Kakashi had always considered himself a prodigy—graduating from the Academy at five, promoted to Chūnin at six, and becoming a Jōnin by twelve.
But the kid standing before him—what even was this? If memory served, he was only six years old, yet he had just soloed a Jōnin.
And on top of that... why did he know the very technique Kakashi had created himself?
Kakashi couldn't make sense of it. A thought surfaced in his mind: "If I had been this strong back then... would my father still be alive?"
At that, a flicker of sorrow crossed his eyes.
Beside him, Rin's reaction was a little different. While she, too, was amazed by Sora's power, something else caught her attention—his face.
"What an adorable little face... I really want to pinch those cheeks!"
Without realizing it, Rin had said her thoughts out loud—causing Kakashi beside her to instantly darken.
Meanwhile, Sora had already finished fusing his cards and wasted no time checking his panel.
"System, pull up my status screen!"
[Host: Sora]
[Strength: 118]
[Speed: 123]
[Endurance: 122]
[Spirit: 131]
[Chakra: 2158]
[Talent: Spatial Talent LV3]
[Taijutsu: Basic Shuriken Technique LV10 (Max), Basic Taijutsu LV10 (Max), Konoha Whirlwind LV4, Portable Space LV1]
[Ninjutsu:
-Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu LV6
-Earth Style: Earth Wall LV5
-Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bullet LV5
-Substitution Jutsu LV10 (Max)
-Chidori LV1
-Water Style: Super Exploding Water Wave LV7
-Water Style: Water Formation Wall LV5
-Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet LV4
-Body Flicker Technique LV6
-Tailed Beast Bomb LV1]
In an instant, his stats had skyrocketed. He wasn't just a Jōnin—he was already at the higher end of Jōnin-level power.
Because he had picked up so many duplicates of Super Exploding Water Wave, the technique was now at level 7—truly frightening.
Same jutsu, but when used by Sora, the power was at least double compared to others.
And just as he needed, the Body Flicker Technique had also dropped, and already at level 6—more than enough for him to use proficiently.
With that, Sora now had no real weaknesses—except for Genjutsu.
He'd even intentionally hidden his sealing techniques from the panel to keep it from becoming cluttered—if not, it would easily be over three thousand characters long.
But all that was just a bonus.
What truly thrilled him was the golden card—Tailed Beast Bomb. That was a serious power move.
Though it fell off in the late game, in early to mid-game battles, Tailed Beast Bomb was still one of the most devastating techniques in the shinobi world.
The only letdown was that Chidori (and its evolution, Raikiri) was still at a low level, so all he could currently use was the basic form.
"Sigh... why didn't I get Minato's Flying Thunder God Technique from that battle?"
After his excitement faded, Sora couldn't help but complain. If anyone else had heard him, they would've coughed up blood on the spot.
One battle, and he'd already reached elite Jōnin level—and he still wasn't satisfied?
Once he confirmed his updated strength, Sora closed the panel and turned his attention back to Minato, Kushina, and the others.
Yagura was no pushover. As a Kage-tier shinobi, he was the real deal. But unfortunately, he'd been facing two monsters—Minato and Kushina.
Not only was he unable to go one-on-two, he couldn't even beat either one of them alone.
He was utterly outmatched. If Minato had intended to kill him, he would've died ten times over by now.
"Fine! Just you wait!"
After taking yet another kick to the face from Kushina, Yagura finally snapped out of it. Using the force of her strike, he hurled himself away from the battlefield and fled into the distance.
He had finally realized that although Minato might not want to kill him, that didn't mean they wouldn't cripple him.
Even so, his escape came at a cost. Kushina's kick, backed by her monstrous strength, had left half his face numb.
As the battle ended, Sora immediately used Body Flicker to rush to the site and began strolling around.
Or at least, that's what it looked like to Minato and Kushina.
There weren't many cards this time, and none of them were new jutsu, but his Chakra and Spirit stats saw noticeable gains—especially thanks to a rare purple card imbued with Nine-Tails chakra. With just that, his chakra skyrocketed past 3000.
In short, this entire self-staged battle had paid off handsomely. He not only earned incredible rewards but also showed Minato and Kushina enough of his strength to win their trust and earn some freedom.
His only current dilemma was how to explain his vast collection of jutsu.
Chidori? Sure, he could say he learned it by watching Kakashi. That's plausible—it evolved from Raikiri, after all.
But the Water Style jutsu? How was he supposed to explain being stronger than actual Kirigakure Jōnin in their village's signature techniques?
"You saw it once and learned it? That's already stretching it. And then it's stronger than theirs? Come on..."
"We'll talk more after we get back."
Before anyone could start asking questions, Minato cut in and took the lead, signaling everyone to move.
No one objected. The Land of Water was far too dangerous, especially with Madara and Black Zetsu lurking in the shadows. The sooner they got home, the better.
Unbeknownst to everyone, one of Sora's explosive tags hadn't detonated.
Buried deep underground, it remained intact—its surface covered in tiny inscriptions written in Sora's own hand.
Why it hadn't gone off? No one but Sora knew.
...
Maybe it was because of the overwhelming power they had shown, but Uchiha Madara had abandoned the idea of causing more trouble.
Yagura, having experienced their strength firsthand, also chose not to pursue them.
With no one in their way, Sora's group moved at full speed. Within just two days, they had crossed the border into the Land of Fire.
"Alright, we're in Fire Country. Let's rest a bit."
Minato clapped his hands and stopped. They'd been pushing hard for two days, with little rest. Now that they were back on home soil, a break was well-deserved.
He pointed to Sora's right hand, and Sora immediately understood—summoning tray after tray of steaming grilled meat.
In no time, the forest was filled with the aroma of barbecue. After two days of marching, none of them could resist it.
Once she made sure Kakashi and Rin were taken care of, Kushina wasted no time digging in.
The entire forest fell quiet—save for the sounds of people eating.
"Phew! I feel alive again!"
Three trays later, Kushina finally let out a satisfied sigh and set her chopsticks down.
Once everyone had finished, all eyes turned to Sora.
They had too many questions. Even Kakashi and Rin were puzzled—let alone Minato and Kushina, who had only come along to help and knew nothing of the backstory.
Until now, Sora had kept them moving out of fear that Uchiha Madara might pursue them.
But now they were safe.
Even Sora was surprised Madara hadn't made a move. He had specifically brought Kushina along to guard against him—yet the old man never showed.
"Looks like he really is on his last legs. As long as Rin stays safe for a while, we should be okay. Minato will naturally take care of that."
Going over everything in his mind, Sora realized the operation, despite some hiccups, had been a success.
Yagura now knew the strength of both Kushina and Minato. Coupled with the presence of the Three Sannin and Hiruzen back in Konoha, there was no way Kirigakure would risk a war.
That kind of stunt might only work now—if this had happened later, once everyone had died or moved on, even he wouldn't dare play so recklessly.
But right now, that didn't matter.
What mattered… was how he was going to explain all of this to Minato and Kushina.