Xin decided to stop waiting when Sakumo and Kakashi arrived, signaling the waiter to serve what he had ordered.
Once Nawaki and Minato arrived, he'd simply order a bit more.
"Senior, how did your mission go this time?" Xin asked politely as he placed slices of meat onto the grill.
"It's hard to say," Sakumo replied with a sigh.
Did he complete the mission?
Technically, yes, but an unexpected situation had arisen, causing quite a bit of trouble. Sakumo himself wasn't sure how to assess the outcome of the mission.
So he could only describe it as "hard to say."
"How about you? How has your strength improved over the past few years?" Sakumo asked. "Well, I've managed to improve just a little bit," Xin said modestly, smiling.
Tsunade almost rolled her eyes. "Just a little bit?" Clearly, Xin had a misunderstanding of what "a little bit" meant.
"Is that so?" Sakumo didn't catch whether Xin meant "a tiny bit" or "a whole lot" and simply nodded:
"Any improvement is good. At least it's better than me at the moment."
Sakumo was a bit troubled. He felt like his strength had plateaued, no matter how hard he tried.
Just like Tsunade, he had reached a bottleneck in his abilities.
Although accumulating experience allowed them to fight more effectively, further improvement in their strength had slowed significantly.
Not only Tsunade, but even Orochimaru had faced this issue.
Of the three Sannin, only Jiraiya was doing slightly better, as he was training in the Sage Mode of Mount Myoboku.
This was why, as time went on, Jiraiya gradually surpassed Tsunade and Orochimaru, becoming the strongest among the three Sannin.
"You're too modest, Senior. Your strength is recognized across the entire shinobi world. I can't compare myself to you," Xin said with a chuckle.
It was truly just a joke!
He couldn't exactly tell Sakumo that his strength had indeed plateaued and that further improvement would be difficult, could he?
Tsunade didn't know what to say, so she chose to remain silent.
Not only Sakumo, but even she faced the same situation.
Is this senior really that strong?
Kakashi looked at Xin curiously. He knew his father's strength well, and he had always seen his father as a powerful shinobi.
But here was his father praising this man-Xin—so highly.
Kakashi knew his father, Sakumo Hatake, as someone who always seemed approachable, always friendly.
But despite his approachable attitude, his father always kept a certain distance from others.
Only when he met certain people would that distance seem to disappear.
Like when he was with the Sannin.
The Sannin were renowned throughout the shinobi world, but what about Xin?
This was the first time Kakashi had seen his father speak of someone with such respect.
To the extent of comparing himself to that person.
"Haha, if we ever get the chance, we must spar sometime. To be honest, I've always wanted to try my skills against the Uchiha swordsmanship, but never had the opportunity," Sakumo said.