"Even if Kage Level doesn't seem like much in Kaede Kitahara's eyes, even if in the future it isn't considered top-tier power… I haven't even reached that realm yet. What right do I have to look down on it? I should break into Kage Level first."
Hatake Kakashi let out a self-mocking chuckle, then his expression turned sharp and focused.
No matter how Kaede Kitahara evaluated strength, dismissing a realm he had not even touched would only be insulting his own intelligence.
Among everyone watching, Uchiha Sasuke's face looked the worst.
His hands trembled slightly.
He could not imagine how his future self would stand against a monster like that.
Nor could he understand how such a creature had come into existence.
Only now did he grasp the true weight behind the word "savior."
"If the original me could do it, then the current me will only be stronger. There's no reason I can't."
He pressed a hand against his chest, as if steadying himself.
While everyone was still in shock, Senju Hashirama opened a passage in the Four Red Yang Formation, allowing the shinobi to charge inside and fight.
At that moment, countless smaller Ten-Tails creatures sprouted from the massive body and rushed toward them.
Sakura was the first to intercept one.
A satisfied smile appeared on her face.
"Good. I've stored enough power. Time to release it."
She drove her fist forward.
In an instant, the giant humanoid monster was blasted away.
That was not the end.
With a Body Flicker Technique, she pursued it and smashed her fist into the ground.
The earth shook violently.
The smaller Ten-Tails clones, each taller than a person, were sent flying into the sky.
Naruto's expression shifted immediately.
His jaw dropped, just like Jiraiya's had when witnessing Tsunade's strength.
"In the future… I should probably stop making Sakura mad. She'll smash me to pieces."
Everyone watching outside the scene was equally stunned.
They had just seen Tsunade's monstrous strength.
Now they watched Sakura create an earthquake with a single punch.
Everyone except Tsunade felt their expressions change.
It was like seeing a second Tsunade.
Tsunade herself wore a proud smile.
See? That's my student.
Who says I'm the only Sannin who can't teach properly?
That punch had clearly reached Kage Level.
Which meant Sakura in the future had at least reached Kage Level strength.
She had trained a worthy successor.
"Sakura, is it? I'll look into her later."
Tsunade murmured to herself.
After reading the diary, she already knew Konoha would face disaster, that Sarutobi Hiruzen would die at Orochimaru's hands.
She had many grievances with the Third Hokage, but not enough to wish him dead.
And once he stepped down, she would be the one cleaning up the mess.
Since she would return eventually, paying attention to promising talent early on made sense.
"Nawaki. Dan. I'll protect your dream."
Without realizing it, she had accepted the choice her future self made.
She had accepted Nawaki's dream.
Dan's dream.
Naruto's dream.
She had found her original resolve again.
"S-Sakura…"
Sasuke's lips twitched.
It was difficult to reconcile the battlefield-destroying monster before him with the girl who used to chatter endlessly about him.
No wonder Naruto looked terrified.
That punch was no joke.
But deep inside, Sasuke felt a flicker of excitement.
He had always seen himself as an avenger.
Revenge was his only purpose.
When he was assigned to Team 7, he had been dissatisfied from the start. He had even looked down on Kakashi for falling into Naruto's simple trap.
To him, teammates were burdens.
Reality corrected him step by step.
Kakashi revealed himself as one of the strongest elite Jonin, arguably the closest to Kage Level among them.
Naruto, once the dead last, showed potential to become a savior.
Gradually, Sasuke had accepted Team 7.
That was why Sai's presence had irritated him.
Sakura, however, had always seemed the least significant.
Her future potential appeared the lowest.
Yet now, Sakura had displayed Kage Level power.
Which meant if he pursued revenge in the future, his two teammates would be Kage Level or even stronger.
They could stand against Akatsuki alongside him.
In Sasuke's pragmatic mind, Sakura's value rose dramatically.
She shifted from "useless burden" to "useful ally."
Kakashi, watching the diary, was equally stunned.
"So Sakura inherited Tsunade-sama's monstrous strength."
He had seen Tsunade punch Jiraiya into bedrest for a month when he was younger.
He suddenly realized his earlier assessment of Sakura had been completely wrong.
He had assumed she would be a genjutsu specialist.
Physically, she could not match male shinobi in strength, nor could she train like Guy or Rock Lee.
As a civilian-born ninja, she had no family techniques in ninjutsu.
But she excelled at chakra control.
Far beyond Naruto and Sasuke.
She had perfect scores in theory.
Such a person was ideal for genjutsu.
In his early evaluation, her template had been Yuhi Kurenai.
But he had overlooked something.
Excellent chakra control and high intelligence were also prerequisites for a medical ninja.
Under Tsunade's guidance, Sakura had fully developed her combat potential.
Her path was nintaijutsu, not genjutsu.
But Kaede Kitahara had mentioned something in the diary.
"The strongest chef scene… I think I've caught up to them?"
Kakashi did not understand.
He kept watching.
As more humanoid Ten-Tails clones rushed in, Naruto and Sasuke made their move.
"Wind Release, Rasenshuriken!"
"Blaze Release, Flame Control!"
The techniques stunned everyone.
In a single exchange, a large swath of enemies was wiped out.
The effect rivaled Sakura's devastating punch.
They had seen Flame Control before.
In the diary footage, Sasuke used it against Shimura Danzo, burning through one of his lives.
But the Wind Release Rasenshuriken was new.
Its power clearly reached S-rank.
They recalled Naruto's earlier struggles with the Rasengan.
He once needed two hands, even shadow clones, just to form it.
Now, only three years later, he could not only form it effortlessly, but evolve it further into the Rasenshuriken.
"Was the Rasengan not destructive enough? So he added Wind Release's cutting nature?"
Jiraiya immediately grasped the idea.
Infusing a pure chakra Rasengan with wind nature was genius.
It was a direction he had never considered after learning it from the Fourth Hokage.
Minato used Rasengan for its instant formation and combined it with Flying Thunder God for high burst damage.
Naruto, however, lacked that speed.
He could not teleport instantly into an opponent's range.
Unlike Jiraiya, he did not possess many large-scale destructive techniques.
Upgrading the Rasengan to handle more complex threats became necessary.
Against human opponents, Rasengan was already devastating.
But against a monster like that?
It was nowhere near enough.
Especially when those were only small fragments of the Ten-Tails.
Just as ordinary ninja were helpless against the Sannin's colossal summons, Jiraiya felt he would be equally powerless against that true monster.