grinning from ear to ear, he sprinted across the battlefield, picking up card after card until he finally retrieved the golden one that Kushina had dropped.
Now all that remained was to wait for the battle to end—then collect the drops from Minato, Kushina, and, hopefully, Yagura.
If they actually managed to take out Yagura? The loot would be incredible!
Of course, Sora knew that was unlikely. Minato would never go that far.
If he hadn't taken the initiative to attack, Minato probably would've let Yagura go by now.
"Now comes the best part—fusion!"
Taking a quick glance at the current state of the battle—Minato and Kushina were clearly dominating—Sora excitedly began reviewing his new cards.
[White Card: Strength +1. Fuse?]
[Blue Card: Chakra +10. Fuse?]
[Purple Card: Water Style — Super Exploding Water Wave. Fuse?]
[Purple Card: Water Style — Water Formation Wall. Fuse?]
...
[Gold Card: Tailed Beast Bomb. Fuse?]
After going through all twenty-plus cards, Sora couldn't stop grinning.
"Fuse. Fuse them all!"
At his command, a sudden wave of pain and numbness slammed into his head—like being smashed with a giant hammer.
Until now, he had always fused one card at a time. But doing so many at once overwhelmed his brain with new knowledge, triggering this intense reaction.
It took a full three minutes before he recovered from the pain and dizziness.
But the moment it passed, Sora could feel it—his power had surged once more. He was even more confident now that he could protect Minato and Kushina during the Nine-Tails incident.
In fact, with Rin still alive, the Nine-Tails attack might not even happen anymore.
But what Sora didn't realize… was that Kakashi and Rin had returned at some point.
They were hiding nearby, having witnessed the entire battle unfold.
Both of their eyes were locked onto Sora, filled with confusion, disbelief, and shock.
And for a fleeting moment, Kakashi's eye flickered with something rare—battle spirit. It vanished in an instant, but Rin had caught it.