Naruto: Choosing from Birth

Kushina watched the confident Minato Namikaze from below the stage and thought, "I never expected this sissy to have a manly side too."

No one knew whether Minato Namikaze would fall straight out of the sky if he learned what Kushina was thinking. Well, he probably would...

"Yo, yo..."

"Hello, my name is Minato Namikaze. Your singing is quite unique."

Minato Namikaze interrupted Killer B's rap with a cheerful smile.

"Uh..." Faced with an opponent who refused to follow the script, Killer B felt rather miserable and forgot the lyrics he had been about to rap with gusto.

"Then let's begin."

Minato Namikaze made the first move, raising his hand and sending a skyful of shuriken toward Killer B.

"Secret Technique of Killer B: Great Windmill!"

Killer B swiftly drew the short blades from his back. The flashing blades moved so quickly they became a blur, sweeping down every incoming shuriken like a windmill.

Then, he flung out an iron strip from his sleeve to counterattack Minato, charging toward him at breakneck speed like a hunting cheetah.

Minato threw out a kunai with a backhand flick, striking the iron strip precisely and altering its trajectory.

Instead of advancing, he retreated, tossing out another two shuriken while rapidly forming hand seals. He had decided not to engage in close combat with him.

"Shadow Shuriken Technique!"

The shuriken flew through the air, suddenly splitting from two into four, four into eight, eight into sixteen...

A rain of shuriken filled the sky as it flew toward Killer B.

Facing the incoming shuriken, Killer B used the same trick again, unleashing Great Windmill and sweeping away swathes of Shadow Shuriken with rapid clanging sounds.

Then a voice suddenly came from behind him. "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

"What... When did he get behind me?"

Had he hidden among the shuriken he threw earlier?

Killer B, who had just exhausted himself countering the frontal rain of shuriken, suddenly discovered another Minato Namikaze behind him.

Wind Release: Great Breakthrough carried another skyful of shuriken, blasting toward Killer B with even greater speed and force!

It was too late to dodge!

A flash of lightning suddenly streaked past, and Killer B was swiftly carried out of the attack's range by an even larger figure.

"My little brother surrenders! In the next match, I, Yotsuki Ai, will have a go at you!"

The newcomer had brown skin and pale yellow hair, with dazzling arcs of lightning flickering all over his body!*

"Damn, they're so strong. Are they really ninja academy students?"

"Both sides are so strong. I wouldn't even have been able to dodge that first wave of shuriken."

"Minato Namikaze's talent is incredible. Compared to last semester, he's improved by leaps and bounds."

"Shouldn't we be happy that someone can finally threaten Uchiha Cheng, that Great Demon King?"

Cheers erupted from the students of Konoha and Kumogakure. After all, in this world, strength was supreme. Those with great power often found it easier to win others over and earn everyone's praise.

The one standing on the stage who had saved Killer B was his sworn older brother, A, also known as Yotsuki Ai, Sabi? Buraza.

He was currently a sixth-year Kumogakure Student and the future Fourth Hokage of Kumogakure in the Land of Lightning.

He was impulsive and hot-tempered, possessed a powerful physique, and was renowned for his speed. Though he was not as tall as rap master Killer B among the Kumogakure ninja academy students, his strength was universally acknowledged as the greatest.

"You! You're strong! But I, Sabi? Buraza, will only become stronger!"

Hah!

Yotsuki Ai suddenly struck an awe-inspiring pose as his chakra erupted. The lightning around his body became even more dazzling, and a powerful aura swept across the arena.

"Strongest Yotsuki Ai!"

"Strongest Yotsuki Ai!"

"Strongest Yotsuki Ai!"

After a few seconds of silence, the Kumogakure Students instantly erupted...

"My god, who told me these were ninja academy students? Even chunin don't have this kind of presence, right?"

"I was feeling proud that I'd mastered the Three Basic Techniques, but then there are these people... Sigh, I suddenly feel too ashamed to show my face."

"My world used to be no bigger than one village. Now I know it's at least as big as two villages!"

Minato Namikaze looked at the man across from him, who called himself Yotsuki Ai and also Sabi? Buraza, seriously performing such ridiculous antics.

Your little brother probably became a rap master because of your influence, didn't he?

"Then... the battle begins! A, the future fastest man in the ninja world, has arrived!"

Yotsuki Ai shouted another cringeworthy line, then suddenly bent down and braced both hands on the ground, taking a starting position.

"Idiot! How many names do you have?"

"And wait! Let me pick up my shuriken first."

Minato Namikaze shouted, hurriedly gathering the shuriken scattered all over the ground and stuffing them back into his pouch!

"(⊙o⊙)...???" Yotsuki Ai had only just raised his backside, ready to sprint.

"It can't be helped. I'm a commoner. I made a living picking up trash since I was little. Toad Sage gave me these ninja tools, and they're expensive. I can't waste them," Minato Namikaze said as he picked them up.

At that moment, Minato Namikaze was thinking of how Uchiha Cheng never played by the rules and decided to imitate him.

"This..."

Yotsuki Ai did not know whether to move or remain still, leaving him terribly embarrassed. Big brother! Holding this pose while maintaining lightning effects is exhausting, okay?

"..."

The people below the stage watched the two of them suddenly sticking their butts up and had no idea what to say.

Was this the perse... perseverance of geniuses and strong people?

Sure enough, whenever heaven gave them a certain talent, it always took something else away somewhere else.

Right now, neither of them looked like a normal person.

As soon as Minato Namikaze finished picking everything up and said, "We can start now!"

Yotsuki Ai charged toward Minato Namikaze like an unbridled wild horse, like a launched rocket, with a biu~

His speed was so fast that his body almost became an afterimage, leaving only a long streak of lightning in his wake.

"What incredible speed!"

"At this rate, he might really become the fastest person in the future!"

Everyone present, students and teachers alike, wore expressions of utter shock.

Yet Minato Namikaze merely stomped his right foot and slid sideways, evading Yotsuki Ai's charge!

Yotsuki Ai was too fast to stop. Like a horse that would not halt, like an arrow that would not slow, he charged spectacularly right off the arena...

Right off the arena...

The students below were once again dazzled blind by this maneuver.

Were you here for an arena match? Or were you running the hundred-meter dash for a ninja world gold medal?

"Lightning Release: Ground Travel!"

A current racing across the ground struck Minato, who was staring blankly outside the arena, with brutal force.

Bzzz! Bzzz! Bzzz!!!

Minato's body instantly twisted from the electricity. Smoke rose from him, and his entire body actually evaporated into a cloud of smoke.

In the next moment, it turned into a wooden log.

So it was the Substitution Technique. The audience below slowly let out a breath of relief.

Minato, who reappeared from the other side, looked at Yotsuki Ai, who had just unleashed Lightning Release and was still on the stage. Meanwhile, the Yotsuki Ai who had flown out of the arena turned into a cloud of smoke, clearly revealing himself to be a clone.

This guy really was like Killer B—seemingly rough, but actually meticulous.

He had deliberately used a clone to draw his attention, while his real body had long since transformed into one of the rocks on the ground.

While everyone was distracted by the clone that had charged out of the arena with flashy effects, he quickly revealed himself and unleashed Lightning Release. Someone else might really have fallen for it.

But!

I am not someone else!

I am Minato Namikaze!

"A? Yotsuki Ai? Sabi? Buraza! I'll remember that name! Then..."