Training Battle

The next day, at the Ninja Academy training grounds.

Minato Namikaze felt deeply uneasy. The first layer of that ninjutsu had indeed been easy; in just one night, he had effortlessly completed the Fūinjutsu known as the "Foundation Establishment Stage."

Then, all Three Basic Jutsu failed. As long as Chakra extended beyond the surface of his skin, the seal would generate a powerful suction force and draw it back into his body, causing the ninjutsu to fail.

However, as Chakra accumulated within the seal, his body's sensitivity to the outside world noticeably increased, and his taijutsu naturally improved quite a bit. But he could no longer use ninjutsu.

He did not know whether that counted as strengthening or weakening.

His confidence in today's ninja combat class was not as strong as usual.

His gaze could not help drifting toward Uchiha Jin.

Senior Jin was actually lying on his side beneath a tree!

The shade of the large tree fell over him, and accompanied by his steady breathing, he looked quite peaceful.

Don't look so peaceful!! Senior Jin, hurry up and wash away your past humiliation!!

Teacher Inoue's face over there had already gone dark!!

Get up already!!

Minato Namikaze screamed inwardly.

"I hate problem students." Satoru Inoue's face was nearly as black as coal. With a squeeze of his thumb and forefinger, he snapped the pencil he used to record student performance.

He quickly took a new pencil from the Ninja Tool Pouch at his waist.

For problem students, stationery was what one needed to prepare the most of.

It was not as though he could take his temper out on the students.

That would be such an undignified thing for a teacher to do.

Looking at the names above and the evaluations he needed to write afterward, he really wanted to put an X on Jin's combat assessment, but his sense of responsibility as a teacher stopped him.

Looking at his other adorable students, he felt slightly relieved.

So why did a student sent back to the Ninja Academy for remedial study have to be assigned to Class A?!

He truly could not understand it.

But no matter how little he understood it, class still had to proceed.

"Today's lesson will be paired combat training. Find your own opponents, and I'll score your performance."

Inoue announced the day's lesson to his students.

More precisely, they would be fighting all day.

This was not only a test of their combat ability, but also their endurance, limits, and physical condition. After a full day of fighting, they would basically all reach their limits.

As for whether it would harm their bodies because they were young, that was not something ninjas were supposed to consider.

The Ninja Academy's exams now were nowhere near as gentle as they would be in the future.

"Begin!"

The moment Satoru Inoue's voice fell, everyone began searching for opponents.

Several Uchiha Clan Members rubbed their fists together and walked toward someone, intending to teach him a profound and unforgettable lesson.

Minato Namikaze could no longer spare any attention for Jin, because someone had set their sights on him.

"Kiyoshi Hyuga of the Hyuga Clan. Please instruct me."

Kiyoshi Hyuga's eyes were fixed firmly on Minato Namikaze.

Minato Namikaze, who had dominated the rankings year after year, was not without enemies. Kiyoshi Hyuga, who had remained in second place year after year, had always wanted to surpass him.

The title of perpetual runner-up did not sound good no matter how one put it. Today would be the day Kiyoshi Hyuga washed away that humiliation.

Minato Namikaze scratched his cheek as he looked at Kiyoshi Hyuga. Though he did not know exactly how much he had improved, Kiyoshi Hyuga, who only used Gentle Fist, was no match for him at all.

He actually wanted more to spar with Senior Jin.

After hesitating slightly, he tried to persuade him.

"Um, how about you pick another opponent? You can't beat me as you are now."

Minato Namikaze was completely sincere. The Hyuga Clan was simply too strange—they could use ninjutsu, but they refused to. They were just that willful.

If they relied purely on taijutsu, he had improved quite a bit.

Kiyoshi Hyuga expressionlessly assumed his stance, but anger soon appeared on his face.

"Only you, Minato Namikaze!!"

"Cannot be forgiven!"

Elsewhere.

Jin, who was about to fall asleep, half-opened his eyes as several Uchiha Clan Members surrounded him.

The crew-cut Uchiha Hiru looked down at him from above.

"Uchiha Jin, if you still have any pride as a member of the Uchiha Clan, duel me. The loser leaves the Ninja Academy."

There could be no disgrace to the Uchiha in the academy.

Jin picked at his ear with his pinky. These Uchihas had absolutely no brains.

It was not as if he had never tried dropping out before. The request had been rejected on the spot.

If he did not become a ninja, would it not be better to live as a wealthy man or a tycoon? Who wanted to be a damn ninja?

It was not like he had a choice.

Not only would the Uchiha Clan never allow any member capable of refining Chakra to live as an ordinary person, but even Konoha would not let any Uchiha capable of becoming a ninja off the hook.

"Actually..." Jin looked at Uchiha Hiru with a somewhat bashful expression. "I could marry into the Hyuga family and take their surname."

Uchiha Hiru was first stunned upon hearing this, then flew into a rage.

"You! ##Thing#*@@##! Die!!"

If the two Uchihas beside him had not held him back, this would not have been a sparring match—it would have been a fight to the death.

Saying he wanted to take the Hyuga surname in front of an Uchiha was no different from calling Hashirama Senju trash in front of Madara Uchiha.

The other two Uchihas did not look much better either.

"Carry him away. Next." Jin yawned.

The long-haired Uchiha Ido looked at him expressionlessly, while the other, Uchiha Mu'i, held Hiru back to keep him from rushing over to risk his life.

"To have given birth to someone like you, your parents..."

