After learning that his ninja instructor was Minato Namikaze, Veigar suppressed the excitement in his heart and quickly replied.
"Yes, Third Lord."
Then he turned toward Minato Namikaze, gave him a respectful salute, and said, "I'm Veigar Koshima. Teacher Minato, I look forward to working with you."
Minato Namikaze replied, "Veigar, I look forward to working with you as well."
"I'll do my best to train him into an outstanding ninja."
Afterward, Veigar received his first order as a ninja: gather at Training Ground 44 at nine o'clock the next morning.
After leaving the Hokage Building, Veigar could no longer contain his excitement. His face was full of smiles.
Was he excited? Of course he was! How could he not be? Just thinking about Minato Namikaze's future sent Veigar's heart into a frenzy of celebration.
Whether it was talent, strength, background, or future achievements, Minato Namikaze could be called flawless.
Once Minato Namikaze ascended to the position of Fourth Hokage, wouldn't that make Veigar the disciple of the Fourth Hokage?
And when he thought about how he had originally been nothing more than an ordinary ninja from Konoha Village, yet had become Minato Namikaze's student...
This identity, this background—tsk, tsk, tsk...
Most importantly, he might even be able to learn Minato Namikaze's original A-rank Seal-less Ninjutsu—Rasengan.
Commonly known as the Ball-Rolling Technique.
On his first afternoon as a ninja, Veigar's body and mind finally relaxed for the first time in ages, and he took a good tour of Konoha.
It was not until night fell that Veigar returned home, carrying a large bag of ingredients and some things he would need the next morning.
When Veigar had passed by the Ninja Tool Shop that afternoon, he had planned to buy a Ninja Sword. After all, his own Ninja Sword had broken that morning.
However, when Veigar asked about the price of a Ninja Sword—
Good grief!
He couldn't afford it. Not a chance. Time to leave!
Even the lowest-quality Ninja Sword cost fifty thousand ryo. With Veigar short on cash and not even having thirty thousand ryo to his name, how was he supposed to buy one?
He'd better leave before he got thrown out.
After turning all the ingredients into dishes, Veigar treated himself to a hearty meal to celebrate graduating and becoming a ninja.
In the blink of an eye, the night passed...
The morning sun had yet to rise when Veigar finished his morning training. After washing up and changing clothes, he dressed himself neatly and looked full of energy.
After leaving the house, Veigar did not head toward Training Ground 44, because he still had something very important to do that day.
Not long afterward, Veigar appeared in front of a flower shop that had just opened, carrying a small bag.
"Hello. What can I get for you?"
The flower shop's owner was a middle-aged woman. Perhaps because she often dealt with all kinds of flowers, Veigar could smell the faint, mixed fragrance of many flowers on her.
"Hello. I need two bouquets to pay respects to my parents. Could you recommend some suitable flowers?"
After hearing what Veigar needed the flowers for, the female shop owner looked at him with pity. Then she said, "If that's the case, I recommend these two varieties."
"Yellow Carnations, which represent a father's love, and Red Carnations, which represent a mother's love."
Veigar did not refuse. He answered softly, "Thank you. Please wrap them up for me."
Before long, the female shop owner had wrapped the two bouquets. Veigar then asked her, "How much do these cost?"
"That'll be 999 ryo."
The price quoted by the female shop owner surprised Veigar. After a brief pause, he replied with complete sincerity, "Thank you."
Veigar then took out a banknote worth five thousand ryo and handed it over.
While the female shop owner lowered her head to give Veigar his change, he had already picked up the two bouquets of carnations and walked out.
By the time the female shop owner looked up and saw Veigar heading for the door, she was about to call out to him when she heard his voice again.
"Thank you for your kindness. I'm already a ninja now. I hope you stay healthy and live a happy, fulfilling life."
As soon as he finished speaking, Veigar disappeared from the female shop owner's sight.
After putting away the money Veigar had given her, the female shop owner glanced at the hanging flower price list and finally understood how he had known the approximate price.
She immediately took down the price list and stopped displaying it.
There were two kinds of cemeteries in Konoha. One was for the village's ninjas who had died on the battlefield, whose names were also carved into the Memorial Monument. The name of Veigar Koshima's father was among them.
The other was a cemetery for ordinary residents who had passed away.
According to his memories, Veigar first came to Viking Koshima's grave. He carefully cleaned the tomb and placed the bouquet of Yellow Carnations before it.
In Veigar's memories, there was no recollection of Viking Koshima at all. He only knew that someone had once brought him there to tend the grave.
Veigar stood before the gravestone for a while. After silently wishing him, "Rest in peace. I'm doing well!" he left.
However, when Veigar reached his mother's final resting place, he swept the grave while pouring out his heart.
"Did you know?"
"Yesterday, I became a ninja!"
"Are you proud of me?"
"You are, right?"
"You don't have to worry about me anymore. I can take good care of myself now."
"Your child has grown up!"
Gradually, Veigar's voice became choked with emotion, and tears began to flow uncontrollably, dripping onto the ground before the gravestone.
At that moment, he was Veigar—and he was also Veigar Koshima.
Memories of the past came flooding endlessly through his mind.
His mother's worried instructions before her death and the reluctant way her eyes had closed remained etched in Veigar's mind. It all felt as though it had happened only yesterday.
Having lived two lives and experienced two nearly identical hardships and paths of fate, Veigar understood gratitude more deeply and knew even more clearly how great a mother's love was.
Veigar, who had grown up in his previous life amid the pity and Byakugan of others, had gained an even more painful understanding than he had in this life.
Only those who had experienced it themselves could understand. Once certain things were lost, no matter how desperately one wished to possess them again, they would never return.
After standing there for a long time, Veigar wiped away the dried tears on his face. A body from this world and a soul from another carried two great motherly loves together—and perhaps two fathers' loves they had never felt. With determined steps, he silently vowed and turned away from this place, where someone who had always been missed lay at rest.
"To set your mind at ease, I'll become the most dazzling existence in the world. I'll make them cheer for me and engrave me into their hearts, so that I'll live forever."
"I'll make my name resound throughout the Pure Land where you are."
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