The power of time and space!
Even now, Minato found this kind of power utterly unfathomable.
Though he had perfected the Flying Thunder God technique, even that was merely movement between spaces. True mastery over time and space was a far more mysterious, elusive force—one that lay far beyond simple teleportation.
Minato had used a fragment of this incredible power once before to return to the present timeline. But that experience only deepened his wariness. The consequences of tampering with such forces were unpredictable, and even a slight misstep could put him in grave danger.
Still, the idea of exploring this power had been planted in his mind long ago. Yet, he had always known that, in his current state, attempting to control it was impossible.
However, everything changed after meeting Naruto from the future. Ever since that encounter, Minato found himself pondering how to grasp this formidable power.
If he could succeed, it would undoubtedly become the greatest feat in shinobi history.
Within the current shinobi power system, the pinnacle of strength revolved around manipulating chakra properties and forms. But even the mightiest jutsu paled compared to the fundamental forces of time and space.
Time and space were the very fabric of reality—the foundation of all matter. No physical barrier, no defense, could withstand their distortion.
If Minato's theory proved correct, even the Third Raikage's legendary defense would crumble like paper.
A faint orange hue began to appear at the corners of Minato's eyes as he entered Sage Mode. Slowly, he opened his eyes, revealing pupils that had transformed into horizontal slits.
With his senses heightened, Minato flipped his right palm upward, raising it steadily. Instantly, a special black pattern began to condense on his palm.
These were the coordinates—anchors Minato needed to manipulate time and space.
As the mark solidified, his pupils sharpened further, and faint wisps of chakra flickered above the pattern, glowing like ethereal blue fireflies.
The chakra slowly seeped from his body, flowing into the mark. The sheer volume of energy coursing through his palm was staggering, and as more chakra gathered, the mark began to shift.
At first, it seemed like nothing more than a static symbol. But soon, it took on a life of its own, writhing like a living creature in his hand.
As Minato continued to inject chakra, the mark's deep black hue began to lighten. With each pulse of energy, it grew brighter, its edges expanding and taking on a new form.
"Buzz."
After a few steady breaths, the mark had transformed into a translucent shape, glistening under the sunlight like rough-hewn jade.
No longer a simple, flat emblem, it now possessed depth and dimension, as though meticulously carved from pure white jade.
Minato exhaled deeply, feeling the strain ripple through his body. Even with Sage Mode, creating the mark had drained nearly half of his chakra reserves.
But he wasn't finished.
With a flick of his wrist, the floating mark flipped in his palm, responding almost as if it possessed its own will.
Swish!
In the blink of an eye, Minato vanished, reappearing in front of a towering tree. He raised his right hand and pressed the mark against the bark.
"Bang!"
The mark embedded itself into the tree with surprising ease, sliding in without resistance.
Though it seemed small and innocuous, the mark contained an immense concentration of chakra—far more potent than even his Rasengan Shuriken. While it wasn't inherently offensive, the sheer energy packed within it could cause significant destruction if triggered correctly.
Taking a step back, Minato returned to his original position, his mind already racing with the next phase of his plan.
He raised his hand once more, gathering chakra in his palm. But this time, he wasn't forming a Rasengan.
As the chakra coalesced, Minato extended his other hand, drawing power into the limited space between his palms.
Unlike his typical techniques, where chakra naturally spiraled into a vortex, this time it remained still—a dense, glowing sphere of pure energy.
It was smaller than the most basic Rasengan, and the chakra inside showed no signs of rotation or movement. It was simply a condensed orb of raw power.
Even after it took shape, Minato didn't stop. He continued to inject chakra, and though the sphere's size remained constant, its color deepened, growing darker and more intense.
This process was the opposite of what had happened when he created the special mark earlier.
"Hoo… hoo…"
Minato's breathing grew heavier, his focus unwavering as he stared at the chakra orb in his hands. Gradually, the orange eye markings that signified Sage Mode began to fade from the corners of his eyes, his pupils returning to their natural deep blue.
His face had paled, a clear sign of chakra exhaustion.
Since his rebirth, Minato had possessed the power of the Nine-Tails, and in battle, he had almost never experienced chakra depletion. But now, he couldn't afford to tap into the Nine-Tails' power.
Drawing on the Nine-Tails' chakra risked destabilizing the delicate balance he'd created. If that happened, all his efforts would be for nothing.
Minato had poured nearly half of his remaining chakra into forming the orb. But there was a purpose behind this.
This was his attempt to tap into the power of time and space.
From past experiences, Minato knew that space-time distortions often accompanied immense fluctuations in energy.
He remembered how his journey through time had been triggered—the massive release of chakra from Kushina's body and its violent collision with the Nine-Tails' energy had caused an unexpected temporal rift.
Now, Minato sought to replicate that scenario on a smaller, controlled scale.
Of course, with his current chakra levels, he couldn't recreate the original conditions. But that wasn't necessary.
Minato didn't aim for a full-blown time-space rift. He only needed to create a slight distortion—just enough to pierce through any defense.
But whether it would succeed remained uncertain.
There was only one way to find out.
With a sharp focus, Minato's azure eyes locked onto the tree.
The chakra orb in his palm vanished in an instant.
Swish!
The next moment, the glowing sphere materialized in front of the mark embedded in the tree.
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