Uchiha Ido could not continue. Jin's eyes opened fully, and his gaze changed in that instant, becoming incomparably chilling. His black pupils were like an abyss.

Ido could not help taking a step back.

But the moment he retreated, he glared at Jin with an annoyed expression.

Yet Jin, who had clearly been right in front of him, had vanished.

Ido felt a chill down his spine. When he turned around, he found Jin behind him, blowing on his neck.

Was he sick in the head?!

Just as he was about to say something else, a kunai was already pressed against his throat.

"You?"

At that moment, he felt as though a venomous snake had crawled up his back, opening its jaws to bite him.

"Ahhh!!" Uchiha Ido screamed in terror, drawing everyone's attention.

After all, such screams had never occurred during training.

Jin placed his left hand on Uchiha Ido's shoulder.

"Jokes are jokes, messing around is messing around, but don't joke about someone's parents. You don't want to die here... right?"

"That's enough." Inoue pressed a hand over Jin's arm, looking helplessly at this troublesome student.

"Don't show killing intent toward your companions."

He had noticed immediately that something was wrong. The pressure Jin exuded—that killing intent, that desire to kill—could not have been mistaken. Such killing intent could only be gained through years of fighting wild beasts. Since Jin had no human blood on his hands, it lacked true murderous aura.

But it was more than enough to intimidate Ninja Academy students.

He had not expected this troublesome student to be so hardworking.

"I was just joking, Teacher Iguchi." Jin grinned at Inoue.

The veins on Satoru Inoue's forehead throbbed faintly.

"It's Inoue!!"

"Got it, Teacher Ido."

He was definitely doing it on purpose!!

On the other side, Minato Namikaze looked at Kiyoshi Hyuga lying on the ground and clenched his fist.

"What an incredible ability."

Kiyoshi Hyuga stared at the increasingly scorching sun in the sky, questioning his entire life.

The Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist had actually been crushed by the sheer power of Strong Fist.

"This shouldn't have happened."

His Gentle Fist had even performed beyond its usual limits, yet Minato Namikaze's fists seemed to possess the force of a thousand pounds. After only a few exchanges, his arms had been battered black and blue.

Of course, he himself had also been taken down in just a few moves.

"Why is the gap so huge?"

Minato Namikaze even gave him the feeling of facing a chunin from his own clan.

"Sorry, I hit a little too hard."

Minato Namikaze smiled apologetically at Kiyoshi Hyuga and held out a hand, wanting to help him up.

Kiyoshi Hyuga looked at the hand before him, then at Minato Namikaze's sunny smile.

He cried.

Congratulations to Minato Namikaze for achieving the feat of killing both body and spirit.

"Those guys were way too weak. I took them out in just a few moves, hahaha."

Kushina stood with her hands on her hips, facing the stream. A wild grin covered her face.

Jin looked at Minato Namikaze in confusion.

What exactly did you like about this girl?

Her ability to kill without batting an eye, or her violent temper and habit of beating people up?

Minato Namikaze understood, his face flushing slightly as he turned away.

"Why the hell are you blushing?!"

Kushina abruptly turned to glare at Jin. She felt like he had been speaking badly of her, but she hadn't heard anything.

Jin's gaze drifted away. Damn female intuition. Even though Kushina was still a little girl, abilities did not discriminate by age.

Kushina glanced at the blushing Minato Namikaze with a look of disgust.

Why was her little brother so girly?! Show some manliness and beat that hateful Uchiha to death!!

Sensing that the atmosphere was off, Minato Namikaze changed the subject.

"Tomorrow is the ninjutsu class. What should we do?"

He was quite worried about tomorrow's ninjutsu lesson, because he still could not cast a single ninjutsu.

Although Kushina had also struggled through the first stage of Fūinjutsu, she was not worried at all. Satoru Inoue would not dare make things difficult for her.

"Relax." Jin patted Minato Namikaze on the shoulder. "Most of the final year is ninjutsu theory, mixed with extra lessons like intelligence gathering and concealing yourself. As long as you don't go out of your way to volunteer for a demonstration, no one will notice."

Ninjutsu theory was knowledge arranged by the school, while those extra lessons were survival skills the teachers taught so their students could make it through the battlefield.

There was basically nothing that required getting hands-on. What they learned in the final year could continue to be used all the way through genin; for Class A, perhaps even through chunin.

Even after being reassured, Minato Namikaze remained deeply worried.

As the top-ranked student, the model child everyone compared others to, there was no small chance he would be called up to demonstrate.

Unlike the peaceful Ninja Academy.

On the front lines, cries of battle rose and intertwined.

Brilliant ninjutsu exploded amid the mountains, while Explosive Tags detonated one after another.

Among them rang a miserable, grief-stricken scream.

"Stop the bleeding!"

"Stop the bleeding!!"

"I said stop the bleeding!!"

Tsunade's sharp voice carried pain as the Mystical Palm Technique in her hands showed no sign of stopping.

The ninja beside her could not help but urge her.

"Stop. He's already... dead."

Tsunade's face froze. It was as though something were gnawing at her heart, and she could no longer endure it, screaming aloud.

"Ah!!!"

Like the mournful cry of a cuckoo.

Standing atop a tree, Orochimaru looked at his dead disciple and his teammate screaming in despair.

He did not even know what expression he should wear. It seemed that what had died was not only his disciple, but also...

Himself.

Humans really were such easily broken things.

The grandson of the First Hokage, disciple of Elite Jonin Orochimaru, younger brother of Elite Jonin Tsunade.

Nawaki.

Declared dead.