Like Father, Like Son

It was only two days before the Chunin Exams finals that Minato hurried back to Orochimaru's laboratory.

The two corpses in the laboratory were gone, replaced by an extremely obese one. Minato's first reaction was to suspect that it was a corpse from the Akimichi Clan.

It probably wasn't. Not every fat person was from the Akimichi Clan.

"Orochimaru-sensei, I spent all last night practicing Wind Release Ninjutsu. Please take a look."

"Last night?" Orochimaru asked. "Then what were you doing the two days before that?"

"Oh, I became obsessed with plant cultivation and ripening techniques those past two days. I developed two D-Rank Ninjutsu for rapid breeding. Those techniques are amazing—they can select desirable seed traits in a short time, then breed them quickly to find High-Yield Seeds..."

Orochimaru no longer wanted to hear the rest. Like master, like student: the master was obsessed with women, while the disciple was obsessed with farming. By comparison, even Jiraiya seemed a little more normal.

Orochimaru grabbed Minato by the shoulder and used the Body Flicker Technique to leave the laboratory.

Minato's vision blurred for an instant, but he could still tell that they had exited through the laboratory's high side window.

Standing beneath a large tree outside, Orochimaru said:

"Don't waste my time. Demonstrate the Ninjutsu you've learned, one by one."

Using clumsy hand seals, Minato performed a small-scale Great Breakthrough Technique.

Using moderately proficient hand seals, he performed a Wind Cutter Technique.

The wind blade sank into the tree, leaving a cut more than ten centimeters deep.

Then, using clumsy hand seals again, he created a small tornado.

Orochimaru looked at Minato as though he were looking at Jiraiya wasting his talent. He could not understand why these people were so lazy.

"Among the three forms of Wind Release—impact, cutting, and binding—you are suited for cutting. Don't waste time on the other two," Orochimaru said.

"Return the other scrolls to me now. Copy the cutting-type Wind Release Ninjutsu scrolls, then return them to me tomorrow."

"I copied them all last night to help memorize them. Should I return them all now?"

After taking the scrolls, Orochimaru vanished with the Body Flicker Technique.

Minato was not surprised at all upon learning of his talent.

When Naruto developed Wind Release in the original story, he had practiced cutting leaves. His talent was probably similar to Naruto's.

No, Naruto's talent was probably like his. He could not mix up the generations. Like father, like son.

Minato hurried home to practice Wind Release Ninjutsu.

His talent for Wind Release Ninjutsu was indeed exceptionally high. In two days, he had basically mastered the Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique.

With five hand seals, it released wind blades several meters long. The power and number of the wind blades were proportional to the amount of chakra used.

When it came to piling on chakra, Minato had far too much of an advantage over his peers.

Two days later, the Chunin Exams finals finally began.

The Chunin Exams arena was packed. Konoha's ninja, villagers, and others had all come to watch. The Chunin Exams were a major event for Konoha Village.

Minato leaned against the corridor railing, holding a leaf as he continuously used Wind Release Chakra to slice it apart.

Tiny fragments of leaf drifted down into the competition grounds more than ten meters below.

Minato looked toward the viewing platform. Seated there were the daimyo of the Land of Fire, numerous nobles, the Hokage, the Raikage, and others.

He looked a little longer at the daimyo and nobles. Most of the nobles were round-faced and pot-bellied, fat from overeating—fatter even than the ninja of the Akimichi Clan.

In this barren world, where even ninja ate rice balls and Soldier Pills, the nobles had seized and monopolized far too much wealth and resources.

If the Autumn Fruit Organization could gain the support of a noble, promoting its work in the Land of Fire would become much easier.

Minato had read some history books in his previous life. Nobles like those of the Land of Fire generally would not support reform; they would only obstruct it.

Any reform would damage the foundation of their power.

Agricultural Ninjutsu would reduce the time and manpower required for farming, causing many people to leave the land. Those people would become what the nobles called vagrants, destabilizing elements within noble territories.

What the nobles wanted most was for farmers to bend over their fields generation after generation—neither starving to death nor causing trouble.

Valuing agriculture while suppressing commerce—the nobles of the Ninja World had also grasped this secret of rule.

He would give it a try. First, he would see whether there were any nobles willing to cooperate with the new Agricultural Ninjutsu.

Just as Minato's thoughts wandered, the Jonin Squad Leader, Hatake Sakumo, suddenly appeared in the competition grounds with the Body Flicker Technique.

Minato's expression immediately turned serious. Before practicing the Body Flicker Technique himself, he had only known Hatake Sakumo as Konoha's strongest Body Flicker ninja. Only after he began studying it and unlocking the original body's talent did he realize that watching Hatake Sakumo was like a mayfly glimpsing the blue heavens—awe-inspiring.

He was too fast. The Konoha White Fang was far faster than both Minato and Ei Yano Yu.

Minato glanced at Ei Yano Yu in the distance. Ei Yano Yu's expression likewise tightened.

"Chunin Exams Finals! First Round! Minato Namikaze versus Kushina Uzumaki!"

Minato froze. Kushina beside him froze as well, while the other genin behind them shouted in dissatisfaction.

"It's rigged! This is absolutely rigged!"

However, Minato immediately understood what the village was thinking.

Letting Kushina continue in the Chunin Exams was practically placing a ticking time bomb before the daimyo.

Eliminating Kushina as quickly as possible was the safest course of action.

And no one was more suitable for eliminating Kushina than Minato. Minato would never provoke Kushina into going berserk.

They could eliminate Kushina, then give her the rank of chunin on the grounds that she had performed well in the finals, so that this young lady would stop causing trouble.

Being granted chunin qualification even after losing a finals match was definitely a loophole the village had deliberately left open.

Minato turned and smiled at Kushina. "Well, this is bad luck. We actually got matched against each other."

Kushina said excitedly, "Minato! Let's fight until the sky goes dark! Let's show those Cloud ninja what we're made of! Let them know we're not easy to mess with! Let them never dare abduct my little brother again!"

"Don't, don't!"

Minato hurriedly stopped her. The village had arranged for him to fight Kushina in the first round precisely to send her away safely as soon as possible. If Kushina and Minato both went all out and fought until the sky went dark, the village would be seeing black.

How could this tiny Chunin Exams arena possibly hold Nine-Tails Chakra Cloak against Minato's 275 units of chakra?

"Once the match starts, don't move yet. Watch my performance."

Kushina did not know what Minato intended to do, but she simply nodded.

The two jumped into the competition grounds and took their positions on opposite sides of Hatake Sakumo.

Minato glanced toward the daimyo and nobles on the viewing platform, wondering whether they could understand the value of Agricultural Ninjutsu.

"First Round! Minato Namikaze versus Kushina Uzumaki! Begin!"

Minato swiftly stepped back, formed hand seals with both hands, and gathered chakra.

Kushina froze. Those two seals... weren't they for that technique?

Minato shouted in his heart, Nobles, this technique is for you. Those who understand its value, promote Agricultural Ninjutsu in your territories!

"Earth Release! Overclocked Seismic Fracturing—One Thousand Acres Tilled Per Day, Second Form!"