Chapter 101 – Mount Myōboku
"Don't worry. I'm invincible," Hatake Yusuke declared with utter confidence.
Minato stared at him, clearly not convinced.
I'm not worried about you... I'm worried about Gamabunta, he thought to himself, frowning.
"You cocky brat!!" roared Gamabunta.
The giant toad immediately unsheathed his massive blade and swung it toward Yusuke. With a light leap, Yusuke dodged the slash effortlessly, springing high into the air until he landed squarely on Gamabunta's head.
"Hey, big guy! That all you got?" Yusuke taunted with a teasing grin.
Gamabunta's fury only grew.
With a loud snort, he swung his massive hand to swat Yusuke off—but the silver-haired ninja once again dodged without breaking a sweat.
"Damn you... Toad Oil Bullet!" Gamabunta shouted, spewing a huge blob of flammable oil from his mouth.
Yusuke stayed calm. Crossing his index and middle fingers, he formed a quick hand sign. A barrier of chakra surged to life before him, absorbing the incoming oil without a scratch.
The entire scuffle looked one-sided. Gamabunta couldn't even graze him, while Yusuke danced around him with ease.
"You brat! If you've got guts, stop running! Face me head-on!!" Gamabunta shouted in frustration.
Yusuke smiled coolly. "Alright then... let's get a little serious."
Minato's stomach twisted the moment he saw that look in Yusuke's eyes.
The young Hatake raised a single finger. Instantly, the air around him shimmered with rising heat. Flames gathered at his fingertip, condensing into a small orb that radiated blazing energy—growing hotter and brighter with each second until it glowed like a miniature sun.
"Ten thousand degrees Celsius... Merciless Sun," Yusuke said softly, his eyes locked on Gamabunta.
The swirling flames surrounding the orb were far more intense than any Fire Release technique—even rivaling the Flame Emperor's might.
"You could die, y'know," Yusuke added, wearing a gentle smile that contrasted disturbingly with the destructive force radiating from the fireball.
Minato's expression twisted in horror.
This... isn't good at all.
Even before the sphere was launched, the sheer heat was enough to scorch the ground. The temperature warped the air, melting rocks, and threatening to ignite the entire area. It was far beyond an S-rank Fire Style.
Gamabunta began sweating profusely. Just the heat alone made his skin sizzle—and the fireball hadn't even touched him yet. But still, he clenched his sword, unwilling to back down.
"Ready or not!" Yusuke shouted as he hurled the Merciless Sun straight at Gamabunta.
Minato reacted instantly, teleporting in front of Gamabunta with a Flying Thunder God kunai in hand, ready to warp the deadly sphere away.
But before he could trigger the technique—his specially-marked kunai melted in his hand.
In the next instant, Minato reached out, attempting to teleport Gamabunta out of danger with Flying Thunder God Technique directly.
But just as the orb was about to hit... it suddenly burst open—releasing not flames, but a massive splash of black liquid.
Ink. It was just... ink.
Minato froze. The deadly pressure from before had vanished into nothing. Too stunned to dodge, he was drenched from head to toe in thick black fluid.
"WAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Look at you! Minato-nii, you look ridiculous!!" Yusuke's uncontrollable laughter echoed through the clearing.
Minato sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Right... Kakashi once described Yusuke as "the perfect man... except for his personality."
He used to think Yusuke was just eccentric. But now? He fully understood what Kakashi meant.
The ink wasn't even standard. It was a special kind Yusuke had stolen from Minato years ago—originally just to prank Kakashi.
But today, as soon as the match with Gamabunta began, a new idea popped into his head. That terrifying Merciless Sun? Nothing more than a glorified prank. A decoy. He had never intended to hurt Gamabunta in the first place.
The technique itself was a fusion—created from two Devil Fruits: the Atsu Atsu no Mi (Heat-Heat Fruit) and the Mera Mera no Mi (Flame-Flame Fruit). Yusuke had experimented heavily to combine them, since using both powers at once was rare in combat.
At first, his system had advised him to balance the two. The rest was trial, error, and sheer effort. So far, he'd only managed to fuse fruits with similar properties into partial combinations.
"Yusuke... Gamabunta... That's enough," Minato muttered, completely worn out.
He was baffled. Of all the toads on Mount Myōboku... why did it have to be these two?
He just wanted a peaceful afternoon—was that too much to ask?
"Alright, Minato-nii~ Hey, big guy, we good now?" Yusuke said with a cheeky grin.
Gamabunta let out a long sigh and gave a stiff nod. "Fine…"
The giant toad didn't argue. He respected Minato a great deal—and was fond of him too.
But with Yusuke?
He didn't want any more of this madness. The guy was not only insanely strong, but utterly unpredictable. If they kept going, Gamabunta knew he'd just end up being a plaything.
"Gamabunta, you can head back now. Please let the Two Great Sage Toads know that I'd like to train in Sage Mode," Minato said.
"Oh, and tell them I want to learn Sage Mode too!" Yusuke added, stepping beside him.
"You? With your strength? You still need Sage Mode?" Gamabunta grumbled. "That technique you used earlier wasn't even Sage Art, and yet I still sensed traces of Natural Energy in it."
"Yeah, but Sage Mode gives you cool eyeliner, doesn't it? That's reason enough," Yusuke replied with a straight face.
Both Minato and Gamabunta stared at him, speechless.
This guy... wants Sage Mode for the aesthetics?!
"Hahaha! Kidding! Of course I've got serious reasons. Just pass on the message, alright?" Yusuke said, brushing it off.
Yep. Today had definitely been a good day for him.
Even though he messed up the Summoning Jutsu earlier, he completely turned the tables.
For Minato, though? Not so much.
His paperwork was a mess, and he just got humiliated by his own senior disciple.
Gamabunta didn't feel much better either. Not only had he been thoroughly messed with, but he couldn't even do anything about it.
Without another word, Gamabunta vanished in a puff of smoke, returning to Mount Myōboku.
"Oh right, I need to go home and change clothes," Minato muttered. "Come see me at the office later. I've got something I need your help with."
Then—poof—he disappeared.
Yusuke blinked.
"Eh… Minato-nii, that was rude," he muttered.
Then again… he kinda brought that on himself.
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